Tide Rolls into National Title Game

December 1, 2012

MorrisAdmin,

Alabama is heading back to the national championship game — by a mere 4 yards.

AJ McCarron threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper with 3:15 remaining, and the No. 2 Crimson Tide barely held off No. 3 Georgia 32-28 in a Southeastern Conference title game for the ages Saturday.

After an apparent game-clinching interception by Alabama was overturned after looking at the replay, Georgia’s Aaron Murray completed a 15-yard pass to Arthur Lynch, a 23-yarder to Tavarres King and a 26-yarder to Lynch, who was hauled down at the Alabama 8 as the clock continued to run.

The Bulldogs were out of timeouts.

Instead of spiking the ball and gathering themselves, the Bulldog snapped the ball with 9 seconds to go. Murray threw a pass in the flat to Chris Conley, who slipped down at the 4.

Georgia couldn’t get off another play. Alabama celebrated as confetti fell from the Georgia Dome room. The Bulldogs collapsed on the field, stunned they had come so close to knocking off the team that has won two of the last three national titles.

The Tide will get a chance to make it three out of four when they face top-ranked Notre Dame for the BCS crown on Jan. 7 in Miami.

For the Bulldogs (11-2), the consolation prize will likely be a spot in the Capital One Bowl, though they certainly looked like a team fully deserving of a BCS bid.

In a back-and-forth second half that looked nothing like a game in the defensive-minded SEC, the Crimson Tide trailed 21-10 after Alec Ogletree returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Alabama rallied behind a punishing run game, finishing with 350 yards on the ground, an SEC championship game record. Eddie Lacy finished with 181 yards on 20 carries, including two TDs. Freshman T.J. Yeldon had 153 yards on 25 carries, also scoring a TD.

But the Tide won it through the air.

With Georgia stacking the line, McCarron fooled the Bulldogs with play action and delivered a perfectly thrown pass to Cooper, who beat Damian Swann in single coverage.