Georgia LB Nolan Smith 'cried' after SEC title game loss

Dejected Georgia outside linebacker Nolan Smith leaves the field after the Bulldogs' SEC Championship loss against Alabama. Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK

Georgia LB Nolan Smith 'cried' after loss to Alabama in SEC title game

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 1/5/22

The previously unbeaten Georgia Bulldogs fell to the Alabama Crimson Tide 41-24 in the SEC championship game back in early December but secured a rematch and spot in the College Football Playoff National Championship via last Friday's dominant 34-11 victory over the Michigan Wolverines in the CFP semifinal.

Georgia linebacker Nolan Smith wasn't ashamed to admit when speaking with reporters Wednesday the Alabama defeat left him emotional.

"Want to know the honest-to-god truth? I cried," Smith said of his response to that setback. "I'm 20 now. I've been playing football since I was four — 16 years, I haven't won anything. I haven't won a championship. I won a couple bowl games but anything big, any championship, I never won yet.

"And that's one thing that keeps me going. That's just something in the back of my head that I know that keeps me driving. I just want to win. I could care less how it gets done, how pretty it looks. I just want to win."

Per Mark Schlabach of ESPN, Georgia last won a football national championship in 1980, but neither that fact nor the result of the previous matchup has bettors and supposed experts shying away from the Bulldogs. As of Wednesday evening, FanDuel Sportsbook listed Georgia as a three-point favorite (-145) to defeat Alabama this coming Monday.

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