SEC Championship Game: 5 best games of all-time
By John Buhler
1. 2012: No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide 32, No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs 28
The 2012 SEC Championship Game is one of the best moments during the Nick Saban era in Tuscaloosa. On the other side of the coin, it is the most painful memory in Georgia football history and one of the most defining moments of the Mark Richt era in Athens.
This 2012 SEC Championship Game between the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide and the No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs is one of the top-10 games of college football in the last decade plus. Both teams knew that the winner of this game would play the undefeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the 2012 BCS National Championship. Whoever won in Atlanta would going to absolutely boat race Notre Dame and both teams knew this.
Alabama’s only loss on the season was at home to Johnny Manziel and the SEC newcomer Texas A&M Aggies. Georgia’s only slip-up came in a drubbing at the hands of Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia.
Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide were elite defensively but were still a solid offensive team with players like A.J. McCarron, T.J. Yeldon, and Amari Cooper. Georgia had an elite offense with players like Aaron Murray, Todd Gurley, and Chris Conley. The Bulldogs had defensive stars like Jarvis Jones and Bacarri Rambo it tote.
Everything that a SEC Championship Game in the Georgia Dome could offer happened in this game. There was great coaching moments, big defensive stops, huge explosive plays on offense, and special teams home runs/nightmares, however, you want to slice it.
This game came down to a late fourth quarter drive by Murray for the Bulldogs. With seconds left on the clock down four on the Alabama five-yard line, Murray would have his pass tipped. Conley reacted to prevent the interception but was tackled yards short of the goal line as time expired after catching the tipped pass.
The final play in Atlanta that Saturday in December 2012 was what decided the national title. Alabama would go on to steam roll Notre Dame and Georgia would beat Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl.
A few years later, Notre Dame would have to vacate all of its wins from its 12-1 2012 NCAA season for academic fraud. Everybody outside of South Bend knew that Alabama and Georgia were the two best teams in the country that Saturday.
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This would be the closest Richt ever came to winning a national title at Georgia. He would be fired at the end of the 2015 regular season. Alabama would win the SEC in 2014 and 2015, as well as the 2016 College Football Playoff. In short, this might be a loss the Georgia program may never be able to shake. Alabama is doing just fine!