Bama delivers BCS knockout of Georgia, 32-28, in SEC Championship
With a BCS championship bid on the line, a heavyweight boxing match broke out at the Georgia Dome on Saturday, and it was defending national champion Alabama that delivered the knock-out blow in a 32-28 slugfest.
But give the Georgia Bulldogs credit. They got up off the mat and nearly won it.
With no timeouts and 85 yards to go with 1:08 to play, Georgia’s Aaron Murray got his team down to the Alabama 8. But rather than spike the ball with about nine seconds left, the Bulldogs elected to run another play. Murray’s pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and caught by flanker Chris Conley at the 5. He fell to the ground inbounds, and the last four seconds ticked off the clock.
“I told the players I was disappointed, but not disappointed in them,” a forlorn Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “It was a knock-down, drag-out fight, and everybody was swinging. We just ran out of time.”
For the No. 2-ranked Crimson Tide (12-1), the victory means a third trip to the BCS championship game in the past four years. They won the previous two. Alabama will face undefeated and No. 1-ranked Notre Dame (12-0) on Jan. 7.
But Alabama coach Nick Saban indicated he and his players will enjoy the school’s 23rd SEC title for a while before worrying about that one.
“My focus right now is to give the players the positive gratification they deserve,” Alabama coach Nick Saban. “I don’t even know what the date of the (BCS) game is. We probably won’t practice for a couple of weeks.”
The Bulldogs (11-2), who haven’t won a national championship since 1980 and haven’t played for one in 30 years, will play Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando.
Richt’s decision not to spike the ball at the 8 and instead run a hurry-up play will be debated for a while. A 26-yard catch by Arthur Lynch with 15 seconds remaining got the Bulldogs to the 8. There were about nine seconds remaining by the time Georgia lined up.
Murray rushed the offense into formation and tried to hit Malcolm Mitchell with a pass in the back right of the end zone. But the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage, and Conley caught the ball inbounds at the 5-yard line.
“I know in hindsight now the ball wasn’t meant to go my way,” Conley said. “It was tipped at the line and, unfortunately I wasn’t able to make a smart play. Instinctively I grabbed the ball when I probably should let it go.”
Richt vehemently defended the decision.
“You don’t need to spike the ball there,” he said. “We had the play we wanted. It takes time to spike the ball, and we’re thinking about more than one play there.”
But that wasn’t where Georgia lost the game. The Bulldogs were manhandled up front by the Crimson Tide, who managed to run for 350 of their 512 yards. Junior tailback Eddie Lacy earned most valuable player honors with 181 yards and two touchdowns and his freshman backup T.J. Yeldon added 153 and another score. The Crimson Tide had the ball for nearly 38 minutes to Georgia’s 22:25.
“We did a great job of running the ball in the second half,” Saban said. “And the reason we did it was we couldn’t handle the pass rush.”
“I like the way we played,” said Jarvis Jones, who had six tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. “I think we challenged them for 60 minutes. We came four seconds from playing for the BCS title. I’m just proud of all these guys that sacrificed for us to get here.”
Georgia freshman Todd Gurley had 122 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. Murray finished 18-of-33 passing for 265 yards with a touchdown and an interception and was sacked three times. Tavarres King led the Bulldogs with five catches for 142 yards.
“Oh, man, it was crazy the way that it was so close,” Murray said. “That’s something you dream of as a little kid, to win the game like that. It’s just crappy the way it ended, that’s for sure.”
Saturday’s game was essentially a BCS championship semifinal, and the two teams played accordingly. After exchanging the lead three times in the second half, Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron hit Amari Cooper for a 45-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline for the game-winning score. Cooper, who had 127 yards on seven catches, got behind sophomore nickel back Damian Swann on the play, which came with 3:15 remaining.
On the ensuing possession, Murray was sacked on first down by linebacker Adrian Hubbard — a sophomore from Norcross — who stunted inside on a blitz for the 8-yard loss. Georgia ended up punting the ball to Alabama with 2:17 remaining, and it appeared the game might end like that.
But the Bulldogs used their final two timeouts and forced Alabama into a three-and-out. Mitchell’s fair catch at the 15 with 1:08 left gave Georgia one final shot.
