3 game balls for Alabama Football after 41-34 win over Georgia

It wasn't as stress-free as it looked like it was going to be after a dominant first 18-minutes of game action, but Alabama Football still found a way to win, beating No. 2 Georgia 41-34 and earning a signature victory for new head coach Kalen DeBoer.

The Crimson Tide jumped out to a 28-0 lead, but credit the Bulldogs for responding like champions and fighting all the way back. Georgia took a late lead that left the Bryant-Denny faithful in stunned silence, but one play later that silence turned to euphoria, with Jalen Milroe hitting Ryan Williams for a 75-yard touchdown to give Alabama the lead back for good.

So many players stepped up when it mattered for Alabama to secure a victory that probably mattered more for perception than it did in the College Football Playoff race. But don't get it twisted, this game still meant a lot. ESPN's AllState Playoff Predictor now gives Alabama a 91% chance of making the playoff.

Alabama walked off of Saban Field with a key early season victory over the team it has tormented.

These players walk away with a game ball:

Game Balls

Jalen Milroe

Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan have built the whole plane out of Jalen Milroe. Milroe accounted for 89% of Alabama's total offense on Saturday night, lighting up Georgia's defense for 491 yards of total offense. It's the 2nd most prolific offensive game in program history, behind only Bryce Young's 548 yards of total offense against Arkansas in 2021.

And that wasn't Arkansas lining up opposite Milroe. It was a team with future NFL players at every level of the defense. It was schemed and coached by a Nick Saban disciple and the guy who currently is considered the best coach in college football now that Saban is working for ESPN.

Milroe has been doubted and put down even by people inside his own fanbase. Read the comments on the message boards, and there were people still questioning whether Alabama could win with Milroe or if backup Ty Simpson was the better option.

Those people should be shut up for good, now. Milroe shared the field on Saturday night with a QB many projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and it was clear from the jump that it was Milroe - not Carson Beck - that was the best player on the field.

For the fourth straight game to open the season, Milroe accounted for at least two passing and two rushing touchdowns. He led Alabama to touchdowns on its first four possessions and led Alabama to a 28-0 lead just 18-minutes into the game.

The question about Milroe has long been whether he can throw the short and intermediate passes; he's been lauded for his deep ball accuracy since his first start last season. He showed the full bag against Georgia, confidently hitting those throws, going through his reads, and then hitting the deep shots when they presented themselves.

Milroe played like a player totally sure of himself. He could - and probably should - share the game ball with his offensive line. The line held up against Georgia's pass rush and didn't allow a single sack of Milroe, which allowed him to pick apart the Bulldogs.

Ryan Williams

There's simply not enough superlatives for the kid. He shouldn't be able to do the things he's doing at 17-years-old. He's been on campus for three months, there should be some sort of learning curve for him.

Instead, Williams already looks like an 25-year-old NFL All-Pro. This was the big test for the phenom; he had impressed against Western Kentucky, USF, and Wisconsin, but this was SEC play. This was Georgia. Could he actually do it again? On this stage? Against this team?

The answer was a resounding yes, and any person in the country not yet familiar with Williams got to know him on Saturday night. He tormented Georgia, catching 6 passes for 177 yards and what proved to the game winning touchdown.

Alabama had blown a 28-0 lead, and a 30-7 halftime advantage. Georgia had crawled all the way back and taken a 34-33 lead with just two-and-a-half minutes to play. The crowd was stunned, but the Alabama sideline was confident.

Because they knew Alabama had the most dangerous math equation in the country. And, perhaps better yet, they knew another universal truth: we have Ryan Williams, and they don't.

Williams has now scored a touchdown in all four of his career games at Alabama. He's at 462 yards and 5 touchdowns receiving on just under 29 yards-per-catch. The kid they call Hollywood obviously gets a game ball this week.

Zabien Brown

It was the other freshman wearing No. 2 who made the play to seal the Crimson Tide's win. Alabama fans got to watch Zabien Brown grow up right before their eyes on Saturday night.

Brown had been victimized earlier on a back-shoulder throw that led to a Georgia touchdown that cut the Alabama lead to five, but when Carson Beck went back to the well again, Brown stared it down the whole way, and showed off his exceptional ball skills to go up and intercept the pass in the endzone and seal a Crimson Tide victory.

Brown is one of several true freshman who have been thrust into action in the secondary. There have been some obvious growing pains, and the fourth quarter in particular against Georgia is an example of that.

But the baptism by fire they've received is only going to benefit them as the season wears on, and the games start counting for more and more.

Jihaad Campbell and Deontae Lawson had strong games in the middle for the Crimson Tide, and one of them was in line for a game ball until Brown jumped up and stole it.