The Georgia football team did not just beat Alabama for the SEC title, but it rubbed salt in the wound. As the final seconds ticked away on a 28-7 demolition, Bulldogs players grabbed prop belts on the sideline, gleefully waving them to symbolize the beating they had just delivered.
After a regular-season loss to the Crimson Tide in Athens that briefly flipped the SEC narrative, this one felt like payback. Georgia stood in the confetti as 2025 SEC champions, having gashed Alabama for 141 rushing yards while holding the Tide to minus-3 on the ground and sacking Ty Simpson three times, and likely locked up the No. 2 seed in the new 12-team playoff.
Yet Kirby Smart’s focus shifted almost immediately from trolling to self-scouting. Speaking to DawgNation about what comes next, he laid out his plan for the gap before the College Football Playoff quarterfinal.
“The first thing we’re gonna do is try to heal, recover, final exams, and then take a deep dive at looking in ourselves and maybe see some areas we can grow in,” Smart said.
“But it’s a long thought process about that, a lot of debate last year. I think none of the teams with byes won, if that’s correct. So there’s a lot of thought there, a lot of texting going on between coaches who did it last year, trying to find maybe a better way.”
That comment reveals how Georgia is thinking about this new playoff era. The Bulldogs know momentum can vanish during a bye if the preparation is mishandled.
Smart is determined to keep his team sharp without burning them out, leaning on conversations with coaches who navigated those idle weeks in the first 12-team field.
The “deep dive” he describes is not just about plugging schematic holes, but about finding better rhythms in practice and recovery so the SEC title performance becomes a launching pad, not a peak.
Even in the glow of a statement win and some savage belt theatrics, Georgia is acting like a program that understands the job is not finished. The SEC crown and Alabama rout were milestones. The real measure, in Smart’s mind, will be how well the Bulldogs handle the space between now and their CFP quarterfinal kickoff.
