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
bamaguy
December 2nd, 2012
10:51 am
Congrats to Georgia on a great game. Now THAT is SEC football! We will bring Uga a leprechaun bone back from Miami!
Carolina Dawg
December 2nd, 2012
10:55 am
Darrel, I am certain (NOT) your mother would be proud of her son when reading your thoughtless comment above. Get a life.
Who Me?
December 2nd, 2012
10:57 am
Darrel, you’re an idiot.
JokerlessUK
December 2nd, 2012
10:58 am
UK would have beaten both teams combined! Seriously now, too bad someone had to lose that game. It was very exciting and I believe the better team won. Anytime a team rushes for 350 yards it deserves to win. Go Bama bring another trophy to the SEC,
Woodstock Dawg
December 2nd, 2012
10:58 am
Like most GA fans I am disappointed beause we were so close, but I am so proud of our program and that fact that CMR is our coach! The players left it out on the field and got the respect of many people who did not believe that they belong. To all the haters out there that just want to bash please go some where else because we have an elite program! To judge solely on a national title is ridiculous. Go Dawgs!
Gahoundawg
December 2nd, 2012
11:00 am
Well we know how Darrel was conceived…..
magadog
December 2nd, 2012
11:00 am
I’ve not been a fan…I am now. Well done UGA! Sometimes close counts in things other than horse shoes, hand grenades and atomic bombs…you showed the poise of champions and left your hearts on that battlefield. Well done.
Roll Tide then Go Irish
December 2nd, 2012
11:02 am
Georgia Tech: Still the most recent National Champs from Georgia!!
Slim
December 2nd, 2012
11:04 am
Coaching in the end…that’s what separated the winner from the loser.
The Truth Hurts
December 2nd, 2012
11:04 am
It’s ironic that when ever anyone isn’t for UGA they are automatically poor, uneducated, married to a relative, etc. etc. , I find that the average UGA fan has nothing to resort to than name calling when it come to anyone disparaging their dawgs. I’m not a huge fan of either team but I certainly do not respect UGA & Mark Richt’s gang of thugs. I was under the impression that Richt was a Christian & led his team thusly but they are unleashed thugish animals & the only reason for that is Richt says he’s one thing but teaches something very different to his players. They are classless, egotistical criminals with numerous times being arrested or caught in something illegal & the powers that be in Athens quietly cover up all the trouble these thugs get into. I have lived in Athens all my life, born & bred here & am a professional who is not poor nor married to a relative & I have watched the UGA athletics become a breeding ground and holding pen for future felons. Its a shame that honor & class is something UGA will never be able to be proud of. I for one am glad they were show ‘the door’ so to speak, they needed taking down a peg as did Richt.
vince
December 2nd, 2012
11:07 am
I have new found respect for the Bama fans. They have been nothing but gracious in victory. I can only imagine the drivel that would be spewed if we had lost to that team about an hour SW of Atlanta or that one 400 miles to the south. Nothing but class, these Bama fans.
Now, go to Miami and take care of business. Don’t just win. Make a statement.
DawgByte
December 2nd, 2012
11:07 am
I understand Richt’s logic for not spiking the ball. We had the match-ups we wanted and if Bama’s defender doesn’t tip the ball we would have time left on the clock to quickly run another play. Bobo in his post gamer presser said that in hindsight he would have spiked the ball. Would that have made the difference? We’ll never know. What I do know was it was one heck of a football game and Georgia received a lot of respect for how tough we played.
Ben
December 2nd, 2012
11:09 am
We came 5 yards and one play from being in the national title. We fought and scrapped and just ran out of time against the best team in the country. No shame in that. It hurts that we were so close, but we were also really close to not being in this game at all.
Real Georgia fans know by now that this is simply the way of things. We go through these bitter times so that we can better appreciate the good ones in the future. The life of a true fan is mostly sour, not sweet. But the sour makes the sweet all the sweeter when it comes.
I have been waiting to see my team in the national title game for 30 years, and I almost saw it. When they ran up to run that last play or spike the ball I was in tears and I didnt even know it. They didnt make the play, and they lost. My heart broke, and I mourn. But I do not despair.
