Click here
I was trying to figure out what happened on that play.
-- Everything changed on second and goal. I remember watching Tagovailoa looking to the sideline and changing the play to something on the short side of the field with a few short routes. When Georgia had those covered, he spun around to buy time but was met by two Bulldogs for the sack and the first ankle injury that likely impacted the rest of his game. The interception on the next pass didn’t have the gas it needed.-- What’s notable: Both Georgia interceptions were made by safeties after Tagovailoa famously deked the Bulldog safety on the 2nd-and-26 play in January.
I was trying to figure out what happened on that play.
-- There were a few moments that felt like major momentum shifters early. The dropped pass by Irv Smith when he was wide open across the middle was huge but easily forgotten in the end. Easily could’ve been a touchdown, instead a punt and Georgia got cooking from there.
-- A combination of the injured ankle and Georgia’s varied defensive strategy just had Tagovailoa off his game all afternoon. He was late delivering passes, holding onto the ball too long in the pocket. There were also a number of drops like Smith’s and one from Jerry Jeudy on one that could’ve been a touchdown (though the Tide scored later in that first-half drive).-- Tight end Hale Hentges on Tagovailoa’s day: “We didn’t do a great job supporting him. That’s the great thing about football. Whenever one person doesn’t have the best game of their life, we can look toward everyone else. We should have done a better job making plays for him. We had a lot of drops.”-- A lot of us were confused at the second-quarter series with both Hurts and Tagovailoa in there. Georgia never bothered to cover the two QBs when they were lined up at receiver, leaving 11 defenders on nine offensive players. It led to a key three-and-out after falling behind 14-7 that almost ended in an interception dropped on the sideline.
-- It felt like if Alabama could score on that first drive of the second half, it would be a new game. Instead, it went three and out on the first two possessions that netted negative yardage and Georgia went up two touchdowns again. The delayed blitz was getting to Tagovailoa.