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:
Game story: Alabama delivers BCS knockout of Georgia, 32-28
Bradley column: Five yards short in bitter defeat a winning UGA effort
Schultz column: Georgia earns respect in defeat, but loss not easy to take
The final drive and play: An agonizing ending for Georgia
What they said: post-game comments from players, coaches on both teams
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834 comments Add your comment
Birddawg
December 2nd, 2012
1:00 am
@Standawg – I am idiot? Why? Because I am over losing? Because I am done with having more talent than every team in the SEC year after year, but only playing in the Cap One Bowl? Whatever, douche bag – you f**kstick is exactly what’s wrong with this fan base. You accept losing, you accept finishing behind Bama, LSU, FL, and now SC. Pull your head out of CMR’s ass and want more for the DawgNation. Oh, and don’t pull that “real fan” bullsh*t – I graduated from UGA and have pulled for the Dawgs through every shi**y coach since Dooley. Just because I want to win a NC doesn’t make me any less of a fan than stupid fu*ks like you.
HAPPY GATOR FAN
December 2nd, 2012
1:00 am
@Andrew Lipham – By your logic old man Spurrier will never let you see the light of day
Andrew Lipham
December 2nd, 2012
1:01 am
spurrier doesnt cheat though. he just hates us. lol.
Andrew Lipham
December 2nd, 2012
1:02 am
@Birddawg. Richt = disappointment. Our team would have beaten bama by about 10 points tonight with a good coach. Richt knows how to beat the garbage teams but not the great teams. I agree with you. Richt should be let go on monday.
Birddawg
December 2nd, 2012
1:07 am
@SSI Dawg – really? What program have you led? And, why do you have to “lead” a program to make observations or ask questions about a program? Or, are you saying we should never ask questions?
Eli
December 2nd, 2012
1:11 am
Poor tackling fundamentals, poor coaching is what costs UGA a trip to the NC game. I like Richt but BOBO needs to go. Everyone spikes the ball in the 4th quarter to get the best play and give your offense more then once play…. Bad Tackling, poor clock management and poor coaching equals another disappointing loss for Bull Dog Nation!
sam magee
December 2nd, 2012
1:16 am
georgia got a touchdown on a blocked field goal because the refs missed the call of the previous play.
ROLLLLLLLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!
Andrew Lipham
December 2nd, 2012
1:27 am
@sammagee. bama held on every play the next drive to get a td.
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
1:28 am
SEC officiating is terrible. On the roughing the passer the flag was not thrown by the white hat until the QB threw his hands out like you not going to call that. I agree with Kevin Butler. One official had it in for UGA all night. Also Ala. had two penalties all night, the unsportsmanlike and the delay of game. You tell me you run the ball that many times and for that much yardage and not one holding call. I know Bama is a well disciplined team but they are not that disciplined. Anytime UGA got momentum going in the first half we had the holding and block in the back called. Kevin Butler called the official out by name on the post game show. I call it the Saban intimidation factor.
stronghouse
December 2nd, 2012
1:34 am
Yeah Georiga had some holding on some runs that were not called as well. Good try though
dogone
December 2nd, 2012
1:38 am
Well first of all I would like to congratulate Bama on yet another championship and UGA for a hard fought game even though they lost another BIGGG game. Ricth and Bobo should be fired immediately. They have proven time and time again that they can’t win the big ones.. I know the UGA president and the AD will support him and as long as they go to a bowl and win most of their games they will keep them. The staff of UGA like so many fans are willing to except mediorcity unlike the Nick Sabans and Urban Mires of the world!!
Andrew Lipham
December 2nd, 2012
1:39 am
@hitasingle. You are talking about Tom Ritter right? Yeah, he HATES uga.
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
1:39 am
Stronghouse – yea but they had them called at crucial times. You could call it all day. How many games have you ever seen that not one holding penalty was called on a team.? I never have seen one. A great game by both teams and we blew the last play. Also watch the Ala. QB on the replay of the game and watch him throw his hands up and then the flag comes out on the roughing the QB call. Pretty damn obvious!
