It was physical, bruising, tiring – and even – on both sides.
Games in close quarters are nothing new whenever Georgia and Alabama face off on the gridiron, where more often than not, those thrillers have gone the way of the Crimson Tide.
Last Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, however, things went the way of the Bulldogs, who led for good with 5:12 to go on a 23-yard field goal by Peyton Woodring, as Georgia secured a 20-17 win.
“It wasn’t about Alabama. It was about an SEC road win [against] a top-10 team. That, to me, is what we work for,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “Our guys grind; our guys work hard. We practiced hard last week. We didn’t take the pads off Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday; we’re thirsty, and they bought into that.”
It marked the first win in Tuscaloosa since 2007 for Georgia.
Woodring’s kick was one of redemption for the near-automatic placekicker. Near the start of the fourth quarter, he had a chance to break a 17-17 tie when his 39-yard try sailed wide. Given a second chance, Woodring delivered.
Then, Georgia had to protect the lead. The Alabama offense and Keelon Russell had already shown plenty of grit, having rallied to lead 14-10 at halftime. And the Tide looked to be on a path to at least have a chance to even things up in the final minutes.
But after a pass breakup in the end zone that resulted in Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer and Tide fans vehemently believing a penalty should have been called for pass interference, KJ Bolden made things worse for Alabama, sacking Russell nine yards behind the line of scrimmage, and pushing his team out of field goal range.
Needing just a first down or two to run out the clock from there, the Bulldogs did exactly that. Following a first-down run by Bo Walker, the Bulldogs were given another first down by way of Alabama’s Dijon Lee being hit with a personal foul penalty, prompting victory formation for Georgia.
The Bulldogs got out front on Saturday when Woodring earned a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter from 43 yards away, a drive that would have been a 7-0 advantage before a touchdown run by Dwight Phillips, Jr. was nullified by Lawson Luckie called for holding.
Still, Georgia held the upper hand on the road. Phillips was a big part of Georgia being able to balance its offense on Saturday. With both Nate Frazier, Jr. and Chauncey Bowens unable to play due to injuries, it required a “next man up” mentality for the Bulldogs and Phillips and Walker delivered. Phillips rushed 17 times for 120 yards, while Walker rotated in to gain 69 yards on 10 carries.
“He hasn’t complained one time since being here, and he’s so tough for his size,” Smart said of Walker after the game.
That hard running helped Georgia lead 10-0 just past the halfway mark of the second quarter.
On the heels of a 53-yard pass from Gunner Stockton to Jayden Reddell, Stockton found an open London Humphreys in the end zone from 20 yards away. Just like that, Georgia led 10-0.
Alabama did not fade away, however. It needed only three plays to go 89 yards in 72 seconds, as Russell found Marshall Pritchett from 22 yards away with 5:49 left until halftime. Russell went 16-of-30 for 185 yards on the night.
A gamble for the Crimson Tide struck gold to end the half, as a fourth-and-one call to go for a score resulted in a one-yard run by EJ Crowell for a touchdown and a 14-10 Alabama lead, giving Georgia its first halftime deficit so far this season.
However, Alabama would not find the end zone again the rest of the night.
In the second half, Georgia bounced back on both sides of the ball, going up 17-14 with 10:38 left in the third quarter when Stockton made a physical 14-yard rushing score to end a 75-yard drive. That came just two plays after he completed a 30-yard pass to Craig Dandridge.
Stockton went 18-22 for 249 yards on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide tried to tie things up with a Conor Talty field goal at 5:07 left in the third, but Georgia did what it had done since the start on Saturday – deliver another answer to the Tide’s jabs.
“We knew coming in that we had to put the team on our back,” Georgia linebacker Chris Cole said. “It was going to come down to the fourth quarter and us being on the field to be able to stop them.”