Blog: Latest Bama News 12/2/12 SEC Championship Edition

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Barrett Jones hobbled through the Alabama locker room with a crutch supporting him, his left foot injured. TheCrimson Tide center hurt it during the first quarter of the Southeastern Conference championship game but never missed an offensive snap. This was no time to be injured – not with a trip to the BCS championship game on the line and 'Bama being pushed to the brink by inspired Georgia. So he played through the pain for 60 minutes, then smiled through it when the game was won."Feel great," he said. "Couldn't be better."

Alabama's resilience tested by Georgia as SEC title game lives up to hype-Yahoo! Sports

 

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"I told my right guard [Anthony Steen] we can't be stopped together," said Alabama right tackle D.J. Fluker. "Run the ball down their throat. That's what we did today." Indeed, Lacy and Yeldon spent much of the second half running through the gaping holes set up by their blockers. Lacy, who spent his first two seasons shadowing Heisman winner Mark Ingram and Heisman finalist Trent Richardson, turned in the best game of his career, breaking a 41-yard touchdown for Alabama's first score and a 32-yard gain to start the drive that put the Tide up 24-21 on the first play of the fourth quarter. At that point, Georgia's defenders were visibly tired and flummoxed. Bulldogs nosetackle John Jenkins asked Fluker after the game to explain what type of run-blocking technique he used because "no one had ever used it against me."
Alabama tops Georgia to win SEC title, go to BCS championship - Stewart Mandel - SI.com
 

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Jenkins, still baffled by Alabama’s blocking, sought out Fluker after the game. During the game, Jenkins would collide with Steen or Fluker, who would immediately get their hands on him and steer him out of the hole. If Fluker occupied Jenkins, or defensive lineman Kwame Geathers, Steen would come in from the side and move him just enough for Lacy to squeeze through. "They caught me off guard because nobody had ever used it on me," Jenkins said of the blocking strategy. "Somehow, he would draw my momentum to him and get in front of me. They were technically sound. It was position blocking." Georgia led by 21-18 in the third quarter when Alabama flew down the field — not with the pass, but with the run. The drive started with 3 minutes 4 seconds left in the per...
Alabama, Thanks to Lacy and Its Line, Beats Georgia for SEC Title - NYTimes.com
 

kyallie

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I want to believe that Notre Dame will beat Alabama with the same defense-and-discipline approach that has fueled some of the greatest upsets in college football history. I want to believe this is like Penn State shocking Miami in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl, or Ohio State shocking Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. But I just watched Alabama. And then I talked to Alabama players, and besides being so maddeningly nice and aggravatingly polite, they sound so much like Saban that it's frightening. Star running back Eddie Lacy, who ran for 176 yards and may test positive for steel, said he didn't pay attention to any Georgia pregame trash talk, because "that's an external factor." Left tackle D.J. Fluker said the Tide's success is "about preparation. We're prepared for anything." And Warmack said he never worried about the score because "you don't want to deviate from the program. Whatever you do during the week is how you do in the game." This is what the best coaches do. They don't just call plays. They create a belief system and get players to subscribe to it. And that's another problem for Notre Dame. I just can't imagine this Alabama team getting cocky and assuming it will beat the Fighting Irish. And if Notre Dame does jump to a lead, the Tide won't panic. There is no fear in this group. Alabama is the best team in the country. It is almost an honor when a team this good stabs you in the heart.
Alabama beats Georgia for SEC title, will face Notre Dame in BCS - Michael Rosenberg - SI.com
 

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In some ways, it might have been easier to take if the game had ended at midfield, where Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner appeared to pick off Murray's downfield attempt with 45 seconds remaining. But after instant replay ruled it an incompletion, Georgia had another shot and enough time. For Alabama, which thought the game was over at that point, it was a potentially perilous turn of events. "It was a completely different mindset than we had prior to that happening," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "Everybody thought we won the game and everybody is sort of celebrating on the sidelines and now you have to go back and really make some critical plays. It takes a tremendous amount of maturity to re-center yourself and put yourself in the right psychological disposition to compete, and we gave them three bang-bang plays."
Closeness of SEC finish only heightens angst for Georgia
 