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
1:42 am
Andrew – I don’t remember the name Kevin Butler called out on the air but he was pissed and said it was obvious with this one official. He will probably get in trouble for calling his name on the air, but I am glad he had the guts to do it.
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
2:04 am
Dogone – your spelling is terrible. I guess that explains everything. Why don’t you go kiss Meyer and Saban’s butt. I am as disappointed as anybody but I wouldn’t say the program is mediocre.
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
2:06 am
Well I am going to try to go to bed. I spiked my alarm clock and got called for roughing my wife. Yea same officiating crew.
Ace
December 2nd, 2012
2:09 am
Bottom line UGA plays 3 good teams in 2012 and loses 2 of them.
dawgs01
December 2nd, 2012
2:20 am
i tell you what our defense let us down. mike gilliard got manhandled tonight and bama kept running right at him and he got his balls blocked off all night. watch the replay #35 played as about as bad as you can play. the third and five right befor the cooper touchdown pass that won the game shawn williams met the back at the line of scrimmage but could not bring him down for another six yards and that killed us bc they punt there with 5 minutes left and who knows. coach richt and aaron murray will take all the blame but todd grantham had no answer and the defense let us down again which is usually the case in big games but murray gets all the blame like he plays defense.
AlDog
December 2nd, 2012
2:21 am
give grantham another huge raise, or he’ll act like he’s leaving again!
dawgs01
December 2nd, 2012
2:23 am
why did 52 herrera never come in for mike gilliard who was getting manhandled out there. all those big running plays were run right where he was suppose to be fitting the gap. he kept getting caught in traffick or he would try to undercut the lineman and that put him out of the play. it was making me so mad and todd grantham just continued to run the same defense. if we could have stopped the run we kill them bc they could not pass block us.
dawgfan
December 2nd, 2012
2:32 am
I agree with birddawg. 1-11 record against top ten teams!!! Record speaks for itself. Dawns just don’t rise to the occasion in big games against good quality teams!!!!!!
???????
December 2nd, 2012
2:32 am
Was reading post game comments, what does this mean?
Richt vehemently defended the decision.
“You don’t need to spike the ball there,” he said. “We had the play we wanted. It takes time to spike the ball, and we’re thinking about maybe three plays there.”
dawgfan
December 2nd, 2012
2:35 am
Agree dawgs01 you have to stop the run if you want to win football games. It wasn’t just tonight Georgia let teams shread them in the run. Kentucky anyone?
dawgfan
December 2nd, 2012
2:37 am
It means he was defending bobo stupidity and poor playing calling again!!!
Andrew Lipham
December 2nd, 2012
2:45 am
Richt defending not spiking the ball = should be fired on Monday. Please fire Richt on Monday. I’ll thank him for owning georgia tech, but his time has come and gone.
Happy Idiot
December 2nd, 2012
2:47 am
Wait till next year!!!
Happy Idiot
December 2nd, 2012
2:50 am
If we can’t play for the National Championship, might we still play for the Natty Championship? I’ll hang up and listen to your answer.
dawgfan
December 2nd, 2012
2:51 am
Screw next year!!! I’m tired of hearing that!!! Seize this year!!! Win this year!!! My God I am tired of seeing almost every other sec team win a national championship!!!!!
MaxT
December 2nd, 2012
3:26 am
why didn’t bobo order murray to spike the ball with 15 seconds. Ga could have set up 3 good plays to the endzone, instead of 1 bad throw to the flat????? hello???
Big Jessie Rulz
December 2nd, 2012
3:27 am
So sad to hear some shameless UGA fans trashing their coach, QB, team, etc. If that pass is not tipped and goes for a TD, you’d be singing a different tune. One play does not make a team or coach a “loser”. As a Tide fan, I understand your disappointment, especially as well as the Dogs have played this year, and in this game. We had some lean years before the last 5 good ones. “Fear the Thumb”(Auburn) knocked a few so called fans off the Bama bandwagon. If UGA had won that game, I’d be crushed, but rooting for them and the SEC against Notre Dame. For the record, I think Murray has developed into a better QB than McCarron. Not his decision not to spike, and not necessarily a bad call by Richt and Bobo, just wasn’t successful. Congrats on a great game UGA, you played well enough to win. To fair weather fans like “Disgusting”….Grow up…or buy a few different team t-shirts and always pull for the one who’s winning. UGA and the SEC deserve better than you. Good riddance.
