Jamaree Salyer sounds off on narrative that Georgia hasn't been 'punched in the mouth'

Georgia began the year 12-0, entering the SEC Championship as the top ranked team in all of college football. But in the SEC title game, Georgia was promptly handled by Alabama, giving the Crimson Tide the top overall seed in the College Football Playoff. When asked about the narrative of Georgia not really being “punched in the mouth” in a while, offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer quickly shut down that idea.

“I think it’s interesting to me, everybody says we haven’t been, quote/unquote, punched in the mouth,” Salyer said. “I think every Saturday you line up in the SEC everybody’s throwing punches. You line up in those man fronts and you turn around hand the ball off, it’s a bloodbath out there pretty much every Saturday, just like it is on their side. I think it’s interesting everybody makes that narrative.”

Going back to the SEC Championship, Salyer admitted that Alabama simply played better than Georgia did.

“But they played a better game than us,” Salyer said of Georgia’s SEC Championship game loss to Alabama. “They outexecuted us on that given Saturday. They had a better game plan. I think that’s what it came down to. We understood that coming out of that game, and we wanted to make the adjustments that we needed to make from an offensive standpoint. I know the defense has to.”

Salyer: Georgia controls its own destiny

Salyer is in his fourth season at Georgia. He has been around for four Alabama-Georgia matchups, all of which were won by the Crimson Tide. But with a National Championship at stake on Monday night, Salyer knows that Georgia controls its own destiny.

“I think that’s what it comes down to is just making the adjustments, understanding that these are different stakes,” Salyer added. “Like I said, it’s just different. And we understand that it’s something we really want and understanding that things can be different this time. Doesn’t have to be the same narrative over and over again. We control our destiny. Not anybody else, not the media, not Alabama. We control our destiny and that’s how we want it.”

Salyer also acknowledged that Georgia’s recent skid against Alabama is at least some form of motivation for the Bulldogs.

“I mean, it’s definitely motivation,” Salyer said. “I wouldn’t say tired of it is. It is what it is. It’s the truth. You can’t really run away from the truth. That’s what it is. That’s our record. But we’re not trying to make it an emotional thing, where you go out playing with emotions.”