What a college football season we’ve had. Following the saddest year in college football history — COVID-19 kept the majority of stadiums either empty or with limited capacity — the 2021 regular season was a massive treat.
From the very first kickoff, the energy in the stands was back, bringing with it all the passion and pageantry that comes with the sport we so love. We’re now approaching the finish line, with a National Champion to be crowned on January 10th. Before a team gets to hoist the eighth College Football Playoff championship trophy, we still have three games to play.
The CFP semifinals are just about 24 hours away, so let’s take a look at the matchups.
No. 1 Alabama vs No. 4 Cincinnati – 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
It’s about time we got some fresh blood in the CFP. For the first time in the existence of the CFP, a team outside of the Power Five will play for a national championship. Cincinnati enters the Cotton Bowl undefeated, fresh off of a win over a good Houston team in the AAC Championship Game. And while the Bearcats have some quality wins on their schedule, including beating a top-10 Notre Dame team on the road, they’ve never faced a team as talented as Alabama.
Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide appeared shaky for most of the year, even though they found a way to win the SEC West. Close wins over LSU and Auburn to end the year allowed many to think they were finally vulnerable. And then, the SEC Championship Game reminded everyone of what a Saban-coached football team can do.
Alabama and quarterback Bryce Young dominated what everyone thought was the best team in the country in Georgia. Young secured the Heisman trophy in the win, throwing for 421 yards and three touchdowns against the best defense in the country. To put it into perspective, heading into the SEC Championship Game, 387 yards was the most Georgia’s defense had allowed in a single game. Alabama had 365 yards … in the first half. They finished with 536 yards for the game.
All this to say, there’s a reason why Alabama will enter Friday’s game as two-touchdown favorites. They have the most talented roster in the country, and the offensive performance against Georgia’s defense is still fresh in everyone’s minds.
But in the words of the great Lee Corso, “Not so fast my friends.”
Cincinnati is no joke, and while I would be out of my mind to bet against Alabama, I’m at least comfortable in thinking that Alabama will fail to cover.
The matchup to watch will be Alabama’s receiving core against Cincinnati’s secondary.
Cincinnati boasts the No. 2 pass defense in the nation (168.3 yards allowed per game), and is fifth in the country in points allowed per game (16.1). Their secondary is led by two phenomenal corners. Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner — the AAC Defensive Player of the Year — has yet to give up a touchdown in his career. According to Cincinnati’s website, Gardner allowed just 13 catches for 117 yards in the 2021 season.
And there’s the corner on the other side of the field. Senior Coby Bryant was named the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the best defensive back in college football.
“Their two corners are long and are good players,” Saban said. “They play a lot of man-to-man. They’ve got good ball skills. They’re good man-to-man players. They’re aggressive in the way they play. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. They’re smart. They’ve got a lot of experience, even when they change it up and they play zone. They’re ball-hawkers, they’re all ball-hawkers back there. They really attack the ball. They’ve got a lot of turnovers. So it’s really a talented group.”
They’ll be tasked with slowing down stud wide receiver Jameson Williams. The junior is coming off a spectacular performance in the SEC Championship Game, hauling in seven catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns. He’ll be Young’s primary target with the absence of John Metchie, out for the season after suffering a torn ACL against Georgia.
It’s an injury that can’t be overlooked considering that Metchie was Young’s top target for the season, catching 96 passes on the year. If Cincinnati is able to slow down the Young-to-Williams connection, Alabama will be counting on some unproven receivers to step up.
No. 2 Michigan vs No. 3 Georgia – 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Talk about two teams in very different positions.
Georgia is coming off a shellacking at the hands of Alabama — their first loss of the season — while Michigan is riding high, coming off big wins over rival Ohio State and Iowa in the BIG 10 Championship Game.
Georgia has done it all year with their defense. Before getting smacked by Alabama, the Bulldogs defense was number one in the country in just about every category. Even after giving up 536 yards to Bama, Georgia’s defense is second in the country in yards allowed per game (254.4), third in rushing yards per game (81.7), and first in points allowed per game (9.5) by a wide margin.
This will be a battle in the trenches, with Michigan sporting the best offensive line in the country, and Georgia’s phenomenal rushing defense led by defensive lineman Jordan Davis.
Michigan is 10th in the country in rushing yards per game (223.8), while Georgia’s defense has only allowed three rushing touchdowns on the season. Michigan running backs Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum form a dynamic duo behind quarterback Cade McNamara — they’ve combined for 31 rushing touchdowns on the season. Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh knows the running game must be successful in order to give McNamara an opportunity to make a big play or two down the field.
For Georgia, is the dominant play that we watched all season for real? Or was their performance against Alabama closer to the real Georgia?
Quarterback Stetson Bennett is the guy for Georgia, backed by his coaches this week as rumors swirled that JT Bennett was getting some consideration.
“If you look at the plays he’s made, he’s made national championship plays. He has,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said of Bennett. “You turn on the film and look at some of the throws he makes, the decisions he makes, the things he does with his feet. There’s no doubt in my mind we can win the national championship. There’s no doubt in my mind we can win it with Stetson Bennett.”
Michigan’s defense — led by Heisman runner-up Aidan Hutchinson — will try to make Bennett beat them with his arm, something he hasn’t had to do all year long.
The line currently favors Georgia by 7 ½ points as both teams prepare for the Orange Bowl.
With all that said, simply enjoy. This is college football at its finest. Happy viewing, everyone.
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Source: Dailywire
