The national champion has been crowned and the long waiting Georgia Bulldogs were standing alone on the podium as red and black confetti fell from the sky at Lucas Oil Stadium on Monday night. The national championship started like most people thought with the defenses highlighted and the people who bet the under feeling very safe. Georgia's top ranked defense looked how they looked all season long in every single game except one, the SEC Championship game. Nakobi Dean looked like a man possessed as kick off neared and his focus was Heisman winner Bryce Young. Young wasn't going to be pulling any high scoring heroics on the highly touted linebacker this time around. Both field goal kickers got warmed up fast with five field goals happening in the first half and no touchdowns.
Stetson Bennett, former walk on, started off shaky alongside the rest of his offense who continued to make mistakes and got multiple penalties that continuously had Bennett and the offense playing behind the sticks. The locker room at half included a lot of adjustments that included a plan that most Georgia fans were more than happy to get behind. Run the dang ball. And that they did. James Cook broke a 67 yard run and Zamir White followed that shortly with the first trip into the end zone for their first lead of the game. It was 13-9 but the Tide weren't done yet. Despite an early injury to Williams, Alabama was able to add another field goal to make it 13-12. The Tide then caught their biggest break of the game.
Bennett was tackled deep in Georgia territory and while trying to throw the ball away, the ball slipped loose. The call on the field was a fumble recovered by Bama. Alabama would have the ball in the red zone and despite a valiant effort by the defense, Young passed to Latu for a touchdown and it was 18-13. There was 10 minutes left in the fourth and Georgia looked to be about to fall victim to the Bama curse once again. That is when Bennett came alive. The quarterback recruited by hardly anyone who was nicknamed the mailman started delivering all over the field. He immediately responded to the forced fumble with a trip of passes including a 40 yard bomb to Mitchell for a touchdown to regain the lead.
Alabama never scored again. It was 19 to 18 and the defense forced a 3 and out. Bennett marched them down the field with his talented running backs and hit Brock Bowers for a 15 yard strike to score again. It was 26-18 and Georgia fans waited with bated breath as the minutes slowly ticked by. Young tried to force a few late game heroics that resulted in a 79 yard Georgia pick six by freshman Kelee Ringo to seal the Dawg victory. There was a minute left and the Georgia defense kept Bryce Young at bay for 54 seconds including a sack as time ran out to cap off the 41 year long drought coming to an end.
Players and coaches swarmed the field and Georgia's faithful fans shed tears of joy as the day finally arrived that the 1980 jokes could be laid to rest. The joy on Kirby Smart's face as he hugged his team who overcame all the doubts that they could ever slay this particular dragon. After a defense dominated season, Georgia was standing alone on the podium with their winningest season in history and a national championship after 41 long years. It was a long ride that included a lot of heartbreaking losses but they finally reached the mountain top and with their recruiting, they likely won't be coming down anytime soon as far as Kirby is concerned. Georgia fans can breathe easy for a few months anyway because the mailman delivered Athens a national championship. And Alabama fans won't have to mourn for long, Saban will be back in the CFP. He always is. Don't be surprised if we get to see this rematch multiple times over the next few years before these two coaches are done.
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