Georgia Exorcises a Decade’s Worth of Demons, Dominates Alabama in SEC Championship

ATLANTA, Ga. - The Alabama Crimson Tide could punch its ticket to the College Football Playoffs before Selection Sunday ever happened. The Crimson Tide could win the SEC Championship after a one-year hiatus in the conference title game, and not only punch its ticket to the CFP, but pick up either an extra home game in December or a bye.

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The only thing standing between Alabama and its 31st SEC Championship? The No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs, who were playing in their fifth-straight SEC title game and looking for a second-straight victory.

The 2025 edition of Alabama-Georgia (the seventh since the start of 2020) started as most Alabama-Georgia games do, with both teams feeling each other out, taking body shots like great boxers do early in matches. No haymakers yet for either team, but you knew both were setting the other up for an unexpected cross later in the game.

Georgia was the first to throw a (figurative) punch, blocking a punt by Alabama's Blake Doud, in which the protection never saw a Georgia defender coming from Doud's left side. The Bulldogs struck quickly after the blocked punt, with a 14-yard run by Nate Frazier setting up a one-yard touchdown pass from Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton to running back Roderick Robinson II. The Dawgs led 7-0 after 15 minutes of play.

The Dawgs struck again midway through the second quarter, set up by Daylen Everette picking off Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. Simpson double-clutched a pass over the middle to Isaiah Horton, and the tipped ball fell into Everette's hands. 14 plays and 57 yards later, Stockton looked over the middle of the field and rifled a ball to Dillon Bell for a five-yard touchdown. It was all Dawgs early in Atlanta.

Alabama couldn't do anything in the first half, and even when the Crimson Tide had a positive play (or two), it couldn't build on any of it. The Bulldogs took a 14-0 lead into halftime, and although the Tide received the kick after the halftime break, it felt like an insurmountable deficit for the Tide against the Bulldogs. Alabama would need some of the Alabama-Georgia magic that typically happens if it wanted to somehow pull out a competitive game in Atlanta.

It was Georgia's day in Atlanta, with the Dawgs' defense clamping down even worse as Alabama tried to muster anything offensively. Georgia picked up its first sack of the day on Alabama's first drive of the second half, and responded to Alabama's three-and-out with a six-play, 40-yard touchdown drive, capped by Nate Frazier in what was probably the easiest nine-yard touchdown of his career. 21-0 in favor of Georgia, and now Alabama was concerned about putting up enough of a fight to stop a slide in the playoff rankings.

The Tide had five three-and-outs through the first three quarters, and only one drive was longer than four plays at that point. Alabama's lone drive that was longer than four plays ended in Ty Simpson's pick to Daylen Everette.

As the clock churned and Alabama sputtered on the field, the Tide faced a new problem: trying to prevent history from being made. Alabama had not been shut out since the 2000 Iron Bowl, where Auburn won 9-0. As we entered the fourth quarter, Alabama had only crossed the 50-yard line once and never even sniffed the endzone. Ty Simpson, if nothing else, ensured that the Crimson Tide would not be faced with that embarrassment of being shut out. Ty Simpson hit Germie Bernard on a wide receiver screen for a 23-yard touchdown to cap what was by far Alabama's best drive of the day (nine plays, 91 yards, 2:37 off the clock). If nothing else, the Crimson Tide could advocate that it began to find its rhythm on offense after not having any for two months.

Alabama had one more chance on offense to muster up a shred of competency on that side of the ball. The Tide responded by doing what it had done all day: never gain a first down and watch the Bulldogs' defense fly around. As if it couldn't get any worse, after Alabama did all it could to cut the deficit to two scores, Georgia effortlessly pushes it back to a 21-point lead on a 13-yard touchdown from Zachariah Branch.

For the first time, Alabama fell to Georgia in the SEC Championship game, as Kirby Smart moved to 4-0 in rematches in the same season during his tenure at Georgia. Georgia officially clinches a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff and a bye, while Alabama, which was in before the poor performance, will now wait in anticipation yet again for the decisions of the playoff committee.

Alabama fell in the SEC Championship 28-7 to the Georgia Bulldogs, as Georgia now claims back-to-back SEC Championships. The Bulldogs are the first team to do so since Alabama did so in 2020 and 2021.

Selection Sunday is scheduled for tomorrow, December 7, at Noon CT.

Our coverage of the SEC Championship is brought to you by Pearl River Resort and the Sportsbook at Golden Moon Casino.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.