Bulldogs, Crimson Tide are a lot alike
Alabama and Georgia will play Saturday for the first time since 2008.
Such is the nature of scheduling in the SEC and the quirks of the Bowl Championship Series.
Alabama, for example, won the BCS title last year and Georgia won the SEC East.
The teams avoided each other in the SEC title game, however, because Alabama made the BCS title without winning the SEC West. LSU won the division and then defeated Georgia. TheTigers were “rewarded” with a rematch against Alabama, which LSU lost at the Superdome.
Alabama and Georgia will collide this week in the SEC title game in Atlanta, with the winner advancing to play Notre Dame for the BCS national title.
For teams that haven’t played in four years, Alabama and Georgia sure do look alike. Both play prostyle offenses and 3-4 defenses. Both schools have solid running games and expect their quarterbacks to efficiently manage games.
Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray leads the NCAA in passing efficiency with a rating of 177.5. Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron is second with a rating of176.26.
“Philosophically, there are a lot of similarities,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “There’s not a whole lot of tricks orgimmickswithusor them.”
Alabama won the last meeting with Georgia in 2008 on the way to the SEC West title. TheCrimsonTide lost the title game to Florida, which then won the BCS ti- tle over Oklahoma.
GeorgiacoachMark Richt said he would like to be similar to Alabama in other ways.
“They’ve been national championsandwehavenot,” Richt said of Alabama’s 2009 and 2011 BCS titles. “They’ve beenSECchampionsandwe have not.”
Both schools have lost one game this year — although Georgia’s 35-7 defeat at South Carolina was a lot worse than Alabama’s heartbreaking 29-24 home defeat to Texas A&M.
“We knew it was just one game,” Richt said of the South Carolina loss. “We lost together and we regrouped together. We didn’t panic, we just went back to work.”
Georgia’s defense turned the corner against the Florida Gators, overpowering UF during a17-9 win.
“I think everybody just locked in and understood why we’re here and what we’re doing this for,” Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones said. “Obviously, we made some goals early on at the beginning to come back and get to the point where we are today. I think South Carolina did a great job of reminding us and humbling us and got us on the right path.”
Georgia’s ShawnWilliams got his team’s attention during week leading up to the Florida game, calling out his defensive teammates for weak play. The bold remarks fired up his team.
“Shawn’s stepped up and been the big leader that he is,” Jones said of Williams. “Thatwas a turning point for us [in terms] of [getting] guys to see that we’ve got to work hard and we’ve got to improve every day. Then the guy just locked into it. We’ve beenfocusedandwe’vebeen disciplined and very coachable. That got us to the point where we are today.”