The game did not start out very good for the Crimson Tide on Monday night, as the Georgia Bulldogs had more bite to their bark in the first half in the battle for the National Title of FBS football. Alabama misfired on their first scoring opportunity, as place kicker Andy Pappanastos missed an easy 42 yard field goal attempt that would have given Alabama an early 3-0 lead. Georgia took the lead in the 2nd quarter on two field goals by Rodrigo Blankenship and a nine play 69 yard drive with 1:12 left in the first half, taking a 13-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Alabama, which struggled in the first half with their offense, made a switch by bringing in true freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for starter Jalen Hurts. The Tide finally scored on a seven play 56 yard drive with 8:52 left in the third quarter to pull within 13-7 at the time. However, Georgia answered immediately with a 80 yard strike from freshman quarterback Jake Fromm to Mecole Hardman, extending the Bulldogs lead to 20-7 in the third quarter.
Then the wild fourth quarter started. Alabama scored six points with two field goals by Pappanastos to narrow the deficit to 20-13 with 9:24 to go. Alabama tied the score with 3:49 left on a seven yard pass to Calvin Ridley from Tagovailoa with Pappanastos conversion of the extra point. Alabama’s defense stopped the next Georgia drive and got the ball back in good field position only to have Pappanastos miss his second field goal attempt of the night from 36 yards as time expired, which sent the game into overtime.
Georgia got the ball first in overtime from the 25 yard line and eventually converted a 51 yard field goal by Blankenship. Alabama’s first play on offense resulted in a 16 yard sack of Tagovailoa, resulting in a 2nd down and 26 yard situation for the Tide from the 41 yard line. The next play will live in Alabama glory forever, as Tagovailoa threw a touchdown pass down the left sideline to wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who blew by the Georgia cornerback who was expecting help from his safety for coverage, giving Alabama their fifth National Title in the last nine years under Head Coach Nick Saban with a 26-23 come from behind victory.
Alabama announcers were as excited as I was by the play of the year which made them kings of college football once again. It will be something that I will remember listening to for a long time, as will other Alabama fans.
ROLL TIDE!
