Bama outlasts Georgia in an instant classic, 41-34
Charles Dickens’ novel Tale of Two Cities has long been considered an enduring literary classic. On Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Alabama and Georgia penned their own classic that could be known as the “Tale of Two Halves.” The most recent chapter of the Bama-UGA saga was a game for the ages as 4th ranked Alabama broke 2nd ranked Georgia’s heart once again, topping the Dawgs 41-34 at raucous Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Tide rolled to a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter and led 30-7 at half, but Kirby Smart’s resilient Dawgs took charge of the second half, outscoring Bama 27-11 after the break. Georgia led late in the fourth quarter only to see two Bama freshmen save the day. Trailing 34-33 with 2:31 left to play, Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe hit freshman sensation wideout Ryan Williams for a brilliant 75-yard catch and run to regain the lead. Fellow newcomer Zabien Brown intercepted Dawg quarterback Carson Beck’s pass in the endzone with 48 seconds remaining on the clock to seal the dramatic win. Kirby Smart fell to 1-6 against the Tide as Georgia has now dropped 9 of the last 10 games against Alabama.
Since 2021, Smart’s Bulldogs are a staggering 45-3, yet all three losses have come at the hands of the Crimson Tide. This was a big game for Georgia, as it marked the first matchup between the schools without a guy named Nick Saban on the Bama sideline. The hope over the offseason had been that Georgia’s struggles with the Tide stemmed more from Saban than Alabama itself. Saturday showed that Georgia has an Alabama problem, as new Bama head coach Kalen DeBoer won his first matchup against the Dawgs. With many in the college football world hoping that the Tide would essentially be in decline without Saban, another thing that came to light on Saturday is the fact that Alabama under DeBoer is going nowhere. In addition, Georgia entered the game holding several impressive streaks, including 42 regular season wins (the last loss was in 2020) and 28 straight regular season SEC wins. In addition, through the first three games this season, the Dawgs had not committed a turnover and had not surrendered a touchdown. All streaks were halted on Saturday night by the Tide. With the win, Alabama moved up to #1 in the AP poll and #2, behind Texas, in the Coaches poll. Georgia dropped to #5 in both.
This chapter of the saga was wild from the start. Jalen Milroe was brilliant much of the night, going 27-33 for 374 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. His counterpart, Carson Beck, struggled early and ended up throwing three costly interceptions, but he caught fire late and ended the evening 27-50 for 439 yards and three touchdowns. Georgia abandoned the running game in the second half, as the Bama defense stymied the Dawg’s leading rusher, Trevor Etienne. The Florida transfer carried the ball only 12 times for 55 yards. As a team, the Dawgs gained just 80 yards on the evening. Meanwhile, led by Milroe’s 117 yards on 16 carries, Bama would gain a total of 173 yards on the ground. Both teams had receivers that shined. For Georgia, both Arian Smith (132 yards and a touchdown) and Dillon Bell (100 yards and a touchdown) eclipsed the century mark, as did Bama’s Ryan Williams, who gained 177 yards on six catches, including the game winner. Alabama would outgain Georgia 547 yards to 519 on the night. Georgia’s four turnovers, compared to one for Alabama, hurt the Dawgs. Both teams were heavily penalized, as Bama was flagged 10 times for 90 yards while the Dawgs committed 6 penalties for 50 yards. As dominant as Alabama was in the first half, Georgia took control in the second. In the end, like so many editions of this rivalry, the Tide made a few more plays than the Dawgs and walked away with a huge win.
