All Things CW: SEC Championship Keys That Will Impact Alabama in the Playoff

The Crimson Tide's next man up at wide receiver may not be obvious, why E.J. Junior has split loyalties regarding the playoff, and an Alabama basketball milestone.

Author:
Christopher Walsh
Publish date:
Dec 10, 2021 9:00 AM EST

A week ago this space had the headline: Big Plays Often Decide Big Games in regards to the SEC Championship Game, where Georgia never really had an answer for the Crimson Tide's speed, especially Jameson Williams.

The pick-six by safety Jordan Battle ended up icing the 41-24 victory for the Crimson Tide, but the two plays that especially did the Bulldogs in were the long touchdowns to Williams, of 67 and 55 yards.

Nick Saban defines an explosive play as a run of 13 yards or more, and a pass 17 yards or more. The goal for the offense is to get at least nine in each game. Overall, Alabama had 11, more than it had against Miami, Ole Miss or Auburn.

The defense gave up just one on the ground, and seven in the air, but that's a little misleading. Three were in the first quarter en route to taking a 10-0 lead. Three were in the fourth quarter when Alabama was trying to keep the clock running.

In between, when the Crimson Tide took control of the game (including the 319-61 edge in yards during the second quarter), the Bulldogs had only one.

Four other things of note from SEC Championship Game:

• Alabama's offensive line has significantly improved against stunts (when two defenders change roles while pass rushing to try and confuse the blockers), which was something it had problems with for a good part of the season.

• Georgia really didn't get much of a pass-rush going until it started bringing the linebackers in the second half. During one stretch sophomore quarterback Bryce Young was 4-for-11, with four of the passes thrown away. The other three incompletions were broken up.

• Key stats Alabama won against Georgia: Rushing yards (albeit barely), turnovers (2-0), third downs (7-14 to 3-12) and tackles for a loss/sacks. All of that bodes well for the Crimson Tide if there's a rematch in Indianapolis, especially if running back Brian Robinson Jr. isn't as banged up.

• Georgia threw at Kool-Aid McKinstry four times, with the lone completion the deep ball to George Pickens when the freshman cornerback got turned around. The matchup the Bulldogs went after was safety Brian Branch on the tight ends, initially resulting in three catches on five attempts for 34 yards. However, after the sixth attempt resulted in the pick-six, Georgia never went there again, only going for the tight ends in zone coverage.

Next Man Up

The big question everyone has is how will Alabama try and compensate for the loss of wide receiver John Metchie III, who had six catches for 97 yards and a touchdown when he suffered a knee injury during the third quarter. A more healthy Robinson will help. Freshman Ja'Corey Brooks will get more playing time. Plus, look for the ball to get spread around more, which the Crimson Tide has time to work on.

With Georgia having some trouble with speed, don't forget about two other freshmen: Jo Jo Earle, who is coming off an injury, and Agiye Hall. The national championship in Indianapolis is a month from today, and should the Crimson Tide advance past the Cotton Bowl they'll have plenty of chances to show they're ready for more.

Remember, in the 2017 title game against Georgia, it was the freshmen receivers who Tua Tagovailoa leaned on the most during the comeback, with DeVonta Smith catching the game-winning touchdown. At this point of the season, freshmen aren't really freshmen any more if they've worked hard throughout the fall.

Tough Choice for E.J. Junior

Here's the one thing we know for sure about new College Football Hall of Fame inductee E.J. Junior and the playoff: He won't be rooting for Georgia under any circumstance.

"It's going to be really interesting because I'm torn," he said, and with good reason.

The father of seven, Junior's youngest, Cameron, is a freshman linebacker in Luke Fickell's program (his son E.J. Junior IV also had a stint at Cincinnati). He's played in one game this season, against Tulane, and did not register any stats.

Meanwhile, Junior's grandson, Jaydon Hood, is a freshman linebacker at Michigan, out of St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida. He's had one tackle this season, against Northern Illinois.

Junior claims he's going to root for them both, but bleed Crimson and White. As for how he thinks the playoff might play out:

"I really believe it's gonna be a great game," he said about the Cotton Bowl. "Cincinnati is gonna give them a handful because they're not used to playing a 3-2-5. Ole Miss played that same defense against they struggled a little bit and there's a little more to it than what Ole Miss does. So it'll be a good game, but I still think the big pachyderms will come through and finish that one.

"Now Georgia in Michigan is going to be even a tougher game because they're very much like smash-mouth type football. I love the SEC. I think Kirby will do a good job, but I would never estimate Jim Harbaugh with that team that they have this year."

