By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Championship Central Georgians

Alabama

OT Terrence Ferguson II, Peach County, Fr

The 6-4,290-pound true freshman, a four-/five-star recruit by some recruiting analysts, has played in one game, against Charleston Southern.

Georgia

Javon Bullard, Baldwin, Fr.

The 5-11, 180-pounder has played in 14 games, all but Tennessee. He has 12 tackles.

Jehlen Cannady, Westside, RFr.

A preferred walk-on, the 6-0, 176-pounder has played against Charleston Southern and Georgia Tech. He has three tackles.

WR/KR Kearis Jackson, Peach County, Jr.

The 6-0, 200-pounder has started two of 14 games, and is seventh with 16 catches for 183 yards and a touchdown, to go with one carry for 37 yards. He averages 8.6 yards on 22 punt returns and 19.3 yards on six kickoff returns.

Tyler Malakius, Westfield, RSo.

The 6-3, 280-pounder has played against Charleston Southern

OL Amarius Mims, Bleckley County, Fr.

The 6-7,300-pound true freshman, a five-star recruit by many recruiting analysts, has played in eight games: UAB, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Auburn, Missouri, Tennessee, harleston Southern, and Georgia Tech.

WR George Vining, Tattnall, So.

The walk-on has not played this year.

DL Travon Walker, Upson-Lee, Jr.

The 6-5, 275-pounder has started all 14 games. He is 10th on the team with 34 tackles, tied for fifth with 6.5 tackles for loss (minus 39 yards), tied for third with 5 sacks, and first with 29 QB pressures.

Where are they from?

Alabama’s two-deep – excluding special teams – comes from a broader geographic spectrum than Georgia’s, outside of the home states.

Both teams have players from Florida (11 for Alabama, eight for Georgia), Texas (six for Alabama, two for Georgia), South Carolina (one for Alabama, two for Georgia), Louisiana (three for Alabama, one for Georgia), Mississippi (one each), Maryland (three for Alabama, one for Georgia) and California (two for Alabama, five for Georgia).

Alabama has four from Georgia, and Georgia has nobody from Alabama. The Tide have 13 home-staters, the Bulldogs 30.

The Tide went into the Midwest for three players from Big Ten country (Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois), plus Washington, D.C. and three from Maryland.

They also have regulars from Utah and Missouri.

The Bulldogs ventured to Rhode Island, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Nevada, Washington, and Mississippi for single players.

Georgia also has a pair from North Carolina.

And the staffs?

Products of Knox College, Brown, Arkansas Tech, Delta State, Texas Southern, William Jewell, and Stephen F. Austin are among those who will be screaming, diagramming, and sweating Monday night.

The two coaching staffs are anything but loaded with former big-time players at big-time schools as current assistants.

Of the regular position coaches, only nine got their bachelor’s from an SEC school.

Jones County grad Todd Hartley is the lone UGA grad on Georgia’s staff (other than head coach Kirby Smart). And Freddie Roach is the only Alabama grad on the Tide’s side. He graduated three years before Georgia’s Glenn Schumann.

Schumann is one of the very few who have spent their careers only on the power-5 level, coming to Georgia from Alabama. Alabama’s Robert Gillespie, a Florida grad, has been at North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, and South Carolina.

Others have spent time at the likes of Rice, Iowa Wesleyan, Dartmouth, Grand Valley State, East Mississippi Community College, Murray State, Eastern Michigan, West Georgia, State University of New York at Cortland, Nicholls State, and Tusculum, among others.

Alabama’s Bill O’Brien’s career started at alma mater Brown in the early 90s, but since then, he’s only been on the biggest college stage (Georgia Tech, Maryland, Duke, Penn State, Alabama) or the NFL).

Alabama’s Drew Svoboda has the most high school experience, from 2001-17 at three different high schools in Texas.

Georgia’s Dell McGee was at Harris County, Greenville, and Carver-Columbus from 2002-12. Alabama’s Charles Kelly, a former Georgia Tech assistant, has five years of high school coaching, at Phenix City Central and Eufaula, both in Alabama.

Nobody else has high school experience.

One more thing (x 8)

* No, if Georgia loses, Kirby Smart’s reputation takes a big hit. That’s absurd, as is 47 percent of the clichéd myths that float around during big events with many storylines. Noooo, Dan Lanning won’t be thinking one bit about Oregon until Tuesday afternoon. Period. His job will have nothing to do with any defensive lapses, except for the fact (see below) …
Smart’s reputation takes a hit if he overthinks and underadjusts, and tries too hard to counter what he thinks Saban will do. And there’s a chance, ala The Justin Fields Punt Decision.

* A topic is always predicting who has the big impact, and it’s moot. Big games, everybody can have an impact. In this one, watch plays from under-the-radar players, watch subtle plays, like poor tackling form –up high – allows somebody to get two more yards on a third and long to keep a drive alive. Watch poor tackling. It’ll be the overlooked decider of this game.

* Will somebody in this game make a big special-teams play? Georgia is 94th nationally in kickoff returns and 50th in punt returns, and 113th in punt return coverage. Alabama is 16th in kickoff returns, 61st in punt returns, 42nd in punt return coverage. Georgia has no kickoff or punt returns for a touchdown – Zamir White returned a blocked punt for a score, which “counts” as a punt return for TD – and Alabama has four, two of each.

* Both teams should be of decent health, even those recovering or a little banged up. They were in control of the semifinals, so key players didn’t need to play a lot or in stressful conditions. Thus, George Pickens and Brock Bowers will play, may get more decoy targets than usual, but expect both to have a big or key play, especially Bowers, who can open up some things. If Pickens can go deep a couple times, he should be able to draw at least one pass interference call, or make a huge catch.

* Who gets the targeting call and ejection? If part of practice isn’t about form tackling and screaming “Hit ‘em in the hips” and practice isn’t stopped when there’s a borderline target tackle, that team will pay a penalty in this game. Both teams have been pretty good about avoiding ejections. Georgia is without backup LB Chaz Chambliss for the first half. Christopher Smith got flagged in the first half of the Orange Bowl.

* Georgia has four defensive coordinators for this game: Smart, Dan Lanning, Will Muschamp, and Glenn Schumann. Sure, Muschamp and Schumann are technically next season’s co-coordinators, but there’ll be a lot of voices in headsets. Too many chefs, no matter how much planning has been done, can screw something up. Smart needs to take off his headset a whole lot more, especially when playing Saban.

* Alabama’s offensive line was a revelation against Georgia after being a mediocrity against Auburn. The Tide aren’t as healthy there now as last month, so Georgia sending a lot of bodies – maybe put two tackles on the center’s nose some – at Alabama early on and see how the line handles it is a thought.

* Mind games? Georgia has had double-digit leads on Alabama on a regular basis. If it happens again, does Alabama quietly start talking smack? “Wow, here we are again, down 10 to Georgia in a championship game. (Pause) Sweeeet.” And then laugh. Georgia needs earplugs and a nonexistent memory, and should change almost nothing when it gets the lead. Pedal to the metal.