He tried to inform us. Tried after Georgia escaped Kentucky with a one-point victory, then again after the Bulldogs defeated Florida and its third-string quarterback in the waning minutes in Jacksonville.
Winning on the road in the SEC is a losing proposition, and if you don’t believe what Georgia coach Kirby Smart has been teaching all season, consider this other explanation:
Alabama is not out of the College Football Playoff chase.
Why? Because Tennessee must win at Vanderbilt on Saturday to not only make the playoffs, but also officially eradicate college football’s Death Star.
“I just think a home game in general in the SEC is hell on the road team,” Smart told reporters. “I told our offensive line that it’s harder in the SEC to play on the road at offensive line, and some of those positions that are timing positions and snap count positions, than it is in the NFL until the playoffs.”
Perhaps it is now sinking in. Or perhaps it won’t until Vanderbilt defeats No. 8. Tennessee and the Vols follow in the footsteps of the conference’s elite, who have suffered heartbreaking road defeats this season.
And, yes, No. 13 Alabama is now in position to return to the College Football Playoff for the ninth time in the tournament’s 11-year history.
“We didn’t play to the level we’re capable of,” Tide coach Kalen DeBoer said of the ugly 24-3 loss at Oklahoma, which had only one conference win in its first season in the SEC until last weekend.
Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams (2) leaps by Mercer safety Chris Joines (14) to score at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Alabama’s dip in level of play corresponds with two previous losses this season, against Vanderbilt and Tennessee. However, Alabama is not the only state experiencing road problems.
No. 7 Georgia has lost twice away from home (Alabama and Ole Miss), while Tennessee has lost in Arkansas and Georgia. Texas A&M, ranked 20th, lost at Auburn, while South Carolina, ranked 15th, lost at Alabama.
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BRACKET PROJECTION: Tennessee is among the teams that are strengthening their playoff status.
All three of No. 21 Missouri’s defeats have come on the road (Texas A&M, Alabama, South Carolina), and LSU has tumbled out of the CFP competition in the previous month after losing on the road to Texas A&M and Florida.
No. 14 Ole Miss, with a CFP place on the line and two weeks to prepare, fell to Florida as a double-digit favourite.
The only team that has not lost on the road is No. 3 Texas, who needed a crucial fourth down conversion (among other big plays) to escape Nashville with a three-point victory over Vandy. Texas plays at Texas A&M on Saturday, with a position in the SEC championship game at stake.
If the Longhorns lose on the road versus the Aggies, it’s unclear what will happen to their College Football Playoff aspirations, which have been propped up and relied on projections since the initial poll earlier this month. Because it hasn’t been built on victories over the committee’s top 25, of which Texas has none.
This season, Texas has as many landmark wins as it does difficult conference road games. Don’t assume the CFP will give Texas a break if they lose to Texas A&M.
Similar to the scheduling pass the SEC awarded Texas in its first season in the conference, but that’s a story for another time.
This is about Alabama, and the fact that no matter how horrible the Tide have looked on the road, they are still a Vanderbilt victory over Tennessee away from reclaiming the CFP.
So, how horrible has it been? Jalen Milroe, the Tide quarterback, has completed 57 percent of his throws in those three road losses, with two touchdowns and six interceptions.
He has completed 70% of his passes, with 13 touchdowns and 3 interceptions in every other game.
Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams, the SEC’s most explosive player, with 13 receptions in three losses (14.8 yards per catch). He has 29 catches in nine wins, with an average of 21.1 yards per catch.
There is nothing random about it. The Alabama defence has allowed 29.3 points per game in the three losses, with an average of 13.1 in the other games.
Still not convinced? Georgia quarterback Carson Beck has three touchdowns and seven interceptions away from Athens. He has 20 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in every other game, including the best game of his career in a victory over Tennessee.
The Vols lost by 14 points on the road in Athens.
“It’s a different energy playing at home,” Beck joked. “We feed off it.”
So will Vanderbilt this weekend, as will Alabama in its annual fistfight with Auburn, which will take place comfortably in Tuscaloosa on Saturday.
Which could be the best news of the week for Alabama.