Alabama football had it in the bag. The Crimson Tide was up 28-0 on Georgia at one point early, and headed to the locker room ahead 30-7 at halftime.
Then, the Bulldogs got it all back. It took miracle sideline acrobatics from Ryan Williams and a Zabien Brown interception to save the Tide’s undefeated record and preserve a 41-34 win.
So what led UGA back in the game? From time management issues to special teams miscues, to just plain bad football, UA had plenty of problems.
“A lot happening there,” Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer said afterward.
Offensively, Alabama stalled out. The Crimson Tide scored on its first four possessions of the game, but after halftime, couldn’t make anything happen.
UA kicked a field goal on its second drive of the half, after punting on the first. For its next three possessions, James Burnip saw the field each time.
Part of the issue was the run game. Jalen Milroe was the only player who gave the Tide a spark in that area, and even his rushing yards dried up in the second half, with UA only gaining 17 yards on the ground after the halftime break.
According to Nick Sheridan on Monday, the issues running the ball weren’t necessarily on the running backs.
“We didn’t block up front or communicate as well as we could have,” Sheridan said. “So I don’t think it was a matter of the rhythm of the running backs. I understand the question. But I thought some of the issues we had running the football was more on the communication and the fundamentals up front than it was the running backs hitting the right spot or getting into the feel of the game.”
At the same time drive after drive was stalling out, Alabama’s defense started to falter. Carson Beck, who the Crimson Tide had rattled earlier in the game, started hitting on his passes.
Georgia’s first touchdown drive of the half pounded on the UA defense. The Tide had multple changes to get off the field, but whether by penalty or simply failing to make a stop, it continued.
The Bulldogs punched in the first of three unanswered touchdowns after taking 6:44 to go 80 yards. The Alabama defense would struggle until Brown’s interception to seal the deal.
“You can’t play in the second half in straight zone coverage,” defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said Monday. “If you look at Carson Beck over the course of his career, the dude does a tremendous job of picking you apart in straight zone coverage. You have to be able to mixup man and zone. We did some of those things against him, but certainly, I thought he did a really nice job in the second half of hitting some explosives that made the game closer than what we wanted from a defensive perspective.”
A major issue for the Tide was the fourth downs. While the Bulldogs went just 3-for-15 on third down, they were a perfect 5-for-5 on fourth.
As Alabama struggled to get off the field, the issue became more and more glaring.
“I thought, at times, we handled it really well to get them to fourth-down situations, which is hard enough as it is, but we were not able to execute and get off the field,” Wommack said. “We needed one more stop, one more takeaway, and certainly, we need to be able to clean up some of the big plays. If we get off the field on fourth down, some of those things don’t happen in the first place.”
With 2:31, the Bulldogs shattered the atmosphere at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Beck found Dillion Bell, who had run past UA safety Keon Sabb.
Sabb missed the tackle and Bell scored. The 67-yard pass play made it 34-33 UGA.
“Singularly, I think Keon would love to have that play back,” Alabama defensive backs coach Colin Hitschler said Wednesday. “But I think there’s a number of people on the field who would love that play back as well. That’s just part of the game. I can singularly focus on him and meet with him, and there’'s some details of that play he would love to have back. We’ll make that adjustment because what’s put on film, somebody else is going to attempt as well.”
After that, things got better. Milroe found Williams, who made a few Bulldogs miss and Alabama took the lead back, before Brown sealed it with an interception.
Pandemonium at Bryant-Denny. A win in the biggest game of the season so far.
But still, plenty to work on going forward.
“Always going to be things that we need to continue to clean up,” DeBoer said Monday. “We know we’re only as good as our last game. Everything that’s on film or anything that didn’t go like you hoped is going to be what the next opponent’s going to look at and try to attack you with.”
Alabama returns to action at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday at Vanderbilt. The game will be aired on ABC.
