Kirby Smart shares why Georgia defense struggled vs. Tech, what needs to be fixed ahead of Alabama

An Alabama College Football Playoff berth will be predicated on whether or not they can slay the two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs during Saturday’s SEC Championship game.

However, the Bulldogs won their record 29th consecutive game over the weekend against rival Georgia Tech, and haven’t lost a game since the 2021 SEC Championship game to the Crimson Tide themselves.

Whether Alabama can take down Georgia remains to be seen — but Paul Finebaum attempted to break down the storylines for both squads heading into Saturday’s conference championship game.

“I was talking to Hugh Freeze Friday afternoon and he said that the Georgia team he played in September — he said Alabama is better than that team, but that’s not really telling you the Georgia story,” Finebaum told Matt Barrie on Sunday. “I haven’t talked to them since the game because, think I really don’t want to talk to him right now, I’ll give them a couple of days to recover. But I think he’ll be the most interesting person to break that down because Alabama is capable, I think, of beating anyone.

“Georgia has some injury problems — you could see that last night. They didn’t play a couple of their key players. How banged up are those players? Or was Kirby Smart being judicious?”

Most notably on the offensive side of things, Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey and RaRa Thomas all missed the regular season finale against the Yellow Jackets. Georgia defeated its in-state rival 31-23 without its star players. Instead, they leaned heavily on running back Kendall Milton who contributed 18 rushing attempts for 156 yards and two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide looked to have their backs against the wall until the tide turned in the final minutes of the Iron Bowl. Auburn turned the ball over on special teams deep inside their own territory. It looked as though the Crimson Tide would easily take advantage of the Tigers’ mishap, but instead Auburn forced 4th & 31 late in the fourth quarter — and Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe connected to Isaiah Bond in the back right side of the end zone for the improbable game-winning touchdown completion.

The opening kickoff between Alabama and Georgia in the 2023 SEC Championship game is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 2 inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, live on CBS. The Bulldogs are five-point betting favorites heading into game week, according to Vegas Insider, while the over/under is set at 55.5 total points.