LOS ANGELES — The past is never truly the past when it comes to Georgia football. It’s always there in memories, statues and voices from the past narrating videos. The Bulldogs are royalty, sometimes because they accomplished something big, sometimes because they were just great. Georgia, as much and perhaps more than any other program, embraces its past in a way that it is not the past. It’s a constant connection.
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Georgia lost Vince Dooley and Charley Trippi, two of its biggest legends, within a nine-day span in October. But the past is never gone: Dooley was the posthumous voice of Georgia’s pregame hype video for the national championship. And in the lead-up, and aftermath, of Georgia successfully defending its national title, other faces and voices from the past kept appearing.
Hours before the game, head coach Kirby Smart texted his predecessor to congratulate him on being selected to the College Football Hall of Fame. Mark Richt immediately texted back: “Kick ass tonight.”
Georgia did, more than anyone could have imagined: 65-7 over TCU. As the confetti rained down in SoFi Stadium, David Pollack, on a temporary break from his ESPN analyst job, just watched and marveled.
In the locker room, amid the odor of cigar smoke, Nakobe Dean stood at a locker and was asked if this year’s team — by going unbeaten, unlike Dean’s team last year — had topped that unit. The linebacker and third-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles grinned.
“We won the natty, they won the natty,” Dean said. “They did win the SEC championship. But we both got the thing that meant the most.”
A short time later, Stetson Bennett was walking down a hallway, still in uniform after the postgame news conference, when he spotted a fellow quarterback: Matthew Stafford, who also learned the feeling of being a champion last year, embraced Bennett, then offered short but clear advice.
“Enjoy it,” Stafford said. “Enjoy it.”
Everyone was doing just that. The postgame celebration was not diminished by being the second in as many years. It was just different: Last year was more emotional and cathartic for so many fans who made the trip to Indianapolis. This year about as many came to Los Angeles, and they stayed and witnessed a much less dramatic victory. Evidently, the football gods determined the Peach Bowl win over Ohio State was enough, and this time Georgia basically wrapped it up in the second quarter.
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The most poignant moment was not a pick six or any on-field play. It was Smart calling a timeout in the middle of an offensive series, early in the fourth quarter, so Bennett could come out of the game and get an ovation. Smart called the timeout, but it was a collective clamor to give him the moment, according to receiver Kearis Jackson.
“We were on the sideline (saying), ‘We’ve got to get it going,’” Jackson said. “That wasn’t the plan, but when the game got out of hand, it was only right.”
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Jackson was asked why Bennett deserved that moment, by a reporter knowing the answer but seeking a player to voice it.
“Why Stetson? I think you can answer that question,” Jackson said. “I mean, Stet has been doubted his whole career here. Just the way he led us to another natty and won it. I think he should get a statue in Athens.”
Bennett was at first confused, asking his fellow offensive players why they didn’t have a play. Then he realized what was happening and walked off to hugs. This time he didn’t cry at the end of the game. Blowouts will do that, giving everyone time to absorb the moment.
“I always knew we could do it. But just the fact we did it,” junior left tackle Broderick Jones said, chuckling. “It’s hard. You know it’s not easy. We come in every day ready to work and just continue to work. I’m really at a loss for words, I don’t know what to think. It’s just amazing feeling to do it again.”
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It was almost comical. Junior nose tackle Nazir Stackhouse was asked what moment stood out and he started listing plays by freshmen — Jalon Walker and Bear Alexander getting sacks, Branson Robinson getting two touchdowns — as if this was a guarantee game, not a national championship. Yup, nice chance for the young players to get some reps.
“At the beginning of the year people were doubting us, they were saying, ‘Oh you lost too many players in the draft. What are you guys going to do this year?’” Stackhouse said. “All we could do was step up because guys like Travon Walker, Devonte Wyatt, Jordan Davis, we just learned from them, and we just knew our time was going to come eventually. And to come back to the national championship, win the SEC championship and be undefeated all season, it’s just a big accomplishment. It just feels so good.”
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This team had a way of finding the few doubters out there and exaggerating it for the purposes of motivation.
“There was always a ‘but’ factor with us this season,” Jackson said. “But just the fact we answered the ball every time, and now look at us now: national champs.”
Smart was asked why this team was able to go 15-0, unlike last year’s team and despite all the talent that left. Smart began by pointing out that of the four national championship teams he was a part of at Alabama, only one of those was unbeaten, and he considered that team “really special.”
