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Millions of college football fans watched the SEC Championship game played Saturday between the previously-unbeaten Georgia Bulldogs and the defending national champions, 11-1 Alabama.
What is terrific about college football is that the regular season games are played on a weekly basis. Fans have a week to get fired-up for the game and a few days afterwards to either delight in victory or wallow in defeat.
With Georgia coming into the game undefeated and sporting college football’s best defensive unit in recent memory, fans of the Bulldogs were licking their paws with the chance to finally take down Alabama, win the SEC Championship, and, most likely, eliminate their crimson-clad conference opponents right out the door of the upcoming College Football Playoffs.
Georgia, you see, has not won a national championship since Herschel Walker ran roughshod over America’s college football landscape in 1980. Since that time, Alabama has won seven national championships.
One of my favorite humorists and writers, the late Lewis Grizzard (a Great American – whose columns were syndicated in over 450 newspapers) was a University of Georgia alumnus and a fanatical Dawgs football fan. He was at the 1980 Georgia championship game at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and considered it the highlight of his too-short life. He died in 1994 at age 47 and, according to his wishes, had some of his ashes scattered near the 50-yard line of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium.
After Alabama ran roughshod over Georgia 41-24 on Saturday, I was thinking about the title of one of Lewis Grizzard’s first books.
“They Tore Out My Heart and Stomped That Sucker Flat” was written by Grizzard in 1983. The book’s title (which was actually about his first open heart surgery) sums-up the feelings of millions of Georgia fans this week after Saturday’s butt-kicking administered by coach Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide.
Georgia was favored by nearly a touchdown coming into the SEC Championship game. No team had scored more than 17 points against their vaunted senior-led defense. The offense had been able ran the ball with ease and with a former walk-on quarterback in Stetson Bennett who looked more like a young Drew Brees as he smoothly operated the Georgia offense.
Yes, Georgia seemed to have everything going for them and looked poised for their biggest win since 1980’s national championship title game.
Like the Peanuts cartoon strip in which Lucy always pulls the football away from Charlie Brown right before he tries to place-kick it, Georgia’s football team, coaches, and fans just whiffed once again and will need some better luck to get one more try for success again in early January.
What’s worse is that Bama Nation (which isn’t used to being the underdog in any football game since Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007) is loudly proclaiming “We told you so!” after their win.
So, what happened to Georgia last Saturday to make their fans so gloomy this week?
Georgia actually took a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. From that point on, Alabama’s offense was literally unstoppable. The Crimson Tide scored 41 points over the final the rest of the game in less than three quarters.
Alabama’s sudden offensive onslaught against Georgia’s top-rated defense was quite impressive. After falling behind 10-0, here is how Alabama responded in the second quarter:
Alabama’s first score – Touchdown – 3 plays, 75 yards in 44 seconds
Second score – Touchdown – 6 plays, 80 yards in 2 minutes, 57 seconds
Third score – Field goal – 12 plays, 79 yards in 5 minutes, 13 seconds
Fourth score – Touchdown – 9 plays, 75 yards in 1 minute, 40 seconds.
Bama led 24-17 at the half.
In the first drive of the second half – Touchdown – 5 plays, 75 yards in 1 minute, 50 seconds.
Alabama was leading 31-17 early in the third quarter, and Georgia was forced to come from behind in the second half for the first time this season.
Apparently, Georgia’s offensive playbook didn’t contain a “Come from Behind” chapter. It was either non-existent or left back in Athens. That issue falls squarely on head coach Kirby Smart. The team apparently didn’t appear to have a viable game plan on what to do if you should fall more than a touchdown behind.
Meanwhile, Alabama’s head coach Nick Saban made several revealing comments in a post-game interview with the SEC Network:
“I knew we had the right mindset heading into the game. I have a tremendous respect for Georgia and the great season they had.” He added, “You’ve got to be able to block their front seven or the quarterback can’t operate. I think our offensive line and coaching staff did a really good job of scheming it up to give Bryce Young (QB) time to operate. Our receivers made some really good big plays. It all started, because we had decent protection (for the most part) all night.”
Right you are, coach!
Despite media reports to the contrary, Alabama’s offensive line (while not quite up to recent standards) still features a lot of quality players. With the exception of Clemson (which Georgia beat by a slim 10-3 margin in the season opener), Georgia’s pass rush didn’t face another team with as big and talented of an offensive line as Alabama. The Tide’s O-Line made some great adjustments in order to give their quarterback enough time to throw downfield.
When Coach Saban was asked about how he prepared his team for this game as an underdog, he surprised the SEC Network crew with this answer:
“Our players actually listen to what you all (the media) think and sometimes they believe it. And that’s sometimes a problem. This week, you guys were so pro-Georgia (insert snickering and laughs in the background) that I think it helped to motivate them to want to try to prove that we do have a good enough team to get into the playoffs as well.”
This is a very important comment. Alabama has not been a dominating team at times this season. They were taken to the wire by three teams which all finished 6-6 – Florida, LSU, and Auburn. If Coach Saban’s team can be easily distracted (hearing about how good Georgia’s team was), then this might explain a lot about this year’s Bama team which was fortunate to sidestep a few losses in games where (on paper) they were expected to perform better.
Saban’s young and less mature (by Bama standards) football team is more likely to lose focus. That should give fans of 13-0 Cincinnati hope that Bama’s players don’t take their upcoming game seriously enough.
Let’s return to our original question. What happened to Georgia against Alabama, and what should the Dawgs do now?
- Pay less attention to the media! Heed the advice of Alabama’s coach Nick Saban prior to your next game (vs. Michigan). As I watched the first quarter last Saturday, Georgia looked quite content in taking a 10-0 early lead. The team looked as if they were coasting and not mentally ready for a true battle over the remaining three quarters. Georgia (players and coaches) were taught a lesson by Bama. Learn from it!
- Stick with your game plan – until your team falls behind. Georgia should not apologize for being a big plodding offensive machine. The team’s offensive philosophy is definitely an “old school” SEC style featuring bruising running backs and a smart ball-control quarterback completing short passes to move the chains. There is nothing wrong with Georgia’s current quarterback (Stetson Bennett) as long as Georgia stays within one touchdown of the lead. Stetson Bennett is an accomplished ball-control quarterback. Making a change at quarterback after going 12-0 in the regular season might be an overreaction to the Alabama game. Stick with your guns to start the game, but…
- Have your “Plan B” offense ready if “Plan A” isn’t working. If Georgia falls behind, they should quickly trot-out a special hurry-up offense ready to go with highly touted back-up quarterback J.T. Daniels throwing the ball more often and with deeper pass routes. When the situation calls for a relief pitcher, the rest of this offense must be ready to block better for the passing game, too.
- Remember to have fun while playing the game! The pressure of remaining unbeaten is now off. Learn from the Alabama loss and then just move on. There is now just one unbeaten team remaining (Cincinnati). Georgia can still become the national champion by winning its next two games. Play the next game(s) as if there’s nothing to lose!
- And if you should get another shot at Alabama in the championship game…If Georgia beats Michigan and gets another chance to play Alabama in the championship game, ask yourself one question. “Other than the Alabama quarterback’s passing, which other player on the Alabama offense can beat us?” The answer is simple. No one. LSU and Auburn nearly pulled-off the upset by bringing extra defensive pressure on Bama QB Bryce Young, hurried his decisions and passes, and making him less effective. Alabama’s running game (ranked #80 out of 130 FCS teams) has been virtually non-existent this season and won’t emerge in the next month, either. Bring the heat – all night long!
I am looking forward to see how Georgia reacts in their national semifinal game against 12-1 Michigan on New Year’s Eve.