Alabama’s Five Keys To Beating Georgia

Alabama finds itself in an unusual position entering the 2021 SEC Championship Game. The Crimson Tide is the underdog for the first time in over six years. That game was on October 3, 2015 against Georgia. Alabama won 38-10 in Athens. But that game has nothing to do with this one.

Let’s take a look at Alabama’s keys to victory in the 2021 SEC Championship Game.

1- Offensive Line
Coming into the 2021 season the offensive line was supposed to be a strength of this Alabama football team. That has not been the case. Injuries and shuffling of lineups have played a part, but the reality is that this bunch has just not played physical football.

The offensive philosophy this year has been less physical and more finesse. That can be a challenge for any offensive line.

But this group has come up short repeatedly in both pass and run blocking opportunities. They have given up an astonishing 36 sacks in 12 games, which places them squarely in the bottom 20% of all of college football. Only Tennessee and LSU have worse sack stats in the SEC.

The rushing stats aren’t much better. The Tide is currently at #10 in the SEC in rushing, averaging 150.33 yards per game.

Perhaps most glaring is the inability to convert on short yardage opportunities.

The Alabama offensive line must have its best game of the season to have a chance against Georgia. That’s a big ask considering Georgia presents the biggest defensive challenge of the season.

2- Running Game
Obviously, this is tied very closely to the production of the offensive line. But there will be instances where a running back is going to have to make his own yardage. Yards after contact will be critical. That means that Brian Robinson will need to be at or near 100% for the rushing attack to be effective.

Injuries have decimated the Tide backfield this year. Bama is essentially down to two running backs – Robinson and Trey Sanders. Sanders is a fine player, and it is great to see him get opportunities, but he is more suited to being a change of pace option. Sanders is listed at 6’0” and 214 lbs. but he looks and plays smaller.

Alabama doesn’t need to rush for a certain number of yards, but it needs to get the tough yards when the tough yards are needed. Third and two can’t be a passing situation for the entirety of the SEC Championship Game.

3- Turnovers
Alabama must win the turnover battle. The Tide can’t afford to give Georgia a short field and can’t afford to miss scoring opportunities when in the red zone. Alabama needs to be at least +2 in the turnover battle.

4- Penalties
There has been a great deal of talk about SEC officials this year. In short, they’ve had an atrocious season. Bad calls are going to happen. But Alabama doesn’t average over seven penalties per game because of bad calls. They must be more disciplined. No team is going to beat Georgia this year if they shoot themselves in the foot.

5- Secondary
The defense has played much better in the second half of the season. Except for last week against Auburn, however, the secondary continues to get lost and give up too many big plays, typically for scores. Auburn didn’t really have the ability to fully challenge the suspect secondary.

It’s not Georgia’s bread and butter either, but they are going to take some shots on Saturday. Kirby Smart knows that Alabama is susceptible to the big play. He won’t be able to resist.

The secondary will have to answer the bell.

The strong play of Will Anderson and company up front will help the defensive backs.

Georgia is favored to win the game as they should be. That doesn’t mean that Alabama can’t win. They can. But they’ll have to do well in these five areas to have their best chance.