Game of the Week: The #2 Georgia Bulldogs traveled to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to face off against the #4 Alabama Crimson Tide. This matchup was set to be the best of the year. It featured a Georgia team that has won 43 straight regular-season games but has lost 9 out of the last 10 matchups vs Alabama. However, Alabama isn’t led by legendary head coach Nick Saban and is being led by newly hired head coach, Kalen DeBoer. Star quarterback Jalen Milroe leads Alabama and Georgia is led by star quarterback Carson Beck. This game was projected to be among the highest-scoring games in recent years as both offenses are fast and exciting to watch. 12 million viewers were watching this game on Saturday night. This game started amazingly for Alabama. Jalen Milroe drove down the field on the opening possession and ran it in himself for a 7-yard touchdown.
The next possession down, Jalen Milroe threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Jam Miller to boost the score to 14-0. Alabama then scored 2 more touchdowns to give them a 28-0 lead over Georgia. Carson Beck then led Georgia down the field, setting up a Trevor Etienne touchdown run. The next time out for Georgia it was a disaster. Alabama got a safety in the endzone which set up a 30-7 lead for Alabama heading into halftime. Georgia had a change of momentum in the second half as Carson Beck showed why he is the Heisman frontrunner. Georgia went on a 27-3 run to give Georgia the lead, and Alabama was on the verge of throwing one of the year’s biggest games. However, one man showed Georgia that Alabama still is the most dominant team in College football. That man is Ryan Williams. With only 2 minutes left in the game and Georgia up by 1, Jalen Milroe connected with Ryan Williams on a 75-yard touchdown that led to Alabama being up by 7. Carson Beck then drove down the field but threw a crucial interception in the endzone to give Alabama the win.
Other games: Earlier in the season, Kentucky lost to Georgia 13-12. But this week they were determined to beat #5 Ole Miss. On the other hand, Ole Miss was hoping to continue their winning streak and compete for an SEC title. If Kentucky won this game, then it would be Mark Stoops highest-ranked win in his 12-year career. Ole Miss is led by Heisman candidate Jaxson Dart, and also head coach Lane Kiffin. Ole Miss started off the game with a touchdown and Kentucky responded by adding a field goal. The rest of the first half was very slow as Kentucky was the only team to score more points as they added a 5-yard touchdown pass to give Kentucky a 10-7 lead at halftime. To start the second half, Ole Miss went on a 10-3 lead to give Ole Miss the lead back and make the score 17-13. However, Josh Kattus had a 2-yard touchdown run to give Kentucky a 20-17 lead with 2 minutes left. Then Ole Miss drove down the field with 48 seconds left but their kicker missed a crucial field goal to give Kentucky the win. After the game, Stoops said, “We went out and did what we had to do. We played our way. I know it’s only one game, but it was a very important game for us. Obviously, I could not be more proud of this team”. Following the close loss to Georgia and now this huge win against Ole Miss, Kentucky has made a legitimate case to potentially make the new 12-team CFP.
This week was by far the best this year and I don’t believe it will be matched. Next week there are some big games, but none that will match the energy of this week.
