As Nick Saban crowns Kirby Smart, Georgia football, any hope for little Clemson? | Toppmeyer

Georgia registered as “Georgia” in college football’s lexicon when the Bulldogs last played Clemson in September 2021 .

Good program. On the verge of being a great. But, not Alabama. Not a dynasty. Not a superpower. Not then, anyway.

Georgia’s lone touchdown in that 10-3 victory against Clemson came off a pick-six.

A few evolutions happened since then.

Kirby Smart unshackled himself from JT Daniels and put the offense in Stetson Bennett IV’s hands. Georgia won two national championships and became college football’s premier program, in addition to being a recruiting juggernaut.

Oh, and Nick Saban retired.

Saban lingered as the one coach Smart couldn’t master. Saban beat Smart five times in six tries. He’s the only coach to beat Smart in the past three seasons. That’s no longer an issue.

As No. 1 Georgia prepares to face No. 14 Clemson on Saturday, the Bulldogs now occupy additional terrain in the lexicon. They’re not just Georgia. They’re the “new Alabama.” They can cement that by creaming Clemson .

'Mantle has been passed' to Kirby Smart after Nick Saban's retirement

Saban didn’t just beat regular-season nonconference opponents. Alabama whipped them, much like Georgia did to Oregon in a 2022 dismantling.

Oddsmakers list Georgia as a 13½-point favorite against Clemson.

Saturday’s meeting in Atlanta won’t be a sequel to Georgia’s 2021 struggle against Clemson. Both teams played subpar quarterbacks in that ’21 game.

Dabo Swinney struck it big with Clemson quarterbacks Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence. Each delivered a national championship win against Alabama. Since Lawrence, though, Clemson has spun its tires at quarterback, while Smart solved his quarterback dilemma.

Bennett proved the missing piece for Smart’s championship puzzle. Then Bennett gave way to Carson Beck, a Heisman-caliber talent.

Combine Beck with a depth chart that only Ohio State rivals, and you have Saban giving Smart his flowers.

Saban, during the Week 0 edition of “College GameDay,” predicted Georgia would enter the College Football Playoff as the No. 1 seed and win the national championship.

Nobody thinks more highly of Saban than Saban. And without the GOAT, Saban expects Alabama will take one step backward, while Smart wields the scepter.

“Somebody has to prove that they can beat Georgia," Saban said on “GameDay.” "So, I got to pick Georgia."

Et tu, Brute?

Saban proved he can beat Smart. Few others have.

You have to go back to former Texas coach Tom Herman's 2019 New Year’s Day bowl victory against Georgia to find the last active coach to beat Smart.

Saban's retirement marked an official torch passing.

“I think the mantle has been passed to (Smart),” LSU’s Brian Kelly told me in April .

With that mantle comes national championship expectations.

For the second straight year, voters overwhelming tapped Georgia as No. 1 in the preseason polls. That used to be Saban’s rite of summer. Now, a No. 1 ranking in August is an honor bestowed on “new Alabama.”

As Smart said years ago: “Pressure is a privilege.”

Saban preached the same.

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Georgia football being 'new Alabama' calls for dominance, not just wins

Stepping into Alabama’s shoes calls for Georgia to do more than simply beat Clemson.

Saban’s Tide crushed nonconference opponents, even those with a ranking next to their name.

Alabama won every regular-season nonconference game from 2008-21 by double digits. Its streak of nonconference dominance started with a 34-10 smothering of little ol’ Clemson to begin the 2008 season.

Clemson ranked No. 9 entering that game. That hardly mattered. Big, bad Bama was taking shape.

So whipped, the Tigers were, that their coach Tommy Bowden called Saban after the game for advice.

Whatever Saban told Bowden didn’t work. Clemson fired Bowden later that season and promoted Swinney.

Saban split his four duels with Swinney. Each of those meetings occurred in the postseason. In the regular season, Saban busied himself crushing the likes of Penn State, Wisconsin, Southern Cal, Michigan, Florida State or Miami.

Not until Alabama’s games against Texas the past two seasons did Saban’s mastery of nonconference opponents begin fading.

With Saban off the sideline and onto the TV screen, it’s Kirby’s time, but to prove Georgia's credentials as the “new Alabama,” a simple victory against Clemson won’t do.

Inheriting the crown of “new Alabama” requires soul-stomping dominance.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer .

Subscribe to read all of his columns. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered , and newsletter, SEC Unfiltered .

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: As Nick Saban crowns Kirby Smart, Georgia football, any hope for little Clemson? | Toppmeyer