College Football Playoff national championship: Keys to the game for Alabama and Georgia
Georgia and Alabama will clash for the College Football Playoff national championship Monday night in Indianapolis. Here are five things to know about the matchup:
Georgia secondary in line of air attack
Alabama has roughed up Georgia’s secondary the last two times they’ve gone up against it, even with a largely revamped group there this season.
The Bulldogs gave up 421 passing yards and three touchdowns to Bryce Young in the SEC championship game loss and 417 yards and four touchdowns in a regular season defeat in Tuscaloosa in 2020 to Mac Jones.
The Bulldogs have to find an answer to slow down Crimson Tide game-breaker Jameson Williams.
“Just gotta lock in, do what we normally do, don't try to do too much,” cornerback Derion Kendrick said. “And just everybody make plays, just top collegiate level. So everybody is going to make plays. It's about what you do next play.”
Williams grabbed 10 catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the 41-24 Tide win Dec. 4, including touchdowns of 67 and 55 yards.
“We need to communicate so we don’t have those types of busts in the pass game,” inside linebacker Quay Walker said.
Williams has 1,507 receiving yards — third on Alabama’s single-season list — and 15 receiving touchdowns.
Alabama lost junior John Metchie to an ACL tear in the SEC championship game after he had six catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. Ja’Corey Brooks stepped up with four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown in the semifinal win over Cincinnati.
“With John being down, obviously creating more opportunity for the younger guys,” running back Brian Robinson said. “I feel like they've been doing a great job. So I just feel like we can kind of play again for Metchie, where we need them, from some guys on the team.”
Kendrick said Georgia will bring the same approach to the game but a different attitude.
“You've got to go out there, do what we do because we didn't play a good game at all on the defensive side of the ball,” he said. “We've got to help the offense out as well.”
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Putting pressure on Bryce Young
Georgia entered the SEC championship game allowing 6.9 points per game and surrendered 41 points. One touchdown came off a Stetson Bennett pick six, but Georgia’s pass rush didn’t have a single sack.
“We got really, really close a couple times,” Walker said, “but at the end of the day, you've just got to finish.”
Georgia has averaged 3.5 sacks in its other 13 games — including four against Michigan in the Orange Bowl. The Bulldogs rank fourth in the nation in sacks per game.
The problem is closing on Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young and his mobility.
“He did a good job of moving around in the pocket, of creating time,” coach Kirby Smart said. “He's really way more elusive than people give him credit for. Extremely good athlete. Has elite spatial awareness. He knows where people are, where his people are, where he's protected, where he's going with the ball beforehand.”
Smart said Georgia mixed up its pressures but to no avail, since the Bulldogs defenders who got in the backfield couldn’t bring Young down.
“They did a good job picking those pressures up,” Smart said. “And at the end of the day, there's four or five guys that are one-on-one up there. Somebody's got to win one-on-one. And a lot of times you're better at pressure when you're not on the field as long and you're winning some third downs.”
Some Georgia players said they were gassed.
The Crimson Tide averaged 9.6 yards per attempt in the SEC championship game. The Bulldogs’ opponents are averaging 5.5 this season, second-best nationally, according to CFBstats.com.
“We've got to get to the quarterback,” outside linebacker Nolan Smith said. “There's nothing else about it. Last game, we did not do that. And I know a lot of people felt hurt after that one. I hold myself and my room accountable and also the D line. … We have to find a way. I believe in our coaches. I trust in the plan that we now are talking over still to be able to do that.”
Alabama’s offensive line is beat up after its semifinal win over Cincinnati.
Right guard Emil Ekiyor exited the game with a shoulder injury and right tackle Chris Owens sustained a lower body injury.
“For our offensive line to play well and be effective — whether it's a run, whether it's a pass… I think most plays are going to start with how well can we do up front against an outstanding front seven unit who's proven that all year long,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said.
Michigan tight ends coach Jay Harbaugh said before the game that Georgia’s front “is the best front we’ve faced. It’s interesting because you know how they’re going to line up and you know what they’re going to do and it becomes kind of a battle of leverage and physicality.”
