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Bama Hands Doubters 38-10 Win Over Top-10 Team
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
The 13th-ranked Crimson Tide silenced the critics last night with as nearly a complete performance as a football team can put together. Alabama drowned the 8th/6th-ranked Bulldogs of Georgia 38-10 in front of a national television audience and a capacity crowd of 92,746 in Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia on Saturday afternoon. Bama improves to 4-1 overall, 2-1 in the SEC while Georgia loses for the first time and is 4-1, 1-1 on the year.
Alabama scored in every phase of the game Saturday night despite a steady rain throughout the contest. Senior quarterback Jake Coker had both a rushing and passing touchdown, running back Derrick Henry scored on the ground, defensive back Eddie Jackson returned an interception 50-yards and defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick scored on a blocked punt.
Freshman receiver Calvin Ridley had a breakout performance for the Tide last night catching five passes for 120 yards, his first game achieving over 100 receiving yards. Henry set a pair of career-highs himself, with 26 rushing attempts and 148 rushing yards in a single game.
The Bama D again stepped up big. The defense forced four turnovers, with three of those being interceptions by three different members of the Tide secondary.
Alabama collected 379 total yards of offense, with those being pretty even at 190 yards passing and 189 yards rushing. Bama also had 15 first downs for the game. Georgia had 299 total yards of offense (106 passing and 193 rushing) while making 12 first downs.
Bama's first scoring drive ended with a 29-yard Adam Griffith field goal covering 69 yards in seven plays eating up 4:28 from the clock. Bama held onto a 3-0 lead as the first quarter ended. Georgia tied the game on a 27-yard Marhall Morgan field goal in the second quarter after holding onto the ball for nearly seven minutes but never able to get close enough to the end zone to attempt a fourth-down try for a TD.
The Tide's next scored came on an eight-play, 76-yard drive that culminated in a 30-yard run for the touchdown by Henry. It was a balanced drive mixing the pass with runs that ate 3:57 off the clock.
Alabama scored again after being set up in fine fashion due to a Georgia punt. The Tide defense was relentless, and when the Dogs lined up to punt from the 16 yard line, freshman defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick blasted through to block the punt, picked it up and took it in for the score, giving Bama a 17-3 lead after the PAT.
Again Bama was set up for a score due to a bad punt (36 yards), taking over in Georgia territory. On the next play Coker hit Ridley on a seam route for a 45-yard touchdown. With the extra point the Tide was now up 24-3 with just 3:48 remaining in the half. Neither could advance the ball on their next possessions and the half ended with the Tide in command 24-3.
During the halftime interview, Georgia head coach Mark Richt said, "They're handling us on the front right now. We're not getting enough in the run game. We got a little something going towards the end there but we've just got to regroup, go back to what we believe in and keep banging away right now."
Bama had control of the ball on offense when the third quarter opened, but was unable to move the ball and was forced to punt. However, Eddie Jackson intercepted a pass and immediately returned it 50 yards for another Alabama score. So now the Tide led 31-3 less than two minutes into the third period.
Jake Coker took the ball in for the Tide's next score after faking a handoff to Henry to score from two yards out. That gave the Tide a 38-3 lead in the contest. After exchanging a pair of fumbles and the Tide having picked up an interception the final touchdown for Georgia would come on an 83-yard burst from Nick Chubb bring the score to 38-10 where it would soon end, as neither team was able to mount a scoring threat in the fourth quarter.
Following the game, Georgia coach Mark Richt would say, "The dam broke and unfortunately we just didn't have enough counter-punches to get back in it."
In his post-game interview, Alabama head coach Nick Saban said, "I was really proud of our players today, our team today. I thought this was a difficult challenge for them. I told them before the game that the plan we had for them, ordinary men couldn't go out there and get it done. We needed them to be extraordinary and that they were, and they were special. They've been that way all year. I know they've been criticized a lot, but I thought we played and outstanding game today, every part of the game. There were tough conditions out there. The quarterback did a fantastic job, we moved the ball effectively on offense. We made a couple of explosive plays. The defense did a great job except for the one long run, where they got in the wrong gaps. But we scored on special teams, we scored on defense and we scored on offense. We scored in all three areas of the game. I can't tell you how proud I am of the players, coaches, people here that really believed in this team. I believe in this team. We've just got to be focused on getting better. This is one game. Georgia's got a really good team. Tough circumstances out there for us today, both teams. Our team handled it well, and I think that's why we had success. A lot of mental toughness, a lot of physical toughness, and I'm really proud of the way our guys showed competitive character in this game."
Concerning where the team is now, after five games into the season, Saban said, "I think we've improved. I think we're getting better. I think it's one game. I think we have to show that we can play with consistency. I don't think we finished the game like we needed to, which is something we need to learn from. If it was a close game that would've have been a good thing. We couldn't take the air out of the ball on offense, we couldn't run the ball at the end of the game like we wanted to, we gave up a big play on defense. It's one game. Next week you'll be asking me what we're going to do different to get ready for the game because it's a big game. Then the next game after that will be the same thing. We have a process that we like to use, try to get the players ready and to improve. I thought they played their best game of the year today and against a good team."
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
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