ATLANTA – Alabama may have played itself out of the College Football Playoff.
With a dismal performance that raises serious doubts about their postseason worthiness, the 10th-ranked Crimson Tide were dominated by No. 3 Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Saturday.
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The 28-7 loss was a major boost to the hopes of Notre Dame and Miami, both of which went into the weekend on the playoff bubble with no chance to improve their resumes before the selection committee chooses the 12-team field on Sunday.
While the committee will likely be reluctant to penalize a team that played an extra game — while surefire SEC playoff teams such as Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Oklahoma all watched from the comfort of home — the Tide's showing was so putrid over the first three quarters that it figures to be a restless night for coach Kalen DeBoer and his players.
Not that DeBoer was willing to concede the point.
He made it clear he considers the Tide (10-3, No. 9 CFP) a playoff team, no matter the outcome against Georgia (12-1, No. 3 CFP).
“If this game applies to and takes away from our resume, I don't think that's right. I really don't,” DeBoer said. “The precedent has been set. I don't know how you can go into a conference playoff game as the No. 1 seed, where you've done all these things throughout the year and playing in this game — against one of the top teams in the country, as well — can hurt you and keep you out of the playoff."
With Jam Miller sidelined by a lower leg injury, Alabama couldn't muster any semblance of a running game against a Georgia team it defeated 24-21 in Athens during the regular season. The Tide finished with minus-3 rushing yards and held the ball for just 23 minutes.
Trailing 21-0 and having barely cleared 100 yards of total offense, the Tide finally showed signs of life in the final period with a nine-play, 91-yard drive for their lone touchdown. But Ty Simpson's short throw that Germie Bernard turned into a 23-yard score was the only glimmer on a dark day in Atlanta.
When Alabama got the ball back deep in its own territory, DeBoer left the offense on the field for a fourth-and-2 play from the 12 — even with more than eight minutes still to play and all three of his timeouts.
Fittingly, Simpson's sideline pass sailed far over the head of his intended receiver, and Georgia quickly finished off the victory with Zachariah Branch's 13-yard catch-and-run for a TD.
“We know we're the best offense in the country,” said Simpson, who completed 19 of 39 passes for 212 yards with an interception. “When we don't show it, it's frustrating.”
The Tide also had a breakdown on special teams, giving up a blocked punt that set up Georgia's first touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, DeBoer wasn't concerned about style points or the ramifications of losing by three touchdowns instead of two. That's why he went for it on fourth down deep in his own territory.
“If we're really worried about the score, we probably would've punted,” DeBoer said. “But we're here to win an SEC championship. If you lose by one or you lose by more, it's still a loss. That's what I cared about. You can't worry how much you lose by. We're here to win. That's how we play.”
Most notably, Alabama can boast that it was the first school in SEC history to win four straight games over ranked teams without benefit of a bye week, reeling off victories over Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri and Tennessee in a stretch that seemed likely to ensure a CFP berth.
But the Tide also have the worst loss among the bubble teams, a 31-17 defeat by Florida State in the season opener — a result from more than three months ago that could come back to haunt Alabama in December. The Seminoles won just four more games to finish 5-7.
If DeBoer misses the expanded playoffs for the second straight year since taking over for Nick Saban, it's sure to raise the heat on the 51-year-old coach.
After all, Saban won six national titles and made the playoff eight out of 10 years even when it was just a four-team format.
Simpson said he's “not nervous at all” about earning a playoff berth.
“Our resume speaks for itself,” the quarterback said. “We went through a a really tough schedule. We're the most resilient team in the country.”
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