The SEC Championship Still Means Something

20 years ago, a nine-year-old got to attend his first events at the Georgia Dome. My little rural town high school made it to the GHSA playoff games at the Dome. Back then, it was only the semifinals and not the championship, but it meant something to us. I don’t remember much from that game, we got handled easily, but I do remember a lot from the SEC Championship game a few weeks earlier. Ands instead of a crowd of barely a couple of thousand, picture a crowd of 73,000.

After watching those in purple and gold sing “Callin Baton Rouge” by Garth Brooks during pregame, DJ Shockley and Sean Bailey shut them up really quick. And then, Tim Jennings, just an undersized 2-star prospect turned second round draft pick, iced the game with a pick six and the rest was history. To this nine-year-old, the SEC Championship was like the Super Bowl, if not bigger and it still carries a bit of that weight today.

So if you do have the pleasure to attend this clash of titans on Saturday, please do myself and fellow fans a favor, watch the game, instead of standing in line for Bruster’s or Dip’N Dots ice cream, which you can get any day of the week.

Alright, back to the ball.

The years following that game turned into agony. Watching Florida and Tennessee and even South Carolina win the East, and therefore keeping us at home, was not fun, especially as the SEC went on their run of national titles. Then hit 2011 and 2012, and we were back where we belonged. Now a teenager, it was still a marvel whenever I attended a game in Atlanta. And also as one gets older, the emotional investment increases, and therefore the pain.

Let’s start with 2011. Oklahoma State lost to Iowa State, opening the door for some chaos if Georgia could somehow upset LSU. And for a while, there was hope, until Tyrann Mathieu completely changed the game with his iconic punt return. LSU was clearly the better team that day, but it was just a reminder how far away we were from national relevance. And then came 2012.

I still get chills thinking about that play. Middle of the third quarter, Alabama lining up for the field goal. Snap, hold, kick, and then bam, block. I have never heard a stadium crowd pop as much as it did when Alec Ogletree took it to the house. I was convinced that Georgia was going to play for a national championship. Until we weren’t. From the top row of the upper deck of the Georgia Dome, watching Aaron Murray snap the ball, then seeing the ball deflected, Chris Conley catches it in bounds. The clock ticks. Georgia is hustling to get one more play off, Alabama players are already celebrating. Ball game. Confetti reigns down, the Alabama band starts to play Rammer Jammer. Meanwhile, the exit ramps in the UGA sections down to the main level sound like a funeral. Shock, mourning, disbelief. So close, yet so far away. 2005 feels like centuries ago.

It would be five years until Georgia got to experience the SEC Championship again after that, and man would things change. The Georgia Dome was no more, and a new leader was at the helm of the Georgia program, a man on the winning sideline in 2012, a man that would change the fortunes of the program around for good. 2017 was my senior year of college, and 12 years since that celebratory day in 2005. Would we ever win another SEC Championship?

At first, it looked like it would be a repeat of the beatdown Auburn gave us a few weeks earlier in Jordan-Hare. 75 yard, 10 play opening drive to go up 7-0. But then, the tide started to turn. Jarrett Stidham fumbled, Geogia tied the game. The game turned into a defensive slobber knocker, with field goals and punts. Then, another Auburn fumble, and Georgia turned it into a touchdown, to go up 20-7. Was this really happening? Indeed it was.

Time for another play that gives me chills thinking about it. Early fourth quarter, so in my mind, Auburn can still win 21-20. That until, Terry Godwin goes in motion to the right, leaving a hole on the left side of the defense. And then, it’s like the great navy sea parted. The offensive line leaves no white hat unblocked, and Javon Wims takes care of business with blocking the corner on the edge. One quick move later and the only thing separating D’Andre Swift from the end zone is 64 yards of green grass. Touchdown, go for two. 28-7. Ballgame. Georgia is finally back on top of the conference. College Football Playoff bid secured. For the first time in my life, Georgia will be competing for a national championship. Oh, if only the late great Larry Munson could have been there to call that one on that December Saturday in Atlanta.

