Alabama beat Georgia 35-28 after being down 28-14. The comeback started with a 51-yard touchdown pass by Tua Tagovailoa to Jaylen Waddle late in the 3rd quarter. However, for most of the game, Tua was limping after he was hit and wasn’t playing well. Tagovailoa finished the game with 164-yards passing, 1-touchdown and 2-interceptions. His bad statistics were mainly because he was injured. Then early in the 4th quarter, Tagovailoa went down with an injury and didn’t come back. Jalen Hurts lead the rest of the comeback. Hurts lead Alabama to 2-touchdowns on both his drives, the first drive he threw a 10-yard touchdown to Jerry Jeudy and on the second drive he ran for a 15-yard touchdown. Alabama’s defense finished the comeback by stopping Georgia on their last drive. The final play was a deep pass to the end zone that was tipped by Mack Wilson.
Hurts finished with 82-yards in the air and 1 passing touchdown. He also got 28-yards rushing and a rushing touchdown.
This game was the opposite of last year’s CFP Championship Game in which Jalen Hurts was benched at halftime and Tua Tagovailoa led the comeback. In this game not only did Hurts get his own redemption, he proved my articles right. I repeatedly wrote on how good he was and how Alabama would need him. During the time I wrote those articles, most of the media criticized Hurts. CBS Sports Analyst Gary Danielson even went as far as to say that Hurts didn’t know how to play quarterback (I mentioned what he said in an earlier article).
Alabama Running Back Josh Jacobs Wins SEC Championship MVP!
While Hurts lead the comeback, Jacobs was one of the main reasons Alabama was still in the game when Jalen took over. Josh Jacobs scored both of the Tide’s touchdowns in the first half, the first half ended 21-14 in favor of Georgia. Jacobs finished the game with 83-yards on the ground and 2-touchdowns on only 8 carries.
What Jalen Hurts Said After the Game.
On what he was thinking when Saban put him in.
Hurts said “I honestly didn’t know what to think, you know. All year I’ve been waiting on my opportunity. Regardless of how it went, my opportunity came today. Worked really hard this week with my teammates, and we found a way to get it done today.”
My Offensive And Defensive MVPs.
I’m going to have to go with Jalen Hurts for Offensive MVP. I know Josh Jacobs played great, but until Hurts took over at quarterback, it didn’t look like Alabama was going to win. Jacobs may have kept Alabama in the game, but Jalen lead the comeback.
My Defensive MVP is Mack Wilson. Jake Fromm threw the football up and into the endzone. A Georgia receiver was about to catch the football. If Wilson hadn’t tipped the ball on the final play the game would’ve gone to overtime.
photo by: Phillip Hendon