I do not despair because I remember where this team was a few short months ago when Carolina kicked our teeth out and laughed. I remember surrendering a million rushing yards to a Kentucky team that would have a hard time beating an old lady’s quilting club. I remember how it felt when Jarvis forced a Gator fumble in the end zone and we beat the #2 team in the country to take back control of our division. And just a few short hours ago I remember seeing the fear and realization in the eyes of Bama fans when it occurred to them that they had the battle of the season on their hands against a team that was red and black and heart and fire and would fight until the last whistle blew.
We couldnt stop the rush. We should have spiked the ball. If we had only made that first field goal. We had an 11 point lead in the 3rd quarter…..
Doesnt matter what excuses you make or how you rationalize it. Both teams made big plays, both teams could have done a lot of things different. This is the nature of the game.
Alabama won and they deserved to. They are an exceptional football team. Congratulations to them and their fans. Enjoy the windfall, and don’t take it for granted.
I am proud of this Georgia team. I am proud to be a Bulldog. And that wont change, even if it’s another 30 years before we have this chance again. I love this team. I have an irrational emotional connection to something completely outside myself and utterly beyond any aspect of my control, and it is just fantastic.
Shoulders square, eyes forward, chins up, Bulldogs. You move forward, you learn, you persist.
And I will follow you. To whatever end.
Slim
December 2nd, 2012
11:10 am
2-Point-Conversion and not spiking the ball…UGA couldn’t execute on two of the most important plays in the game. UGA is 2-10 vs AP Top 10 Teams since 2008
Eddie
December 2nd, 2012
11:16 am
Enter your comments here
Eutaw Kid
December 2nd, 2012
11:16 am
GO COCKS!
Eddie
December 2nd, 2012
11:17 am
Ben,
Thanks for that. Thats probably the best thing I have ever read on the AJC sports section.
rhettt
December 2nd, 2012
11:21 am
In posts leading up to this Saturday, I stated the Bulldogs had not met a team with the overall team talent of Alabama. Second, how does a team react in pressure situations? Third, how much coaching determines how the talent of the players are utilized in the proper applications. Alabama has all three covered. Where as, Georgia appears only to be short in one area, coaching, to bring out the talent and putting the players in an arena to succeed. Good game both sides. We
( the SEC ) will be represented well in the Sugar Bowl.
jspiker
December 2nd, 2012
11:22 am
Pot, aka Truthhurts, meet kettle.
jspiker
December 2nd, 2012
11:25 am
Hear, hear, Ben.
Gahoundawg
December 2nd, 2012
11:27 am
Well said Ben!
jspiker
December 2nd, 2012
11:30 am
Nard’s Birth
#World’s loss
2-16 against ranked opponents
December 2nd, 2012
11:30 am
12 years later and Richt still can’t win the big one. During Richt’s tenure national titles have been won by Alabama twice, LSU twice, Florida twice, and Auburn once. UGA puts more players in the NFL than every single one of those teams. RIcht is paid 3 million dollars a year, and yet some of you are okay with him remaining the coach. Sorry dog fans but Richt will never win a title. Wait until next year and the year after when you have to play Alabama and LSU during the regular season, thus eliminating your chance to even play in the SEC title game, not to mention Florida will continue to get better so you’ll be back to losing against them every year.
Dr. Phil
December 2nd, 2012
11:30 am
1. Player arrests and suspensions certainly played a role in the loss to SC. Johnny Rambo was back, but he and the others hadn’t played in a game since the loss to Mich. State. Too bad that Richt didn’t suspend Rambo’s mouth.
2. Richt is incapable of accepting responsibility for his own mistakes, and the failure to spike the ball was poor game management and a very big mistake.
3. Rambo was probably correct that Georgia had better talent. That is nothing new. The talent is always there, but it is unfocused, entitled, and smack talking..
4. Georgia fans who are whining about the officials must not have seen Lacy and Yeldon running through Georgia’s talented defense. The refs missed more calls against Georgia than they did against Alabama, except for the hit on Murray. Hopefully the SEC will suspend the Alabama player from the NC bowl game.
Eddie
December 2nd, 2012
11:31 am
Reposting this so maybe more people will read it. This totally changed my mood this morning. Thanks man.
