Dawg Sports Live has made it through 12 regular season games, a SEC Championship defeat, and an Orange Bowl win and now the National Championship Game. Graham Coffey and Josh Hancher have broken down over a hundred hours of tape and crunched thousands of data points and all that is left is a game with the familiar foe... The Alabama Crimson Tide.
This episode, while filled with analysis and stats, basically begins and ends with the same question. Can Georgia beat Alabama?
The answer is “WELL OF COURSE THEY CAN”
Graham goes back through the SEC Championship game. There are big plays from the Tide’s elite skill players, but also correctable mistakes. Graham shows the big plays from the game and provides analysis that he expects Georgia to correct
The blueprint on tape versus Bama
- Bring new/exotic blitzes with 6 rushers
- Press coverage on the outside,
- Force Metchie/Williams to the boundary.
Instead of following that plan they decided to play a number of zones that they hadn’t run in games all year. The amount of guys who were lost and not picking up anyone in coverage means that the players didn’t know the coverages. Kirby said he spent the offseason finding ways to simplify the defense so his athletes could go play. Georgia got away from the regular season schemes, and walked away with a loss.
Georgia moves on to Michigan....
UGA got better over the break at defending outside screens and swings. Kendrick and Walker both got upfield in a hurry on these plays highlighted in the show. . Night and day from the one on one battles UGA was losing in the Tennessee game.
This is the EXACT SAME bunch set that Bama killed UGA off of over and over. William Poole learned what not to do from that game. Here he just jams his guy at the line and take him out of the play. Great improvement from him. Expect the Alabama to be attacked on the edges on the runs and on the pass looks.
UGA in this game when it played zone actually brought some rushers. Tindall gets up field on th blitz and McNamara finds the empty space where he was, but that’s way better than bringing 3 and waiting to die downfield like they did against Bama. Pete Thamel reported that several SEC coordinators noted that Georgia tipped off it’s pressure and let Bryce Young attack it. Lanning had much better results in Miami getting to the quarterback.
Georgia’s offense did not rack up a ton of yards, but Graham noted in the Orange Bowl review that the short pass game was effectively a running attack. Looking at the offense from the semifinal, one expects to see a similar approach on Monday.
Keeping the offense on schedule and avoiding 3rd and longs will be critical. The offense absolutely was cooking on early downs versus Michigan. James Cook is an absolute mismatch against LBs in coverage and will get those opportunities on Monday.
Graham gets to the Cotton Bowl in the last segment and while the game was not competitive, there are moments where Cincy showed areas of weakness versus the Tide. Alabama corners are banged up. Bennett and the Bulldog pass catchers can have success against them. Getting consistent pressure and hits will be key. Cincy rushed and pressured Young and allowed just 34% success rate throwing the ball.
There are over 30 minutes of game footage in this episode. Each segment with analysis, takes, and stats. The guys have put out 40 episode across YouTube, Twitter, and Apple Podcast and appreciate all the interaction and support. Please watch and share the latest episode to get ready for Monday. Dawg Sports Live will be back with a review of what Dawg Fans hope is a National Championship and offseason content all winter.
This post is one of a series previewing the Georgia/Alabama CFP National Championship Game brought to you by the folks at DraftKings. Odds/lines are subject to change. Terms & conditions apply.
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