Maekchu
December 2nd, 2012
3:32 am
So many missed opportunities. Don’t forget they missed the early field goal too which means a late FG would have won it. Not spiking the ball was a big mistake at the end. But give the team credit for playing so well. These are still just kids after all and they did play their hearts out. This is a team to be very proud of.
StuDog
December 2nd, 2012
3:54 am
Ga fans better give richt more respect and huge raise very soon—if not, fsu will be coming after richt with huge money if jimbo fisher goes to auburn.
DaveInSeattle
December 2nd, 2012
4:04 am
I am a BAMA grad, and reading these comments are very reminiscent of when we lost to Florida a few years back. My point is…DO NOT DESPAIR. Georgia is a great team, and they played lights out. Bama went on to win 2 more National Championships and will play in the next one. With the talent, coaches, facilities, tradition, and fan base that UGA has there is no reason not to believe that you can’t do the same. GO DAWGS!!! Roll Tide!!!
FB
December 2nd, 2012
4:09 am
Murray did not throw in the flat, the pass was tipped. Conley should have batted it down but he caught it. Easy to judge after the game, hard to not catch a ball when that is your job…
CMR is not getting fired. I seriously wish most of you non-fans would go pull for Auburn or Alabama. As soon as somebody can name a coach that they know will win 117 games over the next 12 season, please do so. Every time I ask this, I get Kirby Smart or a mid-major HC that is hot. They are more likely to be Ray Goff and Jim Donnan again.
Alex
December 2nd, 2012
4:27 am
What an effort by the players. That was the best game of the year and the real National Championship. Everyone players came to play and left it on the field. They were all heroes.
Unfortunately that was the best chance UGA will get at a National Championship in the near future. Richt and Bobo will keep this program from ever playing for one. Bobo is a terrible OC and Richt just does not have that championship leadership.
Also, that was one of Saban’s worse coach performances. Terrible clock management at the end of the first half and a horrible decision to throw so much so early. Only to be outdone by UGA’s bonehead mistake not to spike the ball.
Wayne
December 2nd, 2012
4:49 am
As I have said for over 10 years, Richt will never win a NC, and this was the true signature loss that proves it. I have been against Murray since he walked on the field, and I was right. I thought our defense was terrible this year, and I was right. The dawgs were literally LUCKY to be in that game as they gave up what, some 300, 400, maybe even 500 yards of rushing. That really looked like NFL type players to me!! Georgia asked for all this when they hired this losing coaching staff. They are never prepared, have some of the most bizarre and predictable game plans that any junior high school coach could take advantage of, and they continually coach the players DOWN! And we will not even talk about the countless mismanagement of time in the previous years, and especially this one. Well, short of turning colors (which my brain tells me is the right choice) my choice is to forget all about college football until there comes a time that Richt is finally gone, but I’ll probably die first. Gene Chisik wins a title and is gone, Richt continually BLOWS the big ones and gets extension after extension after extension. So, for now I guess I’ve got my fall Saturday’s back for at least 5 or 10 years. Not sure if I can stand the tremendous badgering and the shamefulness of being a bulldog fan for the next 12 months, while the Redneck A’s continue to pile up the National Titles. Plain and simple, this entire football program sucks; just as the entire nation knew, except us idiots who continued to think we had better players, more talent, NFL ready players. Geez, what a laughing stock we are now. Good riddance, what a waste!!
