Georgia eyes College Football Playoff first-round bye after dominating Alabama in SEC Championship

Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton got off to a much quicker start against Alabama in Saturday’s SEC Championship than he did last week against in-state rival Georgia Tech. 

Stockton finished the Bulldogs’ dominant 28-7 victory over the Crimson Tide at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta with three touchdowns to secure Georgia’s spot in the College Football Playoff (CFP).

While winning the SEC title put Georgia (12-1) in position for a first-round playoff spot, Alabama (10-3) suffered its third loss of the year. The Tide are now in jeopardy of missing one of the coveted 12 CFB postseason spots.

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Head coach Kirby Smart and Georgia’s win also put an end to Alabama’s dominance in the schools’ recent head-to-head matchups. 

The Tide had won each of the past four meetings in the SEC Championship Game, and Smart was a mere 1-7 overall against Alabama. Prior to Saturday, the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship marked Smart’s lone victory against the neighboring state school.

Smart has now coached Georgia to four conference titles.

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The Crimson Tide were believed to be in good position when they moved up to the ninth spot in last week’s CFP rankings, but the lopsided loss to the Bulldogs renewed concerns that Alabama could miss the playoff for the second consecutive season under head coach Kalen DeBoer.

After the loss, DeBoer made his case for the ninth-ranked Crimson Tide not falling out of contention for the CFP.

"I think you look at the games that we played throughout the season, but if you’re really looking at this game, I mean, it was a 14-point game with seven and a half minutes to go, and we had the ball," DeBoer said. "You look at things that didn’t go well – we gave them four short fields. And again, I don’t want to take anything away from what Georgia did. 

"The field position battle is part of it. But we gave them four short fields. I mean, that’s a testament to our defense being resilient."

Late in the first quarter, Daylen Everette's interception of Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson’s pass deflected by KJ Bolden gave the Bulldogs the ball near midfield. Stockton’s 1-yard scoring pass to Dillon Bell gave Georgia a 14-0 lead.

A block by London Humphreys helped Nate Frazier score easily on a 9-yard run to cap Georgia’s first possession of the second half, extending the lead to three touchdowns.

Alabama posted the biggest comeback in SEC Championship Game history when it beat Georgia 35-28 in 2018 after trailing by 14 points.

The latest CFP rankings and first-round pairings will be released on Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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