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 Jan 5, 2022 7:56 PM ET

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.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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