Alabama played about as flawless of a first 20 minutes as fans have seen in a long time. Bama took the opening kickoff and despite four penalties, Milroe scored his first touchdown of the day to give the Tide a 7-0 lead. Georgia would punt after an opening drive of four plays and Milroe would direct a 6 play, 84-yard drive that ended with Milroe finding Jam Miller on a perfectly thrown wheel route to stretch the lead to 14-0 at the 4:39 mark of the opening quarter. Three plays later, Bama would be set up deep in Georgia territory courtesy of Beck’s first interception of the season. Germie Bernard would score on a jet sweep from 7 yards out and as the opening quarter ended, the Tide held a stunning 21-0 lead. The lead would balloon to 28 when Milroe scored his second touchdown of the day on the ground when, on a 4th and 1, he got outside containment and tight roped the sideline 36 yards to the endzone. The Dawgs would respond with an 11 play, 75-yard march that ended in a Trevor Etienne 7-yard run to get on the board at the 6:43 mark of the second quarter. On their next drive, Alabama would march to the UGA 34-yard line yet failed to score for the first time of the game when Jam Miller was stuffed on a 4th and 1. A play later, Beck would throw his second pick of the half when linebacker Jihaad Campbell stepped in front of a pass and set the Tide up at the Georgia 24. This was the first of several opportunities that Alabama had to put Georgia away, yet tight end CJ Dippre bobbled a Milroe pass at the Dawg 5-yard line and Dan Jackson would catch the bobble for the only Alabama turnover of the night. The Bama front seven did a nice job pressuring Beck all day, as evidenced by a Tide safety on Georgia’s next possession. The half would end with Alabama holding a commanding 30-7 lead.
A wild second half started with both teams exchanging punts after three and outs. Beck would then start to get in a rhythm and marched Georgia 80 yards in 11 plays, culminating in an Arian Smith 12-yard touchdown catch from Beck and with a successful 2-point conversion, the Tide lead was cut to 30-15 with 5:06 remaining in the 3rd quarter. Georgia converted on key 4th downs to keep the drive alive. Alabama would counter with a Graham Nicholson 28-yard field goal to extend the lead to 33-15. The highlight of the drive was a 54-yard pass to Williams, where he tipped the ball to himself twice before making an acrobatic catch. Beck would lead the Dawgs down the field again and at the start of the 4th quarter, Georgia found itself on their own 42. After converting on another 4th down, Qua Russaw sacked Beck, who coughed up the ball and it was recovered by Bama at the UGA 47. A successful drive for points may have ended any hope of a Georgia comeback, yet the Dawg defense stiffened and forced a three and out. Taking over at his own 20, Beck would convert on another 4th down and he hit two chunk plays, passes of 21 and 34 yards, as Georgia began to take advantage of a tired Bama defense. Lawson Luckie caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Beck and after a failed 2-point conversion, Alabama’s lead was trimmed to 33-21 with 9:33 to go.
A critique of DeBoer will be clock management, as the Tide fast paced offensive style actually hurt their tired defense on Saturday. Not only were first downs at a premium, but second half Alabama drives failed to take crucial time off the clock. Bama’s next drive picked up one first down and took only 2:41. Beck would lead the Dawgs on their second straight touchdown of the quarter by marching 78 yards in just 4 plays. Georgia attacked a tired Tide secondary downfield, completing passes of 30 and 47 yards, and cut the lead to 33-28 with a 3-yard Dillon Bell jet sweep with 5:39 remaining. A nervous Bryant-Denney crowd would see the ensuing kickoff botched, and Alabama would start their next drive from their own 3. The Tide would pick up one first down and would take just 2:16 off the clock before yet another drive stalled. After a strong James Burnip punt, Georgia took over at their own 33 and with 2:31 to play, Beck found Dillon Bell behind the Tide secondary on the first play of the drive for a touchdown and their first lead of the day. The Dawgs failed on a 2-point conversion and Georgia led, 34-33. A dramatic, stunning comeback, what would have been the largest comeback in Georgia history, was just 2:31 away. Enter Milroe and Williams to save the day. Milroe hit the freshman with a nice pass at the Georgia 46 and Williams did the rest, spinning towards the sidelines and outracing two Bulldog defenders for the score. Bama converted on a two-point conversion to push the lead to a touchdown at 41-34 with 2:18 left to play. As he had done throughout the second half, Beck converted on yet another 4th down and marched the Dawgs to the Bama 20. With 43 ticks left, Beck lofted a pass to the corner of the endzone, yet freshman corner Brown reached in front of the intended receiver for the game-saving interception that ended the epic contest.
There is a lot of football left to play this season, however what is clear is that these two teams are, without question, favorites to not only make the college football playoffs, but they should be favored to advance very far. It’s hard to imagine a more exciting start to SEC play for DeBoer and the Tide, and there is a chance that Bama and Georgia could meet two more times this season. Any sequel to Saturday is sure to be a best seller indeed.
Next up for Alabama is a tricky road trip to Nashville to take on Clark Lea and a much-improved Vanderbilt squad while Georgia returns home to host a reeling Auburn team.