It should be that Monday night.
Georgia offensive line vs. Will Anderson
Georgia offensive tackles Jamaree Salyer and Warren McClendon kept Bennett upright most of the time against Michigan.
Vaunted pass rushers Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo and teammates didn’t record a single sack.
Now here comes Will Anderson Jr. again, who leads the nation with 17½ sacks and 34 1.2 tackles for loss. In the first game, Anderson had one sack, two tackles for loss and six tackles.
“He's an exceptional rusher, twitchy, plays so hard, high motor, physical toughness,” Smart said.
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Offensive coordinator Todd Monken said Georgia needs to account for where the 6-foot-4, 243-pound Hampton, Ga., native is, and not just as a rusher.
“He does a really good job, if you get into the zone-read game, where he tries to hit you at the junction point and tries to disrupt from the open side,” Monken said. “And he plays with relentless effort. I think he has a tremendous skill-set."
Georgia found motivation in Michigan’s offensive line winning the Joe Moore Award for the nation’s best unit up front. It helped pave the way for an offense that put up 528 yards of total offense and 34 points.
“Somebody that made that decision that's a lot smarter than me, but we've got a hell of an offensive line, too,” Smart said, “and our guys played with a chip on their shoulder.”
Stetson Bennett round 3 with Alabama
Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett is 13-3 as a starter, including 0-2 against Alabama.
In two games against the Crimson Tide, he’s 47 of 88 for 609 yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions.
“I thought I played all right in the SEC championship game,” Bennett said. “I made a few mistakes that you can't do against a good team. But I also made some really good throws, good decisions. So my main focus going into the Michigan game was cleaning up on the mistakes and keep doing what I had been doing well.”
Bennett was 20 of 30 for 313 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions against Michigan, hitting downfield completions to James Cook and Jermaine Burton, who had a 57-yard catch. He also showed he’s a threat out of the pocket when he got loose for a 20-yard gain.
“His ability to move out of the pocket, I think that's one of his biggest and strongest abilities he has,” Anderson said. “He can extend plays with his arms as well. But we just have to contain him. I think that's the biggest part of his game is his legs and him running all around the field."
Georgia converted on 10 of 16 third downs against Michigan after going just 3 of 12 against Alabama.
Monken said Bennett’s troubles in the second half against Alabama overshadowed what he called “outstanding” first halves.
“He has everything we need to be successful offensively,” Monken said. “The first turnover a year ago was a batted ball that was out of his control. The second interception was a tipped pass on an end cut that went directly to them. The third one was a poor decision. So the bottom line is I can do better as a coordinator to put him in better position to be successful."
Brock Bowers no ordinary freshman
During the first quarter of the Orange Bowl, former NFL All-Pro tight end Greg Olsen took to Twitter to heap some praise on Brock Bowers, the Georgia freshman.
“Brock Bowers is the best young TE I’ve seen in a LONG time,” he posted. “He’s a 1st round pick if he could come out as a TRUE FRESHMAN! #special”
Fortunately for Georgia, Bowers still has two college seasons before he can turn pro.
He set a record for touchdowns in a single season with 12 and leads the team with 52 catches for 826 yards, both program bests for a tight end.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Bowers had 10 catches for 139 yards and a touchdown in the SEC championship game against Alabama.
“I think this guy is one of the premier players in college football,” said Saban, who coached NFL first-rounder OJ Howard and second rounder Irv Smith at Alabama. “I know he's just a freshman. But this guy's got great size. He's a good blocker. He's physical. He's tough. And he's got wide receiver skills in every way, shape or form, which makes it difficult being a bigger guy for bigger guys to cover him, and it makes it also difficult for smaller guys to cover him.”
Bowers has topped the Bulldogs in catches in nine games this season, including the last four. He had six catches for 68 yards and a touchdown against Michigan.
“This guy is just a phenomenal football player all the way around,” Saban said. “They do a really good job of featuring his talents as well. And he's been extremely productive in a lot of ways. I know everybody always knows the passes he catches, but also a really good blocker and does a good job in his part of executing whatever he needs to do to help his teammates have success as well.”