As bad as the first quarter was for Georgia, the second stanza began with even more damaging errors. First, a short Brian Mimbs punt help set up a five-play, 48-yard Alabama drive that ended in a Glen Coffee 3-yard touchdown run. Later, a Matthew Stafford pass went into the hands of A.J. Green for a brief moment before Alabama linebacker Dont’a Hightower reeled it in. That gave the Crimson Tide prime field position once again, and Alabama promptly capitalized off that Bulldog mistake by going 33 yards on seven plays as Roy Upchurch ran in a short touchdown. Before you knew it, Georgia was down 24-0. A John Parker Wilson touchdown to Julio Jones would later make the score 31-0 going into halftime.
The Georgia defense appears to be missing Dannell Ellerbe a great deal, as the middle linebacker left early in the first quarter with a left knee injury. His return is uncertain. The Tide offense has started to dominate the rushing battle and is still passing the ball well. Jones came into the game as the most hyped Crimson Tide receiver, but every wideout they have thrown to tonight has looked fast and impressive. Offensively for Georgia, the Bulldog O-line is not doing a good job against that big and physical Alabama front. Stafford is moving to avoid pressure more than he is dropping back to look for receivers, as evident by his interception that halted a Georgia drive in the final seconds of the first half.
Big games like this are like heavyweight title fights. Sure, both opponents come in evenly matched with great credentials, but how each competitor handles the magnitude of the game often puts one in a better position than the other. If this was a heavyweight fight, the referee probably would have stopped it by now. But, this is football and Georgia can inch their way back into it. The Bulldogs get the ball to start the second half, and a touchdown there would give them some type of hope.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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