Georgia made an emphatic statement on Saturday night in Atlanta when it crushed rival Alabama by double digits, 28-7, to win its second consecutive SEC Championship Game.
The No. 3 Bulldogs (12-1) looked like a confident team that’s ready to fight for a national title. They controlled the tempo, ran the ball well and stopped the run too — limiting the No. 9 Crimson Tide (10-3) to -3 rushing yards.
However, this result was more about Alabama crumbling when it should’ve been playing its best football of the season. Georgia’s defense pitched a shutout through three quarters and left no doubt in the fourth when Alabama started to show some life.
In the end, the stats help tell the story: Alabama had 209 total yards, went 3-for-13 on third down, made one trip to the red zone (the Bulldogs went 4-for-4), gave up 3.0 sacks, had one turnover and possessed the ball for almost 14 fewer minutes than Georgia. Aside from penalties — Alabama had one, while Georgia committed seven — these are all the things you cannot do if you are going to win a game.
What does this mean in terms of the College Football Playoff picture, which will finally be revealed Sunday?
Here are my takeaways:
1. Georgia gets revenge
Alabama traveled to Athens in September and narrowly beat Georgia on its home turf, 24-21. After that, the Bulldogs reeled off eight consecutive wins, including three over ranked opponents, to finish the regular season strong and surge in the CFP rankings. Entering conference championship weekend, Georgia was ranked No. 3 in the CFP poll as a team that was expected to earn a first-round bye with a win.
The Bulldogs proceeded to put on a show in Atlanta with a resounding victory to clinch its second consecutive SEC title and third in four years. Plus, for head coach Kirby Smart and Georgia, it’s always important to beat Alabama.
“It’s not about redemption,” Smart said on the broadcast after the game. “[Alabama has] got a great program and a great head coach. It’s about our team. Our team was really physical tonight and played an excellent game.”
Georgia is playing its best football of the year. Smart has an experienced, physical team that’s playing with conviction and will be tough to beat moving forward into the postseason.
“We gotta keep getting better,” Smart added.
2. Georgia was the star of the show in the first half
Alabama couldn’t get anything going in the first half. It didn’t help that with 6:31 left in the opening quarter, Georgia blocked a punt and, on the next drive, needed just three plays to score a touchdown and take an early 7-0 lead.
Before the game, Smart talked about the importance of his special teams players executing in this specific game — and boy did they. On the Crimson Tide’s next series after the Bulldogs scored, Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson threw an interception that Georgia quickly turned into points. Just like that, it was 14-0.
The first half ended with pretty much nothing going Alabama’s way. The Crimson Tide had 17 rushing yards and 70 total yards to show for themselves, with only four first downs and one successful play on third down. Time of possession was a factor, too, as Georgia had the ball for nearly double the amount of time (19:59) as Alabama (10:01).
3. More of the same in the second half
Alabama got the ball to start the second half and proceeded to go three-and-out, which included an incomplete pass from Simpson and a sack for a nine-yard loss. Georgia scored on its first series when sophomore running back Nate Frazier rushed for a 9-yard score to give his team a 21-0 lead.
Things only got worse for the Crimson Tide after that. Alabama finally got on the board early in the fourth quarter, but Georgia delivered the dagger when quarterback Gunner Stockton found wide receiver Zachariah Branch for a 13-yard touchdown to go up 28-7 with 6:51 remaining in the game. Georgia had excellent field position going into the possession after Alabama went for it on fourth-and-2 from its own 12-yard line and failed to convert.
Stockton, who was thrust into this game a year ago after former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck was injured, went a solid 20-for-26 for 156 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers.
“This is awesome, [and] … I think we’re clicking now in the right moment,” Stockton said on the broadcast after the game. “Everybody is having fun playing football and enjoying what they’re doing.”
4. What happened to Alabama?
This is the time of year when CFP hopefuls are supposed to be playing their best ball. That was not the case for Alabama. The offense was especially confounding, with Simpson — a Heisman Trophy candidate — going 19-for-39 for 212 yards with one touchdown and one interception. On average this season, Simpson has been completing more than 65% of his passes.
He had a strong performance against Georgia in September, but his passing game was off this time around. Georgia got pressure and made Simpson uncomfortable. He missed open guys, his receivers dropped a couple of passes and there was no rhythm. Star wideout Ryan Williams had two catches for 33 yards and was targeted five times. Germie Bernard scored the Crimson Tide’s lone touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but that didn’t create the momentum they hoped it would.
This was Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer’s first SEC title game. Fans on message boards have started clamoring for his head, just as they did after the team’s season-opening loss to Florida State in August.
What does this result mean for the Crimson Tide’s CFP hopes? Last year, Alabama went 9-3, didn’t play in the SEC championship game and was left out of the 12-team field. What will the committee decide to do this time?
4 ½: What’s next?
Both teams now await their CFP fate.
We know Georgia’s. With such an impressive win, the Bulldogs are SEC champions, will finish in the top four and should earn a first-round bye.
Alabama’s future is less clear. Entering this weekend, the thought was that Alabama wouldn’t necessarily be punished with a loss in a conference title game, given it was ranked No. 9 coming into the matchup. However, this game wasn’t close, and getting blown out might be a different story.
Regardless, you know that No. 10 Notre Dame (10-2) and No. 12 Miami (10-2) are on the edge of their seats.
Things are a little messy now but all will become clear in less than 24 hours.
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.
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