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Georgia Enshrined as King of College Football

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NCAA National Championship – In winning their second straight College Football Playoff title, the Georgia Bulldogs achieved the largest margin of victory in any bowl game ever, much less a game played for the sport’s championship. The Bulldogs had reached a 99% win probability before halftime, and all but Georgia diehards were able to turn the sport’s crowning game off at that point. With its back-to-back championships and stranglehold on acquiring the best talent in the country, Georgia has claimed Alabama’s long-held pole position in college football. It’s not overly reductive to say that Monday night’s game was won on National Signing Day in 2020, 2021, and 2022. The players on TCU’s roster weren’t close to holding their own with those on Kirby Smart’s side. Georgia has become the Death Star, and there’s no clear reason to see that changing in the foreseeable future.

Notes:

  • All rankings referenced are from Brian Fremeau’s FEI numbers heading into the weekend.
  • EPA/play includes special teams and penalties, so combining EPA/rush and EPA/pass numbers won’t give the same total as what the top line number shows.

College Football Playoff National Championship Game

No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs 65, No. 7 TCU Horned Frogs 7

Advanced Box Score: TCU vs. Georgia

TCU received the ball to start the game, false started immediately, and then was consumed by Georgia’s relentless defense. As the Frogs opened the game throwing, Jalen Carter pushed the pocket back on Max Duggan from the middle of the field, and when Georgia didn’t happen to get pressure on Duggan, coverage in the secondary was mostly suffocating. All in all, Duggan was pressured on an astounding 55% of his dropbacks, completed only 33% of his throws and throwing two interceptions to the Bulldogs defense when pressured. Jalon Walker led the way for Georgia with four pressures, and an incredible eight other defenders had two or pressures or more.

Everywhere TCU looked, there was another physically overpowering Georgia player waiting to disrupt things in the TCU backfield. The physical domination that some expected for TCU to suffer against Michigan needed one more week to materialize. Nazir Stackhouse blew up a zone read to open TCU’s second drive; the play lost 6 yards but symbolized the gulf between these two teams in a way that was impossible to overcome. There was no blocking the Georgia front on Monday night.

The explosives for TCU didn’t materialize either. Trailing 10-0, Duggan found Derius Davis for a 60-yard gain that set up the Horned Frogs’ only score of the day. Kelee Ringo and Javon Bullard miscommunicated passing off receivers in the secondary and let Davis get wide open. Nothing like that happened again. The only other TCU play to gain 3 EPA or more happened when Georgia led 52-7. Georgia was able to create so much anxiety with its front that the guys on the back end had no trouble keeping TCU’s receivers contained throughout the game. Superstar Quentin Johnston was only targeted twice the entire game, and those plays lost 1.9 EPA.

While its defense was busy sucking the life out of TCU, Georgia hit the gas on offense. Stetson Bennett got his curtain call early in the fourth quarter after playing a nearly perfect game. He threw the ball 25 times, posting a 64% success rate and racking up 22.2 EPA through the air. He was 5-of-8 throwing more than 20 yards down the field, and his layered throws over the middle were spectacular.

Todd Monken used the zone read to involve Bennett in the rushing attack as well, and he added 5.8 EPA on just three carries. Ladd McConkey was Bennett’s main threat amongst the receivers, scoring twice after dealing with nagging knee issues over the final part of the season. The play design on his first touchdown was brilliant as Georgia used a sugar huddle, quick motion, and a wheel route from the tailback towards McConkey’s side of the field to completely confuse star TCU corner Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson. The play was wired up to be a touchdown no matter which target Hodges-Tomlinson took.

Overall, though, the star weapon was of course the overwhelming tight end. After being relatively quiet against Ohio State, Brock Bowers exploded to the tune of 13.6 EPA receiving on just seven targets. He added two successful carries for good measure.

If you saw one play of this game, you saw enough. Georgia had accumulated an EPA margin of more than 40 by halftime. TCU never had a chance of competing physically. The depth of athletically and physically superior players that Kirby Smart has accumulated has overtaken all competitors. As much as it pains my fandom to write this, Georgia is the measuring stick of the sport, and the Bulldogs aren’t going anywhere.



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