Tonight's matchup between Alabama and Georgia Football will pit the two best teams in the nation against each other. The Rolling Tide entered the playoffs as the #1 seed and proceeded to route the Cincinnati Bearcats 27-to-6 to make it here. The Bulldogs had a harder road to the final but still managed to dominate the Michigan Wolverines 34-to-11. Both Alabama and Georgia were particularly impressive on the defensive side of the ball, both teams limiting their opponents to less than 100 rushing yards, while Alabama limited Cincinnati to only 218 total yards.
A very interesting side note to this whole game is the presence of Bishop Hendricken Graduate Xavier Truss with the Georgia Bulldogs. Truss, a 4 star Blue Chip prospect, maybe the only one ever To come out of RI high school football, has his choice of power D1 programs to attend during his recruiting process. 247 Sports and almost everyone else predicted Truss would fall with Penn State, but last minute ended up going with the Georgia Bulldogs. It looks like he made the right choice. We will be routing for Truss as a local hero at Lucas Oil Stadium tonight.
It's true that these teams are clearly the two best in the nation, but how much separation is there between them and the rest?
Georgia has an on-paper edge against Alabama, holding the #2 ranked defense to Alabama's #6 based on total yards allowed per game. Both teams also have NFL-ready personnel on this side of the ball, with 9 Georgia defenders and 10 Alabama defenders expected to hear their names called come April.
Alabama certainly has an edge on offense however, and for as closely these two juggernauts lie on defense, the offensive difference is quite noticeable. Alabama holds the #6 ranked offense based on total yards per game, and Georgia has achieved #23 in the nation for this category. The keys to these teams fire power are clear opposites, yet just as powerful as each other.
Alabama's passing offense behind Heisman Trophy winning QB Bryce Young, has been lethal and efficient all year. The true sophomore has thrown over 4,500 yards this season including 46 touchdowns to only 5 interceptions. The team's plethora of absurd wide receiver talent has contributed to this, including Jameson Williams and John Metchie III who combined for 2,650 yards and 23 touchdowns by themselves. Nick Saban usually puts an emphasis on his rushing attack, which behind Senior RB Brian Robinson Jr. was wildly successful and still held a back seat to airing it out with Young's arm.
Georgia has had the opposite approach, holding a dominant run game throughout the year. Georgia's game plan this year is to dominate both lines of scrimmage. Their offense will methodically drive the ball down the field using a three running back attack including team-leading rusher Zamir White, Senior James Cook, and Junior Kenny McIntosh. Putting up 2,700 yards and 28 TD's on the ground is impressive for any team, but doing it in the SEC is completely baffling when also keeping in mind the team was throwing the ball 27 times a game. Speaking of the passing game, Georgia did it well but was not as effective as other top teams. Starting the year was transfer QB J.T. Daniels who had a decent couple games but was injured early. Senior QB Stetson Bennett stepped in and was able to run the offense better than people expected, but there are still questions of whether or not he can win the big one.
Those questions were only heightened when the Rolling Tide cruised past the Bulldogs in the SEC Championship one month ago.
Georgia was undefeated at 12-0 before running into Alabama and losing 41-to-24. Alabama was able to throw for 421 and 3 against the second best defense in the nation, while forcing two interceptions from them. The game was razor thin in the first half but was broken wide open by a 55-yard bomb to Jameson Williams to start the third quarter and Bama never looked back.
Good thing for the Bulldogs, they aren't playing for the SEC Championship tonight, they'll be playing for the National Championship and the claim for the best team in the nation for the year 2021.
This will be Alabama's 6th time playing in this game in the last 7 years having won three of those games including their 2017 trophy against Georgia in their lone appearance since the start of the College Football Playoffs.
Will Geogia get revenger for 2017 and the SEC Championship behind stellar defense and dominating football? Or will Nick Saban and company continue the greatest NCAAF dynasty ever seen with another ring?
Find out tonight @ 8 p.m. EST on ESPN.
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-Z.D.
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