Column: Georgia needs to do only one thing, one, to beat Alabama
No, the defensive line can’t just dance and do little like last time.
No, Kirby Smart can’t overthink it and overplan.
Yes, Georgia’s ‘A’ game is better than Alabama’s ‘A’ game.
No, that doesn’t always mean Alabama’s going to lose.
Yes, Georgia should move the pocket around, and run the quarterback at little more (if the poor klutz can not fall down, because, you know, he’s not a five-star).
No, the entire Georgia defense can’t let pass-catchers roam so open as to infer that a few of us are in pass “coverage.”
Yes, playing to the whistle against Alabama is more important than against anybody else on the college football planet.
No, beating a team twice is nowhere near what blatheringcomtwits say every time somebody plays somebody else, because teams play teams more than once all the time, and you don’t write it off or bet on it based on the first meeting(s).
It’s an excuse.
Yes, special teams has to make a special play at some point as opposed to the pedestrian season of 2021 against (mostly) pedestrian opponents.
And yes, for the love of God and as is the case with every friggin’ quarterback on the planet, Stetson Bennett needs a clean pocket, needs to make the play that’s there, can’t try to do too much.
Know what? So does Bryce Young. As did Steve Young. Tom Brady or Brady Quinn. They all need the same things.
Bennett also has to ignore the blame of “media” and “Georgia fans” he’ll get for any OL issues, 5-yard penalties, and dropped passes, or busted Bulldog coverage or missed tackles or just failures to fall on a fumble and get beat out by the other quarterback. If the thermostats in Lucas Oil Stadium don’t work perfect, well, dammit, Stetson.
But for all the redundant noise pollution sold as “analysis” the last week or so – and games really come down to the same things all the time – it’s very simple.
Georgia has to do one simple, itty bitty teensy weeny thing to beat Alabama.
COVER RECEIVERS IN THE FOURTH #(%*$)@! QUARTER AND OVERTIME. DON’T LET RECEIVERS RUN RIGHT BY YOU, FOR ANY REASON. STICK WITH YOUR MAN.
PERIOD. BLOW YOUR ASSIGNMENT IF ILLOGICIAL AND GO WITH INSTINCT AND DO NOT LET YOUR RECEIVER RUN BY YOU. AND THE QB’S EYES ARE LYIN’ EYES.
Had that been done in 2012, 2018, and 2018, we wouldn’t have the wailing about 41 years and Dec. 4 right now, and the overrating of some folks in that span might not be overrating.
No, I do not care about “he had help over the top” or “safety help.” Which is really “he hopefully has that because we hope things go as we expect.”
Know what? They often don’t, and time and circumstance dictate changes in plans and philosophies and dictate on-the-fly adjustments.
Championship games against dynasties are such times and circumstances.
Hopefully for Georgia, the micromanaging from the sidelines has decreased in big games in recent years.
Sure, both teams will make tweaks that people will recognize and won’t. Of course, Georgia could change hardly a thing scheme-wise defensively from last month and still win by just playing harder and smarter, and coaching smarter.
And Georgia could have the same offensive game – including what the QB did – as last month and win. The Bulldogs will get credit for adjustments when the bottom line is somebody just played harder and smarter.
Amazing how that works.
So while we wait – good LORD can clocks go any slower – and continue the repetition of analysis and Bennett-bashing, let’s take a trip down Memory Lane, shall we?
We go back to 2012, a collection of poor clock management and brutal use of timeouts.
And the first entry in JUST COVER YOUR MAN AND DO YOUR JOB.
Sandwiched between The Defensive Bust That Lost The Game was the inexplicable defensive timeout with 4:01 left, on Alabama’s third and 5 at midfield, with all 11 on the field and in place, and the failure to spike it on the Georgia possession afterward.
Just no reason for the timeout. Next play, T.J. Yeldon runs for 5 and the first.
Next play, I don’t know. Damian Swann had something in his eye, or thought he had Bugs Bunny legs and could take two steps and be in the middle of the field for run support, or what.
But Amari Cooper ran past him as if Swann was in a tape delay, and was open before A.J. McCarron expected, less than 10 yards downfield. Swann chased like he was going after a runaway grocery cart in the parking lot aimed at his car.
Cooper even slowed down on the route, and still was open for a very good pass. Alabama QBs, no matter who, throw pretty good passes, and when defensive bumbles are involved, ya lose.
Note to all the Bennett-ists out there wearing red or credentials: McCarron threw for 162 yards in that game, 13 for 21, and had an interception.
He won. That’s the job. Winning. So, again, y’all, you know, hush up.
Final score: 32-28.
We scoot up to Jan. 8, 2018, in The Drought-Breaker Was Riiiiiight Here game.
Georgia led 13-0 at halftime. We’ll skip over how the offensive staffers all seemed to lose their playbooks, game plans, and notes at halftime, but did seem to hover near the panic button all night.
It’s overtime. It’s, well, you know.
