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Robinson Jr.'s strong ground game propels Alabama to theCFP Championship.
Brian Robinson Jr. scored 204 yards as Alabama trounced Georgia in the semifinals of the CFP. The time has been added.
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Georgia has been longing to return to the national championship stage since Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa and DeVonta Smith broke their hearts on second-and-26.
Georgia is back after four years. Alabama will be on the other sideline.
Georgia is aiming to win its first national championship since the 1980 season after trobbering Michigan 34-11 in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl. Georgia's biggest obstacle has been the team it will face in Indianapolis on January 10.
Alabama has won seven in a row against Georgia, including the overtime victory in the CFP title game. Since Kirby Smart arrived at Georgia, his alma mater has risen. His repeated failures against Saban adds to the significance of the game.
A win would allow Smart to escape criticism that he can't win the big games. A loss would cause a long and painful summer in Athens. The jokes would be relentless.
The title game will be very close if Alabama's dominance of Georgia is removed. Georgia was the clear-cut No. 1 team, while the Tide team that won the national title in 2020 was not flawless. Alabama dominated when it mattered, beating Georgia and Cincinnati in the semifinals of the Cotton Bowl Classic.
It's not easy to beat a team twice in a short period. It's not hard to make a case for Georgia, even though head-to-head history favors Alabama.
Georgia has been without a title for a long time. Will Alabama cause more misery for the team and their coach?
The CFP national championship will take place on January 10.
Alabama and Georgia are the top two teams.
AT&T is the title sponsor of the CFP National Championship.
What time: Monday, January 10 at 8 p.m. The time is later.
Lucas Oil Stadium is in Indianapolis.
You can watch on the app.
Georgia is the opening line from Caesars Sportsbook.
The coaches.
Alabama's Nick Saban is already considered to be the greatest coach in college football history, and has dominated the Bowl Championship Series and the College Football Playoff eras like no other. The Alabama coach has won a record seven national titles, including six at Alabama, and is aiming for back-to-back titles in 2011. He is 7-2 when playing for a national championship, with the only losses coming against Clemson. In the last eight years, the teams of the Alabama coach have made the playoffs seven times and won three of the final five titles. He's 178-24 at Alabama and 269-66-1 overall. Urban Meyer went 5-1 against Georgia and is the second-best winning percentage of any coach with at least five games against Georgia.
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Although pleased with the overall performance of Alabama in a 27-6 dismantling of Cincinnati, Nick Saban has his eyes on a national championship.
Kirby Smart, the former All-SEC safety for Georgia, has put his alma mater in the national spotlight both on the field and in recruiting. Georgia has made the national title game twice in the past four seasons under Smart, who is 65-15 as head coach. He won the SEC in his second season and has won the East Division in four of the past five seasons. He's 2-0 in the semifinals. Smart has accomplished a lot, but he didn't beat Alabama. The former Alabama assistant is 0-4 against the Tide.
How did they get here?
Alabama.
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The Tide have turned it on at the perfect time after a disappointing regular season. After a loss at Texas A&M, Alabama's defense and offense line drew criticism. In the SEC title game, they scored 42 points and 548 yards, and they did it against a historically elite Georgia defense. Alabama's defense forced five three-and-outs and only two drives of longer than six yards in the game against Cincinnati.
The last national title was in 2020.
Georgia.
The only touchdown in the opening win was a Christopher Smith pick-six. Georgia's defense was the focus of the national attention for much of the next three months, as it recorded three shutouts and never allowed more than 17 points in the regular season. Bennett replaced J.T. Daniels and showed impressive efficiency, while Georgia's run game bullied opponents behind James Cook and others. Georgia was never in danger until the SEC title game, in which it was up by 10 at one point. After being disappointed in Friday's semifinal, the Bulldogs jumped all over Michigan in the first half, building a 27-3 halftime lead.
1980 was the last national title.
The key players.
Alabama has a running back named Brian Robinson Jr.
The College Football Playoff is upon us after a wild regular season. Everything you need to know is here.
The schedule and Takeaways are included in the CFP preview.
Every bowl game has players and storylines.
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Predicting the outcome of every bowl game.
The 32 teams are ranked.
Robinson had a lower leg injury late in the season, but he was able to rest before the semifinals. He had 134 rush yards on 17 carries in the first half and 204 yards on 26 carries in the second half, as he attacked Cincinnati early and often. Robinson had 55 rush yards on 16 carries against Georgia in the SEC championship, but he helped protect the quarterback. Alabama's offense will be very hard to slow down if the fifth-year senior can find more running room. Robinson has 179 more carries than any other player on the team.
Georgia: QB Bennett IV.
The former walk-on has heard the criticism for a long time, and it reached a point after the SEC title game loss to Alabama. Bennett passed for over 300 yards and three touchdown against the Tide, but two turnovers in the red zone proved costly in the loss. Bennett responded in a big way Friday against Michigan, turning in a career performance with 310 pass yards and three touchdown, while completing 70% of his attempts. Bennett showed a quick release with accuracy and smart decision-making, and perfectly placed deep passes to James Cook and others.
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A perfect ball was placed by Stetson Bennett IV to give the bulldogs a commanding lead.
Alabama's wide receivers will face Georgia's secondary.
After the SEC title game, all eyes will be on the perimeter because of the other related matchups. Young averaged 16.2 yards per completion and found Jameson Williams for two scores, both of which were 67 and 55 yards. John Metchie, who had six catches for 97 yards and a touchdown, tore his knee in the game and will miss the national championship. The players such as Ja'Corey Brooks, who had 97 yards and two touchdown against Cincinnati, will become more significant. Georgia's secondary has been hit by injuries throughout the season and isn't the defense's strength. In the semifinals, Derion had two picks up against Michigan. Smith missed the second half against Michigan because of a targeting penalty.
The X-facts.
The freshman is a nightmare for defenses, even ones as talented as Alabama. He had three catches for 51 yards and a touchdown on the opening drive against Michigan. Bennett's favorite target was Bowers, who had five catches for 55 yards. He had 10 catches for 139 yards and a touchdown in Georgia's win over Alabama in the SEC Championship.
Georgia must keep Will Anderson Jr. away from the pocket to replicate Bennett's semifinal heroics. The phrase "lives in the backfield" is thrown out about a lot of players, but it actually applies to Anderson, who increased his nation-leading sacks total to 17.5 with two more sacks against Cincinnati. Anderson leads the nation in tackles for loss with 34.5 and is second on the team with 98 total stops. The sophomore had two tackles for loss in the SEC championship. Georgia tackles must find ways to contain No. 31.
