Tua Tagovailoa led an incredible comeback to deliver the Alabama Crimson Tide a National Championship in overtime over the Georgia Bulldogs.
The Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs played an absolute classic on Monday night. In true SEC fashion, the two schools played a smashmouth style of football that came down to a tie game late.
From the beginning, both defenses were trying to flex their muscles on the other. However, Georgia got the better of the Crimson Tide early on. Riley Ridley was the star brother of the show making big catches for the Bulldogs, while older brother Calvin struggled to make plays for the Tide.
At the half, Georgia was the dominant party up 13-0. However, the Tide came roaring back in the second half and it started with Raekwon Davis being the next Alabama big man to get an interception along the defensive line.
Tua Tagovailoa came in for Jalen Hurts and immediately turned things around for the Crimson Tide. Two touchdowns and big defensive stops suddenly turned things for Alabama, in the middle of a wild third quarter that saw Mekhi Brown try to fight a coach.
In the fourth, the Tide would roll late and tie the game behind a touchdown courtesy of the older Ridley, who finally broke free in the end zone on fourth down. After the Tide stopped Georgia on offense, they came down with a chance to win a National Championship at the end of the game.
However, Andy Pappanastos would miss a kick to win the game at the buzzer and overtime was on the way. In overtime, Alabama would hold Georgia to a deep Rodrigo Blankenship field goal.
When it looked like a bad decision from Tagovailoa would cost them the game, he threw a 41-yard touchdown bomb to DeVonta Smith for the win and another Alabama national championship.
3. Georgia’s future is bright with Jake Fromm
While Jake Fromm’s stat line from the National Championship Game is nothing that will jump off the page, he proved that the team is in good hands with him. Both of his interceptions came on incredible efforts by Alabama defenders.
He did make some great throws throughout the game against an Alabama secondary that was trying to test him often. His signature moment came courtesy of leading a 93-yard drive in just four plays.
Mecole Hardman would take a strike from Fromm and go 80 yards for the distance and the touchdown. However, his unlucky pass that was picked off by Raekwon Davis ultimately gave the Crimson Tide new life.
This was certainly a battle of the freshman quarterbacks and one of the more exciting ones at that. In overtime, Fromm took a bad sack but his team ultimately left with points on the drive and a shot at winning the game.
He made freshman stakes, but he made plenty of senior throws. He’s a quarterback that will carry Heisman buzz around him and rightfully so. He’s the real deal and the Bulldogs have a tremendously bright future ahead of him.