TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Georgia fumbled the ball four times, and Alabama recovered none of them. And that stat encapsulates the type of night the No. 6 Crimson Tide had as No. 2 Georgia came into Bryant-Denny and left with a win for the first time since 2007.
Alabama’s offense struggled to move the ball in the second half, and the defense struggled to get the key stops as Georgia won 20-17. This was Kirby Smart’s first regular season win against Alabama.
The Alabama (5-1, 3-1 SEC) offense got the ball with 5:25 to go trailing by 3 points with the opportunity to tie or take the lead in front of the home crowd. Keelon Russell started moving the team down the field into Georgia territory.
On second-and-10 from the 34, Russell took a shot for Rico Scott in the end zone. The Georgia defender ran into Scott before the ball got to him, but no pass interference was called. Russell was sacked on the next play, pushing Alabama out of field goal range.
Georgia (6-0, 4-0 SEC) converted a third-and-8 deep in its own territory on the next drive, and a Dijon Lee personal foul penalty extended the drive to give the Bulldogs the road victory.
The Bulldogs were so efficient with the ball in the second half that the Alabama offense only had three possessions. Alabama’s defense has made it an identity to turn the ball over and score on takeaways this season, but the Tide only forced one turnover on Saturday night.
Kalen DeBoer had a decision to make at the end of the first half. Alabama had it third-and-goal from the 1-yard line with three seconds left on the clock with no timeouts left. The Crimson Tide could kick a field goal to tie the game, or try to score a touchdown to take the lead. There would be no time for another play if Alabama wasn’t successful.
DeBoer decided to go for it, and freshman running back EJ Crowell bounced it outside to score his fourth touchdown of the year to give Alabama its first lead at 14-10 heading into the half.
It looked like the Tide was going to get off to a strong start with a methodical drive on the first possession of the game that had already milked seven minutes off the clock when Russell fumbled for his first turnover since the Kentucky game in Week 2.
The Bulldogs scored a field goal off the turnover and later scored a touchdown to go up 10-0. Alabama answered the score with a touchdown drive of its own and Marshall Pritchett’s first touchdown of the season.
Bray Hubbard intercepted Gunnar Stockton on the next play, giving Alabama great field position at the Bulldogs 29. But the Tide just went backwards on the next three plays and had to punt.
The defense got a stop, and then Russell was able to rebound from his shaky start to lead Alabama on a 12-play, 80-yard drive with just 1:42 to go. But that would be the last touchdown drive the Tide could put together.
Alabama only scored three points in the second half as the offense couldn’t convert on the key third downs, and the defense couldn’t get off the field on third down. This was, by far, Alabama’s lowest-scoring game of the year. The Tide only gained 122 yards in the second half.
The Crimson Tide will travel to Tennessee next weekend to try and bounce back.
This story will be updated with quotes.
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