SEC Championship Showdown: Georgia vs. Alabama Preview

SportsGrid

Watch SEC Championship Showdown: Georgia vs. Alabama Preview - SportsGrid on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00The battle for who is going to win the SEC is going to tell us a lot,

00:03because number one, Georgia wins, they're in.

00:06Georgia loses, they're still in.

00:08Alabama, question marks, they win, they're in, they lose, here we go.

00:13Oh, that's going to be the debate.

00:14If they put in Alabama over the Notre Dame and Miami,

00:20there's going to be pandemonium.

00:21Now, it's a rematch of the earlier matchup in September.

00:24In that matchup, Georgia did get their 33-game home winning streak snap.

00:30They lost that matchup 24-21.

00:33It was one of the better performances out of Ty Simpson.

00:36He put up 274 passing yards, two touchdowns.

00:39They pushed tempo early, and then in the second half, they struggled a little bit.

00:44But Georgia was able to run the football against Alabama.

00:47We talk about Alabama being built there, giving up 128 rushing yards on the ground.

00:52They gave up 150-plus last week to Auburn.

00:55Georgia pounded the rock for over six yards per carry.

00:58Can they do it again in this matchup?

01:00Again, I think this game is higher scoring, and we've seen this situation.

01:04Kirby Smart in SEC championships, he's only 3-4, hasn't beaten, obviously,

01:10Alabama in an SEC championship type of setting.

01:14Bama owns this when both of these teams play.

01:18Georgia all-time is 5-7 in an SEC championships.

01:210-4 against Alabama in the SEC championship.

01:25They lost those games by an average margin of defeat, Donnie, of 4.3 points per game.

01:30Georgia has the opportunity to win back-to-back SEC championships dating back to 1980 through 1982

01:38with Buck Blue and that crew, right?

01:41So think about that.

01:41This could be the first time in 40 years.

01:45I like Georgia.

01:46I like the way their defense is playing.

01:48I like Gunnar Stockton.

01:49I think they can run it.

01:51They can throw it.

01:52A cause of concern for me, Alabama does not have a consistent rushing attack.

01:56121 per game, 3.7 yards per carry.

02:00That's one of the worst performances out of an Alabama rushing attack dating back to almost pre-Nick Saban.

02:07That's how bad this offensive line is in terms of running the football.

02:11They got it going against Auburn last week, 158 on the ground.

02:15Can it continue?

02:16I am not so sure.

02:18I like Georgia minus the 2.5, but my best bet, I think this game flies into the 50s

02:24because it's got to be Ty Simpson.

02:26If you're Bama, we go over.

02:28I like Georgia, but I expect both quarterbacks Stockton and Ty Simpson to break out.

02:33We just talked about the Big Ten championship game, right?

02:35Loser is still going to the college football playoff, but at the same time,

02:38they're bragging rights on the line.

02:39Like, you want to win your conference.

02:41That means so much.

02:41They actually asked this week, Joe, earlier in the week, you know, Kirby Smart,

02:45hey, is this a game that means a lot because you know you're in?

02:48He's like, dude, it's the SEC championship game.

02:49Are you kidding me?

02:50We're going to have 85,000 people packed into this place, split right down the line,

02:53and bragging rights for who wins the SEC is absolutely massive.

02:56So let me ask you this question, Joe.

02:58If we look at the quarterbacks, right?

03:00Yep.

03:00Ty Simpson and Gunnar Stockton to me.

03:02If either one of them has an off day, you're probably going home, right?

03:04Hey, Ty Simpson threw two interceptions.

03:06They won't make it.

03:07Or Stockton had a bad day.

03:08But when I look at this game and say, I need a player of the game, Joe,

03:12it's Gunnar Stockton for me.

03:14If he controls the ground game with his legs,

03:16has enough to throw over his 199.5 passing prop number,

03:20Georgia, to me, is going to win this game.

03:22But you look at the line, it's 1.5, Joe.

03:24It really is a coin flip.

03:26It is.

03:26But, again, it's PAMA, right?

03:28And if you're Kalen DeBoer, you own Kirby Smart in two games now, right?

03:33So there's the body of work.

03:34And I talk about the dominance in SEC championship games, right?

03:38Georgia's 0-4 against Alabama in this type of situation.

03:41And they can beat teams like LSU and Texas like they did last year,

03:45but they struggle in the SEC championship against the likes of Alabama.

03:50But, again, we come back.

03:51This is a much different offense now at the end of the year

03:55than what we see earlier in the year.

03:57I think Gunnar Stockton and that offense were a little bit more pass-happy.

04:01They're starting to run the football more consistently.

04:03And it's not just the offense.

04:05The defense now has bounced back into championship form.

04:08They got exposed against Ole Miss, right?

04:10But once they won that game, that defense now has been playing lights out.

04:15And that's the difference, I think, when we look at Alabama

04:17and Georgia respectively.

04:19Yeah, they might have the edge, Ty Simpson,

04:21over Gunnar Stockton quarterback-wise.

04:23But I give the edge to Georgia's defense over Alabama.

04:27And I think they can be exposed on the ground through the air.

04:30I think it's a big day for both quarterbacks.

04:32I think Stockton does have more weapons, believe it or not.

04:35You got Isaiah Branch, Dylan Bell.

04:37You do have Bowens and Nate Frazier at the running back position.

04:41The tight ends, I think, will be big for Georgia today.

04:43Lucky Lawson and Oscar Delp in red zones type of situations.

04:48I just believe Georgia, in this type of situation, in a rematch, wins it.

04:54And Kirby Smart is right.

04:55You don't want to lose heading into the college football playoff.

05:00Why do you want to lose your last game and not be up?

05:03I want my team peaking into the playoffs, not being psychologically maybe pushed.

05:09Are we a good team or aren't we?

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended