College Football Gets Its Inevitable Georgia-Alabama Title Rematch

A week after their Iron Bowl win, though offensively stagnant in the game, the Crimson Tide smashed the nation’s best defense, amassing over 500 yards of total offense against a Georgia team that was only allowing about 250 yards per game. Before surrendering 41 points to Alabama, the Bulldogs had given up more than 13 points in a game only once this season.

The loss dropped Georgia Coach Kirby Smart, once an assistant coach on Saban’s Alabama staff, to 0-4 against his former boss.

Afterward, Smart told reporters that the embarrassing loss after an undefeated season did little damage to the Bulldogs’ psyche.

“What it did was reinvigorated our energy,” Smart said. “It re-centers you.”

That was apparent in Georgia’s 34-11 thrashing of No. 2 Michigan in the Orange Bowl, a physical game in which the Bulldogs’ defensive unit was nearly perfect.

“We knew we were better than what we showed last game,” quarterback Stetson Bennett said during the Orange Bowl’s postgame trophy ceremony.

The Bulldogs will have a chance to avenge a poor performance at the line of scrimmage where, uncharacteristically, they were bullied in the SEC championship game. While Georgia had no trouble getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks all season, the team failed to record a sack against Alabama a few weeks ago.

But the Bulldogs’ athletic defense, as motivated as it will be at Lucas Oil Stadium, will face Alabama’s offensive line at its best.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/01/sports/ncaafootball/alabama-georgia-college-football-national-championship.html