UGA and BAMA are just THAT much better than all comers.
The loss at aTm was weird... a lack of focus, which they had been flirting with all season. That mess can be coached out of them with a quickness and Satan is the coach to do it. Before you point to the Auburn OT game, know that rivalry is always closer than the teams often are.
Bama let Cincy hang around too long. THAT is how teams beat bama. They sneak up behind them when bama thinks they've beat them into submission. I wasn't sold cincy was out of it until late in third. I thought cincy was better, but they're mere mortals.
UGA isn't as seasoned as BAMA and are relative newcomers to the big show, and they bought into their own hype. That, and bama was supremely prepared spotting soft spots in seam coverage... and with a player or two capable of exploiting it. When UGA dropped to man zone they left the QB and soon to be Heisman winner with only one obstacle to tuck and run... little effer... turns out he can run like Forrest Gump.
I dont think UGA has the answer to the seams. I'm thinking they've relied on the mass of the dline to hurry the QB and force bad throws. Bama has the meat to stop that, and, they have fresh players to rotate who are hardly distinguishable from others who play the position. We talk of match-ups, and as good as UGA is (and they're great), they are missing that element.... or, maybe they've got a solution. Who knows. It's why we watch.
UM was a damn good team. They just ran straight into a generational great D tonight without the spare elements bama has. UM would finish 3rd or better this season in all of the nation. They'd also finish 3rd in the SEC. Easily.
Insofar as SECs domination over the last generation, that's about to (already has actually) end. That's what happens in these cycles- power consolidates and then shatters when all the weight is at the top.
There was absolutely no way to prepare for UGA- UM was spending too much time ensuring themselves they were good enough instead of analyzing how David beat Goliath. If that sounds like a nasty poke I'm sorry- it's just the fact. Hard Balls would have benefitted more by telling the team "this one is different... we can't go head to head... we're gonna have to finesse".
