Southeastern exposure
SEC’s Bulldogs, Tide face off for a much bigger prize than conference bragging rights: A national championship
Keys for Georgia
Chubb and Michel at their best. For starters, it’s difficult to imagine Georgia’s tailback tandem of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel doing much better than they did in the Rose Bowl against Oklahoma. Part of that is because they combined for 316 yards and five TDs on just 25 carries. Part of it is because Alabama’s defensive front is superior to Oklahoma’s. When Georgia lost its only game (Nov. 11 at Auburn), the duo mustered only 48 yards on 20 carries. They need to be effective for the Bulldogs’ offense to accomplish much against Alabama. Man in the middle. Georgia coach Kirby Smart knows a thing or two about great linebackers. He had three eventual Butkus Award winners while serving as Alabama’s defensive coordinator (Rolando McClain, C.J. Mosley and Reuben Foster), and each of them started on a national title team. This year’s Butkus winner is Roquan Smith (above), and he’s already collected SEC defensive player of the year, SEC title game MVP and Rose Bowl defensive MVP honors. If he’s as active as he was in the latter stages of the defeat of Oklahoma, Georgia will have a fine chance of silencing Alabama’s offense.
Keys for Alabama
Teacher against the pupil. Much was made about Alabama’s Labor Day weekend date with Florida State, when Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban (left, top) faced one of his former assistants, then-Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher, in the showcase game of the opening week. Alabama won that game, and Saban improved to 11-0 against his former assistants. That has more to do with having more talent on hand than just about anyone, but there’s also value in knowing how an opposing staff is likely to think. Saban is plenty familiar with Smart, who coached under him with Louisiana State, the Miami Dolphins and then Alabama for 11 total seasons. Control the trenches. No one does this better than Alabama, and it will be vital to do so if the Crimson Tide is to claim a fifth national title in nine years. For Alabama’s purposes, it is better to simply be adequate on the ground on offense while being impenetrable on defense. That’s how the Sugar Bowl victory over Clemson worked out. The Crimson Tide had a respectable 141 yards on 42 carries against the Tigers’ superb defense, but held Clemson to 64 yards on 33 carries. If Alabama can similarly suffocate Georgia— no easy task, to be sure— there’s a good chance it hauls home a title trophy.
Prediction
Alabama 20-17. Georgia’s probably not scoring 54 points on Minkah Fitzpatrick and Alabama. And the Crimson Tide probably isn’t going to hold the Bulldogs to less than 100 yards on the ground— not with only a week to get ready rather than nearly a month like it did against Clemson. Smart has done everything he could over the last two years to replicate the Saban blueprint in Athens, and the Bulldogs own an exceptional defense and a strong rushing attack. The same goes for Alabama, which will play in the national title game for the third year in a row. That experience could prove to be the difference if the Crimson Tide is to deny Georgia the chance to celebrate a title in Atlanta for the second time this season.