Instant Analysis from Alabama's SEC Championship Loss

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ATLANTA–– For the first time in 17 years, Alabama walks away the losing team of a game in Atlanta. You have to go all the way back to Nick Saban's second season and first SEC title game appearance with the Crimson Tide in 2008 when Alabama lost to Florida.
Kalen DeBoer also lost in his first SEC title trip with Alabama. No. 3 Georgia handily beat No. 9 Alabama, 28-7 inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday night, putitng the Crimson Tide's College Football Playoff hopes in jeopardy.
"Just got to credit first of all Georgia, what they did today," DeBoer said after the game. "You got two teams, congratulations to them, Coach Smart, but you got two teams out there, know each other pretty well over the last two seasons, what the strengths are. Two teams that fight. Two teams that play hard. Got to this point, laid it out on the line."
In DeBoer's previous two matchups against the Bulldogs, Alabama has jumped out to early leads, but it was the opposite case on Saturday night. The Crimson Tide offense struggled all night, and Georgia held a 14-0 lead at halftime.
Georgia's first touchdown came after a blocked punt gave the Bulldogs the ball at the Alabama 21. The Bulldogs' second score came after an interception. As bad as the first half was, Alabama was only down two scores and would get the ball to start the second half.
Things didn't get much better in the second half though. Alabama went three-and-out on its first three possessions in the third quarter before finally breaking through with a nine play, 91-yard drive capped by a 23-yard Germie Bernard touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
That would prove to be all the offense could do. Quarterback Ty Simpson had one of his worst games of the season, completing less than half his passes. The offensive line struggled in pass protection and run blocking. Alabama finished with negative three rushing yards, a new program low.
Georgia tacked on another touchdown each in the third and fourth quarters, both with short field position. The Bulldogs consistently started drives with prime positioning while Alabama never started with better field position than its own 25-yard line.
Alabama (10-3) has now put itself in the position to once again be pleading its case to the CFP committee. A No. 1 seed in the SEC regular season, should be enough to get the Crimson Tide in, but a 21-point loss doesn't leave a very good final impression.
Watch the above video as Alabama Crimson Tide on SI writers Will Miller, Henry Sklar and Hunter De Siver break down what went wrong for the Crimson Tide from the press box inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta Georgia.
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Katie Windham is the assistant editor for BamaCentral, primarily covering football, basketball, gymnastics and softball. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Alabama and has covered a variety of Crimson Tide athletics since 2019 for outlets like The Tuscaloosa News, The Crimson White and the Associated Press before joining BamaCentral full time in 2021. Windham has covered College Football Playoff games, the Women's College World Series, NCAA March Madness, SEC Tournaments and championships in multiple sports.
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