SEC Championship: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly
In a historic performance for Alabama, they proved to the world that their explosive offense was good enough to get the job done against what many considered the best defense college football had seen in years.
The first loss of the season for Georgia's 2021 season now brings the question of what will the CFP rankings committee think of the loss, and where in the Top-4 will Georgia land after the 17-point loss.
The Good: There was some fight
For the first time all season, Georgia's defense depended on its offense to make the plays to stay in the ball game. After a shaky second quarter where the Alabama offense scored 24 points, the most Georgia's given up in a single game all season, Georgia trailed two scores after the opening second-half touchdown from Alabama.
With the game on the verge of getting ugly and out of reach, Georgia's defense stepped up and forced two straight Alabama punts, putting the ball in the court of the Georgia offense to help mount a comeback.
Georgia was punched in the mouth tonight, and they at least fought for four quarters. There was a point in this game where it could have gotten ugly.
The Bad: Third Downs
Third down proved to be the turning point in the football game for Alabama and Georgia. Georgia was 3 for 12, Alabama was 7 for 14. The Crimson Tide found ways to pick up the necessary yards on third, while Georgia struggled. The lack of a successful pass rush negated Georgia's defense useless on third down.
Alabama's near perfection on third down proved to be the stat that helped Alabama overcome Georgia's highly vaulted defense.
The Ugly: Georgia's Lack of Pressure and Back End
One of the obvious perceived weaknesses heading into this weekend was the struggling Alabama offensive line. A week after The Tide gave up seven sacks to Auburn in a quadruple overtime win.
One of the stories all season for Georgia's defense was the talented front seven. This is the same front seven that helps Georgia rank top 5 in team sacks this season. However, unlike the mainstream expectation, Georgia did not record a single sack in the first half of play. No matter what Georgia did, Bryce Young successfully found ways to pick apart the Georgia defense.
Young got the ball out early against the blitz, handled the pocket against pressure, and scrambled when he needed to. There was no answer for Young Saturday evening.
Georgia's defensive backfield has shown signs of this impending explosion at points this season. Cedric Tillman at Tennesse got them for 200, Josh Vann of South Carolina got behind them multiple times. This wasn't just a pressure issue.
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