Alabama Football: 30 Greatest Games in Crimson Tide History
By Ronald Evans
Alabama Football Greatest Game
December 1, 2012 – SEC Championship vs Georgia
The Georgia Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide are similar in one way. Just as the Alabama program struggled to find itself in the post-Bryant years, so did Georgia in the post-Vince Dooley years.
Over the decades as Georgia Tech faded as any kind of threat to the Bulldogs, Georgia should have prospered. It is a football-rich state with no shortage of top talent every season.
The biggest problem for the Georgia program is the Bulldogs fanbase thinks it should be on par with the Alabama Crimson Tide. So far results have been far short of those expectations. Georgia, since Dooley, just does not win enough big games to frequently be a national championship contender.
In the Mark Richt era of Georgia football, the Bulldogs had beaten the Tide in 2002, 2003 and 2007. The 2007 game was an overtime thriller in Tuscaloosa that gave strong evidence Nick Saban was bringing the Crimson Tide back quickly.
The 2012 SEC Championship Game was a play-in game for the BCS Championship. The defending National Champion Tide had clawed its way back to No. 2 in the polls after the October loss to Johnny Manziel and the Aggies in Tuscaloosa. The Bulldogs, at 11-1, were ranked No. 3.
Midway through the third quarter, the Dawgs led 21-10. Rushing touchdowns by T.J. Yeldon and Eddie Lacy gave the Tide a lead of 25-21 early in the fourth quarter. Georgia answered with a Todd Gurley score to regain the lead. The winning touchdown for the Crimson Tide was a 45-yard pass from A.J. McCarron to Amari Cooper. The Tide was going from left to right in the television broadcast from the Georgia Dome. Years later, in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, again going left to right on television, Tua and Smitty crushed Georgia’s hopes again. McCarron was under center and threw after a play-action fake. Tua was in the gun and his fake was to look off a safety. Otherwise, the two plays were eerily similar.
Check out the game highlights.