Malaki Starks joined the Georgia football program in the afterglow of the Bulldogs lifting a national championship trophy for the first time in 41 years and then helped the Bulldogs do it again.
The safety knew nothing but winning in his first 27 games, but then the aura of invincibility met a new reality with losses in three of the next 11 games starting against Alabama in last year’s SEC championship game, which kept the Bulldogs out of the playoff.
This year has been an adventure for a Georgia team that still found its way back to Atlanta for a fourth straight season and a Saturday SEC championship matchup with Texas.
“A lot of people questioned us about how the year is going and what type of team we have, our abilities and what we can do,” Starks, the former Jefferson High star, said.
It came with a rugged road schedule that had its ups and downs.
“I think this year hasn’t been easy,” fifth-year senior quarterback Carson Beck said. “It’s been challenging. It’s been more difficult than years past, at least since I’ve been here as far as the road to how we got here, right? It hasn’t been all butterflies and rainbows and win every game by 50 or 40.”
The Crimson Tide, with Nick Saban no longer on the sideline, overwhelmed Georgia in a first-half avalanche and then withstood a fierce Bulldog comeback to win 41-34.
Ole Miss dominated the Bulldogs and fans twice stormed the field to celebrate a 28-10 takedown.
Those were the low points part of a season that saw Georgia looking like Georgia teams of the past in taking over the opener against Clemson and rolling to a 34-3 win. The first half against Texas, in a 30-15 win, was one of the best 30-minute spans under Kirby Smart. Beck shined in a 31-17 electric home win over Tennessee in a matchup of playoff contenders.
There were wins that could be classified as clunkers: 13-12 at Kentucky, 41-31 against Mississippi State and maybe even 59-21 over UMass.
It seemed only fitting then the Bulldogs may have all but clinched a playoff spot by rallying from down two touchdowns in the final five minutes of regulation and needing eight overtimes to beat Georgia Tech last Friday night, 44-42.
“I stayed up and watched it,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “That was a marathon. I was exhausted watching it myself.”
It’s been exhausting at times for Georgia fans this season, who have lived through a lot, as these numbers posted on X by Brandon Zimmerman of ESPN/SEC Network illustrate: Trailing in seven of 10 games vs. power conference teams, overcoming halftime deficits in wins over Kentucky, Florida and Georgia Tech and double-digits deficits in wins over Tennessee and Georgia Tech.
“Georgia’s got the heart of a champion,” Sarkisian said. “You see it time and time again. You watch their game against Georgia Tech, when it looked like they were dead and gone and they fought their way all the way back.”
Against Georgia Tech, Dominic Lovett caught a pair of touchdown passes inside the final four minutes to force overtime.
“No matter how much time left, no matter what down it is, we always believe,” Lovett said. “Just make that play in that moment and we’ll be fine.”
Georgia is 10-2 despite its defense giving up 20.5 points per game — the most since Kirby Smart’s first season in 2016.
“Any explosive play or any penalty that extends the drive has almost been catastrophic,” he said. “Like, we can’t stop anybody if that happens, and we have not overcome that well. What we have done is stop people when we’ve had to, played well in the red area.”
Georgia has been outscored 60-55 in the first quarter this season, but outscored opponents in each of the next three quarters by a growing margin each quarter, including 123-47 in the fourth quarter.
“When you get to the fourth quarter and you’ve got to have it, you make it happen,” Beck said. “In pressure moments and pressure situations, I’ve been in those my entire life. It doesn’t really feel like pressure. That’s what I love to do. …As a team and an offense, we’ve really excelled in those moments.”
Said tight end Ben Yurosek: “No matter what happens, what we’re faced with, we’re ready to put our head down and keep working no matter the situation. It shows a lot about the team and its character.”
Starks said making it to Atlanta once again says a lot about the makeup of this team and that it’s in the perfect spot.
“We’ve been battle-tested,” he said, “For sure.”
“Here we are in this position,” Beck said, “with everything that we want in front of us. I know the guys are excited, I’m excited. Even though it hasn’t gone exactly how we wanted it to, we’re exactly where we want to be.”
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