Ben
December 2nd, 2012
11:09 am
We came 5 yards and one play from being in the national title. We fought and scrapped and just ran out of time against the best team in the country. No shame in that. It hurts that we were so close, but we were also really close to not being in this game at all.
Real Georgia fans know by now that this is simply the way of things. We go through these bitter times so that we can better appreciate the good ones in the future. The life of a true fan is mostly sour, not sweet. But the sour makes the sweet all the sweeter when it comes.
I have been waiting to see my team in the national title game for 30 years, and I almost saw it. When they ran up to run that last play or spike the ball I was in tears and I didnt even know it. They didnt make the play, and they lost. My heart broke, and I mourn. But I do not despair.
I do not despair because I remember where this team was a few short months ago when Carolina kicked our teeth out and laughed. I remember surrendering a million rushing yards to a Kentucky team that would have a hard time beating an old lady’s quilting club. I remember how it felt when Jarvis forced a Gator fumble in the end zone and we beat the #2 team in the country to take back control of our division. And just a few short hours ago I remember seeing the fear and realization in the eyes of Bama fans when it occurred to them that they had the battle of the season on their hands against a team that was red and black and heart and fire and would fight until the last whistle blew.
We couldnt stop the rush. We should have spiked the ball. If we had only made that first field goal. We had an 11 point lead in the 3rd quarter…..
Doesnt matter what excuses you make or how you rationalize it. Both teams made big plays, both teams could have done a lot of things different. This is the nature of the game.
Alabama won and they deserved to. They are an exceptional football team. Congratulations to them and their fans. Enjoy the windfall, and don’t take it for granted.
I am proud of this Georgia team. I am proud to be a Bulldog. And that wont change, even if it’s another 30 years before we have this chance again. I love this team. I have an irrational emotional connection to something completely outside myself and utterly beyond any aspect of my control, and it is just fantastic.
Shoulders square, eyes forward, chins up, Bulldogs. You move forward, you learn, you persist.
And I will follow you. To whatever end.
Disgusted
December 2nd, 2012
11:32 am
This was our shot and we blew it. That’s why we are upset. You have to seize moments like this and CMR can’t do it. Now next year the Gators are back…
@UGA Dawg 97 — Absolutely correct we are not going to come this close to controlling our destiny for a good number of yrs. This was the team to do it — and this young Albama team was the one that we shoulda coulda woulda dont it against. And we choked.
Are we ever gonna get a QB who can win these type of games? Stafford and Murray, both pretty good but disappointments to get where we want to get.
I do not see a Nat Championship at least through thid decade and maybe beyond that. Richt is a good coach but does not have what it takes to win a NC or even get to the championship game. HE c annot beat the SEC West now.
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
11:34 am
Dr. Phil – why don’t you just deal with the people on your show, for they are the reason this country is in the shape it is. The Dawgs don’t need your ananlysis. They will accept what happen, learn from it, accept responsiblity and work hard to continue to improve.
Alabama offensive line
December 2nd, 2012
11:34 am
We are without mercy.
Jarvis, you can pick yourself up off the Dome turf now.
Eddie Lacy 181 yds TJ Yeldon 152 yds rushing
December 2nd, 2012
11:35 am
Gurshall??? Who dat???
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
11:36 am
Offensive line – Only game I saw all year where there was not a holding penalty called on a team. Your are good, but you are not that damn good.
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
11:37 am
Add Phil to freeloader that lives off the weak!
manateedawg
December 2nd, 2012
11:38 am
@Disgusted… we know you are a Tech fan, you don’t have to hide your true colors.
Disgusted
December 2nd, 2012
11:39 am
Nard — The painful truth hurts but it is what it is. Keep on posting the truth.
To many of these blind eye loyalists cannot handle it.
Oh well, next yr we will go back to having our pretty good 3 loss type of season again but that is good enough — We love CMR, we are so so proud of comming up 5 yrd short etc etc.
To me that is not good enough anymore.
DJ Fluker
December 2nd, 2012
11:39 am
All they did was make me mad. Thass when I took it out on poor Jarvis.
