Alabama knocks off Georgia to win SEC championship: What does this mean for CFP field?

The Athletic has live coverage of the College Football Playoff rankings selection show.

By David Ubben, Seth Emerson and Kennington Smith III

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe threw two touchdowns en route to winning the SEC Championship Game 27-24 over Georgia on Saturday. It is Georgia’s first loss since the 2021 SEC Championship Game, ending a 29-game winning streak.

The Crimson Tide improved to 12-1 while the Bulldogs fell to 12-1. Both teams now await their fate in the College Football Playoff, with the final rankings unveiled Sunday.

Based on The Athletic’s CFP scenarios, it is likely Alabama’s win will secure a CFP spot. For Georgia to get in the CFP, the Bulldogs need to await the results of unbeaten Michigan and Florida State on Saturday night. In every scenario Alabama beats Georgia, an unbeaten FSU gets into the CFP. It’s not certain but Georgia is most likely headed to the Orange Bowl, if it misses the Playoff. The Orange Bowl gets the highest-ranked team from the Big Ten or SEC, so it comes down to whether Georgia falls behind Ohio State, in which case the Fiesta Bowl or Cotton Bowl come into play.

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Down 20-10 in the fourth quarter, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck cut the deficit to three with a 1-yard TD run. Alabama responded on the next drive going nine plays and 75 yards, capping it off with a Roydell Williams 1-yard TD run. Kendall Milton scored a touchdown, cutting Georgia’s deficit to three with 2:52 remaining. But it wasn’t enough as Milroe ran for two first downs on the subsequent drive, sealing the victory. Milroe — the game MVP — finished 13-of-23 passing for 192 yards and 29 rushing yards.

“Before anybody had an opinion of me, I had my purpose already,” Milroe said, quoting former Alabama QB Jalen Hurts.

The SEC champion has reached the CFP in all nine seasons. With the victory, Alabama has eight straight wins in the SEC.

“I guess they wanted to prove to all the naysayers out there that we could do it,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban, who is now 31-3 against his former assistants.

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Alabama matches Georgia on line of scrimmage

Alabama is the only team in the country that can match Georgia player-for-player on the line of scrimmage and reasonably expect to win the lion’s share of one-on-ones. That was on display Saturday when the Crimson Tide walked on the same field that hosted Georgia’s last loss and ended the Bulldogs’ 29-game winning streak. Georgia struggled to run the ball and gave away three points on a fumble deep in their own territory early in the third quarter. Alabama’s defense locked down a Georgia attack that entered the day in the top 10 nationally at just under 40 points a game. — David Ubben, college football senior writer

Georgia’s winning streak comes to an end

This is a disheartening end to Georgia’s winning streak, and probably to its three-peat hopes. In between these two SEC championship losses to Alabama, there were 29 wins and two national championships, which are still special and not diminished by this result. But this was still a humbling message to the Bulldogs that they aren’t yet the standard of the SEC — or at least they were until their old nemesis got them again.

Georgia had beaten Alabama, and it had won a big game in this building — the Peach Bowl semifinal win over Ohio State — in a comeback it tried to repeat. But in the end, the Bulldogs made too many mistakes, seemed to get out-schemed and got outplayed. — Seth Emerson, Georgia senior writer

Why the Bulldogs lost

There was blame on both sides of the ball for Georgia. In the first half, it was mainly the offense, which followed an impressive first drive — seven plays for a touchdown — with nothing in the next four drives. Georgia tried too hard to establish the run and win with it, and it didn’t work.

Then in the second half, after Georgia’s defense played so well, it couldn’t get stops when it needed them. Down three, it saw Milroe lead Alabama downfield for a touchdown to go up 10. And down three again in the final two minutes, Milroe again made the plays to ice the game. — Emerson

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Sequences that cost Georgia

Georgia will also be haunted by several other sequences: The muffed end-around that gave Alabama a field goal. At the end of the first half, when it could have gotten off the field down 10-7, but couldn’t stop Milroe from completing a fourth-down pass, another long one, and then another for a touchdown. And when Georgia got it back to within 27-24 in the final three minutes, needing a stop, it couldn’t prevent Milroe from getting outside for a long gain.

