ATHENS – It’s hard to beat a good team twice.
That long has been the adage in sports, especially in college football. And the No. 3-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (13-1) certainly hope that will be the case when they meet No. 1-ranked Alabama for a second time this season on Jan. 10 in Indianapolis. The rematch will, of course, be for the national championship.
The Crimson Tide (13-1) was ranked No. 3 when they last met then-No. 1 Georgia just 30 days ago and beat the Bulldogs 41-24 in the SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Both teams overwhelmed their opponents in the College Football Playoff semifinals last Friday to set up the rematch.
Is that an advantage for either the victor or the vanquished?
“There’s some history there,” said Vince Dooley, the last Georgia football coach to win a national championship (1980). “You can look at Alabama-LSU, Florida-Florida State, and very few people talk about LSU-Ole Miss. All they talk about is the great punt return by Billy Cannon in the regular-season game (which LSU won 7-3). But they forget that Ole Miss played them again in the Sugar Bowl and beat the hell out of them, 21-0. So, getting (Alabama) a second time around, I’m excited about it.”
Dooley also was referencing the two games between the Crimson Tide and LSU in 2011. Both Kirby Smart and Nick Saban were a part of those games as Alabama coaches. The No. 1-ranked Tigers won the regular-season matchup 9-6 in overtime in Tuscaloosa. But Alabama, ranked No. 3 in the rematch, won the BCS Championship 21-0 on Jan. 9 in New Orleans.
Florida, 24-21 losers to Florida State in Tallahassee in the regular-season finale, also got revenge on the Seminoles to win the 1997 BCS championship in football.
Playing a second time in close proximity is always a tricky proposition. Teams walk a fine line between under analyzing and over analyzing based on the previous matchup. There is the temptation to change both everything and change nothing.
“You’ve got to be careful because you’ve got things in your breakdown that might change this game, in terms of things we didn’t have the SEC Championship game,” said Smart, who was Alabama’s defensive coordinator in the 2011 rematch against LSU. “Obviously, in our breakdown, then the playoff game, (Georgia will examine) what tendencies changed, what matchups we’re looking for, who is in, who is out.”
Said Saban: “There are some subtle changes that you need to make so that you put your players in the best chance to be successful. But they’re always going to see something new and different. So, players are always going to have to adapt in the game.”
The teams could not have looked more different in their respective semifinals. Alabama, which passed for 421 yards against Georgia in the SEC title game, ran for yards 301 against Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl. Similarly, the Bulldogs were extremely proficient throwing the football in their 34-11 win over Michigan and shut down the Wolverines defensively.
“Are you going to outsmart yourself? Are you going to over think everything? No. We are not,” Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett said. “… We’re going to prepare with what they’ve put on tape. We’re going to stick with their tendencies, just the same way I do every week, and be ready to adjust. … If there is a wrinkle come Monday night from either side, then whoever adjusts best will win the football game.”
Said Smart: “There’s a lot of things that go into it. But, at the end of the day, you’re really not as worried about what they’re doing; you’re worried about what you’re doing and how well you can do it. That is the most important part.”
The primary thing Georgia has to do better the second time around is cover Alabama’s wideouts and get pressure on quarterback Bryce Young. The Bulldogs did not record a sack in the last game and wideouts Jameson Williams and John Metchie got loose for 13 catches for 281 yards and 3 touchdowns.
“Same approach, but different attitude,” said Georgia cornerback Derion Kendrick, who had two interceptions was named defensive MVP of the Orange Bowl. “You’ve got to go out there, do what we do because we didn’t play a good game at all on the defensive side of the ball. We’ve got to help the offense out as well. So that’s how I feel about it.”
Of course, for every example of the losing team getting redemption in a rematch, there’s one of the winning team emerging victorious again. No. 2 Miami beat FSU both in the regular season and in the 2004 Orange Bowl, for instance. And Florida both tied and beat the Seminoles in 1995.
Bennett said he’d bet Bama doesn’t change much at all.
“They’re not going to change up and go all Arkansas on us, he said. “They’re not going to do that. They’re going to be Alabama, we’re going to be Georgia and we’re going to see who executes better.”
For one, Dooley expects to see the Bulldogs play much better.
“I think the experience we got from the first time around helps,” Dooley said. I know physically we can match up. We just weren’t ready to play in the last one and Alabama was, for whatever reason. They’d been in a tough grind and we hadn’t.
“We’re a much saltier group now that they’ve we’ve been through what we’ve been through. We should be more excited and more motivated as players and coaches than we’ve ever been. I like that idea.”
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