Tonight’s national championship game in Atlanta will be played about 70 miles from UGA. Unfortunately, Georgia’s proximity obscures the true distance between the Bulldogs and a championship.
That goal feels further away than it used to.
Why is that?
Judging from the response to Buck Belue’s seemingly unfounded rumor on Friday, the answer is to blame Mike Bobo.
I respect the calls for accountability, but what if Georgia’s issues go beyond that?
Did you see Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith on Sunday? The aura they’ve brought to the Philadelphia Eagles is like what they once gave UGA.
If Kirby Smart and the coaches he trusts could cultivate that before, then maybe they can do it again. If they do, then next year, UGA might be right back in the national championship game where it belongs.
For the rest of the weekend’s news, check out our coverage below.
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Trivia time
Georgia won its second national championship in the 1981 Sugar Bowl, a 17-10 defeat of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish have not won a national championship since any of its current players were born.
Question: What is Notre Dame’s record in national championship title games since its 1981 loss to Georgia?
(Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.)
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Natty holiday
Some say the next best thing to winning a championship is watching the team that eliminated you win. And some Georgia fans -- combined with a hatred for Ohio State -- might feel that way about Notre Dame when it kicks off tonight at 7:30 p.m. with a national title hanging in the balance.
The Fighting Irish eliminated Georgia from college football’s first 12-team playoff in the quarterfinal Sugar Bowl on January 2. DawgNation had a chance to speak with a couple of those Notre Dame coaches this week in Atlanta, and some had interesting things to say about the Bulldogs.
Perhaps most interesting was the notion that Notre Dame used film from Georgia Tech’s near-defeat of Georgia back in early December as a blueprint for beating the Bulldogs with a more talented roster than the Yellow Jackets. Read more from DawgNation’s report below:
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Betting on the big one?
There are all kinds of betting lines available for the last and most important college football game of the season. Below are a few important ones to know, including several prop lines that could decide tonight’s outcome, per Covers.com:
- Favorite: Ohio State (-7.5)
- O/U: 45.5
- Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard: 0.5 passing touchdowns
- Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith: anytime touchdown
- Notre Dame TE Mitchell Evans: 33.5 receiving yards
- Ohio State QB Will Howard: 9.5 rushing yards
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Fly, Dawgles Fly
With the official count of former Georgia defenders on Philadelphia Eagles officially reaching half a dozen, many UGA fans tuned in to watch the Eagles-Rams game on Sunday. Stars like Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith faced off against former Bulldog quarterback Matthew Stafford with a trip to the NFC Championship on the line.
Stafford and the Philadelphia defense battled all day in a Pennsylvania snowstorm, but the Eagles made the final play thanks to a massive stop from Jalen Carter. Stafford and the Rams were plowing through the snow and into the red zone in two-minute mode, looking for a go-ahead touchdown with very little time left.
Stafford’s offense had the momentum going into a third-and-2, but Carter flipped the game on its head with a nifty pass rush move. The star defensive tackle shook Los Angeles’ left guard before dropping Stafford for a nine-yard sack, setting up a fourth-and-11.
Stafford’s final throw of the season sailed incomplete, and the Eagles eliminated the Rams for good. Carter aims to dominate next week in a 2022 SEC Championship rematch with former LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders.
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Photo of the day
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Pro Dawg playoff highlights
Below are some of the best stat lines from former Georgia players in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs this weekend:
- DL Jalen Carter, Philadelphia (28-22 W): 5 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 TFL, 1 FF, 1 PD
- QB Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles (28-22 L): 26/44, 324 yards, 2 TD
- LB Roquan Smith, Baltimore (27-25 L): 8 tackles
- EDGE Nolan Smith, Philadelphia (28-22 W): 4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 FF
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Quote of the day
“I have learned something new every visit,” 5-star linebacker and Georgia recruiting target Tyler Atkinson said. “A lot of the new things I learned yesterday are really just my personal takeaways. UGA has always made me feel like a top priority but they have took it up a few levels.”
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Trivia answer
Answer: 1-1
