As usual, fans of college football were on edge after coming across the most recent cliffhanger of a game between Alabama and Georgia that ended 41-34. This game was not just any other game in their conference; it has all along felt like a classic clash. In both cases, the competitors emerged as the best of their kind in terms of skills and energetically on the pitch. There could barely be any complaint about the performance of Jalen Milroe, who passed for 374 yards, besides adding 117 rushing yards. And as any fan of the show would know, there’s Ryan Williams who became an audience favourite with his incredible display. That win locked up the victory and with it, Alabama claimed its rankings position as the number 1, a fact pointed out by analyst Joel Klatt.

But let’s dig deeper. Klatt, known for his insightful commentary, didn’t just celebrate the win; he examined what went down on the field. “If Alabama plays well at their ceiling, there is no doubt that they can win the national championship, he stated, on The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast. But he also said there was a flip-flop moment in the course of the game. The first half was full of emotions and energy and because of that Georgia was just like… switched off during the second half. Klatt noted that the Bulldogs started capitalizing on what he saw to be a weakness in the Alabama team, which is their secondary, stuff that could prove costly as the season unfolds.

In the second half, the team from Georgia began to slowly get the idea and played better on the defensive end. Klatt expressed that he could sense a shift: “As time goes on, what you will see is one team start to become a better team or reveal that they are the better team than the other.” He thought the process was underway, and Georgia started to piece apart Alabama’s offense. Carson Beck, Georgia’s quarterback, should be feeling like saying, “Just give me another shot at them!” After all, they just didn’t have the time to fully exploit the changes that they needed to make.

This game was full of what had been done and could have well been done, but was not. Well perhaps, if they had more time on the clock, they might have been able to change it for themselves. Joel Klatt believes that Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs would embrace the chance to rematch. A lot of dramatic build-up of college football is contained in such times or occasions. It’s where legends are born and rivalries intensify.

It’s clear that despite Alabama’s win over Georgia, Joel Klatt has a bold stance: Kirby Smart’s Georgia. And it may just be the better team. But of course, Klatt’s argument is built around one claim: Alabama may have won but Georgia began to expose Alabama’s flaws, particularly in the second half of the game. The Bulldogs were beginning to look like Smart’s trademark defense and they were picking on the weakness that Klatt identified as the secondary.

The second half: Georgia’s opportunity

According to Klatt, football often mirrors life: the cream rises to the top. He thinks that during the game; he had indications that the Georgians were head and shoulders above the rest of the teams. It does not change what Klatt said when he was watching the game. He saw a team in Georgia that had started to exploit the weak spot that Alabama had. “What I saw in the second half was a team in Georgia start to pick apart the weakness that Alabama has,” Klatt said. For Kirby Smart, this would be a realizing blow- that his team was hitting their stride too late.

Klatt of course, says that he would ‘want to play this Alabama team again if he was Georgia quarterback Carson Beck’. Beck’s spurt in the latter stages of the game, signals that Georgia just ran out of time on the clock. However, on the same note, while extending the win streak of Nick Saban at Alabama that we celebrate, Klatt hints that the Crimson Tide’s continued dominance could be volatile, especially against teams such as Georgia.

DeBoer’s play-calling has unquestionably retained Alabama on championship discussion lists, but Klatt senses susceptibilities, primarily, in Alabama’s secondary to be a problem for them in a rematch or other playoff settings. Klatt’s point is not to denigrate Alabama’s chances to win, but Klatt has said that over time the better team comes through, the team such as Georgia. It is a kind of threat to Alabama showing that it may not hold the trophy for long if their defense is going to be such an easy target.

For Kirby Smart and Georgia, this game might feel like a missed opportunity. The Bulldogs had Alabama on the ropes in the second half, and Klatt makes sure to also mention their ability to solve Alabama’s high-octane offense. Georgia’s defense got better and better; in the latter part of the game, they could shut down Ryan Williams and the rest of the Alabama offense. But, as the respectable Klatt said, “a sensational play from Williams late in the game tilted the momentum back to Alabama.” The Bulldogs, however, had proved that given another fifteen minutes or another opportunity, it would have been the Bulldogs who were the ones, gloat on the success end of things.

Peculiarly, Klatt has shown respect towards both teams but at the same time, he does not have a single doubt that Georgia is a lot better. That streak for the Crimson Tide, under Kalen DeBoer, might well go on for a whole season more in this regard though it is in particular teams like Georgia that Klatt sees peaking at the right time. It is always a stage where both teams have something to prove in their next game, however, though Alabama has done the job of defeating Georgia today, Georgia has also declared loud and clear – we ain’t done yet!