We have reached a point in the season where we will hear the favorite word of the College Football Playoff committee used in more ways than one. Upon seeing analysts such as Heather Dinich among others on ESPN debate on who are the four best teams for the playoff, the term “unequivocally” gets on everyone’s nerves.
By definition, it means in a way that leaves no doubt.
People should be able to watch the best schools and the find the moment where each one possessed control of the game.
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As both Oregon and Penn State suffered defeats over the weekend, Alabama’s argument for the CFP grows stronger. The Crimson Tide will battle a ranked Auburn (No. 16) team at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, while its lone blemish happened at the hands of the top-ranked school in the sport: Louisiana State University.
A list of one-loss programs has already hit the desk of the committee and on Tuesday evening, another deliberation will begin.
Among those teams stand the Georgia Bulldogs. It took an embarrassing three-point loss (20-17) at home to South Carolina back on Oct. 12.
As a junior, Jake Fromm had his worst game at quarterback – tossing three interceptions, losing a fumble and being sacked three times.
Despite it not having Jake Bentley, the Gamecocks also suffered an injury to backup Ryan Hilinski. Will Muschamp needed his third-string quarterback, Dakereon Joyner to come in and close the deal.
Regardless of the talent Georgia has, four turnovers led to a defeat against a 4-7 opponent. On last week, the Bulldogs welcomed Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M to Sanford Stadium.
Fromm did not have his finest outing, completing 11 of 23 passes (47.8 percent) for 163 yards with one touchdown.
If the Aggies had a consistent rushing attack, it might have pulled out an upset. Kellen Mond had more passing yards (275) and a better completing percentage (59.5%) than Fromm; however, Texas A&M could not run the football.
Georgia held on to win, 19-13.
Prior to the Aggies, the Bulldogs faced Auburn on the road. It was another matchup that saw Fromm struggle with accuracy. He accounted for three scores, but had just 110 passing yards.
Bo Nix of the Tigers posted 287 yards offensively with two touchdowns, yet it took D’Andre Swift of Georgia to carry the team to a 21-14 victory.
Swift had to bail the Dawgs out against Auburn and Texas A&M.
The three teams listed for Georgia are the same schools that Alabama has to face or it has already played.
While the Bulldogs fell to South Carolina and scraped by Texas A&M, the Tide handled both teams by 14-plus points. Even with a defense that’s been up and down, Nick Saban’s bunch defeated the Gamecocks by 24 points (47-23) inside Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. On the heels of a strong first drive by the Aggies, Alabama would beat up Mond – creating five sacks, 10 pass breakups and four quarterback pressures.
The Tide took care of Texas A&M by 19 points (47-28) at Kyle Field.
Both matchups came with Tua Tagovailoa as the starting quarterback, but Mac Jones was dominated in his two starts.
A redshirt sophomore, he chimes in with 510 passing yards and six touchdowns to no turnovers on completing 28 of 34 attempts (82.4%) in both games.
Should he lead the Tide to a convincing win over Auburn, it would mean Alabama is unequivocally better than Georgia – seeing as how it dominated the teams that the Bulldogs struggled to put away.
On Tuesday, the CFP committee may need to consider moving Georgia down to No. 5 and bumping the Tide up to No. 4. We’ll see what happens, but the Bulldogs do not look like one of the four best teams in college football.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
