Jalen Milroe passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two more and Zabien Brown made a game-saving interception as No. 4 Alabama recorded a wild 41-34 victory over No. 2 Georgia on Saturday night in a Southeastern Conference showdown at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Alabama blew a 28-point second-quarter lead and fell behind late before notching the winning points on Milroe’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Williams with 2:18 remaining. Brown’s interception of Carson Beck in the end zone with 43 seconds left secured the Crimson Tide’s ninth win in the past 10 meetings with the Bulldogs.
Milroe completed 27 of 33 passes for 374 yards and one interception and rushed for 117 yards on 16 attempts to fuel the Crimson Tide (4-0, 1-0 SEC), who led 28-0 before the game was 18 minutes old.
Williams caught six passes for 177 yards, Germie Bernard rushed for a touchdown and Jamarion Miller caught one for Alabama.
Beck threw three second-half touchdown passes and finished 27-of-50 passing for 439 yards and three interceptions to go along with a lost fumble for Georgia (3-1, 1-1), which had its 42-game regular-season winning streak halted.
Dillon Bell caught five passes for 100 yards and one TD and rushed for another score for the Bulldogs. Arian Smith had six receptions for 132 yards and a score, Trevor Etienne rushed for a touchdown and Lawson Luckie caught one for Georgia.
The matchup was the first between the two national powers since Alabama’s Nick Saban retired after last season. New coach Kalen DeBoer kept the Crimson Tide’s success going, but it wasn’t easy, as the Bulldogs rallied from 18 down in the fourth quarter.
Beck threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Luckie — a two-point conversion pass failed — as Georgia moved within 33-21 with 9:46 left in the game.
The Bulldogs narrowed their deficit to five on Bell’s 3-yard scoring run with 5:39 remaining.
When Georgia next had the ball, Bell got behind the Alabama defense on the first play of the drive. He caught a pass from Beck and meandered around some defenders to finish off a 67-yard touchdown play that gave the Bulldogs a 34-33 edge with 2:31 left. Beck’s two-point keeper run was short.
Alabama matched the wildness on its next offensive play, as Williams got behind the Bulldogs’ defense and caught Milroe’s throw. He eluded attempts to stop him to complete a 75-yard play that gave the Crimson Tide a 41-34 lead (counting Milroe’s two-point conversion throw to Bernard).
Georgia’s rally from a 30-7 halftime deficit began with Beck’s 12-yard scoring pass to Smith. A two-point conversion throw to Luckie cut the deficit to 15 with 5:06 left in the third quarter.
At the outset, Milroe scored on a 7-yard run and tossed a 16-yard scoring pass to Miller. Bernard scored from the Bulldogs 7 to make it 21-0 with 2:21 left in the first quarter. Milroe tacked on a 36-yard scoring scamper with 12:24 left in the first half.
–Field Level Media