Another Father Talks

Former All-Pro Patrick Surtain Sr. is having a lot of run watching his son's NFL career get off to such a good start.

“I think it’s been stellar," he said during an interview with the gambling site Time2play. "For a rookie to come in and start the second game of the year? He’s been one of the best corners out there, not just on his team, but in the league.

“If you look at the statistics, the way they play man to man, he’s done a really nice job. He has room to grow, but to be thrown in there as a rookie at an early stage, he has been solid for Denver so far.”

As for other former Alabama players in the NFL, he likes Mac Jones to help lead New England to the Super Bowl and face Green Bay, and he likes Tagovailoa's potential with one of his old teams, Miami.

“I’m a Tua fan," he said. "I’m a little biased with our Alabama connection. I’ve seen this kid do it, he has some unique traits. He might not have the strongest arm, but his anticipation is amazing.

“He needs his core receivers back, he hasn’t had his full unit around him in two years. The Dolphins want to see that too before making a long-term decision on him. He has a great work ethic and I’m a big fan.”

Back-to-Back Top 15

Coming off its win at No. 3 Gonzaga, the Crimson Tide faces another Final Four team from a year ago, No. 14 Houston on Saturday night (9 p.m. CT, ESPN2)

The last time Alabama basketball faced two teams ranked in the top 15 back-to-back was just two years ago (2019-20), when it lost to No. 14 Kentucky and then knocked off No. 4 Auburn.

The last time time before that was also the last time it played consecutive non-conference top-15 teams on Nov. 20 and Nov. 21, 2001, when the Crimson Tide lost to No. 5 Missouri (75-68) before topping then-No. 12 Memphis (81-70) in the Gaurdians Classic in Kansas City, Mo.

The last time it played two straight top-15 teams and beat them both was during the 1999-2000 season. Alabama topped No. 11 Auburn, 68-64, and then downed No. 7 Tennessee, 80-75. Both games were played at Coleman Coliseum.

Here's the amazing thing, Mark Gottfried's second team at Alabama finished 13-16 (6-10 SEC). It lost the final two games of the regular season, at Ole Miss and Mississippi State, and then lost to South Carolina in the first round of the SEC Tournament.

Tide-Bits

• Did you see that some of Williams' teammates at Ohio State made the trip to Atlanta to support him?

• The Crimson Tide has won seven straight against Georgia, eight straight in the SEC Championship Game, 16 in Atlanta and 34 against SEC East teams. It's won four straight CFP semifinal games and it 6-0 at A&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

• Alabama's unsung heroes, announced during the team banquet last Sunday, are worthy of a second look: Ja’Corey Brooks, DJ Dale, Justin Eboigbe, Malachi Moore and Dallas Turner.

• Alabama had four former players nominated by their teams for the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award: Landon Collins (Washington), Derrick Henry (Tennessee), C.J. Mosley (N.Y. Jets), and rookie cornerback Patrick Surtain II (Denver).

• Remember that note from last week about how BetOnline did a keyword association map based on geo-tracked Twitter data over the last four weeks, and had Young leading in 26 states and C.J. Stroud ahead in 16? Here's the map, which might be similar to the regional results when the final numbers are revealed Saturday:

• If you're wondering where the Walter Camp Foundation, which didn't have Young as a first-team All-American, is based out of it's New Haven, Connecticut.

• An interesting take from Bowl Season Executive Director Nick Carparelli, about whether the bowls and expanded playoffs can co-exist: "No matter how many spots the CFP expands to, there simply aren’t enough teams that would challenge for a playoff spot. We need a bigger, more robust postseason than just that. We’re strong believers that all of the games in any proposed playoff format should be played within the Bowl Season structure."

• ESPN announced its lineup for bowl games, with Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, Molly McGrath and Laura Rutledge working the Cotton Bowl of Alabama vs. Cincinnati, with Sean Kelley, Barrett Jones, Ian Fitzsimmons handling the radio broadcast. The other CFP semifinal will have Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit at the Orange Bowl along with reporters Holly Rowe and Marty Smith. That crew, with Tiffany Blackmon replacing Smith, will then work the Rose Bowl the next day. Similarly, but with far less traveling, the radio crew from Alabama's game, including former Crimson Tide offensive lineman Jones, will work the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, with the TV broadcast team of Joe Tessitore, Greg McElroy and Katie George. The national championship game in Indianapolis will have Fowler, Herbstreit, Rowe and McGrath on TV, and McDonough, Blackledge and Fitzsimmons on radio.

• Memphis basketball, which Alabama will visit on Tuesday, has called for a white out at the FedExForum.