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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Kirby Smart sprinted across the Bryant-Denny Stadium turf toward the corner where Georgia fans were erupting in celebration. Their cheers grew louder at the sight of their coach, while the Alabama faithful, still seething over the game's outcome, responded with resounding boos.
On a night that was surprisingly mild weather-wise, with Hurricane Isaias having minimal impact, the emotional storms were fierce. Smart removed his white visor and waved it, encouraging the red-and-black supporters to cheer even more. After sufficiently provoking the Alabama crowd—or perhaps the Bears of old—he turned and ran back toward his team's locker room, navigating past debris thrown onto the field. It was nothing like the barrage of small plastic liquor bottles that rained down from the south stands the last time Georgia won at Alabama in 2007, but it was a clear sign that the Bulldogs were back to infuriating the Crimson Tide on their home turf.
On another edge-of-your-seat night in the Southeastern Conference, Smart checked the final box on his impressive résumé: a regular-season victory over Alabama. He had previously beaten the Tide for a national title in January 2022 and in the SEC championship game last year, but he had also lost to them seven times, including twice in this stadium. Now that last houndstooth demon is vanquished, which might explain his postgame jubilation.
With this 2017 triumph, Georgia stands as the SEC's only undefeated team, poised to claim the No. 1 spot in the polls and halfway to another College Football Playoff appearance. Everyone else in the league has been mowed down. Former No. 1 Texas was shocked by unranked rival Oklahoma on Saturday. Florida, once unbeaten in October, has now been routed twice in a row, most recently by a South Carolina team that was 0-3 in league play. LSU, ranked 11th to start the season, has lost twice. Texas A&M, initially No. 8, has lost three times.
Humility is a week away, Smart warned, but it's rarely true of his team. Georgia remains the standard. Absurd stuff happens to someone else, not the Dawgs. They are 71-7 over the last five seasons, with two national championships and three SEC titles.
Alabama had been the standard under Nick Saban. In the Tide's third season under Kalen DeBoer, this game was set up as his arrival as the new Bama boss of the league. His team was explosive and appeared complete—but Georgia has a way of exposing any flaws, no matter how small.
Like so many other recent meetings between these two, it was a play-here, play-there kind of game. Or a call-here, call-there kind of game. The no-call that roiled the guts of the Alabama faithful came on the Tide's last possession, a Keelon Russell deep pass for Rico Scott in the end zone wound up incomplete after Georgia safety KJ Bolden ran Scott over. On the next play, third-and-10 from the Alabama 34, Russell was sacked to knock Alabama out of tying field goal range. Bama punted, and from there, Georgia ran out the clock. It was aided greatly by a dead-ball personal foul on defensive back Dijon Lee Jr.
In so many ways, this victory was a monument to what Smart has built—a ferociously physical team, a balanced team, a complementary team, a deep team. The Bulldogs are banged up, but it didn't matter—third-string running back Dwight Peanut Phillips Jr. stepped up to rush for a career-high 120 yards, powering a running game that gashed the Tide's ninth-ranked rushing defense for 206 altogether. The Bulldogs had the less touted quarterback, but it didn't matter—Gunner Stockton, as reliable as the vintage F-150 pickup he drives, threw for more yards (249 to 185) and produced more touchdowns (two to one) than Heisman Trophy candidate Russell. The Bulldogs missed a field goal and kept being flagged for holding, but it didn't matter—they also sacked Russell four times and knocked Bama star receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams out of the game with a big hit by Bolden.
At the end of the day, our quarterback played well enough for us to win, Smart said. We scored enough points to win. But it was a really extremely physical football game, and I have a lot of respect for Alabama.
The respect flowed both ways. Russell waited around after the game while Stockton was being interviewed to congratulate him. Both quarterbacks lavished praise on each other. Guys a baller, Russell said of Stockton. He was awesome, Stockton said of Russell.
While Stockton is the proven commodity, now in his second season as the Georgia starter, sophomore Russell is the guy with lightning in his arm and his legs. He just has to keep harnessing all that talent and turn it into a few more winning plays. Stockton has a really good handle on doing that.
The SECs full of really good quarterbacks, Smart said. So why do we rate them? Do we rate them by rings? We rate pretty good then.
Russell heaped blame upon himself for the Alabama loss, saying he missed countless throws. Thats an exaggeration, but there were times when he didnt set his and missed receiving targets. Ive got to do a better job with commanding the offense and taking over my role, Russell said. As an offensive commander, Ive got to do my job.
It would not be a surprise at all to see a second annual two-game series between Alabama and Georgia. The Tide won in the regular season last year before being dominated in the SEC title game. They could be on a collision course in Atlanta again this December, in what might be the last league championship game of its kind. If a 24-team College Football Playoff arrives next year, as is widely anticipated, conference title games will go away. So will a lot of the juice from games like this one.
Both teams remain perfectly viable to make the 12-team playoff, just as they did last season—but this loss shrinks Alabamas margin for error. With a 24-team field, this result would barely register in terms of who is in and who is out.
Right here and right now, Georgias win mattered a lot to its coach. He checked the last Bama box, and he made sure to celebrate it in front of everyone.
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Pat Forde is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who covers college football and college basketball as well as the Olympics and horse racing. He cohosts the Others Receiving Votes podcast for SI and is a regular contributor to the Tony Kornheiser Show podcast. He previously worked for Yahoo Sports, ESPN and The (Louisville) Courier-Journal. Forde has won 28 Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest awards, has been published three times in the Best American Sports Writing book series, and was nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. A past president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and member of the Football Writers Association of America, he lives in Louisville with his wife. They have three children, all of whom were collegiate swimmers. Follow ByPatForde.