Pete Thamel believes there is a path for Georgia to miss the College Football Playoff

ESPN’s Pete Thamel believes there’s a path for Georgia to miss the College Football Playoff, following a loss to Alabama over the weekend.

You used to not be able to afford one loss in the regular season or sometimes, that’s all you can afford. Maybe Georgia can afford one more, but the Bulldogs could be behind the eight ball in the SEC.

As Thamel puts it, if the Georgia offense has to go into catch up mode against the elite teams, it could expose a flaw in the team that wasn’t seen before.

“There were some positive signs for (Carson) Beck and Georgia in the second half,” Thamel said on the College GameDay Podcast. “I think we all picked George to go to playoff … I happened to pick Texas to win the SEC. But it was not with, like, stand on the table conviction. It was those two. I do think there’s a path where they don’t make the playoff right now. 

“Like, I don’t think that’s a crazy statement at this point … I didn’t see a lot of playoff picks without Georgia there before the season.”

The key phrase from Thamel is “at this point.” When you look at the landscape of the SEC, Alabama and Texas are the top two teams currently.

Right now, the Crimson Tide and Longhorns are on a collision course for the SEC title in December. Georgia is the odd man out. Don’t forget, the Bulldogs still have to play Texas so it’ll either be a second loss at minimum or they’ll flip the script.

Does a 10-2 Georgia team make the playoff with its only losses being to Alabama and Texas and presumably one goes undefeated, or 12-1, and wins the SEC? One would think so, but there are plenty of other teams in the sea!

Thamel explained that it was quite natural to assume Georgia was going to be a juggernaut again and be heavily favored to win a third national title in four years.

“I talked to half a dozen scouts, three or four coaches who played each team, you know, going into this game. And there was this, like reluctance, acceptance of Georgia,” Thamel said. “Does that make sense? Like the talent individually was there, and people were very complimentary of it, but we hadn’t seen it. There was not, like an edge … there was just a little bit something missing. And Beck really epitomized that, right? Like, what was Carson Beck’s best career game …

“There’s not a signature performance. He’s obviously a very good player … But we had just never had that Quinn Ewers in Tuscaloosa performance, right? Baker Mayfield at Ohio State, when he literally plants the flag in the ground, where you say, that’s where that guy came out.” 

Beck’s been good, but not jaw dropping good, per Thamel. This season, he has 1,119 yards, 10 touchdowns, three interceptions and a 62.9% completion percentage.Sure, if he has one of those breakout performances, say against Texas, maybe you rethink the Georgia offense and team as a whole.

For now, the Bulldogs can’t afford many slip ups.