3. Yeah, the Jameson Williams knee injury mattered
Star Crimson Tide WR Jameson Williams – who torched Georgia for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the SEC Championship – was doing it again. He caught seven passes for 65 yards before leaving the game in the first half with a knee injury – he tore his ACL.
He was gone, and Alabama was also missing leading receiver John Metchie, who caught 96 passes for 1,142 yards and eight scores before getting knocked out for the season in the first meeting with the Dawgs.
Bryce Young still threw for 369 yards and a score, and he had the puck on his stick with a chance to tie it before the Kelee Ringo pick six ended the festivities.
It’s not fair to say that Alabama wins if Williams doesn’t get hurt – a popular narrative among some in the social media and talk radio world.
That game could’ve gone a slew of different ways, and the Dawg D was doing a brilliant job of bending but not breaking, but does Williams – or Metchie, for that matter – come up with the catch down the right sidelines on a perfectly thrown ball that Ja’Corey Brooks fought off for an incompletion?
Maybe.
The overall timing of the offense certainly would’ve been sharper, even though Slade Bolden and TE Cameron Latu did a decent job of picking up the slack. However, not having the main man out there changed things up a bit for the offensive game plan.
Even so, despite all of the criticism …
Georgia – Alabama National Championship 5 Thoughts
5. Georgia was THE team of 2021
4. Stetson Bennett’s one big drive
3. Jameson William’s injury mattered
1. The talent level, oh, the talent level
National Championship Game Thoughts