Thoughts on the National Championship

First off, let's take a moment to be sad that college football is over.

Now, let's talk about the beatdown from Georgia, how the game was won and lost, and what it means going forward!

1. Georgia is combining the best of the past, present, and future of college football.

Georgia's bread and butter is their ruthless efficiency. They constantly could get five yards whenever they wanted and any mistake TCU made on offense was taken advantage of. This reminds me of the late 2000's / early 2010's LSU and Alabama teams that just put the chokehold on you and suffocated you for 60 minutes. BUT! They also combined that efficiency with big momentum plays. College football is no longer a game that can be won 21-14 at the highest level, the athletes are too good. There were explosive plays made on both sides of the ball to win last night. There were concepts from air raid, spread option, the power counter offense, Shanahan-esque tight splits with outside zone and some USC student body right, it was a play caller's dream.

How did they do this? They put a quick processor who was a surgeon at quarterback. Stetson has a tight release and did not try to do too much. He could scramble when necessary, his mechanics stay sound, and he lets his superior talent win time after time. They have a diverse group of skill talent (we will talk about this later) and are amazing up front. They also recruit as good as anyone and so practices are harder than games. Each player is more gifted and driven to keep the top recruit behind them on the depth chart off the field. This is like combining the relentless Michigan rushing attack with Ohio State's explosive passing game, and then your head coach is Nick Saban's former defensive coordinator; armed with a defensive line that blows up plays and linebackers who clean up the mess while the defensive backs are so physical they dare you to throw the flag.

2. TCU deserved to play in this game.

2004 BCS National Championship: USC 55 - Oklahoma 19

2006 BCS National Championship: Florida 41 - Ohio State 14

2012 BCS National Championship: Alabama 42 - Notre Dame 14

2014 CFP National Championship: Ohio State 42 - Oregon 20

2018 CFP National Championship: Clemson 44 - Alabama 16

2020 CFP National Championship: Alabama 52 - Ohio State 24

Obviously Monday night's score was a bit worse than the ones above but be honest: if TCU was wearing Oklahoma uniforms would you feel differently about the loss? I think you would. The Big 12 was the second best conference this year. The freakin' Kansas Jayhawks made a bowl game and took Arkansas to triple overtime. TCU beat the Big Ten champ Michigan in the semifinal and it's not like Oregon did any better against Georgia.

We all get upset that teams keep making the playoffs and national titles and the games are blowouts. But first, remember these are 18-22 year old young men, which leads to large emotional swings, and the top two teams in the sport (i.e., Alabama and Georgia) are just better 1-22 than anyone else. It took CJ Stroud absolutely balling out to almost beat them. But do we love seeing two SEC teams play in the national title? I don't think we do, so let's calm down a bit.

 3. Georgia's tight end duo was phenomenal.

A lot of the schematic conversation coming in was what Georgia was going to do to attack the 3-3-5 defense that TCU runs. 20 personnel (e.g., two running backs, zero tight ends) is something that a lot of teams like to use to stress that scheme and Georgia could run it with Brock Bowers as a receiver, so they were in 21 personnel with him split out wide. But they didn't just do that. Darnell Washington Jr., the human mountain of a tight end, played a great game and Georgia played both Bowers and Washington together in 21 (with Bowers as a running back) and 11 personnel (with Bowers split out wide) a lot, which allowed them to have the advantage running and throwing.

Here is a play in 21 personnel with Bowers being a sidecar to Bennett and attacking as lead blocker on an outside run where he gets enough of the nickelback to spring it for a first down.

Here is a play where Bowers starts as the receiver and motions back to the line. He is able to seal off the edge (TCU played their linemen tight and fanned out their defenders, which often resulted in the defensive end getting pinned down) and Georgia could run a sweep towards two tight ends while being in the spread. Since Washington is such a good blocker they actually pull both the play side guard and tackle.

To top it all off, you have this amazing sequence where Bowers fakes lead blocking to run an arrow route the opposite direction and Washington, who is running a crosser, becomes his lead blocker. That drive is capped with Bowers doing a Randy Moss and winning the jumped ball in the endzone. Both plays have very different formations, including a bunch with both Bowers and Washington, that most teams cannot run with 12 personnel.

This is an embarrassment of riches to have and really allows Georgia to get creative. It truly was a thing of beauty. 

4. Georgia's defense makes refs swallow their whistles.

Kirby Smart coached with Saban for 11 years. One thing both their teams do well is they are always physical and aggressive in the secondary, forcing the refs to either call it early or swallow the whistle for the full game. When they are being the aggressor, receivers are not getting open quickly, and the big guys up front get to eat.

Look at how much time the Georgia defense had to get home. That's over 4 seconds.

Now Duggan is a bit scattered, his mechanics get sloppy, he's more worried about working through the pocket and doesn't see the deep safety as he overthrows a completable ball.

Duggan had a tough night, but he handled himself well. TCU never turned on each other and I think that shows a strong culture, they will be back.

5. It will be interesting at the top next year.

Georgia and Alabama have a stockpile of top recruits but replace their quarterbacks. Ohio State also replaces their QB and Ryan Day has said he may not call plays next year. Michigan has to see what happens with Harbaugh. USC sputtered to the end but has Caleb Williams and Florida State and LSU look ready to fight at the top. I can't wait to see what happens.