The world of college football is filled with what-if moments. The 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship Game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs sure has plenty of what-ifs across the board.

For one, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young entered the contest without his star wideout in John Metchie III, as the wide receiver suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the 2021 SEC Championship Game. He wound up not having wide receiver Jameson Williams for the second half of the game, as he sustained a non-contact ACL injury in the second quarter of the matchup.

As Williams noted during his 2022 NFL Scouting Combine press conference, the Crimson Tide would have come away from the game victorious had he not suffered the crucial injury.

“I felt like we would’ve won the game,” Williams said. “Just — things happen, you know.

“I watched the play a lot of times. I don’t know what the factor was. I don’t know what caused the injury. I don’t know what it was. I just know I turned around and tried to stick and, yeah.”

With both Metchie and Williams unavailable for Young in the second half of the contest, he had to call upon the likes of wideouts Agiye Hall and Ja’Corey Brooks to help lead the way on offense. While the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner provided the Crimson Tide with a lead in the fourth quarter, Georgia responded with three touchdown scores to dethrone Alabama and clinch a long-awaited College Football Playoff national championship.

Both Alabama and Georgia are slated to once again emerge as the top contenders in the SEC in the upcoming 2022 season.