TIDE IN TEXAS
December 2nd, 2012
11:39 am
ALABAMA IS BY FAR THE BEST TEAM IN THE NATION AND GEORGIA IS RIGHT THERE TOO-YOU HAVE NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED ABOUT-MOST OF THE FANS ON THIS BLOG ARE NOT GEORGIA FANS ANYWAY-GEORGIA WILL WIN MULTIPLE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS-CHEER FOR US AGAINST NOTRE DAME AND YOU HAVE EVERY REAL ALABAMA FANS RESPECT………GREAT GAME……..ROLL TIDE
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
11:39 am
Hey Phil, you never have had on a helmet. Your head is too darn big.
Alabama offensive line
December 2nd, 2012
11:41 am
If you ever make it back(doubtful) can you tell your defense to at least try to man up. It was men against boys when we were pounding them into submission.
Alabama offensive line
December 2nd, 2012
11:42 am
Submission.
The Alabama offensive line enforces it. The Dawgs defense does it.
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
11:43 am
Dawgs will be back!
John McLaughlin
December 2nd, 2012
11:44 am
So close to reaching that famous happy end
Almost believing this was not pretend
And now you’re beside me and look how far we’ve come
So far we are so close
How could I face the faceless days
If I should lose you now?
We’re so close
To reaching that famous happy end
And almost believing this was not pretend
Let’s go on dreaming for we know we are
So close
So close
And still so far
[Thanks to Megan, Shaza, Ginny, Ashley, Michael for lyrics]
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
11:46 am
Phil – don’t sterotype just because you are second rate!
DeezNutz
December 2nd, 2012
11:47 am
To all the people coming on here saying Georgia blew it and we’re crappy and will never make it to the big game and all this other garbage and blaming Richt and Murray and wishing them ill, GO F### YOURSELVES! These guys gave everything they had last night and we’re all heartbroken, but it just wasn’t meant to be. We’ll be back, but hopefully without you a##holes. We don’t need ya.
fansince74
December 2nd, 2012
11:49 am
@ Disgusted: Stop flaunting your ignorance.
hit a single
December 2nd, 2012
11:50 am
Why in the world didn’t Bama run the ball against A&M on that last possession? You talk about poor coaching. Oh yea sometimes it is about being lucky and doesn’t have a thing to do with coaching. I agree Saban is good but if the other parts of the country don’t screw up Bama is not in the NC because of poor playcalling.
fansince74
December 2nd, 2012
11:51 am
UGA went toe to toe with the defending National Chamipion. in a Championship game. Kudos to them!
castle pines canine
December 2nd, 2012
11:53 am
we just need to learn to pay more for players so the will stay wit us rather than go to the nfl
castle pines canine
December 2nd, 2012
12:04 pm
Alabama beat UGA straight up, but what is the deal with holding jerseys and throwing players down not being holding, and knocking a qb off his feet from the head after a play not being ejection. THe way I see it, again, Bame won the game, this looks like the same crew that allowed Farley to nail Murray in the back. Before Kramer left, the SEC officials were known as the best in the land. Since Roll Tide Slive has become comish, they are the laughing stock of the nation.
castle pines canine
December 2nd, 2012
12:12 pm
Alabam Offensive Line. Submission? WTF are you talking abou?t. What game did you watch? Are you sure you are not some Tech Fan hiding behind your mothers skirt. It was a darn game. UGA and it’s freshman. sophomore line did a pretty good job against your vaunted defensive front. It appears, again, that the ony thing you guys can be proud off is cheap shots. Google Darwin Holt.Chick Granning. See what you find doofus
2-16 against ranked opponents
December 2nd, 2012
12:15 pm
I read a stat that UGA ranks 6th in the country between 1992-2011 as having the most NFL draftees, ahead of both LSU and Alabama.
UGA doesn’t have talent problem they have a coaching problem. Imagine if Nick Saban was UGA’s coach. UGA would be playing for its 3rd title in 4 seasons.
Biggun
December 2nd, 2012
12:17 pm
Hope Murray goes. He has the Ga TD record and leads the league in coulda, woulda, shoulda. He has just never been able to win the BIG games. He is not the field general that you need in the heat of battle . Next man up………….