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Alabama vs. Georgia: Full highlights, final score and more

By Nicholas Ian Allen

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Built as a matchup of national championship contenders, Alabama vs Georgia didn’t live up to expectations as the Crimson Tide rolled in Athens, 38-10. 

Before Saturday’s rainy clash between the hedges, Alabama hadn’t travelled to Athens since 2008. That night, the Crimson Tide raced to a 31-0 halftime lead and beat Georgia 41-30 in the “blackout” game that announced Nick Saban’s squad as a national championship contender. Many consider that game to be the beginning of the Saban era Alabama football dynasty.

With No. 13 Alabama coming in 3-1 overall, but 0-1 in the SEC and on the brink of virtual elimination in the SEC West, it appeared that dynasty could be on the edge of extinction. Eighth-ranked Georgia, 4-0 entering the game and 2-0 in SEC play, was officially listed as a one-point favorite by Las Vegas odds makers, which ended Alabama’s streak of 72 consecutive games as a favorite.

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Technically, the outcome was an upset. In reality, it was complete domination by a superior Alabama team that is still in the race in the SEC and the College Football Playoff.

The game started slow for both offenses. On the first snap of the game, Georgia quarterback Greyson Lambert had Malcolm Mitchell open on a deep pass on play-action, but Lambert underthrew the ball slightly and Mitchell couldn’t keep control as he was hit hard on the sideline.

Had the pass been completed, the entire afternoon may have turned out differently. Instead, two plays later, the Bulldogs punted – something they would do 11 times Saturday.

Alabama quickly gave the ball back to the Bulldogs when Georgia’s Chris Mayes recovered a Derrick Henry fumble at the Crimson Tide 42-yard line. However, the Dawgs could not convert on the sudden change opportunity, and quickly punted again.

After three-and-outs from both teams, Alabama struck for the first, first down the day was a 50-yard pass from Jake Coker to Calvin Ridley, which moved Alabama into Georgia territory for the first time and set up a 29-yard field goal and a 3-0 Alabama lead. On the ensuing possession, the Georgia offense picked up its own big play with a 36-yard pass from Lambert to Mitchell, which set up a 27-yard Marshall Morgan field goal to tie the game 3-3.

Then, Alabama took control.

The Crimson Tide found the end zone for the first time when Derrick Henry capped a strong second quarter drive with a 30-yard, untouched touchdown to give the Tide a 10-3 lead. The TD marked Henry’s tenth straight game with a touchdown, extending the longest streak in the nation. Henry had a career-high 148 yards on 26 carries.

They scored again when Minkah Fitzpatrick blocked a Georgia punt from the 16-yard line with 4:48 left before the half.

And Alabama struck for the third time on a one-play, 45-yard drive with a play-action pass from Coker to a wide open Ridley that gave the Tide a 24-3 lead, which they took into the locker room at halftime.

Coker finished 11-for-16 for 190 yards and a touchdown, and added a TD on the ground. Ridley caught five passes for 120 yards to become the first Alabama true freshman receiver to break 100 receiving yards in a game since Amari Cooper in 2012.

Just two weeks after setting an NCAA record by completing 96 percent of his passes against South Carolina, Lambert struggled with his accuracy and completed just seven of 17 passes for 70 yards in the first half, which led to the decision to insert Brice Ramsey into the lineup with 35 seconds on the clock in the second quarter.

Ramsey’s first pass came on Georgia first play in the third quarter and resulted in an interception that Alabama safety Eddie Jackson returned 50 yards for a touchdown to increase the lead to 31-3, which was essentially the final nail in the coffin for the Bulldogs.

At that point, Alabama had four touchdowns of all different types: a rushing TD, a special teams TD, a scoring pass and a defensive touchdown.

Ramsey’s pick was the first interception of the season for a Bulldogs’ quarterback, but Ramsey and Lambert would combine for three Saturday. Ramsey completed one of six passes for 20 yards, and tossed another interception in the third quarter to Marlon Humphrey, which prompted Georgia head coach Mark Richt to bring Lambert back in. Lambert finished 10-for-24 for 86 yards and an interception. 

The Georgia quarterbacks were under constant pressure from the Alabama defense. Fitzpatrick and Tim Williams each recorded sacks and the Crimson Tide knocked down four passes at the line of scrimmage. Alabama bottled up the Georgia offense in the first half. 

If there is a bright spot to the loss for Georgia, it’s that Nick Chubb raced for an 83-yard touchdown in the third quarter, which pushed him over 100 yards for the 13th consecutive game to tie the great Herschel Walker for the school record. Chubb had 146 yards on 20 carries.

Most importantly, however, the Bulldogs still control their own destiny in the SEC East and even the College Football Playoff isn’t an impossibility. Of course, being completely dominated won’t score any points with the playoff committee, but as we know a lot can happen between now and the end of the season.

One thing is for certain: Alabama isn’t out of it.

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