Alabama's defense responds in '15-round fight' against Georgia
Following No. 2 Alabama’s 41-24 victory over No. 3 Georgia on Saturday night, Nick Saban compared the contest to a 15-round fight. In those terms, Alabama’s defense was knocked to the mat a few times in the opening rounds.
After giving up a program-worst 647 yards during its 63-48 victory over Ole Miss, the Crimson Tide appeared poised for another defensive disappointment early on against Georgia. The Bulldogs piled up 268 yards and 24 points while converting on 5 of 9 third-down conversions in the first half to take a 24-20 lead into the break.
That’s when Alabama began to hit back.
“Just finish the game,” Alabama safety DeMarcco Hellams said of the defense’s locker-room message at halftime. “A 15-round fight, four quarters of football. Coming out of the half, it was a 0-0 game.”
After Georgia received the ball to start the second half, the Tide’s defense began to show signs of life. Cornerback Josh Jobe broke up a third-and-five pass from Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett to end what looked to be another scoring drive. Alabama then forced a punt on Georgia’s next possession before Mac Jones put the Crimson Tide up 27-24 with a 90-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Waddle.
The defense’s first big swing in momentum happened the following possession as a tipped a pass landed in the hands of Malachi Moore near the goal-line. The freshman defensive back returned the interception 42 yards, setting up another scoring drive as Alabama extended its lead to double digits.
Moore, the first freshman to hold the Star role for Alabama since Minkah Fitzpatrick, did so as part of Kirby Smart’s 2015 defense, also recorded a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry on the night.
“Malachi, he’s a great player for us,” Hellams said. “He’s a young guy, but he plays like a veteran. He did a great job playing his assignment, and he jut made a play on the ball.”
Leading 34-24 early in the fourth quarter, Alabama’s defense delivered its finishing blow as Christian Harris and Will Anderson Jr. pressured Bennett into heaving a desperation pass downfield which Daniel Wright picked off around midfield.
Bennett, who hadn’t thrown an interception in his three previous games, was picked off three times against by the Tide, which limited him to 18 of 40 (45 percent) passing for 269 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Jones once again drove Alabama down the field, finding DeVonta Smith for a 13-yard touchdown to put the game away at 41-24 with 9:32 remaining.
Alabama held Georgia to 146 yards of offense after the break while stopping them on 2 of their 7 third-down opportunities in the second half. The Tide still has some things to iron out moving forward. It allowed Georiga to average 4.8 yards per carry and once again showed its lack of discipline, jumping offsides on fourth-and-1 late in the second quarter. However, Saturday's effort was enough to keep Alabama undefeated on the season and fighting another day.
“I kind of knew it was going to be sort of a 15-round fight, probably wouldn’t be winning the fight until a later round,” Saban said. “And you know we got behind early in the game and the players kept playing the game and kept fighting. I think it was a great win against a very, very good team.”
