Gunner Stockton had to be sharp when Georgia needed him most, and the Bulldogs leaned on both sides of the ball to leave Tuscaloosa with a 20-17 win over Alabama on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
No. 2 Georgia moved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the SEC with the victory over No.
6 Alabama, now 5-1 and 3-1. The result also put Georgia in position to climb to No. 1, with previous top-ranked Texas falling 27-24 to Oklahoma earlier in the day in Dallas.
Stockton finished 18 of 22 for 249 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but his biggest throw came when the game was hanging in the balance. With 2:36 left, Georgia facing third-and-7 from its own 10, Stockton found Elyiss Williams for a 17-yard gain to move the chains.
That play set up the final sequence. Two Bo Walker runs picked up 8 yards, then Alabama’s Dijon Lee Jr. was flagged for a personal foul, handing Georgia an automatic first down. From there, the Bulldogs were able to drain the rest of the clock after the Tide had used all of their timeouts.
Georgia’s defense delivered the stop that made the finish possible. With 3:28 remaining, Alabama faced third-and-10 at the UGA 34, and KJ Bolden, Valdin Sone, Gabe Harris and Justin Williams combined to bring down Keelon Russell for a 9-yard loss. The play pushed Alabama out of field goal range and forced a punt.
Russell completed 16 of 30 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing nine times for 41 yards. He was sacked four times.
Dwight Phillips Jr. powered Georgia’s run game with 17 carries for 120 yards.
Peyton Woodring gave Georgia the lead for good with 5:25 left, drilling a 23-yard field goal to make it 20-17. That drive covered 84 yards in 10 plays and nearly turned disastrous before it started, when Sacovie White-Helton tried to field a punt off the bounce. Blake Stewart reacted quickly and fell on the ball to save the Bulldogs from a turnover.
The game was tied 17-17 entering the fourth quarter, and Georgia got there after Stockton took matters into his own hands to open the second half. On the Bulldogs’ first drive of the third quarter, he kept it himself, turned the corner to the right and lunged through two defenders for a 14-yard touchdown run.
Alabama answered with Conor Talty’s 39-yard field goal with 5:07 left in the third quarter, knotting the score again.
The Tide had taken a 14-10 lead into halftime thanks to EJ Crowell’s 1-yard touchdown run on the final play of the second quarter. Crowell finished a 12-play, 80-yard march by bouncing outside after Georgia had clogged the initial path and reaching the left corner of the end zone.
Georgia struck first with Woodring’s 43-yard field goal on its opening possession, then stretched the lead on its third series. Stockton hit London Humphreys on a 20-yard touchdown pass with 7:09 left in the second quarter, and the drive was fueled by a 53-yard gain when Stockton connected with Jaden Reddell over the middle and Reddell turned it into a 30-yard catch-and-run.
Alabama responded fast. On the third play of an 89-yard drive, Russell found Marshall Pritchett for a 22-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 10-7 with 5:49 left in the half. Trae’shawn Brown had sparked that possession with a 58-yard run before Bolden forced him out at the Georgia 22.
“We gave them a (58-yard) run on a missed (run) fit, then we busted a coverage,” Smart said during his ABC halftime interview. “That’s really the two plays they hit back to back, then they did a good job in the two-minute (offense).”
The teams met for the 10th time in the past 10 years, though only the fourth matchup came in the regular season, with the others in postseason play.
Georgia returns home next week to face Auburn at Sanford Stadium at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The Tigers, 3-2 and 1-1, were idle this weekend.
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Georgia Just Got Extra Fuel Before Its Biggest Alabama Test
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Georgia Must Now Prepare For An Alabama Twist They Didn't Expect
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For Georgia, the timing of that update matters because Alabamas tight end usage can change the feel of a game at the line of scrimmage and in the red zone. The Bulldogs will have to account for Ford at Bryant-Denny Stadium when the teams kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC, and any late twist like this can force a defense to adjust its plan on the fly. [Read more 🡒]