Bama hands Bulldogs first home loss since ’19

ATHENS, Ga. – In front of a sellout crowd of 93,033 Saturday night at Sanford Stadium, No. 17 Alabama handed fifth-ranked Georgia its first home loss since 2019, 24-21, snapping the longest win streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision at 33 games.

Alabama led 14-0 after the first quarter, and then held off Georgia just enough the rest of the way, including stopping the Bulldogs (3-1, 1-1 SEC) on fourth down at the Crimson Tide 8 with 13:20 remaining in the game, with Alabama ahead 24-21. Georgia got 227 yards on the ground, including the first career 100-yard game from Chauncey Bowens, who ran for 119, and quarterback Gunner Stockton was 13 of 20 passing for 130 yards and a touchdown.

A year ago, Alabama (3-1, 1-0) snapped Georgia’s record 28-game SEC regular-season game win streak with a victory in Tuscaloosa. On Saturday, the Bulldogs had few answers for Alabama’s offense early in the game, and then couldn’t quite make enough plays offensively to tie or take the lead after cutting the Tide lead to 24-21 with 6:30 left in the third quarter.

Georgia’s last home loss came on Oct. 12, 2019, a 20-17 overtime defeat against South Carolina. This time around, the Bulldogs were down 14-0 less than a minute into the second quarter and never led. Alabama out-gained the Bulldogs 397-357, though Georgia averaged 6.7 yards per play to 5.2 for Bama.

The Tide took an early 7-0 lead by capping a 14-play drive with a fourth third-down conversion on the possession, a 6-yard touchdown pass from Ty Simpson to wide receiver Germie Bernard.

After forcing a second Georgia punt, Alabama again converted a bunch of third downs — four of them, to go to 8-for-8 in the game at that point — during another 14-play touchdown drive. This one ended with a 6-yard Simpson pass to Isaiah Horton and a 14-0 Bama lead with 14:01 to play in the first half.

Georgia’s offense needed to make something happen, and it did. After Stockton opened the drive with an 8-yard completion to wideout Zachariah Branch, Bowens ran around the right side for a 29-yard gain to the Tide 38-yard line. On the next play, Stockton pumped, waited a beat, and then hit wide receiver Colbie Young wide open on the right side for a 38-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 14-7 with 12:48 to go in the half.

The Bulldog defense forced the Tide to punt on the ensuing drive, and Georgia’s offense returned to the first at the UGA 7-yard line. On the second play, Frazier fumbled and Alabama recovered at the 11. Georgia’s defense kept the Tide out of the end zone, and Alabama pushed its lead to 17-7 with a 24-yard field goal with 8:30 on the clock.

Georgia answered with a touchdown drive that ended with a 2-yard Bowens run to the left side, cutting Alabama’s lead to 17-14 with 2:08 remaining in the half. Three plays earlier, when Georgia faced a fourth-and-goal at the 3, the Bulldogs benefitted from a defensive holding penalty to get a new set of downs. Earlier in the 11-play drive, Bowens broke free up the left side for a career-long 43-yard rush to the Tide 10.

Alabama quickly drove into Georgia territory and even completed a pass to offensive lineman Kadyn Procter, who was lined up out wide, to set up a first-and-goal at the 2. Simpson then ran the ball in for a 24-14 Tide lead with 34 seconds left. At the break, Alabama had a 262-196 lead in total offense and an 18:35-11:25 lead in time of possession.

The Crimson Tide got the ball to start the second half and came away empty on the drive after Conor Talty missed a 43-yard field-goal attempt. Georgia took over at its 26-yard line and got a 43-yard reverse run from wideout Dillon Bell to get down to the Tide 25. The Bulldogs later scored on running back Josh McCray’s 1-yard rush, cutting the lead to 24-21 with 6:30 left in the third.

Georgia stopped Alabama on fourth-and-1 near midfield on the ensuing possession — linebacker Quintavious Johnson had a 2-yard tackle-for-loss on the play — but the Bulldogs weren’t able to take advantage of the good field position. Punter Brett Thorson pinned the Tide back at its 8, and Georgia’s defense forced a three-and-out.

The Bulldog offense took over at its 46 and quickly went into Tide territory. But on fourth-and-1 at the 8, running back Cash Jones was stopped for a loss of 3. Georgia’s defense eventually forced another Tide punt, and the offense took over at the Bulldog 5 with 8:10 left in the game. But again, Georgia had to punt, giving Alabama the ball back at its 12 with 3:19 remaining. The Tide was able to run out the clock and hand the Bulldogs a rare home loss.

The Bulldogs are back on Dooley Field next weekend when they host Kentucky at noon. Georgia has won 15 in a row against the Wildcats, who lost 35-13 at South Carolina on Saturday.

POST-GAME NOTES

*Home Winning Streak Ends: With a 24-21 loss to No. 17 UA, Georgia had its school record 33-game home winning streak end tonight, and it was the longest active streak in the FBS. During the streak, it featured 10 wins over ranked teams. The Bulldogs are now 52-5 at home in the Kirby Smart era including 49-2 since 2019.  Before tonight, Georgia’s last home loss came in 2019 to South Carolina 20-17 in double overtime.

