Bowl Game Preview: National Championship Game

Bruce Matson Posted On January 8, 2018

Outside of the Senior Bowl and the East-West Shrine Game, this will be the last time we are able to consume college football until the start of next season. Both Alabama and Georgia are stacked at the running back position and they both have tremendous athletes lining up at wide receiver. This should be an action-packed, fun-to-watch game and tonight, there will be a new National Champion crowned.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY AT&T

Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Georgia Bulldogs

ESPN, 8:00 p.m. EST

This is the first all-SEC National Championship in the history of the College Football Playoff. The Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 54-48 in double overtime to win the Rose Bowl. This allowed them to advance to play the Alabama Crimson Tide, who defeated the Clemson Tigers 24-6 in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. There have been 65 games played between these two teams and Alabama leads the series with a 38-24-3 record.

Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama is loaded with talent on offense. They are led by sophomore quarterback Jalen Hurts who passed for 2,060 yards and 17 touchdowns while tossing just one interception on the season. He has also rushed for 808 yards and eight touchdowns.

His favorite target to throw to is junior wide receiver Calvin Ridley, who caught 59 passes for 935 yards and four touchdowns on the season. He owned a remarkable 37.10 percent market share of Alabama’s passing offense and is considered one of the top wide receiver talents in this year’s NFL draft.

Freshman wide receiver Jerry Jeudy caught 13 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns on the season. He was a five-star recruit from Deerfield Beach High School, located in Deerfield, Florida. According to 247sports, he ranked third among all wide receivers in his recruiting class. Jeudy’s stock is going to drastically increase in devy leagues in the near future because he’s a young talented player who has the potential to be one of the top receivers in college football.

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Alabama’s rushing attack ranks tenth in the nation with 3,325 yards and a 5.8 yards-per-carry average as a team. Their run game is led by junior Damien Harris, who rushed for 983 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season. His best game came against Vanderbilt when he put up 151 yards and three touchdowns. Harris is one of the most underrated running back prospects in the country and he has the potential to be something special at the NFL level. Due to the influx of running back talent in college football, there are very talented runners who will fall through the cracks and not receive the hype they deserve during the draft process. He will be a tremendous steal for an NFL team in the future.

Harris shares the backfield with Bo Scarbrough, a 6-foot-2 and 235-pound power back who also displays some wiggle while trying to shake defenders in the open field. This is his junior season and there’s a good chance he could come out for the draft this year, making him a very intriguing prospect for this year’s draft class. Statistically, his career has been very underwhelming, considering he only rushed for 573 yards and eight touchdowns this season while averaging 4.8 yards per carry. Nonetheless, he’s a very polarizing player who has an amazing highlight reel that will dazzle many draft enthusiasts.

Freshman running back Najee Harris is another talented player in Alabama’s backfield. He was a five-star prospect from Antioch, California and considered the top back in his recruiting class. He’s listed at 6-foot-2, weighs 227-pounds and is an incredible athlete. Harris is a player to keep an eye on, because he could develop into one of the top running backs in the nation. There are not enough touches to feed all of the backs in Alabama’s backfield, so don’t be worried if he receives a small market share of the carries in this game.

Another running back to watch for Alabama is sophomore Josh Jacobs. He didn’t do much this season, but he was productive as a freshman in 2016, rushing for 564 yards and four touchdowns and averaging 6.6 yards per carry.

Georgia Bulldogs

The Georgia Bulldogs are led by freshman quarterback Jake Fromm, who threw for 2,383 yards, 23 touchdowns and five interceptions on the season. He is a young prospect who shows a lot of promise. Fromm has the potential to develop into one of the top quarterbacks in the country.

Georgia finished the regular season ranked fifth in the nation with 3,743 rushing yards and averaged 6.0 yards per carry. They have one of the best rushing attacks in the country. Nick Chubb is one of the best backs in the nation, and one of the best to ever to play for Georgia. Chubb ranks second all-time in rushing yards for Georgia right behind Herschel Walker with 4,744 yards.

The running back who is the third all-time leading rusher for Georgia is Sony Michel, who has had 3,540 yards during his career. Michel had an incredible season in 2017, rushing for 1,129 yards and 16 touchdowns while averaging an outstanding 8.0 yards per carry. Michel and Chubb will both be highly touted during the draft process this spring. I won’t be surprised if both backs develop into valuable fantasy assets in the next few years.

Freshman running back D’Andre Swift is the team’s all-purpose back. Due to his speed and explosiveness, he is utilized as Georgia’s change-of-pace option out of the backfield. Don’t confuse him for a scat-back, because he is more than capable of running between the tackles. He finished the season with 603 yards and three touchdowns with a 7.8 yards per carry average. Swift is a player to keep an eye on, because there’s a possibility that he could develop into one of the more lucrative running backs in college football which will make him a highly sought-after asset in devy leagues.

Elijah Holyfield is another talented running back on Georgia’s roster. He is the son of the former heavyweight boxing champion, Evander Holyfield. Elijah was a four-star recruit out of high school and the sixth-ranked running back in his recruiting class. Holyfield has a lot of talent and he might see a larger workload next season.

Senior wide receiver Javon Wims leads the team in receiving with 704 yards and seven touchdowns and owned a 29.08 percent market share of the team’s passing offense. At 6-foot-4 and 215-pounds, he has the size of the prototypical starting receiver at the NFL level. Wims has a knack for making contested catches downfield. He does a great job of reading the football while it’s in the air and out-jumping defenders to make a play on the football.

Terry Godwin is another wide receiver to keep an eye on in this game. He caught 34 passes for 591 yards and six touchdowns on the season. He’s a speedy receiver who can score from anywhere on the football field. He also has the ability to make tough highlight-reel catches.

Sophomore wide receiver Riley Ridley is the brother of Alabama’s star receiver, Calvin Ridley. He also went to Deerfield Beach High School, the same school Jerry Jeudy attended. He’s a dynamic playmaker who has the speed to take the top off the defense. Ridley has great hands and does a very good job of tracking the football while it’s in the air.

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Bruce Matson

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

I'm a financial counselor for a hospital in South Central Ohio. I graduated from Muskingum University with a bachelor's in business while minoring in Economics and Accounting. I won my first fantasy football title with Jake Plummer as my quarterback.