Ty Simpson threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns as the 17th-ranked Alabama shocked Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs 24-21 on Saturday night. Another quality win for the Crimson Tide with Kalen DeBoer moves to 7-1 against AP Top 25 opponents in his career. As for Smart, he has only one win over Alabama and drops to 0-2 in the post-Nick Saban era.
Alabama (3-1, 1-0 SEC) has won three straight opening the season with a 31-17 loss at Florida State. Georgia (3-1, 1-1 SEC) fell behind 17-7 in the first half and never led.
The Tide struck first in the game with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Simpson to Germie Bernard midway through the first quarter. They would add another score to take a 14-0 lead in the second quarter before Georgia responded. Gunner Stockton's 38-yard touchdown pass to Colbie Young stopped the bleeding before Alabama tacked on a 24-yard field goal by Conor Talty with 9:58 to go before halftime.
Both teams traded scores in the final minutes before the break. Chauncey Bowens powered into the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown. Georgia pulled within three at 17-14 before Simpson called his own number just 94 second later. A 2-yard run of his own to put the Tide back up by 10 points at intermission.
Georgia added a Josh McCray 1-yard touchdown run at the 6:30 mark of the third quarter. Neither team scored in the final twenty minutes of game time for the 24-21 final.
Alabama won the game on third downs on both sides of the ball. The offense converted 12 of 19 third downs while holding the Bulldogs to only two successful conversions on eight attempts during the course of the night. Georgia struggled again with poor execution, allowing 397 yards of total offense.
Alabama will host No. 18 Vanderbilt next Saturday. It will be another Top 25 SEC battle for the Tide. As for Georgia, they'll host Kentucky.
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