Ricky Dimon
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It’s easy to overreact to any game in its immediate aftermath. But I’m pretty confident that if Georgia had not defeated Alabama on Monday night, the Bulldogs never would have – at least not in the Nick Saban and Kirby Smart eras.
After all, this was arguably the best team in the history of Georgia’s program. This was one of Alabama’s worst – or at least youngest – during Saban’s era. When the Crimson Tide’s already inferior talent level was hit hard by injuries (both before and during the College Football Playoff National Championship), it became clear that this was now or never Georgia.
The pressure was on, and for three quarters it looked like it would be too much for quarterback Stetson Bennett and the Bulldogs. Instead, UGA finished with a flurry to take down its arch rival and nemesis with a 33-18 triumph for the school’s first national title since 1980.
Let’s break down how it happened and what it could mean moving forward.
Dawgs on top (and deservedly so)
Alabama fans can make all the excuses they want (and based on the looks of Twitter, they already are!). Some of those excuses are legitimate, as the Crimson Tide played the whole game without their best receiver (John Metchie III tore his ACL in the SEC Championship) and most of the game without their second-best receiver (Jameson Williams appeared to sustain a similar injury in the second quarter). But the bottom line is that all things being equal, Georgia was by far the best team in the country. The Bulldogs played three bad quarters of football the entire season (all in the SEC Championship). Outside of that, no other team – Alabama included – was even in the same ballpark as the Dawgs.
The Crimson Tide played one great game; they played several bad games and several more mediocre games. They were extremely lucky to lose only once during the regular season and even luckier just to get into the College Football Playoff. Saban’s squad almost lost to a weak Florida team and would have suffered a crippling second loss if Auburn had simply stayed in bounds while running out the clock at the end of the Iron Bowl. The Tide frequently messed around with common opponents that the Dawgs routinely beat by four touchdowns.
Alabama played with fire one too many times and got burned for a second time on Monday night. Left alone as the one superstar on offense and facing a defense that has no less than four superstars, Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young constantly had to force throws he didn’t want to make. The result was two interceptions. Young also made plenty of plays that kept his team in it almost the whole way, but when the Tide had opportunities they almost always ended up settling for field goals (four of them, to be exact).
It’s true that the final score would have been closer if ‘Bama had turned a field goal or two into touchdowns. It’s also true that this game would have been a complete blowout if two close calls hadn’t gone Alabama’s way. On the first possession of the night, Georgia returned a Young fumble for a touchdown. It was overturned as an incomplete pass and the Tide eventually kicked a field goal. That’s a 10-point swing. In the fourth quarter, Alabama’s lone touchdown came immediately following a Bennett fumble that probably should have been ruled an incomplete pass. That’s a 7-point swing. I’m not a math major, but even I know all of that adds up to 33-18 almost being 40-8.
The ‘ship was close most of the way. The two teams involved were not.
PICK SIX FOR THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP! GEORGIA CLINCHES IT pic.twitter.com/HaB39BBN9c
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) January 11, 2022
Bama will be back (obviously)
All of that being said, Alabama will be back. Young can’t go pro yet and therefore he will return as the Heisman Trophy favorite. In addition to having the best offensive player in college football, Crimson Tide also feature arguably the best defensive player. Linebacker Will Anderson is only a sophomore; he’ll be going back to Tuscaloosa. Who knows how many recruits and transfers Saban will add to his stable over the next few months?
Both ‘Bama and UGA will be losing a fair amount of personnel to the NFL. The Bulldogs are losing their defensive coordinator to Oregon. No matter. Both teams will reload. They are already +200 co-favorites to win the 2022 National Championship. No other team is better than +800 at FanDuel (Ohio State, followed by Clemson at +1000).
We’re going to be running it back in the 2022 season.
And maybe – again – more than once.
Check out our early best bets for who wins next season’s CFP National Championship!
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