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2021 Georgia defense challenges 2011 Alabama as best, most talented in modern era
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2021 Georgia defense challenges 2011 Alabama as best, most talented in modern era
ATHENS — The 2021 Georgia football team will certainly go down in history as boasting one of the greatest defenses of all time, and a recent ESPN NFL draft projection shows why.
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interesting analysis @MikeGriffith i would have never thought about the lack of an SECCG for 2011 Bama team. Also heard another journalist saying Bama probably takes less injuries on defense due to being larger than UGA; but Kirby explained his teams a little lighter/longer due to the evolution of offenses this past decade.
I think the stats v results data in this article provides excellent material for the argument that stats can be misleading… results are what really matters… such as winning a Natty. Ultimately, as a Dawg fan, I don’t care about stats, I care about wins, especially in the SECCG and the CFPs.
2011 'Bama also didn't have a semifinal.
I remember that 1st BAMA vs LSU game. The best defensive battle I ever saw, and probably, ever will see.
I, and a lot of other people, thought it was horse manure, when BAMA was pushed into the BCS Title game even after losing to the #1 LSU team. The team they would play again, just over a month after losing to them. It's always tough to beat the same great team twice in a season.
Why am I bitter about it? I'm glad you asked...LOL.
In 2007, UGA was hopscotched in the polls by LSU from #5 to #2 after Missouri, LSU and West VA. lost in week 13, because, "UGA (#4) didn't even win their division in the SEC", and LSU lost the SECC to TENN (9-3). Most of the experts considered UGA, one of the best and "hottest" 2 teams in the Nation, but, they had this unwritten policy that if you weren't a conference or division champ, you shouldn't be playing for a Natty. That's what ESPN and Herbstreit were pushing. They wanted LSU, not UGA, plain and simple. A'ight, UGA finished tied with TENN (SEC Champs) and East Division co-champs. They were ahead of both TENN and LSU in the polls in week 13, but denied #2 and a shot at the Championship, which they probably would have won, because of this unwritten rule.
Unwritten rules are unwritten rules,, right? Not so fast.
In 2011, that "unwritten rule" was forgotten when it came to Alabama, who not only didn't win, but,, didn't even tie their division. Oklahoma St., VA Tech and Stanford were all sitting at one loss, yet BAMA was bumped into the BCS Title game.
That was the beginning of the end, for the BCS. Those "unwritten rules" didn't apply to everybody and weren't uniform. It was a crooked system and ESPN had far too much control over polling. They would tout the teams they thought would give them the most revenue. They still do that, actually. But, with the internet and wall-to-wall college coverage, their power has been reduced.
Would have been able to make the argument if Tennessee would have won the 2007 SEC title. As it was, Alabama in 2011 only lost to the SEC Champion and payed them closer than any other team, only losing because they missed a bunch of FG. Watching that game, in person, Alabama was clearly the better team in 2011, they just failed to execute. In 2007, we lost 2 two teams, neither of which was the SEC Champion.
We can split hairs over team strength and schedule and the fact that Both BAMA in 2011 and UGA in 2007 were considered to be the better team. They were "playing some of the best football in the Country.".
In an interview on ESPN, Mark Richt responded to a question regarding UGA's status as Division co-champions...the night before the final poll. He said, " I'm not aware of any BCS rule that says you have to be a Conference Champion. Polsters thought we were the #4 team last week, I see no reason why we shouldn't move up according to the way the polls have worked up to now."
UGA's losses in 2007 were in the 1st half of the season, LSU's was in the latter half. Whatever. There were arguements for and against, but after they moved LSU over UGA, everybody just accepted that as the standard...until it wasn't, in 2011. LOL
All that, really doesn't matter, when you are discussing qualifying criteria for the BCS Title game. Simply put, BAMA didn't meet established qualifying criteria and provided a contradictory precedent. That's unacceptable.
Unwritten rules are unwritten rules.
The same standard that applied to UGA 2007, should have applied to Bama 2011. And, that argument was being made all over the place by people that saw the LSU vs ALA game, including me.
I really don't care how LSU beat BAMA anymore than I care how BAMA beat UGA in 2017-18...they beat them. Should have been end of story for BAMA or the story shouldn't have ended in 2007 for UGA. One of those things is not like the other. LOL
That's the argument I'm trying to make and I guarantee you, I'm not alone. Like I said, that's why we have a playoff today.
The 2021 offenses are so much more advanced and putting up video game points and yards, as compared to the offenses of 2011.
When you consider that and the fact that this 2021 defense was able to also shut-out 3-teams, and totally dominate a good Michigan offense in the play-off game, I think the 2021 Dawgs defense gets the nod as the better defense.
The best part - we as Dawg fans have the coach who's responsible for producing the top-2 defenses since 2011.