Guide To The College Football National Championship
Later tonight, the Southeastern Conference will claim its third straight college football national championship when No. 1 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia play for the trophy and all of the Dr. Pepper. The College Football Playoff’s final game is a rematch of last month’s SEC Championship that ended in a surprising 17-point victory for the underdog Crimson Tide.
Tonight, Kirby Smart’s Dawgs look to avenge that loss and win Georgia its first national title since 1980. On the other sideline, Alabama is playing for its, like, 47th national championship under Nick Saban (seventh, actually) and second in a row.
Before the CFP’s title fight begins, let’s go over some of the stuff you should know about the matchup.
Kickoff/TV Information
Unless you’re stuck watching The Bachelorette with the wife or have an excused absence, your eyes better be on Alabama-Georgia tonight. After all, it’s the last college football game of the season. This is must-see sports TV.
How to find it:
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET | Network: ESPN
Location: Lucas Oil Stadium; Indianapolis, IN
Other ways to watch: ESPN2, Coaches’ Film Room; ESPNU, Command Center; ESPNews, Skycast; SEC Network, Hometown Radio (Alabama 1H, Georgia 2H); even more on ESPN app
Betting Line
Currently, Georgia is laying 2.5 points to Alabama as the betting favorite in the game. There has been movement in the line, though. It was at 3 early Monday morning and dropped as low as 1 late last week.
As for the total on the game, the over/under sits at 52.5 points. The first meeting went over the total of 49 points in a 41-24 finish.
Good luck.
Saban (4-0) vs. Smart (0-4)
By now you should know the story. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is a former Nick Saban assistant at Alabama, LSU, and the Miami Dolphins. Smart was part of four of Saban’s national championships and 11 of Saban’s 12 years of success from 2004-15.
Now Smart is the coach at his alma mater, Georgia, and he can’t beat his old boss, Saban. They’ve met four times already—one regular-season game, two SEC Championship games, and the 2018 national championship—and Saban won all four.
A crazy stat from the Saban-Smart rivalry: Georgia had the lead or was tied for 71% of the time in the first four games.
Alabama’s Concerns
Offensive Line. There are injuries at all three spots on Bama’s interior line and questions of who will be playing won’t be answered until kickoff. One in particular, right guard Emil Ekiyor started all 14 games in 2021 but dislocated his shoulder in the first quarter of the Cotton Bowl. Ekiyor’s playing status is important to fend off Jordan Davis and Georgia’s D-linemen. He is one of several injured, including a starting center who missed the last two games, facing the best defensive line in football.
The good news? Alabama didn’t allow a sack against Georgia the first time around.
Brock Bowers. Georgia’s true freshman tight end torched Bama’s defense for 10 catches, 139 yards, and a touchdown in the SEC Championship game. The Napa, Californian was the only thing working for the Bulldogs in that loss and there may just be no way for Alabama to shut him down, as crazy as that sounds.
Nakobe Dean. A consensus All-American middle linebacker, Dean is the best defensive player in college football, the kind of NFL-ready talent who could already be starting on Sundays. He’s a nightmare for any quarterback whether he’s blitzing or in coverage or anywhere in between. Surviving the first battle won’t make the rematch any easier on Bryce Young. Thoughts of Nakobe Dean likely kept him up last night.
Georgia’s Concerns
Stetson Bennett IV. For starters, Georgia has the same minor concern it has had all season: the QB. Tonight’s starter, Stetson Bennett IV, who Kentucky faced in Athens, was never “the guy.” He’s a former walk-on who lucked into the job and managed to keep it. To his credit, he’s done well in that role.
Bennett IV isn’t a playmaker who can take the ball and go win a game on his own, but he has been good enough for Georgia which is why he is under center in the national championship game. Georgia’s hope is the defense carries the load and the Dawgs don’t need Bennett IV to be special. He doesn’t need to throw it 48 times like he did in the SEC Championship loss, or it’s another loss.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
DJ Lagway
Florida QB to return vs. LSU
- 2
Dylan Raiola injury
Nebraska QB will play vs. USC
- 3
Elko pokes at Kiffin
A&M coach jokes over kick times
- 4New
SEC changes course
Alcohol sales at SEC Championship Game
- 5
Bryce Underwood
Michigan prepared to offer No. 1 recruit $10.5M over 4 years
Bryce Young. Georgia’s defense won Bryce Young the Heisman when the Bulldogs allowed 421 yards passing, three touchdowns, 30 yards rushing, and another touchdown to Young in the SEC Championship. Young picked big, bad Georgia’s defense apart and never got taken down behind the line of scrimmage or forced into a turnover. If Georgia can’t pressure Young into trouble tonight, he’ll be putting the M.V.P. trophy next to his Heisman, both courtesy of Georgia.
Nick Saban. He’s no longer undefeated against former assistants–Jimbo Fisher finally ruined that recycled stat this season–but Nick Saban still owns his old employees, Kirby Smart included. As we already discussed, Saban is 4-0 against Smart and three of those were in championship fights. It’s hard to pick against him in any setting and he’s already shown once this season he can score on Georgia, the immovable object.
Saban with fresh tape and plenty of time to prepare? Good luck with that.
Halftime Show
Bad news, halftime show lovers. There is no halftime show.
In lieu of a live performance, ESPN will… drumroll, please… air the debut music video for Katy Perry’s new single, “When I’m Gone,” with Alesso. Whoa, calm down. Hold your applause.
Calling The Dawgs
Georgia fans began ‘calling the Dawgs’ before their planes touched down in Indianapolis. One of those flights was piloted by Cpt. Tom Lewis, a member of Georgia’s last national championship team. The video of him greeting his passengers is pretty cool.
Can you imagine getting on a flight full of Kentucky fans to New Orleans for the Final Four, and the pilot pulls down his mask to reveal he is Jay Shidler? It would be madness.
Also madness, another flight to Georgia had Dawg-calling at 30,000 feet. “Delta wants me to sit down, but I’m going to call the Dawgs one more time.”
Then last night, police were called to Indy’s popular St. Elmo restaurant for too much Dawg-calling at dinner.
Nick Saban’s Bomber Jacket
While Georgia fans made noise across commercial airlines and fine dining, Nick Saban let his jacket do the talking. Saban caught everyone’s attention when he arrived at the airport in a leather bomber.
On his radio show, Saban told listeners, “That jacket, whatever you want to call it, was in style, has been out of style, and is back in style. I have a new one and Terry says, ‘Why don’t you wear your new one?’ Are you kidding?”
KSR’s Predictions
Drew Franklin: Alabama 24, Georgia 23
Tyler Thompson: Alabama 27, Georgia 24
Nick Roush: Georgia 21, Alabama 17
Adam Luckett: Georgia 31, Alabama 20
Freddie Maggard: Alabama 29, Georgia 28
Jack Pilgrim: Alabama 35, Georgia 31
Zack Geoghegan: Alabama 31, Georgia 23
KSR Computer Model: Alabama 26.14, Georgia 25.85
Enjoy the last of college football. Enjoy the Katy Perry and Alesso, too.
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