Alabama football made a major statement on Saturday night, jumping all over Georgia early on before holding onto a 41-34 win in an instant classic in Tuscaloosa. The first two quarters sent shockwaves through the college football world and screamed that the Crimson Tide are still very much contenders for the National Championship.
The sportsbooks seem to agree with that, as Alabama has now passed Ohio State as the favorites to win the College Football Playoff National Championship, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Kalen DeBoer's group is just a narrow favorite, slotting in at +370, just ahead of the Buckeyes at +380. Texas is a the third favorite at +500, and Georgia remains in the No. 4 spot at +550 even after the loss.
Georgia and Alabama still both have a great chance to be in the 12-team field in the expanded format regardless of the result of their game, but the win boosts Alabama's chances for an SEC Championship and a first round bye in the postseason. They're not out of the woods yet, as they still have four top 25 opponents on the schedule, but one of their biggest hurdles is now out of the way.
What we learned about Alabama from classic win over Georgia
Alabama's instant classic win against Georgia was a roller coaster, with the Tide dominating early on before Georgia staged a massive comeback. Alabama only escaped on the heroics of Jalen Milroe and freshmen Ryan Williams and Zabien Brown, but we learned a lot about Kalen DeBoer's ball club either way.
The first thing that stuck out about Alabama was that their offense is very explosive and is going to be hard to stop for any team going forward. Milroe is still an elite runner, but he also looks more accurate and more comfortable from the pocket in his second full season as the starter for Alabama. His connection with Williams, the 17-year old phenom, is already elite and resulted in one of the best game-winning touchdowns you'll ever see.
Defensively, the Alabama secondary was very aggressive on Saturday night, which was both a blessing and a curse. Early on, the Alabama corners were blanketing the Georgia receivers and forcing turnovers from Carson Beck. However, Georgia was able to get back into the game by winning their one-on-one matchups on the outside and generating a ton of explosive plays.
Even if there are still questions about Alabama, DeBoer has answered any questions about the state of the program in the post-Nick Saban era. They will be a force to be reckoned with for the rest of the season.
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