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How much of a battle was it? Alabama All-American center Barrett Jones injured his foot in the first quarter but played through excruciating pain for the next 50 minutes. He left the Crimson Tide locker room on crutches. Alabama nose guard Jesse Williams wrecked his right knee with 13:13 left in the third quarter, and it looked like he wouldn't be able to return as he limped around the Tide sideline for several minutes, before retiring to the bench with a towel over his head. On the first play of the fourth quarter, though, Williams was back in the game at fullback, opening a hole for tailback Eddie Lacy on a 1-yard touchdown that gave the Tide a 25-21 lead with 14:57 left. Williams said he'll have an MRI on his injured knee Sunday. "Once I knew it wasn't anything serious, I knew I could go back in the game and fight through it," said Williams, a 320-pound senior from Australia who sports a tattoo on the side of his head that reads, "Pain Is A Liar."
Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs play all-time classic for SEC championship -- college football - ESPN
 

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Confetti dropped from the Georgia Dome ceiling as No. 2 Alabama celebrated a 32-28 Southeastern Conference championship game victory and the No. 3 Bulldogs tried to come to grips with what went wrong at the end. Linebacker Alec Ogletree removed a towel that draped his head and slammed it against the ground several times as he headed through a tunnel. Tears slid down senior receiver Tavarres King’s cheek outside the locker room after coach Mark Richt addressed the team in the postgame locker room. Georgia (11-2) won’t have its first national title since 1980 or its first SEC title since 2005. "I’m crushed, man," King said. "To be honest, we’re crushed. It stinks. To be so close and to taste victory against a phenomenal team at this stage, at this game, it hurts, it really hurts. … Those dreams were crushed today."
Bad Tidings: Georgia's bid for national title ends 5 yards short of end zone | Online Athens
 

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The Crimson Tide rallied, behind the running game, but Georgia’s offense rallied, too. The Bulldogs led 28-25 after Todd Gurley scored on a 10-yard run with 12:54 left. But for all Alabama’s running, it was a long pass play that was the game-winner. Quarterback AJ McCarron hit Amari Cooper for a 45-yard touchdown pass with 3:15 left. A chance for the Bulldogs to go to the national championship game was gone. Still, Georgia had its final chance, which players, coaches and fans will think about for a long time. "Hopefully I won’t dwell on it forever," Robinson said. "It’s messed up. But this team brought life back. I think people believed. And I think people still realize how close we really were to doing something that hadn’t been done in 30 years." Senior nose tackle John Jenkins put it another way. "A lot of people thought we were gonna get rolled over," he said. "We proved that we’re a better team than what people expect us to be."
Georgia comes up short against Alabama in SEC title game | University of Georgia | Macon.com
 

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Richt had a testy exchange with a media member who asked about Richt and quarterback Aaron Murray’s ability to win big games. "I don’t know what you’re saying," Richt said. "Why don’t you just say it straight up what you’re straight to say." People will say, the reporter asked, that Richt and Murray come up short on the biggest stage against the biggest opponents. "Is that what you’re saying or everybody else? Richt replied. The reporter, a radio talk show host, replied that he was hearing that "every day." "Well that’s for you to worry about then," Richt said. "If that’s what you say, then I’ll answer the question. If you think other people are saying that, I’m not worried about that." Richt wasn’t done. "I want to say something else. If anybody thinks our guys didn’t play their tail off, and Aaron Murray didn’t play his tail off, they are crazy," he said. "That’s unbelievable somebody would even bring that up." Then Richt was done, leaving the stage and ending the postgame news conference.
Bulldogs, Saban push Georgia for BCS | University of Georgia | Macon.com
 

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Alabama has 17 seniors, 12 of whom are listed on the two-deep depth chart, compared to 29 sophomores, redshirt freshmen or true freshmen. Saban said it was gratifying to see the team come together this season and try to earn its own accomplishments, instead of living off the legacy of last year’s national championship team. "It’s a challenge that the coaches accepted and the players accepted and I just can’t be prouder of a group of guys," Saban said. "We kind of had that I-would-not-be-denied attitude out there today."
Saban says he’ll enjoy SEC title for two weeks | AJC Sports News Now
 

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For the No. 2-ranked Crimson Tide (12-1), the victory means a third trip to the BCS championship game in the past four years. They won the previous two. Alabama will face undefeated and No. 1-ranked Notre Dame (12-0) on Jan. 7. But Alabama coach Nick Saban indicated he and his players will enjoy the school’s 23rd SEC title for a while before worrying about that one. "My focus right now is to give the players the positive gratification they deserve," Alabama coach Nick Saban. "I don’t even know what the date of the (BCS) game is. We probably won’t practice for a couple of weeks."
Bama delivers BCS knockout of Georgia, 32-28 in SEC Championship | UGA sports blog
 

