Georgia ends Alabama’s rivalry, claiming the SEC Championship

ATLANTA — Gunner Stockton threw three touchdown passes as No. 3 Georgia solidified its position for a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff and defeated Alabama for the first time in the Southeastern Conference championship game, beating the 10th-ranked Crimson Tide 28-7 on Saturday.

Georgia (12-1, No. 3 CFP) had gone 0-4 against Alabama in the SEC title game and 1-7 against the Crimson Tide under coach Kirby Smart. Playing in their fifth straight league championship game, the Bulldogs won their fourth title under Smart and 16th overall.

The lopsided loss forces Alabama (10-3, No. 9 CFP) to worry about standing with the College Football Playoff selection committee. The Crimson Tide were believed to be in a good position when they moved up one spot in last week’s CFP rankings, but the loss to the Bulldogs provided new cause for concern that the Crimson Tide could miss the playoffs for a second straight season under coach Kellen DeBoer.

Georgia led 21-0 before Alabama’s Ty Simpson threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Gurmey Bernard early in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs converted two game-changing plays into first-half touchdowns.

Cole Spear’s block of Dodd’s punt in the first quarter allowed Georgia to start a drive at the Alabama 21. Nate Frazier ran for 14 yards on the first down. Down by one on third down, Stockton took a handoff, rolled to the right and passed to Roderick Robinson II for a touchdown.

Late in the first quarter, Dillon Everett’s pass interception by Simpson was deflected by KJ Bolden, giving the Bulldogs the ball near midfield. Stockton’s one-yard scoring pass to Dylan Bell gave Georgia a 14-0 lead.

A block by Lyndon Humphries helped Nate Frazier score on an easy 9-yard run to cap Georgia’s first possession of the second half, extending the lead to three touchdowns.

Alabama posted the largest comeback in SEC Championship Game history when it defeated Georgia 35-28 in 2018 after falling behind by 14 points. It wasn’t Alabama’s only rally against Georgia. Before Saturday, the Bulldogs were 0-3 against Alabama under Smart at halftime the week before and 90-1 against all other teams before Saturday.

This time, Georgia did not lead.

After Simpson’s fourth-and-two pass from the Alabama 12 was incomplete with 8:17 remaining, Georgia put the game away on Stockton’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Zachariah Branch.

Georgia: The depth of the Bulldogs’ offensive line showed when the game plan wasn’t affected by center Drew Bobo (lower leg) missing the game. Stockton successfully converted a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak in the second quarter. Georgia converted another fourth down run by Josh McCree later in the first half. … Robinson’s touchdown catch was a big surprise. He had just six carries for 22 yards and one catch for 12 yards in the regular season.

Alabama: With running back Jam Miller (lower leg) out, the Crimson Tide struggled to establish a ground game. Alabama finished with minus three rushing yards. The team’s nine carries for 17 yards in the first half included two by wide receivers and one by Simpson. Alabama was third with 3 for 13.

Both teams are awaiting the CFP rankings and first-round pairings to be announced on Sunday.