All season, coach Kirby Smart said the mark of this year’s team was it could take a punch. But while his team again hit back on Saturday night, it was the opponent who could withstand the punches better. — Emerson

Alabama weathered an early storm and responded late when needed

Georgia has started six consecutive games with a 7-0 deficit but Saturday was the inverse: the Bulldogs forced an Alabama three-and-out and scored on its opening possession to take a 7-0 lead. But it was virtually all Alabama from there.

Georgia averaged 10.3 yards per play on its first drive, each drive after only netting an average of 4.23 yards per play. Conversely, Alabama scored on five of eight possessions after two three-and-outs to start the game. Milroe started the game 1-6 and was largely held in check on the ground, held without a run over 10 yards, but made necessary plays with his arm including six pass plays of at least 15 yards — two of those for touchdowns. But more impressively, he found comfort in checkdowns, especially in the second half. He took what Georgia’s defense gave and it led to success.

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But Alabama won the game late when it needed to respond in big moments. With 11:53 to play, a 28-yard punt return by Anthony Evans set Georgia up favorably in Alabama territory. Five plays later, Georgia cut the deficit to 20-17 behind a Beck quarterback sneak. At that point, the Bulldogs had the momentum but Alabama responded in arguably its drive of the season. The Crimson Tide marched down the field in nine plays, eight for positive yardage, for 75 yards and a touchdown to extend the lead to 27-17. Milroe completed all five of his pass attempts for 58 yards on the drive.

Georgia cut the deficit to 27-24 with 2:52 to play and needed a stop to get the ball back for a potential tying or winning score. A steady dose of Milroe and Williams dashed any hopes for a comeback and potentially a three-peat. — Kennington Smith III, Alabama staff writer

The play calls that swung the game

It wasn’t the most productive day for Alabama in third downs (3-12) but two fourth-down conversions turned the game in the Crimson Tide’s favor. Down 7-3 on the opening drive of the second quarter and facing a 4th & 1 from the Georgia 20-yard line, Alabama opted to go for it and lined up in its usual tush push formation. This instance provided another wrinkle — a traditional handoff from Milroe to Williams who converted with a tough run. Two plays later, a busted coverage in Georgia’s defense allowed Jam Miller to escape freely in the flat for a 28-yard touchdown. Alabama gained the lead and never relinquished it.

The second conversion was even bigger. With 1:34 on the clock, holding a 10-7 lead and facing a 3rd & 21, Milroe found Amari Niblack for 17 yards to the Georgia 37-yard line and Smart called a timeout. With the decision to kick a field goal or go for it, Saban left the offense on the field. When Georgia wasn’t drawn offside, Alabama called a timeout and put the offense on the field again. This time, Milroe delivered a strike to Isaiah Bond for 22 yards into the Georgia red zone. Two plays later, Milroe found Burton for a 15-yard touchdown and a 17-7 lead at halftime. — Smith

TD catch off the DOME 🙌
📺 CBS
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) December 2, 2023

Players stepped up in the place of injured stars

One of the key storylines for Alabama entering the game was the health of running back Jase McClellan. He did not play but senior Williams was more than adequate (16 rushes for 64 yards and one touchdown) and Miller saw an increased workload and made the most of it, highlighted by his 28-yard touchdown catch.

Wagon Wheel 👀@JalenMilroe ➡️@JamarionMiller1
📺 CBS
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) December 2, 2023

In the second half, star cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry left the game with an undisclosed injury and did not return. Trey Amos entered in his place and, like he’s done all season, filled in nicely when called upon. Georgia tested Amos on his first play, matching him up with Brock Bowers, but Amos won with a pass breakup. He didn’t allow a completion for the duration of the game and was instrumental in the win. — Smith

Will Reichard makes college football history

The 3:43 mark in the first quarter saw college football history when Will Reichard’s 43-yard field goal went through the uprights — with that kick, Reichard became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer at 533 points. He recorded nine points total in the game.

5️⃣3️⃣3️⃣👑@WillReichard
📺 CBS
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) December 2, 2023

The Lou Groza Award finalist has converted 20-23 field goals this season, moving him to fifth all-time in field goal percentage in SEC history at 83.3 percent. A tip of the cap to an Alabama program great. — Smith