The Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs will meet in Atlanta, Georgia in the 2018 SEC Championship Game. This is a rematch of last year’s College Football Playoff Championship Game that was won by the Crimson Tide. Alabama comes into this game as the number one ranked team in the current rankings, while the Bulldogs hold down the number four spot.
Georgia finished the 2018 regular season with an 11-1 record to clinch the SEC East for the second straight season. Their only loss came to the LSU Tigers, but the Bulldogs have won five straight games. Alabama had a dominating regular season that saw them go 12-0 to win the SEC West. The Crimson Tide are a 13.5 point favorite over Georgia in this game.
Tagovailoa Has Been Unstoppable
The Alabama Crimson Tide finally have an offense this season, and it has been quarterback Tua Tagovailoa leading the way. Tagovailoa won the starting job over Jalen Hurts to begin the season, and he has not looked back. The sophomore QB has thrown for 3,189 yards and 36 touchdowns this season despite not playing in most fourth quarters. The only question with Tagovailoa is his injured knee, but all indications are that he is healthy for this game.
Offense isn’t the only weapon for the Crimson Tide, as their defense remains one of the best units in college football. Alabama allowed just 13.8 points per game this season which is the third lowest average in the country. The Crimson Tide have recorded 40 sacks this season, and their defensive line is nasty. Alabama is loaded with future pros on both sides of the ball.
Georgia Must Chew Up Clock
The Georgia Bulldogs know that their best chance of winning this game is to dominate the time of possession. Georgia has a pair of star runnings backs in D’Andre Swift and Elijah Holyfield that should see plenty of carries in this game. The duo has combined for over 1,800 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns this season, but they have yet to face a defense like Alabama. Georgia also needs quarterback Jake Fromm to have a performance like he had in last year’s title game. Fromm has completed 69 percent of his passes this season, and will likely look to continue drives with short passes.
Georgia will also need to put together one of their best defensive performances of the season to keep this game close. The Bulldogs gave up just 17.2 points per game this season, but gave up some bigger scores to SEC teams. Georgia gave up just 175 passing yards per game during the regular season, and their secondary will need to be solid to contain Tagovailoa and the Alabama passing attack.
Bama Rolls Over Georgia
Georgia has plenty of experience in dealing with Alabama, and they nearly beat them a season ago. The big difference in this matchup is Tua Tagovailoa. The Crimson Tide offense has been unstoppable this season with him at the helm, and even a great defense like Georgia is no match. Georgia will look to chew up as much of the clock as they can, but it won’t matter in the end. Alabama has yet to win a game by less than 22 points, and that trend continues in this game. Bet the Alabama Crimson Tide -13.5 over the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game.
