Alabama may no longer have Nick Saban prowling the sideline, but the result against Georgia was highly familiar on Saturday night.
And it came in new coach Kalen DeBoer’s first Southeastern Conference contest.
Jalen Milroe passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two more and Zabien Brown made a game-saving interception as No. 4 Alabama recorded a wild 41-34 victory over No. 2 Georgia on Saturday night in a Southeastern Conference showdown at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Alabama blew a 28-point second-quarter lead and fell behind late before notching the winning points on Milroe’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Williams with 2:18 remaining. Brown’s interception of Carson Beck in the end zone with 43 seconds left secured the victory.
It was the Crimson Tide’s ninth win in the past 10 meetings with the Bulldogs.
“The biggest thing we have on our team is grit, determination and commitment from everyone on our team,” Milroe said.
Milroe completed 27 of 33 passes for 374 yards and one interception and rushed for 117 yards on 16 attempts to fuel the Crimson Tide (4-0, 1-0 SEC), who led 28-0 before the game was 18 minutes old.
Williams caught six passes for 177 yards, Germie Bernard rushed for a touchdown and Jamarion Miller caught one for Alabama.
“You know that you’re going to get that pushback by them,” DeBoer said of his squad being briefly overtaken by the Bulldogs. “I’m proud of our guys coming back with a little firepower of their own when we needed it most.”
Beck threw three second-half touchdown passes and finished 27-of-50 passing for 439 yards and three interceptions to go along with a lost fumble for Georgia (3-1, 1-1), which had its 42-game regular-season winning streak halted.
Dillon Bell caught five passes for 100 yards and one TD and rushed for another score for the Bulldogs. Arian Smith had six receptions for 132 yards and a score, Trevor Etienne rushed for a touchdown and Lawson Luckie caught one for Georgia.
The matchup was highly anticipated with both national powers being ranked in the Top 5 — in addition to being the first meeting between DeBoer and Smart after Saban retired after last season.
DeBoer’s squad appeared to be in for an easy night when it led by 23 at halftime but a spirited locker room discussion spurred the Bulldogs.
“It was one hell of a game — a tale of two halves,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “Obviously, we were not really prepared and that falls on me in the first half. We didn’t do a great job, especially defensively. We gave them short fields and a short field with a quarterback like Milroe creates a lot of tough times.
“I am extremely proud of our team. At halftime, our coaches made good adjustments. Everybody was positive.”
The belief was evident as the Bulldogs rallied from 18 down in the fourth quarter.
Beck threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Luckie — a two-point conversion pass failed — as Georgia moved within 33-21 with 9:46 left in the game.
The Bulldogs narrowed their deficit to five on Bell’s 3-yard scoring run with 5:39 remaining.
When Georgia next had the ball, Bell got behind the Alabama defense on the first play of the drive. He caught a pass from Beck and meandered around some defenders to finish off a 67-yard touchdown play that gave the Bulldogs a 34-33 edge with 2:31 left. Beck’s two-point keeper run was short.
Alabama matched the wildness on its next offensive play, as Williams got open and caught Milroe’s throw. He then eluded the Bulldogs’ attempts to stop him down the right sideline to complete a 75-yard play that gave the Crimson Tide a 41-34 lead (counting Milroe’s two-point conversion throw to Bernard).
Georgia’s rally from a 30-7 halftime deficit began with Beck’s 12-yard scoring pass to Smith. A two-point conversion throw to Luckie cut the deficit to 15 with 5:06 left in the third quarter.
At the outset, Milroe scored on a 7-yard run and tossed a 16-yard scoring pass to Miller. Bernard scored from the Bulldogs 7 to make it 21-0 with 2:21 left in the first quarter. Milroe tacked on a 36-yard scoring scamper with 12:24 left in the first half.
The early domination put the Bulldogs in a severe hole and Beck’s 339 second-half yards couldn’t overtake his four turnovers on the night.
“The first half, we played terrible,” Beck said. “I don’t think we need to watch the film to go see that we didn’t play our best. You know, that starts with me. I’ve got to be better.”
–Field Level Media
