Eye-opening stat reveals story of Georgia vs. Alabama

A highly anticipated rematch is set to take place in the College Football Playoff championship game on Monday night between Georgia and Alabama. Georgia and Alabama recently faced off in the SEC Championship game on Dec. 4, where Alabama won 41-24.

Georgia and Alabama are undoubtedly two powers in college football, setting up an intriguing matchup. Alabama has won seven consecutive games against Georgia, while the Bulldogs’ last win in the series came in 2008. But while Alabama has had the upper hand recently, it doesn’t tell the whole story for Georgia.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, Georgia and Alabama have played a total of 240 minutes over their last four meetings. Georgia has led for 171 (or 71%) of those games. Despite holding a lead for the majority of the recent games, Alabama is 4-0 in those games.

Georgia jumped out to a 10-0 lead over Alabama in the SEC Championship this season, but it was all Crimson Tide from there. Alabama went on to win 41-24. The Bulldogs also led for the majority of the second quarter in last year’s matchup, but Alabama again walked away with a 41-24 victory.

Georgia also led Alabama for the majority of the 2018 SEC Championship, leading by as much as 14 points in the second half before Alabama squeaked out a 35-28 win. The year prior, Georgia and Alabama faced off in the CFP National Championship. Georgia jumped out to a 13-0 lead and led by 13 in the second quarter. But Alabama won the game in overtime.

There is no mental block for Georgia against Alabama entering the championship game

Georgia linebacker Nolan Smith has been around for a few matchups between Georgia and Alabama, and he is ready to do so again in the championship game. Despite so many close games and blown leads, Smith said there are no mental blocks when going up against Alabama.

“I’ll say this, I said it when I was a freshman: Every man wakes up, puts his pants on one leg at a time. There’s no such thing as a mental block,” Smith said. “The keyword is in your head. That’s mental. You’ve got to go out and do it, get it out of your head.

“I don’t think it’s a mental block. I think the first time we played them we gave up a couple big plays. You change three plays in the game, the game could be different. One of those plays were on myself. I should be more aware to jump on the ball instead of pick it up and run. You can’t have small mistakes in those big games because it’s a game of inches. As we watched the film over and over again with our coach’s comments, we learned it’s a game of just small inches.”

Georgia and Alabama face off at 8 p.m. ET on Monday night in Indianapolis with a national title on the line.