In last season’s SEC Championship Game, the Alabama Crimson Tide kept Georgia out of the final four-team College Football Playoff with a 27-24 win. In that one, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe completed just 13 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns and was held to 29 yards on the ground. This season, No. 2 Georgia has had even less success containing Milroe in a top-five showdown with No. 4 Alabama.
Alabama scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the game and took a 30-7 lead into the half at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday night. Milroe, who was benched by former Alabama coach Nick Saban early last season, is now a clear Heisman Trophy front-runner with his first-half performance against the Bulldogs. He has thrown for 186 yards and a touchdown on 18/20 passing with one interception and has been even more dominant on the ground, running for 106 yards and two scores on just nine attempts.
Kirby Smart put it best in his halftime interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “Alabama has been really explosive tonight,” Smart said, “we’ve had no answer for Milroe, he’s a great athlete, a phenomenal athlete, we’ve struggled to tackle him we don’t have the edges. They’ve done a really good job throwing with him out of empty, and that’s been new.”
Though it came in a loss, Smart and defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann had a much better plan for Milroe last season, but now under offensive-minded head coach Kalen DeBoer, he’s a much different player.
Georgia has big problems on the offensive side of the ball with Carson Beck only completing eight of his 17 attempts in the first half for 98 yards with two interceptions. However, Smart, the former Alabama defensive coordinator, is focused on his defense.
“The most important thing is we’ve got to get some stops,” Smart told Rowe.
Georgia will get the ball first to start the second half but will need to dig out of a 23-point deficit.