*Reviewing The Offense: Fifth-ranked Georgia finished with 357 yards of offense (227-rushing, 130-passing) on 53 plays in the loss.

*Redshirt junior QB Gunner Stockton was 13-for-20 for 130 yards and one TD. In the first half, he was 6-for-10 for 79 yards and one TD as the Bulldogs trailed 24-14.

*The leading rusher for the Bulldogs was redshirt freshman Chauncey Bowens (12-for-career-high 119 yards, 1TD plus a career-high four catches for 22 yards). He is the first Bulldog to go over 100 yards rushing in a game since Nate Frazier against UMass last year when he went for 136 yards on 21 carries.

*Senior Colbie Young had four catches for 59 yards and one TD while junior Zachariah Branch had three catches for 35 yards.

*In the first half, Georgia scored 14 points on 196 yards of total offense on a total of 25 plays. It trailed 24-14.

*The first two possessions of the game resulted in no points, gaining 31 yards on seven plays with a 24-yard run by Frazier.

*On their third possession, the Bulldogs trailed 14-0 and responded with a three play, 75-yard TD drive capped by a 38-yard pass from Stockton to Young with 12:48 left in the first half.

*Down 14-7 with 10:42 left in the first half, Georgia’s fourth possession resulted in a fumble by Frazier at the Bulldog 11. UA was held to a field goal for a 17-7 advantage.

*Down 17-7 with 8:30 remaining in the first half, the Bulldogs cut it to 17-14 with 2:39 left after going 75 yards on 11 plays in 6:22. The drive ended with a Bowens two-yard TD run.

*Georgia’s first drive of the second half began with 9:37 in the 3rd quarter at the UGA 26 following a missed field goal. Trailing 24-14, the Bulldogs cut it to 24-21 with a TD, going 74 yards on six plays in 3:07. It featured a career-high 43-yard run on a reverse by senior Dillon Bell and ended with a one-yard plunge by Josh McCray.

*Trailing 24-21, the Bulldogs turned it over on downs at the UA 11, losing three yards on a 4th-and-1 carry by Cash Jones. It was the first failed fourth down conversion of the year for the Bulldogs after going 5-for-5.

*A Look At The Defense: UA finished with 397 yards of total offense (117-rush, 280-passing) on 77 plays.

*UA got the ball to start the second half with a 24-14 lead and eventually missed a 43-yard field goal.

*Up 24-21 in the 3rd quarter, UA turned it over on downs at the UGA 47 with 3:43 left when QB Ty Simpson was tackled for a two-yard loss by Quintavius Johnson on a 4th-and-one.

*UA led 24-21 with 3:19 left in the contest and ran out the clock for a win despite being blanked in the second half.

*UA finished the first half up 24-14, tallying 262 yards (66-rush, 196-passing) on 43 plays. It was 9-for-11 on 3rd Down conversions.

*On its opening possession, UA was 4-for-4 on 3rd downs including the last one on 3rd-and-goal from the six to cap a 14 play, 74-yard drive in 6:30 for a 7-0 advantage with 7:41 left in the first quarter.

*UA’s second drive resulted in a TD, going 83 yards on 14 plays in 6:57, including four more third down conversions, for a 14-0 lead.

*The leading tackler tonight was junior CJ Allen with eight while redshirt sophomore Kyron Jones had seven.

*In the first half, sophomore Chris Cole notched his team-leading third sack of the year, and overall he made five tackles tonight.

*Checking In On Special Teams: Junior PK Peyton Woodring tallied three points (3 PATs) plus took care of the kickoffs.

*All-America punter Brett Thorson had four punts for a 44.0 average with no returns and three placed inside the 20.

*Junior Zachariah Branch had two kickoff returns for 19 yards.

*Points Off Turnovers: Alabama got three points off one Bulldog fumble for a 17-7 lead with 8:30 left in the first half. UA came in +6 in turnover margin with no turnovers on the year while Georgia came in -1. Opponents have nine points off six Bulldog miscues.

*Series History: Alabama extends its lead in the series to 45-26-4. Tonight marked Alabama’s first visit to Athens since 2015.

The Bulldogs are now 34-3 in their last 37 SEC regular season games with two of those losses to UA.

*Captains, Coin Toss And For Starters: Georgia’s captains were Zachariah Branch, Micah Morris, Jordan Hall, and Gabe Harris, Jr.

*UA won the toss and elected to defer the ball until the second half. Georgia went three-and-out for two yards.

*Georgia started its fourth different offensive line of the season as redshirt sophomore Bo Hughley (RT) made his first career start. Redshirt junior Earnest Greene III (RT), who had started two of the past three games, was out tonight.

*Up Next: Georgia (3-1, 1-1 SEC) will be back here Oct. 4 against Kentucky at Noon (ABC). The Wildcats (2-2, 0-2 SEC) fell 35-13 at USC tonight.

POST-GAME QUOTES

Coming soon.