2005 was the first, 2012 was the most painful, and 2017 brought me the most joy, as those RedCoat band members blared Glory, Glory to ‘ole Georgia throughout the stadium, while the folks from Lee County poured onto the streets of downtown. These three games still bring back cherished and not so cherished memories that stand out. Maybe, it’s because we have now been in the SEC Championship game every year since 2017 sans 2020, maybe it’s because of the ever changing landscape of college football, or maybe it’s because it carries a youthful nostalgia that I can not replicate in my adult years. But that doesn’t mean we’re done with our walk down memory lane.

2018 was a bookend of Alabama backup quarterbacks doing their thing, marred with a controversial Josh Jacobs fumble recovery in the end zone that resulted in six, keeping my beloved Dawgs out of title contention, as the Bama boogeyman haunted me yet again. 2019 had that one Joe Burrow Heisman winning play in the third quarter, scrambling and finding Justin Jefferson for 71 yards, that finally put the game out of reach, although UGA had no shot of beating LSU that year. 2021 was mistake prone that allowed Alabama to outscore us 28-7 in the final 31 minutes, 2022 was back on the SEC throne, sealed with Chris Smith’s field goal return and Jalen Carter holding up Jayden Daniels with one hand. 2023 was another mistake prone and controversial call, with the 4^th down Isaiah Bond catch, preventing a chance of a Georgia three-peat.

 I might have summarized five games in one paragraph, but that doesn’t mean each one didn’t matter as much as the first ones I divided into. Other than 2014 and 2023, the SEC champion played in the national championship every year from 2006 to 2023. That time span includes 8 BCS title games and 10 four-team playoffs. And then 2024 hit. Twelve team playoff, conference realignment, loss of divisions, a new television contract, on top of all the early signing day, transfer portal, and NIL stuff. Do conference championships still matter?

And to that, I would say yes. Let’s go back to last year. Even though Texas had all but locked up a bid to the Playoff and Georgia was all but certain in, it was a heavyweight fight with some big hits that reminded me of the 2012 game. Even though it was a division-less title game with a newcomer, it felt like Georgia was carrying the pride of the deep south along with it, making sure a conference newcomer didn’t win the SEC in its first year in the heart of said deep south. Yes, it wasn’t the most exciting game, and yes, the screwy playoff seeding actually benefited the loser more, but there was something about the energy of the crowd when Gunner lowered his shoulder in the third quarter and when one-armed Carson Beck came back into the game to hand off the game winning run to Trevor Etienne.

Now that brings us to 2025. As things change, some things stay the same. Alabama and Georgia for the SEC Championship, for the fourth time since 2018. I have no idea how the game turns out, all the computers have it as a virtual coinflip. As a Georgia fan, I am pretty much resigned to the fact we will probably lose to Alabama. Yes, the stakes won’t mean the same. If Georgia loses, they are most likely rewarded with a home game against the 12 seed. If they win, back to New Orleans, with a probable rematch if Alabama falls below Notre Dame again.

On a national stage, the stakes are lower. Barring chaos, it’s not like 2017, 2018, 2019, or 2023 where the loser will be knocked out of the playoff. However, Georgia has to get the Alabama monkey off their back. Georgia hasn’t won back to back SEC titles since Herschel was toting the rock for the red and black. And Alabama gets the chance to win their first SEC title post-Saban, and remove any doubt on what the selection committee might do. So yes, despite the changes in college football, the SEC Championship means something.

There’s going to be a kid, whether in red or crimson, that will be going to his first game at the Benz on Saturday. Maybe his team wins, maybe his team loses. But for his sake, I hope it’s like his Super Bowl, like it was mine back in 2005. Because despite the college football environment we participate in, some things matter greatly, like winning a trophy, even if it’s before the national championship. For Georgia, that was the Governor’s Cup last Friday, and a chance at the SEC Championship on Saturday. The powers that be can try to ruin college football, but they can’t take the big time feel of the SEC Championship from us. You could say that maybe, it just means more.

Now, for some Southern football. Go Dawgs from a Double Dawg and lifelong Georgia diehard.

In the words of the great Brook Whitmire, if your blood runs red and black…

• Wes Jackson