Written by Max Meyer
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Three Things: Alabama vs Georgia
1. This Game Will Be Defensive
Alabama leads the SEC in total defense, scoring defense, pass defense, and run defense. The Tide is simply smothering. While Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray has played extremely well of late, Alabama presents his toughest challenge to date. Alabama has allowed only six touchdown passes all year while intercepting 16 passes and racking up 30 sacks. Nick Saban will attempt to frustrate Murray by generating a lot of pressure through constant blitzing.
However, Georgia has a lot of NFL talent as well on the defensive side of the ball. Linebacker Jarvis Jones has 10.5 sacks, and is in the running for being the top overall pick in the upcoming draft. Linebacker Alec Ogletree is leading the team with 87 tackles despite missing the first four games of the season. Safety Bacarri Rambo has 16 career interceptions. Both teams have plenty of defensive playmakers who can turn this game on its head on any play.
2. Defense will be the star so the game hinges on quarterback play
This game includes two of the most efficient quarterbacks in the nation facing off against each other. Alabama’s A.J. McCarron has thrown only two interceptions this year completing over 67 percent of his passes. McCarron will need to make big throws in this game in order for Alabama to win. Essentially he has to play the way he did against LSU and not how he played against Texas A&M.
Murray has the highest quarterback rating in the nation at 177.2. However, when he has played against ranked teams, his rating drops over 100 points to 72.8. Murray has built a reputation of faltering in big games, and this could be his last chance to prove the critic wrong.
Simulations predict both quarterbacks will have strong games. Both have forecasted quarterback ratings of about 140, and they are both projected to throw more touchdowns than interceptions.
3. The QBs will be joined by star running backs
Both teams have great rushing attacks to ease the load on their quarterbacks. Alabama’s duo of Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon are both among the top 12 rushers in the SEC. They have combined for 1,848 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns. Alabama’s talented and veteran offensive line helps a lot, but both Lacy and Yeldon are both very explosive and difficult to contain.
The Bulldogs have a stud running back of their own in Todd Gurley. He has 14 touchdowns, which is one shy of the Georgia freshman record set by Herschel Walker. Gurley is also averaging 6.5 yards per carry this season, and he can breakout with a huge play at any point in the game.
AccuScore predicts Lacy and Yeldon to have a combined 157.4 yards with 1.5 touchdowns, while Gurley is expected to have 76 yards on five yards a carry. All running backs in this game will have to earn every yard because they are facing two of the toughest defensive lines in the nation.
Prediction: Alabama 24, Georgia 20
Alabama is favored by 7.5 points against Georgia. AccuScore projects Alabama to win the game 73.1 percent of the time. I think the biggest advantage in this game is Alabama’s red zone offense and defense. The Tide has scored a touchdown on 73.5 percent of their red zone trips on offense, while allowing opposing offenses to score a touchdown just 47.8 percent of the time. This game will be closer than expected, but the difference will be Alabama scoring touchdowns while Georgia has to settle for field goals.
