Third Time a Charm for Tide Again; Halftime Adjustments Catch up with Dawgs
For the third time in four seasons, Georgia entered halftime against Alabama with a lead, only to lose the game. It happened in the national championship game, the SEC Championship Game and Saturday night in Tuscaloosa.
Under head coach Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs have outscored Alabama 68-34 in the first half. However, they have been outscored 58-10 in the second half of those three games.
Three losses, one commonality: halftime adjustments.
2017 National Championship Game (played in 2018)
This game will always be remembered for send-and-26. Alabama freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was inserted into the national championship game in the second half and led his team to the come from behind victory.
That was the most obvious adjustment by the Crimson Tide. As for Georgia, apart from an 80-yard touchdown pass from Jake Fromm to Mecole Hardman, Georgia punted five times, had an interception and kicked a field goal.
Tide head coach Nick Saban made a quarterback change, while Georgia went cold.
2018 SEC Championship Game
Trailing 21-14 at halftime, Saban elected to stick with Tagovailoa to open the second half, but after three punts and an interception on their first five possessions in the second half, Tagovailoa was injured and Jalen Hurts entered the game. Alabama scored on their final two drives.
Conversely, Georgia was held scoreless on their final six possessions of the game.
Saturday Night in Tuscaloosa
Unlike the first two matchups in this Kirby Smart-Nick Saban rivalry, there were no major adjustment in quarterback play or defensive schematics. Alabama came out in the second half and simply dominated.
The first two games were won with an adjustment from Saban at halftime. Saturday night's game was lost with Smart and Georgia failing to make an adjustment. They stuck with their man-to-man defense and continued to allow big plays in the passing game. Despite the struggles of quarterback Stetson Bennett, he remained in the game and Georgia was held scoreless in the second half.
At this point, it's a pattern. It's not that Georgia isn't good enough to play with Alabama; they just haven't finished games. The shortcomings for the Dawgs are in the halftime adjustments plain and simple.
Smart has coached 180 minutes of football against his former boss and his teams have led for 149 of those 180 minutes. Yes, he's 0-3.