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"I watch these teams that are 7-5 that are talking about they might go to a BCS game because they won their championship?," Saban asked incredulously. "Something’s not right here. I don’t know what people think of the SEC… . I just don’t think it’s fair to the Georgia players, coaches and their institution if they don’t go to a BCS game." Georgia coach Mark Richt was interviewed before Saban made his remarks in the main interview area at the Georgia Dome. He agreed, but was less emphatic in his stance. "Well, it’s up to whoever is deciding and I’m not in charge of that," he said. "But do I think we are worthy of a BCS Bowl? Yes I do. I do."
Notebook: Nick Saban believes Georgia deserves to be in BCS Bowl | UGA sports blog
 

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Has a losing team ever had more championship-caliber men and moments? From Sanders Commings intercepting an AJ McCarron pass in the end zone to the same Commings catching a pass from tight end Arthur Lynch to convert a galvanizing fake punt; from Cornelius Washington blocking a field goal and Alec Ogletree taking the carom the distance; from the freshman back Todd Gurley pounding the midsection of the nation’s best defense to Murray taking his team downfield in the final minute … has there ever, in the long and distinguished history of Georgia football, been a prouder loss? Alas, the Bulldogs needed 85 yards, and they could manage only 80. Are five yards sufficient reason to characterize them as losers, to suggest that this four-point loss is living proof that Richt and/or Murray can’t win the Big One? No and no, and if you’re of such a mind didn’t you hear me when I said, "Go away"? Contrary to popular belief, not every winning effort translates to winning. Alabama was just a bit better (and much stronger up front), but...
Five yards short: In bitter defeat, a winning Georgia effort | Mark Bradley
 

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Alabama was the superior team physically. The Tide rushed for 350 yards, led by Eddie Lacy (187) and T.J. Yeldon (154). The physical domination started with the Tide’s offensive line taking over the game in the second half, blowing open holes in Georgia’s defensive front. It continued with the Dogs, clearly worn down and drained, began to miss tackles. "[The defense] got tired of being run against — I could figure that one out," Richt said. "We just got knocked off the ball." At some point, it figured Alabama would try to get Georgia to bite on play-action, and that’s exactly what happened. With the Dogs leading 28-25, Alabama had a first down at the Georgia 45 when quarterback A.J. McCarron faked a handoff, stepped back and hit wide receiver Amari Cooper streaking down the left sideline, behind cornerback Damian Swann. The touchdown put Alabama, which once trailed 21-10, up 32-28 with just over three minutes left. The Dogs had two more chances. They went three-and-out on one possession and quickly had to punt. They used their last two time outs during Alabama’s possession but forced the Tide to give up the ball one more time. They got the ball back with 1:08 remaining. "We’ve had plenty of one-minute drives during the season so it’s not like guys were freaking out or anything," Murray said later. "We were just like, ‘Let’s play ball."
Georgia earns respect in defeat, but loss not easy to take | Jeff Schultz
 

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Mark Richt on spiking the ball: "Well, spiking the ball takes time. We had plenty of time to call play, so we called the play and we were taking ‑‑ the goal was to take a shot at their back right end of the end zone and the ball got batted, the ball got tipped and it landed to a receiver that was running a speed out." And more: "We had the play we wanted. We had a good play. The ball got tipped at the line of scrimmage and it fell in the arms of a guy in play. The ball was going to the back end of the end zone, either a catch or out of the end zone. Because if you have, I don’t know how many seconds there were, 15 or whatever it was, if you spike the ball, you might only have two plays after that. If you throw the ball in the end zone, you probably get three plays out of it. So once you spike it, it does take a little time to spike it, and you reduce the chance of having the third play, basically. So the goal was to throw it in the end zone. That’s whatMurraywas attempting to do. Once again, the ball got batted, and landed in the arms of our guy in play.
SEC championship wrap: On not spiking the ball, bowls and more | DogBytes Online
 

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It’s the broken record that won’t stop playing. Quarterback Aaron Murray’s record against ranked opponents moved to 3-9 with Georgia’s 32-28 loss to No. 2 Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship on Saturday. "I definitely think I had my share of mistakes and definitely missed some throws throughout the game that I wish I could go take back," he said. "I’m very hard on myself. I feel like I could take a lot of the blame, and I am." The voices of Murray’s critics likely will continue to get louder with the loss, and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said that’s something that comes with the territory. "That’s part of playing this game. That’s part of playing that position," Bobo said. "There’s going to be criticism, but heck, he’s handled it well his whole career. He does nothing but give his all for the University of Georgia. He’s a winner and I’m really proud of how he played tonight.
Murray: It's going to take a lot to get over this loss | Online Athens
 

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