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College Football Playoff national championship game: Here's how Alabama, Georgia
come out on top





COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: HERE'S HOW ALABAMA, GEORGIA
COME OUT ON TOP

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Paul Myerberg   | USA TODAY

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How Georgia can avoid SEC championship repeat and beat Alabama
Sports Seriously: Dan Wolken breaks down how Georgia can avoid the disasters of
its SEC title game loss to Alabama and win the rematch in the national
championship game.
USA TODAY


For Georgia, a short memory may be the key to beating Alabama.



It's been a little more than a month since the Crimson Tide scored 41 points on
Georgia's top-ranked defense to take home the SEC in the one blip in Georgia's
otherwise dominant march to the doorstep of the program's first national
championship since the 1980 season.

That upset is joined by a run of losses against the Crimson Tide dating to 2008,
many among the most painful in Georgia's history. Can the Bulldogs wipe the
slate clean?

Look for an early feeling-out period when the two meet on Monday night in the
College Football Playoff national championship game (8 p.m. ET). Alabama will
look to see what Georgia learned from last month's loss. How the Bulldogs tweak
a clearly flawed game plan — and how the Tide respond to a new defensive
approach — might be the factor that ultimately decides this matchup of SEC
powers.

But it's not the only ingredient for a Georgia win.

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CFP: Keys to the game for Alabama and Georgia

Boiled down, these are the steps that will pilot the Bulldogs or Crimson Tide to
the top of college football.





HOW ALABAMA BEATS GEORGIA

By making it about quarterback play. This is what happened in early December,
and the result clearly indicates how Alabama thrives in a setting where
quarterback play is the determining factor. This isn't a knock against Georgia's
Stetson Bennett IV, who keeps making plays and proving his doubters wrong, but a
testament to Bryce Young's brilliant, Heisman Trophy-winning sophomore season.
If the Crimson Tide can again dictate the tempo and pace against Georgia,
turning the matchup into one determined by which offense and which quarterback
can make key conversions or throws, the Bulldogs will again be in a difficult
spot.



But not ignoring the running game. Missing for good chunks of the regular
season, Alabama's ground game has rebounded since putting up six yards against
LSU in early November. The Tide went for a season-high 301 yards on 6.4 yards
per carry in the semifinals against Cincinnati behind a career-best 204 yards
from running back Brian Robinson, bringing balance to an offense typically
reliant on Young to do almost all of the heavy lifting. This balance makes the
Tide even more dangerous.

With another strong game in pass protection. After hitting rock bottom in the
narrow Iron Bowl win against Auburn, the offensive line has rebounded with very
strong performances against two of the best teams in the country. With
Cincinnati wobbled by the running game, the Tide gave up just six tackles for
loss and two sacks in the Cotton Bowl. In the SEC championship game, the line
held Georgia without a sack for the first time in more than two years. If Young
stays clean, the Bulldogs could be in trouble.

By bucking a trend on defense. Alabama is in the midst of a hot-and-cold run on
defense. Beginning in the season opener against Miami, the Tide have alternated
between dominant and vulnerable in the 10 games against Power Five competition
and the recent Cotton Bowl. Against the Hurricanes (Sept. 4), Ole Miss (Oct. 2),
Mississippi State (Oct. 16), LSU (Nov. 6), Auburn (Nov. 27) and the Bearcats
(Dec. 31), Alabama gave up 14.2 points per game and 3.9 yards per play. In games
against Florida (Sept. 18), Texas A&M (Oct. 9), Tennessee (Oct. 23), Arkansas
(Nov. 20) and Georgia (Dec. 4), the defense allowed 30.6 points per game on 6.2
yards per play.



The lack of consistency can be largely attributed to the schedule: Georgia,
Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas finished in the top six in the SEC in yards per
play. But Alabama's inability to put together back-to-back successful
performances against the best teams on the schedule speaks to the
unpredictability of this year's defense.

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College football title game: What Alabama, Georgia must do to win



HOW GEORGIA BEATS ALABAMA

With touchdowns in the red zone. Getting points on every drive inside the red
zone is vital after Georgia capitalized on just three of five opportunities in
the previous meeting. Just two of those five drives ended in a touchdown,
however, and the Bulldogs aren't going to win by getting six points on just 40%
of red-zone trips. Alabama's defense remains pretty stout inside the 20-yard
line but not quite up the program's recent standard, which may be a result of
less impressive cornerback play and issues in coverage at safety.



By making Young move his feet. Georgia will have to take chances and bring
pressure in an effort to make Young uncomfortable in the pocket. No opponent
during the regular season did a better job of this than LSU, which rolled the
dice with pressure packages and slowed the Alabama offense to a crawl in the
Tide's 20-14 win. The Bulldogs have the strength in the middle and the burst off
the edge to get pressure without additional rushers, but the SEC championship
game has to linger in the minds of Kirby Smart and his defensive coaching
staff — even if the pressure doesn't result in sacks, this defense has to bring
heat and get Young out of his comfort zone.

By locking on Jameson Williams. Every team on Alabama's schedule has tried to
slow down Williams, the electric former Ohio State transfer, and no team has
succeeded. That includes Georgia, which allowed Williams to pull down 184
receiving yards and two scores. But with running mate John Metchie out for the
championship game due to injury, Williams will need to carry even more of the
workload in the passing game. Assigning even more resources to slowing him down
may provide chances for Alabama's Slade Bolden, but that's a risk the Bulldogs
will be happy to take,



With Stetson Bennett's legs. A win against Alabama might allow Bennett to
finally shed the "former walk-on" label that's dogged his run as the Bulldogs'
starter. While he was outplayed by Young last month, one way he can draw closer
to the Heisman winner is with his talent as a runner. That's the most overlooked
part of his game: Bennett's ability to take chunks of yardage when flushed from
the pocket. While not built in the same dual-threat mode of the quarterbacks who
have historically given Alabama fits, Bennett can alter what the Tide approach
things on defense by tucking and running.

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