National Championship Preview: Dawgs, Tide to Clash in Indianapolis

In a rematch of the SEC Championship, the Alabama Crimson Tide, led by redshirt freshman quarterback, Bryce Young, will take on the Georgia Bulldogs, led by a stout defense and the fierce Jordan Davis. The Dawgs, who fell to the Tide in this year's SEC Championship, face a harrowing issue: the Dawgs haven’t won a national championship in football since 1980. The Tide, on the other hand, have won three College Football Playoff National Championships since its creation in 2014. In addition, the Dawgs haven’t taken down the Tide since 2007. This includes several heartbreaking SEC Championship game losses and a double digit Crimson Tide comeback in the 2017 National Championship. Kirby Smart has accomplished much in his time in Athens, but his failure to take down Nick Saban and Alabama remains a prominent mark on his pristine resume. On the opposing sideline, Nick Saban will be at the helms for the Tide. The seven time national champion is widely considered the greatest coach in college football history. Despite a lopsided defeat in the 2021 SEC Championship, the Dawgs are favored in Indianapolis on Monday. To a casual onlooker, this may look like a positive for the Dawgs, but there's just one small issue: Nick Saban has never lost as a point spread underdog. This can be accredited to Saban’s unmatched ability to motivate his team. This skill was exemplified as recently as the SEC Championship this year in which the Dawgs were slightly favored. Alabama, quite frankly, embarrassed Kirby Smart and his Georgia squad on a national stage. Well, what can be expected from this year's all-SEC National Championship? Stetson Bennet, the polarizing Georgia quarterback will try to lead his team past a constantly improving Bama defense. The prevailing question is, can Bennet win a national championship alone? Well, he may not have to. Knowing Kirby Smart, the Dawgs will aim to play complementary football. Since Stetson isn’t necessarily an elite passer, Georgia will have to rely on stout defense and disciplined, hard-nosed football. This will include a heavy ground attack and physical defense. Nick Saban will take a very different approach with his team. Saban does not have to compensate for the setback of an average quarterback. Actually, quite the opposite. Alabama has Bryce Young, the 2021 Heisman winner to lead Saban’s spread style offense. The Dawgs’ defense has received national praise all year, allowing only 9.6 points per game, but Georgia's prolific defensive stats have been overshadowed by their lackluster performance in Atlanta, just two weeks ago against Alabama. With defensive coordinator Dan Lanning calling his final game for the Dawgs defense, Jordan Davis and company will have to step up to have a shot to take down Alabama. To do that, Georgia will have to bottle up Alabama’s extremely talented receiver core, including All-American Jamesion Williams, which seems like an unlikely proposition. After lots of consideration, I’ve decided that betting against Nick Saban, especially when his team is an underdog, is always a bad idea. I see no reason to believe that Stetson Bennet can score on this Alabama defense and I see no reason to believe Dan Lanning can stop this Alabama offense. For those reasons, I’m taking the Tide to claim their nineteenth National Championship and upend Georgia’s hopes and dreams once again.

Score Prediction:

Alabama - 38

Georgia - 27

By Sawyer Sugarman