Tide turns: Alabama rallies to win national title over Georgia in overtime
Alabama ripped Georgia's heart out with the sharpest of daggers.
Just when it looked like Georgia might have had a chance to stave off a furious fourth-quarter comeback from college football's Goliath, an untested true freshman Crimson Tide quarterback launched a deep pass down the field in overtime. Receiver DeVonta Smith found himself wide open down the right sideline. The pass was made in stride and Alabama won the national championship over Georgia 26-23.
On the play before the touchdown, freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was sacked by Georgia's Davin Bellamy and Jonathan Ledbetter for a loss of 16 yards. And this came after Georgia, which opened the overtime period with the ball, went ahead 23-20 on its opening possession. With the Tide facing a second-and-26 at the UGA 41, it looked like Georgia might be destined for a championship for the ages.
Instead, the 37-year national championship drought will turn to 38.
In that first overtime period, Georgia (13-2) lost nine yards on its opening series. Place-kicker Rodrigo Blankenship was then forced to attempt a 51-yard field goal, which cleared the uprights.
But it didn't look like Alabama (13-1) would need overtime to win its 17th national championship.
And it sure looked like Tidee head coach Nick Saban was about to record his fifth national championship at Alabama with three seconds to go in the game. After scoring 13 unanswered points in the second half, the Crimson Tide drove down the field and set up a 36-yard field goal attempt from place-kicker Andy Pappanastos. But Pappanastos hooked the chip shot to his left, sending the game to overtime.
This was the second game in two weeks that Georgia went to overtime. The Bulldogs defeated Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl in double overtime 54-48.
Alabama sophomore quarterback Jalen Hurts, the team's starter, was pulled in the second half in favor of Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa completed 14 of 24 passes for 166 yards, two touchdowns an interception in the second half. In addition, freshman running back Najee Harris came into the game and totaled 64 rushing yards on six carries in the fourth quarter.
After a defensive struggle in the first period, Georgia got on the scoreboard first with a 41-yard field goal from Blankenship at the 14:14 mark of the second quarter. The Bulldogs then lengthened the lead with another Blankenship field goal from 27 yards out with 7:33 to go in the first half.
The Georgia offense was able to cap off a nine-play, 69-yard drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown from receiver Mecole Hardman out of the Wildcat formation. Hardman play-faked the ball and ran to the left end for the short score. This gave Georgia a 13-0 lead at the half.
Tagovailoa provided the Crimson Tide with a spark and cut the game to 13-7 with a touchdown strike to Henry Riggs. But Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm delivered an 80-yard touchdown throw down the field to Hardman to put Georgia up 20-7 at the 6:52 mark of the third quarter.
From there, Alabama would chip away at the lead. First, it was a field goal from Pappanastos from 43 yards out. Then came another from 30 to cut Georgia's lead to 20-13 with 9:24 to go in the game. The Crimson Tide tied the game at 20 with a fourth-down touchdown throw from Tagovailoa to receiver Calvin Ridley.
Freshman quarterback Jake Fromm completed 16 of 32 passes for 232 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
This story was originally published January 9, 2018 at 12:18 AM with the headline "Tide turns: Alabama rallies to win national title over Georgia in overtime."