After a dominating first half, the Georgia Bulldogs came up short against the Alabama Crimson Tide 26-23 on Monday night in the College National Championship game held in Merc-Benz Stadium.
The teams seemed to be evenly matched heading into the contest, but Georgia — in the early going — made a lot of the little plays that teams fail to do against Bama, which led to a 13-0 lead at halftime.
Bama simply made more plays than UGA in the end. But, as with any loss, there are some burning questions that deserve further contemplation.
Where was Sony Michel in the fourth quarter? Michel had torched the Tide in the first half and again in the third quarter, only to be left on the bench in the final stanza and overtime. Why?
Did Georgia adjust its gameplan for Tagovailoa? The Dawgs beautifully nullified Tide QB Jalen Hurts after the two-year starter was shut out in the first half. In the second half, Bama went with Tua Tagovailoa, a true freshman from Hawaii. He is powerfully built like Hurts, but has a bullet for an arm. Most freshmen are adequately confused with zoned coverages, the Dawgs played a lot of man to man against him. Why?
Georgia coach Kirby Smart said after the game they had looked at tape on Tagovailoa and felt that he would be in the game at some point. “We told everybody at halftime that there was no question they were going to him, because they were struggling. They needed some momentum.” Yet, it seemed like the Dawgs defense didn’t know how to rattle the youngster.
In the end, Jake Fromm, the Dawgs’ true freshman who played beyond his years all season, was upstaged by Tagovailoa, another true frosh, who finished the game completing 14 of 24 throws for 166 yards and three touchdowns and a national title.