The Tide is receding.
The Georgia Bulldogs won the college football national title 2021-2022 thanks to a strong defensive effort, which included a pick-6. It is Georgia’s first title since 1980.
Going into the game, the primary question was how would the aforementioned Georgia defense, which had throttled every opponent except Alabama against which it surrendered 41 points in the national championship semi-finals … er, SEC title game (let’s face it, folks, in Realville they’re the same), would adjust to at least slow down the Crimson Tide’s high-octane offense led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Bryce Young. The Bulldogs did a great job adapting, often giving up yardage, but being more aggressive when needed.
The first half was a grinder’s paradise, with a collective scoring output of five field goals as neither team crossed the goal line. Georgia thought it had scored a touchdown on the game’s opening drive when it was initially ruled on the field that Young had been sacked, fumbling the ball in the process, which was scooped up by a Bulldogs defender and run into the end zone. The replay showed, at the least, that Young was actually passing the ball and made the play an incomplete pass. Alabama’s second quarter drive was very close to the finish line. However, a Georgia sack made the difference and the score was down to one field goal. In the end, Alabama had nine points and Georgia six.
In the third quarter, the tide began to turn against the Tide when another field goal was blocked by the Bulldogs. Georgia seized upon this momentum builder with a James Cook 67-yard run, capping the drive with the game’s first touchdown on a Zamir White one-yard run. 13-9 Georgia.
The fourth quarter saw Georgia’s lead cut to one with yet another Alabama field goal. In the next series, Georgia fans could be forgiven for saying “here we go again” when a play not entirely dissimilar to the Alabama first-quarter fumble subsequently ruled not to be one was this time decreed to be a fumble, Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett coughing up the pigskin. Young drove the Tide downfield 16 yards and into the endzone. Alabama won 18-13 after a failed 2-point conversion.
Bennett made up for his mishap on the next possession, a drive which culminated with Adonai Mitchell’s 40 yard completion. Georgia’s attempt at a two-point conversion went awry, the score now 19-18 Georgia. Alabama went three and out upon receiving the ball, followed by Georgia saying, “Well, you’re pretty good, old son, but sit down in that chair right there and let me show you how it’s done,” as it drove 62 yards in seven plays, capping the drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Bennett to Brock Bowers. 26-18 Georgia.
Alabama required a touchdown or a 2-point conversion with 3:33 remaining in the game to force the game into overtime. The game was over when Alabama failed to score. With just a minute left in the game, Kelee Roundo caught a Young ball that was between two Crimson Tide receivers. He ran it backwards 79 yards, clinching the win.
The win was Georgia head coach Kirby Smart’s first against his former boss Nick Saban after four losses. With the two teams already favored to meet again for the national championship in 2023, get ready because the South’s gonna do it again. More power to ’em.
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