Are you getting tired of seeing the same familiar faces in the college football national championship? Think the SEC has too strong of a grip on the season finale every year? Fine, but don’t be the person who looks away and then wishes they hadn’t.
Alabama (13-1, No. 1 seed) and Georgia (13-1, No. 3 seed) will play for the national championship Jan. 10 in Indianapolis. It will be a rematch of the SEC championship, where Alabama dismantled the Bulldogs’ stout defense, as well as a rematch of the 2018 national title game, which Alabama also won in overtime.
Gripe all you want, but the goal of the College Football Playoff is to pit the game’s two best teams against each other. Did it not work?
How they got here
Alabama and Georgia breezed through their semifinal games on New Year’s Eve. The Crimson Tide handled No. 4 seed Cincinnati 27-6; the Bulldogs took care of No. 2 seed Michigan 34-11. There was little doubt about the result of both games by halftime.
A dominant showing was more important for Georgia, which was coming off of its first loss of the season against Alabama in the conference title game, a 41-24 undoing at the hands of eventual Heisman-winning quarterback Bryce Young.
The road to the playoff was on somewhat shaky ground for the Tide heading into that SEC championship, then ranked third by the CFP committee.
Alabama was a one-loss team (a 41-38 heartbreaker at Texas A&M in October) and regarded as one of Nick Saban’s more vulnerable teams.
The Bulldogs’ fate was hardly in doubt. They fielded the most dominant defense all season to go along with an offense that, even if not exciting by today’s standards, ranks third in points per play.
Keys to the game
Georgia needs to keep Young from pulling off another career game — or hope he forgets his Superman cape in the locker room. Alabama hardly ran the ball against the Bulldogs last time, opting for an aerial attack that saw Young to 421 passing yards and four total touchdowns (one rushing).
Georgia has playmakers all over its defense, but the best of them are in the front seven: speedy linebacker Nakobe Dean and 360-pound nose tackle Jordan Davis. Against Michigan, a team that prided itself on a physical running game, Georgia gave up only 3.4 yards per carry and came up with four sacks.
Somehow making Alabama play into that strength could turn the game into more of the slugfest style the Bulldogs would prefer.
Alabama will be without one of its main playmakers in wide receiver John Metchie, who tore his ACL in the SEC title game, but the Tide aren’t hurting for players who can make a difference. Aside from Young, wide receiver Jameson Williams and running back Brian Robinson Jr. are plenty enough keep Georgia’s hands full.
The Bulldogs’ defensive secondary isn’t a pushover, but Saban’s offense already made its money there once and will likely try doing it again for another trophy.
‘Once again’ or ‘at long last’?
Alabama is going for back-to-back national championships for the second time under Saban and its seventh overall since he took over in 2007. Three of those titles have come in the CFP era, including last season.
Georgia hasn’t won a national championship since 1980, well before an actual championship game was introduced. In their last opportunity against Alabama in 2018, the Bulldogs were outscored 20-7 in the second half and lost in overtime on a 41-yard pass from Tua Tagovailoa to DeVonta Smith.
If Georgia wins this time, it will be the first No. 3 seed to win a title in the CFP era. No. 1 seeds have won twice.
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853 or email at tylerf@indyrecorder.com. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
