A number of things went wrong for Georgia in the SEC championship game. The Bulldogs’ perfect season came undone, as Alabama pulled away with a 41-24 win.
The good news for Georgia is it will get a chance to atone for some of the mistakes made in the loss. Georgia made the College Football Playoff and will take on Michigan on Dec. 31. Win that game and the Bulldogs could very well find itself in a rematch against the Crimson Tide, as Alabama takes on Cincinnati.
Of course, not all of what Alabama exposed on Saturday can be fixed. At a certain point, Georgia has very real issues that won’t be rectified this season.
Georgia’s defensive gameplan: Fixable
When team leaders like Nolan Smith and Jamaree Salyer say you need a better game plan, they’re probably right.
Georgia’s defense got torched on Saturday, with the Bulldogs giving 31 points on five consecutive possessions spanning the second and third quarters. Georgia ultimately made adjustments, but it’s puzzling to say the least as to why the Bulldogs did what they did against Alabama.
Auburn demonstrated how to attack the Alabama offense. You blitz and then trust your corners to play man-to-man on the outside. Yet Georgia didn’t that enough, especially in the first half as Bryce Young was locking up the Heisman Trophy.
Georgia spoke all year about playing better zone defense. It employed that on Saturday against Alabama. It did not work.
“They’re dynamic against zone, their numbers are just staggering when you play zone against them,” Smart said. “They do a great job of that. You have to find ways to get him on the ground and pressure.”
Couple that with the fact that Georgia got zero sacks and you have a recipe for a loss. Georgia has to be a more aggressive blitzing team, as Auburn and LSU were and trust that Kelee Ringo and Derion Kendrick can hold up outside the numbers.
Wide receiver Jameson Williams will make life difficult for them, but Alabama won’t have John Metchie in the event of a rematch. Metchie tore his ACL on Saturday ending his season.
Georgia’s defensive backfield depth: Unfixable
Georgia is razor-thin in its secondary. It’s partially why you saw the Bulldogs start Dan Jackson at safety and William Poole at star. It was the first star of his college career for Poole.
“We’re going to go back to work at it, work really hard,” Smart said. “Poole worked at corner since he’s been at our place. He’s really more corner by nature in coverage and has some speed. When you watch him last night, he covered some guys really well. We also had some mental busts that we have to help him with, make it simpler so that he can get out there and try to help us.”
The Bulldogs have been hit hard by transfers, recent NFL draft decisions and injuries in the secondary. Guys like Jalen Kimber and Tykee Smith would definitely have helped Georgia’s secondary on Saturday. But they’re out for the season.
The real hope for Georgia comes in the form of Chris Smith. He had been battling a knee injury that forced him to miss the two games prior to the SEC championship game. Smith played significantly against Alabama, but he was still not 100 percent. The near month off between games should help him heal and give Georgia more options in the backend.
But don’t expect more reinforcements beyond that. Latavious Brini curiously didn’t play against the Crimson Tide and Smart said that Georgia’s freshmen defensive backs aren’t yet ready.
“You’re trying to grow the younger players, right? We’re trying to get those guys ready, whether it’s Javon Bullard, David Daniel, Kamari Lassiter, to grow those guys and get them better and get them to where they can be quality backups or starters,” Smart said. “They’re not ready to start. They’re not ahead of anybody else. In some ways you have who you have. You have to develop that roster, try to get them better.”
George Pickens’ involvement: Fixable
George Pickens announced he was back in a big way on Saturday, hauling in a 37-yard pass. Beyond that though, Pickens’ involvement was sporadic. He played just 12 snaps and finished the game with two receptions for 41 yards.
This was just his second game back after suffering an ACL injury back in March. Much like Smith, the extra month between the start of the College Football Playoff should give Pickens more time to heal and become a bigger part of the Georgia offense.
The extra bowl practices should benefit Pickens the most. As Alabama showed, having two difference makers in your passing game can make it all the more difficult to defend. A healthy Pickens plus Brock Bowers would be a nightmare for teams to defend.
“George is a guy that number one he’s not 100%, he’s not his old self yet,” Smart said. “We see that from some of the numbers. But he is getting better, he’s improving. If he continues to work like he is or he has, he’s going to get more opportunities.”
Georgia’s quarterback position: ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Stetson Bennett has started twice against Alabama. Those two contests have played out nearly identical, including the same final score of 41-24. Bennett moved the ball well for the Bulldogs on Saturday. But Georgia got only 17 points on five red zone trips. He was also intercepted twice, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
Bennett has now thrown five interceptions in two games against Alabama. He also struggled on third down, with Georgia going 3-of-12 on third-down attempts this past Saturday.
We’ve seen what Bennett can do against Alabama. He got Georgia to a 12-0 record and deserves credit for that. He played well in road wins over Auburn and Tennessee. But Georgia needs more from the quarterback position against the Crimson Tide.
The question though is if JT Daniels is the guy who can give Georgia that. Daniels was the unquestioned starter entering the season. But oblique and lat injuries derailed his season, and Bennett seized control of the quarterback position.
Daniels lacks the mobility of Bennett but he is a better downfield passer for the Bulldogs. He also doesn’t make as many turnover-worthy plays for the Bulldogs.
The transfer quarterback hasn’t lost as a starter for the Bulldogs. But he was far from perfect against Cincinnati in the Peach Bowl to end last season and threw for just 135 yards on just 30 attempts against Clemson. Daniels is not a slam-dunk championship-winning quarterback. If he definitively were, he’d be playing.
Whether Smart makes a quarterback change will be up to him. Daniels has been healthy enough to play dating back to the Missouri game on Nov. 6. We’ll see if Georgia makes a switch against Michigan or continues to ride with Bennett.
“We have a decision to make every week at every position, but I have the utmost confidence in Stetson Bennett,” Smart said. “We have to be able to run the ball and have a little bit of semblance of balance, and I felt like there was times tonight where we were getting into a scoring contest because our defense didn’t get stops. And you don’t want to have to do that.
“But I certainly have a lot of confidence in Stetson, and I have a lot of confidence in J.T. too.”
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