TUSCALOOSA -- Georgia didn’t just survive Saturday night without its top running backs. It found a backup who looked ready for the spotlight.
Dwight Phillips Jr. stepped into the lead role with Chauncey Bowens out and Nate Frazier a late scratch, then powered Georgia to a 20-17 win over Alabama. Phillips kept churning out yards, delivered a crucial run on the go-ahead drive and helped the Bulldogs beat the Crimson Tide in the regular season for the first time in the Kirby Smart era.
His night became even more important when Frazier was ruled inactive shortly before kickoff, a development that sent Smart back to a memory from his own playing days.
"[Mike] Bobo came to me before the game and said, 'Nate don't look like he can go.' I said, 'We've got to give it to Peanut,'" Smart said.
"I said, 'You remember that game when we were in Georgia and they gave a ball to Torin Kirtsey, who weighed about 175. I don't know how many times Torin carried it, maybe 30.
I said, 'If we got to give it to Dwight that many times, he can do it.'"
Smart was talking about Kirtsey's well-known game against Clemson, when the freshman carried the ball 38 times to help Georgia beat the Tigers. Phillips didn’t come close to that workload, but the impact was unmistakable.
He was a factor right away on Georgia’s opening series, even if the box score doesn’t show it. Phillips had a 17-yard touchdown run wiped out by a Lawson Luckie hold, a clear early sign that Georgia intended to lean on him. He kept pounding away after that, though his biggest moments waited until later.
Another long run disappeared because of a hold in the third quarter, but Phillips never let the setbacks slow him down. Late in the quarter, he ripped off a 31-yard gain to move Georgia deep into Alabama territory. The drive ended with a missed field goal, but the run itself pointed to what was coming.
By the time the fourth quarter arrived, Phillips and sophomore Bo Walker were wearing Alabama down. With about 8 minutes left, Phillips started the decisive push with a 22-yard run to get the Bulldogs back across midfield, and Walker followed with a 37-yard burst. Georgia didn’t reach the end zone on the series, but Woodring drilled the go-ahead field goal.
For a team leaning on its second- and third-string backs, that was enough.
"Coach Bobo talked about it with us. We have a lot of depth, and I think we have a lot of guys that can play winning football.
When you have that, it's really good," Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton said. "Dwight played his butt off and Bo, even Nick [Peal] when he came in there and ran.
They just ran and played hard for the team."
Phillips finished with 17 carries for 120 yards and helped Georgia average 5.3 yards per carry on the ground. The production mattered, but so did the way it looked - hard running, no hesitation, no drop-off.
That’s part of why teammates clearly trust him. Georgia STAR Khalil Barnes said, "I don't think Peanut's had a bad day," and added, "Whenever I see him in the locker room, he's smiling.
On the field, he's smiling. So, again, like, when a guy who puts so much into it is able to get out what he's putting in, that felt really good for everybody."
Smart admitted Georgia is thin at running back because of injuries, and that reality isn’t changing anytime soon. But on this night, Phillips gave the Bulldogs exactly what they needed: a runner who met the moment and carried the load.
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Georgia Defense Just Sent A Clear Message In The Alabama Win
Georgias 20-17 win over Alabama looked like more than just another top-end SEC result. The Bulldogs defense spent the night making the Crimson Tide uncomfortable, and the bigger takeaway was how the group answered a challenge against an offense that had been piling up points all fall. Linebacker Chris Cole and safety Khalil Barnes pointed to the teams physical practice habits and sharp defensive focus as part of the reason Georgia was able to control so much of the game.
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Auburn Just Lost A Star Defender Before Facing No. 1 Georgia
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Golesh said the suspension will be revisited after the game, leaving the door open for Atkins to return later in the season. For Georgia, it is one more development to monitor in a matchup that already carried major stakes, and for Auburn it raises the pressure on a unit that will need to absorb the absence of a centerpiece in the middle of the field. [Read more 🡒]