Posted on 01/08/2018 10:47:06 PM PST by blam
Alabama came back to beat Georgia in a thriller to win the 2018 college football national championship, rising from a 13-0 halftime deficit to win in regulation. Tua Tagovailoa tossed a 41-yard pass in overtime to DeVonta Smith to give the Tide a 26-23 walkoff victory and their second championship in three years.
The game was a battle until the end, with Alabama kicker Andy Pappanastos missing a kick as regulation ended to give the Dawgs another shot. It followed a game of twists and turns that started with Georgia looking superior after a 13-0 start in the first half. Behind a new quarterback, Alabama stormed back to score 20 points in the second half, with Georgias only second-half score coming on an 80-yard bomb from Jake Fromm to Mecole Hardman.
Georgia got the ball first in overtime, and Rodrigo Blankenship knocked in a 51-yard field goal after Alabama sacked Jake Fromm. The Dawgs responded with their own sack of Tagovailoa for a 16-yard loss on first down. The Tides true freshman QB responded with a beautiful strike to end the season.
Sophomore QB Jalen Hurts was 3-for-8 for 21 yards passing through the air in the first half, so Saban decided to go with Tagovailoa behind center when Alabama came out after halftime. The freshman from Hawaii did not disappoint.
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Bama's defense is still like a steel wall.
As all fans whose teams lose say...wait till next year.
Like I said, I thought I was watching Tebow out there, he’s got a lot of the same characteristics.
And just like Tebow, he won a National Championship his freshman year, while not being the starter.
He actually said last night right after the game that this is the happiest he's ever been of a win.
He will start for Bama going forward.
He should be. Sometimes players win titles and sometimes it's the coach that wins it. Saban won this one.
Like the off-sides kick against Clemson in the first game.
My perspective: Yes, I wanted GEORGIA to win. And the reality is that Nick Saban had little choice BUT to pull his starting QB since what he was doing was not working. Yet, I think that when viewed through the lens of football history, Sabans decision to pull Jaylen Hurts will be seen as, as BOLD as General MacArthurs landing at Inchon!
I was advocating pulling him after the loss to Clemson last year. We need an offense that is able to put enough points on the board that another team can't win with a field goal or touchdown in the closing seconds of the game.
We struggled this whole year with any ranked or strong teams and lost easily to Auburn. Our domineering NCAA stats were earned against the lesser teams when we were winning 50-0 and so on. Against the stronger teams, not so good. We should have made the change sooner.
IMO, the defense has kept us in the running against all odds....Hurts can't pass.
Was it fixed?
Have you read the list of Bama starters that were out for the season for last night’s game? We were having to look up player names on the roster during the game. We had never seen them play before.
Saban deserves all the credit for this title. A masterful coaching job to get the most out of this team.
I don’t think Bama wins had Tua been too exposed before the game. Saban played it just right.
And Saban pretty knew he had a mulligan against Auburn to work with, unless Auburn beat them by 40. He doesn’t care about winning the SEC, it’s all about National Championships to him. Not saying he didn’t want to beat Auburn, but if it looked like it wasn’t going to be their day, he was just going to save his chips for later.
I liked what he said first when caught by the reporter. With almost a sense of wonder he asked, wasn’t that a great football game?
I would have to say, yes. I was rooting for GA but we have ties to both Universities. I did feel some disappointment over a Bama player or two that needs about 50 hours of sportsman ship training.
One of the best games I’ve seen in the last five years.
(Now basketball...always a Jayhawk)
Thanks!
IMHO, he was throwing to another receiver.. in desperation. Not Ridley.
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He was throwing to Ridley or Najee Harris on the play. Najee was basically tackled when the ball was in the air so we don’t know for sure. He threw in the area where Ridley and Najee Harris were going to be. It was 4th down so I am happy he didn’t just eat the ball.
UCF.....UCF.....UCF.....:)
The refs for the game were Big 10 officals. I seriously doubt they were pulling for Bama. It’s just part of the game.
If the Bama guy moved, it would have been a false start and backed them up 5 yards to punt again. No big deal either way.
There were two easy pass interference plays against UGA that were not called — one would have been a TD.
Also, near the end of regulation, Bama was taking it in for a score again. If they were trying to score a TD instead of playing it safe for a field goal, I believe they would have scored again.
Lots of “ifs” but Alabama won the game. If the situation they faced was different, they would have changed what they were doing. They weren’t going to be denied.
Saban schooled the student.
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Before the game, there was mention of Saban beating his former assistants by a record of 11-0. It is now 12-0.
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