Wayne
December 2nd, 2012
5:04 am
Oh and FB, wish I could pull for Alabama, at least I knew I would be rooting for a true FOOTBALL TEAM and not an excuse for one. Somebody always has an excuse for our play, the ball was tipped, our quarterback was hit illegally, ya…ya….ya…., same old crap. Ever want to see a 20 to 21 year old man look like a bewildered and scared to death 3 year old? Look at Murray in this game, almost as if he was ready to cry, and certainly had no clue as to what the h%^$^%$ll was going on. Everybody in the bar noticed it…….of course I’m sure there is an excuse for that as well. My question is…..How the hell did we warrant this game and a chance to go to the BCS CG in the first place……that is what is the most laughable about all of this. We played 2 decent teams this year, and got humiliated by both. The rest were crap and we know it. Florida was also a piece of crap and everyone knows it as well. But they will be back, and so will SC, and now probably Tennessee, and we’ll also have to play a real schedule in the next few years (LSU, ALABAMA, A&M), so kiss 11 wins good bye for a long time to come.
deca
December 2nd, 2012
5:33 am
Looking back, this game was potentially won because of the Alabama 2-point conversion. Think about it: if Alabama hadn’t made the 2-point conversion earlier in the game, the score near the end would have been 30-28 and all we would have needed was a field goal to win it. Which we would have done on the last drive of the game once we were within field goal range following the passes. So Saban’s coaching decision to go for 2 really paid off nicely. Who would have thought…
Enough
December 2nd, 2012
5:47 am
Damn Good Dawgs !
What they’re saying in Georgia about Alabama’s victory in the SEC Championship Game (links) – Alabama – Crimson Tide News
December 2nd, 2012
6:14 am
[...] website of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:* Saban says he’ll enjoy SEC title for two weeks* SEC classic: Bama outlasts UGA for title* Notebook: Nick Saban believes Georgia deserves to be in BCS Bowl* Mark Bradley: Five yards short: [...]
13 fans
December 2nd, 2012
6:34 am
Good, it could not happen to a better school !!!!
UGA fans just wanted the game give to them.
I hope it hurts for a long time.
They have been the biggest cheaters in college football since the days of JAKE SCOTT.
Jake Scott was a great player but just like Walker he never went to class.
Cheaters need to lose !!!!
RedandBlackDAWG
December 2nd, 2012
6:37 am
There are some sorry, as usual fans (?) of football on here, running their mouths off and as usual trying to offend others. You folks of that ilk do not not crap about football.
This was a great game, and although I would have loved to have had 30 seconds more on the clock, UGA gave it all and made the fans of the team proud. We had trouble with the run, all year and that turned out to be a glaring problem last night. We took a Swann dive on a couple of pass plays, that turned out big for Alabama, but over all, the team played their hearts out.
It is a shame that we can’t get the Sugar Bowl most likely, but UGA helped prove last night that the SEC East is on their way back, so we can be proud of the DAWGS for the game, but hate the results.
I hope UGA does get the Cotton Bowl, if nothing else is higher, and I hope they play a respectable team and have a great bowl game.
Anybody on these blogs, if you had one ounce of respect for yourself, much less the school, you are supposed to be loyal to, should realize what a great game this was, and how hard both teams fought. UGA just came up a little short, but they left it on the field. I am proud to be a DAWG fan, and proud to be a resident of the state of Georgia. I will look back on this game, as the great one it really was, and hope the DAWGS keep building a team next year, that will be back in the same position again.
lj
December 2nd, 2012
6:40 am
ALABAMA DOES WHAT IT DOES BEST ROLL OVER TEAMS WITH THAT BIG, MEAN, AND NASTY OFFENSIVE LINE AND 2 RUNNING BACKS. ONE A BRUISER AND THE OTHER ONE THE SPEEDSTER. DAWG DEFENSE HAD BEEN SUSPECT ALL SEASON AGAINST THE RUN. TIDE EXPOSED THAT ONE BIG TIME IN THE 2ND HALF. TIDE ALSO HAD THE SUPERIOR QB. MUARRY STILL HAS NOT WON A BIG HUGE GAME LIKE THIS ONE. THE FLORIDA GAME WAS HUGE BUT HE DID NOT WIN THAT ONE. THE GATORS HANDED IT TO THEM WITH THE 6 TURNOVERS. MAYBE NEXT YEAR FOR THE DAWGS. QUESTION IS WILL MURRARY ELECT TO COME BACK AND TRY TO WIN A BIG ONE OR WILL HE LEAVE FOR THE NFL IF THEY WILL TAKE HIM. I DOUBT HE WILL BE A HIGH DRAFT CHOICE.
