TUSCALOOSA, Alap. - The numbers aren't pretty for the Georgia defense.
The Bulldogs (3-1, 1-1 SEC) allowed 547 total yards to Alabama (4-0, 1-0) on Saturday night in Bryant-Denny Stadium. They gave up touchdowns on the Crimson Tide's first four possessions and gave up a 75-yard touchdown pass that proved to be the deciding score in a 41-34 defeat.
Those moments were separated by solid play that allowed Georgia to rally from a 30-7 deficit and briefly take the lead. But in the end, it's an effort the Bulldogs know is not up to their own lofty standards.
"Tale of two halves. Obviously, we were not really prepared and that falls on me," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said after the game.
Most of Alabama's damage came in the first 30 minutes of play.
The Crimson Tide scored 30 points and racked up 355 yards of offense on a Georgia defense that hadn't surrendered a touchdown in its first four games. The Bulldogs allowed more total yards, passing yards (199), and rushing yards (156) in the first half than they had averaged in full games this season. Senior defensive back Dan Jackson called it the "slowest start we've ever had."
That stemmed largely from the play of Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe. In the first half, Milroe completed 18-of-21 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown while adding 106 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
"He's really hard to defend," Smart said. "So you have to pick your poison. Do you want the guy to take off and beat you running? Do you want him to play loose coverage and try to keep eyes on him so he doesn't take off? He ran the ball well on the perimeter, and we lost contain and then he also threw the ball well, which made it really tough."
The Bulldog defense settled in after halftime. Alabama mustered just three points on its first five possessions.
The play of the defense allowed the offense to eventually get into gear in its own right, rallying from a 30-7 deficit to take a 34-33 lead with 2:31 remaining.
"I'm extremely proud of the way we fought on defense," Jackson said. "After the slow start, I mean, me and Jalon (Walker) were talking about it. We just looked at our teammates in the eyes at halftime, and I mean, we knew right there that we’re never out of the fight. And I could tell that the men we have in this room, the dogs we have in this room, we're never out of the fight. And we're never going to give up."
But Alabama freshman receiver Ryan Williams ended up stealing the show.
The freshman ended his first SEC game with six receptions for 177 yards. That included a 54-yard juggling reception while being covered by Georgia safety Malaki Starks in the third quarter.
Williams then saved his best for last.
With his team down by one, Williams hauled in a deep ball from Milroe over Georgia defensive back Julian Humphrey. He then broke away from Humphrey, evaded another tackle attempt by Humphrey and freshman safety KJ Bolden, and sprinted to the end zone for what proved to be the game-winning 75-yard touchdown.
"If I had to do it over again, we would challenge him more and get up on him," Smart said. "We were off a lot, but the play he made was actually in press coverage there late. And, you know, that's OK to give that up. That's hard, but we caught that ball on them. But you've got to tackle. You've got to get him on the ground, make him snap it again, and we had momentum to make him drive it through. But we didn't get him on the ground, and that's the biggest fatal flaw of that play."
In the biggest moment of the year to this point, the Bulldog defense came up short. But they leave Tuscaloosa knowing that they have what it takes to absorb a punch and still fight back.
"We don't flinch," linebacker Jalon Walker said. "I knew this game was going to be a dogfight from the beginning, and I knew for myself I wasn't going to pout and bow down. I mean, that's just not us. That's not Georgia. And I knew that once we saw that, we were going to rise to the occasion of being resilient and being connected as a team. And once we did, we see the end of the fourth quarter. Just one moment, one moment short."
