8-team simulated College Football Playoff: Who wins?
No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Georgia
As in the actual College Football Playoff, we have No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Georgia. It pits the Big 12 and SEC Championship Game-winning teams in the Rose Bowl, making for a unique matchup and something that will provide a show.
There’s the Sooner’s vaunted offense vs. the Bulldogs’ defense — everything outside of the front seven. Rodney Anderson, Trey Sermon and Abdul Adams can all run the ball, going with Baker Mayfield’s Heisman-worthy play. That’s against another solid running game, which has a freshman quarterback at the helm.
Georgia is far from an elite offensive team. It blew out the opponents that everyone expected them to (Florida, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Kentucky). Then, there were close games with Notre Dame and South Carolina, along with a loss to Auburn in early November. These were mostly defensive matchups, with the Tigers routing them in their first matchup. However, in the wins, it proved that Kirby Smart’s team can win these grounded games and not go point-for-point.
Can this work against Oklahoma? Maybe not. It’s the best offense it faced in 2017. The Auburn offense was always good, but an injured Kerryon Johnson took away half of their attack. Barring injury in the quarterfinals, that wouldn’t be the case vs. the Sooners.
If OU’s front seven holds down Sony Michel and Nick Chubb, it should be their game. Fromm can’t get into a passing battle with Mayfield, either, which could be the difference.