Bob Batchelor
December 2nd, 2012
6:46 am
Don’t care what Richt said should have spiked the ball. Trying to catch them off guard-RIGHT!!! And even all the TV announcers said the same. Dumb decision by Richt!!
AtlG8tr
December 2nd, 2012
6:50 am
Just got a new Bulldog puppy to celebrate. Decided to name him “Spike.”
3rdn8
December 2nd, 2012
6:55 am
For all of the people running their mouths, and insulting either team….just shut up for once!!
UGA fans should be very proud of their team. No team could have played harder. Questioning Mark Richt’s coaching ability, or Aaron Murray’s playing ability is ludicrous. That was just a fantastic football game.
To my fellow Bama fans who are running down UGA……..did it ever occur to you that you’re insulting your own team? Bama beat a hell-of-a-team yesterday. Don’t diminish what the Tide accomplished by discounting their opponent.
Vampire Bill
December 2nd, 2012
7:01 am
I agree with Richt. Why spike the ball? Run the dang play. They knew what they had to do, it just didn’t work out. Heartbreak yes, but that’s sports. Stop crying and be proud that the dawgs gave bammer all they could handle. GO DAWGS
deandog
December 2nd, 2012
7:05 am
I’ve been watching the Belles of Southern Bell go by. The Dawg fans are such gracious losers. Listening to dog talk and reading these comments, it is not necessary to win at GA. Obviously, we all cut our sporting teeth on horseshoes. Close is very good enough.. Auh shucks they really played hard, at the first quarter and at the final 2 minutes.
This game has been 12 years in the losing. Bad calls, lack of discipline, slacking (like the second and third quarters), penalities, softness for season after season, third and 1?…are you kidding me, missed field goal in a DOME… So go on and BEAT US MORE AND MORE SO WE CAN WORSHIP MORE, oh most high coaches, Throw those horseshoes and maybe one day, ( although I doubt it), one will explode just like a hand garnade, and pity the po fools who are standing around us. You know we’ll have a good time then, yea, we’ll have a good time then.
Yellow Fuzz
December 2nd, 2012
7:06 am
To the entire dog nation (AH’s too):
The fact is you controlled your own destiny. If you won last night, you play for the BCS Championship Game against Notre Dame and have a chance to win your first National Championship in 32 years. If you lost, you knew that you would fall behind Florida in the BCS rankings and not be eligible for a BCS bowl (no conference gets to send more than two teams). You knew this for over a week.
Everyone in college football knows that the BCS system is a crap shoot and that’s why it is being shelved in 2 more years. It sucks now, but it is what it is-an “everybody wins a trophy” type of system. While wanna bees like Louisville etc., get rewarded for underachievement, georgia needs to go to the Cotton Bowl, beat Texas by 30 and finish up a legitimate top 5 team! Think of where you came from just a few short years ago!
I could not be more proud of your players and coaches. They are top notch, though I think Grantham should have made adjustments and lined up Jarvis Jones in the middle instead of outside in the 2nd half. Same run defense, just more inside stunts and different looks for Alabama’s massive offensive line to contend with.
Nevertheless, Grantham is a great coach and georgia prepared for and played a tremendous game in the national spotlight. They won the hearts of many outside of the dog Nation (use Google and see for yourself). Coach Richt, Bobo, Grantham and company have brought you all the way back to national prominence. You can now compete NATIONALLY on the field and in the living room of the best recruits in America!
However, though I have gained a lot of respect for the Georgia program, I would not hesitate rolling one of you if you bark in my face in public.
tell me again
December 2nd, 2012
7:07 am
Hey DAWG — feel free to sell all of your stuff and get the frik off the board, friend ~ you act like a loser but our Dawgs were not losers last night – they competed and were in no way anything to be ashamed of. I’m proud of the game we played and the effort those boys have put forth all year. Richt and Co. had a great plan for the game and like all great games it was a slug fest. We just as easily could have won. We beat the #2 team once…we almost beat the almost the # 2 team twice – yes, it’s a coulda, woulda , shoulda type of situatiojhn but give Bama their due – they have a great tandem of offensive line players and backs…………GO DAWGS!