The same goes for this team, Smart added, acknowledging a level of surprise that it turned out that way.
“Sometimes it takes a loss to galvanize, put your team in a spot to win. It did that last year. And it didn’t take that (this season),” Smart said.
The Missouri game was very close to that. But it was a win. The Ohio State game was even closer to being a loss, but Georgia survived, and it may have perfectly set up the demolishment of overmatched TCU: The Georgia defense, having been so victimized in the semifinal, approached the final game with a focus and desire that may not have been there otherwise.
“There’s some parts of me that think if the team last year played this year’s team, last year’s team probably had more talent on it,” Smart said. “But this year’s team was different. Like, they just had this eye of the tiger; they weren’t going to lose.”
What happened at halftime Monday night was a good example: Georgia was ahead 38-7, but there was no early celebration in the locker room, according to tailback Kendall Milton, who harkened to a video the team watches often: Kobe Bryant, someone who starred in this very city, talking after a Game 3 series win and being asked why he’s not celebrating, and Bryant replying: “I’m not done yet.”
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“That’s what we were saying when we came into halftime. The job’s not done yet,” Milton said. “Nobody was cheering, nobody was celebrating. We came out electric and came out playing Georgia football.”
These Bulldogs are now legends themselves. This team is only the second unbeaten national champion in Georgia football history, joining the fabled 1980 team.
“All the talk about the 15 players and we couldn’t do it again. And we did,” said outside linebacker Nolan Smith, who didn’t play the final half of the season because of a shoulder injury but remained a constant presence around the team. “And we tried to do it with a statement, and that’s what we did. We made a statement.”
“Everybody on this team that played last year, last year wasn’t enough for us,” Milton said. “The fact we came in every offseason (day), every part of spring ball, summer camp, winter camp, we kept working, we knew what the goal was, and we accomplished that goal tonight.”
But as Georgia learned last year, the story goes on. In the locker room, the phrase was thrown around: three-peat?
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Smael Mondon, the sophomore linebacker, was informed nobody has accomplished a three-peat since before World War II.
“Dang!” Mondon said, and it was all he could offer.
Milton managed a few more words.
“I’ve got three-peat in my mind,” Milton said. “So when we get back, we’re going to get back to work, and everybody who’s coming back next year we know what the standard is, and we know what the expectation is.”
But that’s next year. For the next two weeks, Smart has instructed his team to soak this one in, just like he instructed last year’s team. There are futures to be announced: Cornerback Kelee Ringo confirmed he is looking forward to this year’s NFL Draft and was joined in that decision by defensive lineman Jalen Carter. Others will mull whether to return to Georgia or see if there’s more opportunity to play elsewhere. And with Bennett’s now-legendary career over, a quarterback battle will ensue.
Bennett, however, has now cemented his spot in Georgia lore. Mike Cavan, the man who was the personal recruiter for Herschel Walker in 1980, sent out a tweet early Tuesday morning:
I just want everyone to understand that Stetson Bennett is the greatest player in the history of UGA. #StetsonBennett
— Mike Cavan (@CoachCavanUGA) January 10, 2023
And if Bennett does get a statue, part of the reason should be his decision to come back for this season, which sent a message to the rest of the team that one title would not do. In the early morning hours of Tuesday, Smart recalled the meeting during which Bennett told him he wanted to come back, three days after beating Alabama.
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“I’m trying to decide if I’m going to come back or ride off in the wind,” Bennett said, according to Smart’s recollection. “I don’t understand everybody’s telling me I should just ride off into the sunset, be the legendary quarterback who won a national title. That’s just not who I am. I don’t get it. Why should I do that when I have an opportunity to play again? Why don’t we go win it again?”
Smart wasn’t so sure.
“I’m kind of thinking, ‘Well that would be nice but we lost 15 draft picks. Might not be that easy this time,’” Smart said.
And yet there they were champions again. A coach who may now be the best ever at his program, just seven years in. A quarterback who walked on and became a legend. And so many others who are forever part of program lore.
The past is not quite the past, especially because everyone wants to be part of the present, the best-ever days Georgia football has ever seen.
“Enjoy it,” a Georgia quarterback told another Georgia quarterback on Monday night. “Enjoy it.”
Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic; Photos: Andy Lyons, Kevin C. Cox, Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)
