ATHENS — Georgia football needs to “reset” for what amounts to a new season, according to former UGA and NFL star Benjamin Watson.

Watson, appearing on the DawgNation “On the Beat” podcast this week, shared how Georgia is already ahead in its preparation from a year ago leading up to playing in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.

“The fact that (Georgia) he has a starting quarterback is helpful,” Watson said, speaking on how Kirby Smart’s preparations might be better now than a year ago.

“You lose the starting quarterback (in the 2024 SEC title game), and then obviously all the things that happened around New Orleans from the terrorist thing, and the tragedy with his father, there were a lot of layers of what happened in the weeks leading up to and during the week of that game that hopefully don’t happen at all this time.

“It’s a new season and players have to think about it that way.”

Georgia beat Alabama 28-7 in the SEC championship game in Atlanta on Dec. 6 to advance to the CFP quarterfinal where it will face the winner of the Tulane at Ole Miss game, which is being played in Oxford on Dec. 20.

Watson, now an analyst with the SEC Network, suggests it would be hard for the momentum of the win over the Crimson Tide to carry over for 3 1/2 weeks.

“Sometimes you need to reset,” said Watson, who played at UGA from 2001-2003 and spent 16 years in the NFL after being selected as a first-round draft pick. “School (semester) is ending, guys are taking exams, everybody’s leaving campus … . all these things they have to navigate.

“But sometimes it’s good to get away for a couple of days, appreciate what happened, appreciate the fact that you’re SEC champs, appreciate the fact that you won back to back SEC championships, that you’ve been six times in a row.”

Georgia’s been back to practice and started work on prep for the next game, but there will be time off between now and the Sugar Bowl.

Watson is confident the Georgia coaching staff will prepare the team adequately.

“The biggest thing, I think, is that this team is starting to peak, it seems, at the right time,” Watson said. “Minus the Georgia Tech game … although it wasn’t all bad in that game either … . but the preparation that the coaches have designed for them will continue over the next couple of weeks.”

The No. 3-ranked Bulldogs, 12-1, will be looking for the same level of performance that enabled them to snap Alabama’s nine-game win streak in the SEC title game and 17-game win streak in games played in Atlanta.

“Georgia understood the assignment, and when you turn that tape on,” Watson said, “…. the physicality jumped off the page. It was like, you know what, we’re gonna be the most physical team.

“There was a play where Ellis Robinson comes up and hits the ball carrier, and this is a one-on-one tackle, and he does not hesitate he goes up and hits him right in the chest.

“Over and over again, you see that from Georgia.”

Ole Miss is a 17 1/2-point favorite to beat Tulane — a team it beat 45-10 earlier this season in Oxford that has a head coach, Jon Sumrall, who is in transition after accepting the Florida head coaching job.

The Bulldogs beat the Rebels 43-35 earlier this season in Athens, but Watson sees Ole Miss as no less dangerous.

“Ole Miss does a lot of things well, we saw it in Athens,” Watson said. “Until that fourth quarter, they were tit for tat with Georgia, (and) they were going up and down the field.

“They’ve got a running back in Kewan Lacey that’s over 1,000 (1,279) yards. They can run the ball, they can hit explosive plays. Trinidad Chambers, the quarterback there, he can hurt you with his legs and his arm, and so I’m expecting this to be an explosive game.”