Everyone knows the Georgia Bulldogs have one of the best rushing attacks in the nation. With seniors Nick Chubb and Sony Michel leading the way, the Bulldogs have ridden their talented backfield all the way to the National Championship Game.

However, that’s where they’ll find Alabama waiting, and Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide aren’t exactly prone to giving up big plays on the ground.

Therefore, it will be strength vs. strength on Monday night in Atlanta when the Dawgs try to run against Alabama’s injured, but rejuvenated, defense.

A look at the numbers shows that Georgia relies heavily on big runs to set up scoring drives. In fact, over their first 14 games, the Bulldogs have had 40 runs of 20 or more yards on drives that ultimately ended with scores.

The breakdown looks like this, with Chubb having the most runs of 20+ yards and Michel scoring the most touchdowns on big runs:

  • Nick Chubb: 16 runs (5 TDs)
  • Sony Michel: 13 runs (9 TDs)
  • D’Andre Swift: 7 runs (1 TD)
  • Elijah Holyfield: 2 runs (1 TD)
  • Mecole Hardman: 1 run (1 TD)
  • Jake Fromm: 1 run (0 TDs)

The Bulldogs’ best big-play performance came in the Rose Bowl, when they had six long runs on scoring drives, four of which went for touchdowns. The biggest play, obviously, was Michel’s 27-yard run in double-overtime to give Georgia the thrilling victory and send the Dawgs to the title game.

They certainly won’t find that much running room on Monday night, though, as Alabama has one of the best run defenses in the country.

The Crimson Tide have allowed only seven runs of 20 yards or more and only two that went for more than 30 yards. One of those 20-yard runs came against Clemson in the Sugar Bowl, when QB Kelly Bryant broke free for one of the Tigers’ only decent plays of the game.

Interestingly, the only game the Bulldogs didn’t have a long run on a scoring drive came in Week 11, when they lost to Auburn. Therefore, they need to have success on the ground if they’re going to have a chance against Alabama.

Here’s a breakdown of how many long runs on scoring drives the Bulldogs had against each opponent this year:

  • Appalachian State: 3
  • Notre Dame: 2
  • Samford: 3 (1 TD)
  • Mississippi State: 2 (1 TD)
  • Tennessee: 4 (1 TD)
  • Vanderbilt: 4 (2 TDs)
  • Mizzou: 4 (2 TDs)
  • Florida: 3 (3 TDs)
  • South Carolina: 1
  • Auburn: 0
  • Kentucky: 5 (2 TDs)
  • Georgia Tech: 1
  • Auburn (SEC CG): 2 (1 TD)
  • Oklahoma: 6 (4 TDs)

So, what will give? Will the Tide be able to shut down the Bulldogs’ runners like Auburn did, or will Georgia run wild like it did against nearly everyone else this year?

The key number for the Dawgs seems to be two long runs, as that’s how many they had against Notre Dame (30 yards by Chubb, 40 yards by Swift) and Auburn in the SEC Championship Game (20 yards for Chubb, 64 yards for Swift).

Swift only had 4 carries for 6 yards against Oklahoma, but he seems to be the X factor in games against good teams, so getting him involved more will be critical against the Tide.

Fromm isn’t as good of a runner as Clemson’s Bryant, but the Bulldogs have a much better backfield than the Tigers. However, Alabama’s defense will be ready for the challenge, so it’ll be fascinating to see how that matchup plays out on Monday night.

Whichever team wins that battle will likely win the game.