Same thing. Corner does a light-pole impersonation and lets DeVonta Smith cruise by him. Tua kept looking to the other side – siiiiike, Safety, gotcha – and then just heaved it.
“But he had …”
Two safeties, four deep routes for two safeties, three on one half of the field.
Safety buys Tua’s eyes to the other deep route and stands still – blunder – and the corner lets Smith go.
Final: 26-23.
Now, logic: Ball’s on the 41. Roquan Smith is on the field. In the building. Nobody is going to take a 5-yard pass and go 36 yards with Roquan Smith on the field. In the building. Breathing.
Logic says you cover your guy and if necessary, when the ball passes the line of scrimmage with somebody else, come up for run support, or to high-five Smith for the tackle.
Logic. Not in many game plans.
Safety basically didn’t do his job, cornerback apparently executed a poor assignment. Not a good plan.
Note to all the Bennett-ists out there wearing red or credentials: Alabama QBs were 17 of 32 for 187 yards and a pick.
They won. That’s the job. Winning. So, again, y’all, you know …
And then there’s the We Signed Fields for This? Affair on Dec. 1, 2018.
Georgia led 28-14 at halftime, and again, playbooks and game plans evaporated. Alabama was patient and confident.
A 51-yard TD pass got Bama within seven, and a 10-yard TD pass tied it.
And then, on came the quarterback Georgia shouldn’t have signed, fourth and 11 at midfield, not to play quarterback, but in a punt formation the Bulldogs hadn’t tried all year.
Of all the situations to call a timeout, Georgia didn’t. Alabama’s defense stayed on the field, Georgia got two yards.
Alabama took over with 3:04 left, the backup quarterback – don’t start – was 3 for 3 for 50 yards on the drive - and scored two minutes later on a 15-yard TD pass.
The Bulldogs threatened, the final play coming from the Alabama 39, an incomplete pass.
Final: 35-28.
Note to all the Bennett-ists out there wearing red or credentials: Alabama QBs were 17 of 34 – starter Tua was 10 of 25 with two picks, 164 yards, left with an injury - for 246 yards, two picks and two TDs.
They won. That’s the job. Winning. So, again, y’all, you know …
It’s simple, as per Bill Belichick, and others.
Do your job. Cover your guy. Block your guy. Tackle the guy. Catch the catchable pass. While running downfield, put the ball in the outside arm (holy crap, give any kid that does this some money).
Don’t tackle the helmet or shoulder pads, or – like Tennessee against Purdue – think that setting a pick is making a tackle. Don’t throw your body at ankles. Fall on the ball. Bat the pass down.
All simple stuff, that Alabama does. And that Georgia did for 13 games this year, for the first time for a substantial number of games.
This is, yes, the first time Georgia has played Alabama football, although it has looked better than it is because opponents haven’t always been too good, and opponents have found ways to crumble and give the Bulldogs gifts that, impressively, they didn’t return.
They looked unprepared for that last month. They looked very prepared in the Orange Bowl, but faced a team unused to the stage and competition and was prone to crumble. So while we know more about Georgia’s potential, there are still questions.
One of them is not, “Is Alabama as fast as Georgia?” Many of the good things Georgia did against Michigan won’t be possible on Monday. Many, not all.
Thankfully, we should get the kickoff-to-triple zeroes battle we expected in the Orange Bowl and didn’t get. There will scores of plays and reactions and decisions to remember, and all will have an impact in what happens. Everything adds up.
Remember, too, that the officials have the worst view of every human being watching the game, except the players. They, like those on the field and sidelines, will make mistakes, and they’ll make substantially fewer than those on the field and sidelines. Alas, they’ll make many more than the Einsteins in the crowd, supervising the Man Cave, holding up the bar would have.
Playing proper, simple, fundamental football and not meddling or overthinking, that’s what will win the game for whomever.
It won’t be about beating somebody twice in a season. That happens all the time in the world.
It won’t be about somebody having worked for somebody else. Former employees come back and win all that time, almost.
It won’t be about the monthly sucker bet that is “stars” and “composites” and all that abstract fluff.
Neither team needs to do an abundance of tweaking, but they’ll both have a one-time surprise if needed. They should use a one-time surprise twice (but don’t put J.T. Daniels – still think there’s something else going on, like Daniels may have unofficially opted out unless needed for injury or the title is on the line – or Carson Beck, etc., in for any punt or kick situation).
But overall, Alabama is unofficially riding one simple plan: Wait for Georgia to Georgia. Wait for Georgia to make the mistake. To make The Mistake.
Whoever wins will make the most fundamental plays, not the greatest play.
And whoever wins will COVER RECEIVERS IN THE FOURTH #(%*$)@@! QUARTER AND OVERTIME. DON’T LET RECEIVERS RUN RIGHT BY YOU, FOR ANY REASON.
The simple stuff.
The gut, other than “feed me more”, says Georgia 30-20. And if Bennett wins the MVP, I hope a middle finger subtly slides out a little more than the others while holding the trophy.