By Leeroy Francis |Staff writer
Finally, the much-anticipated national championship college football game was played in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 8, when the University of Georgia Bulldogs played the University of Alabama Crimson Tide at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.Before the game kicked off, I had a chance to ask some people around the Augusta and northeast Georgia area how they thought the game was going to go. And what deciding factors would ultimately win their team the national championship.“I feel like it’s going to be a nail-biter, like I’m going to be on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I think we will definitely go into overtime,” said North Augusta native Cora Lollar.Fans, many of whom flocked to local sports taverns to watch the contest, were high-strung and ramped up after waiting a week for the big game.“I’ve never been so excited for anything in my entire life. I feel we want it more we are hungry to bring a championship back to Athens it’s been way too long,” said Athens native and UGA senior Austin Allison.In a first half, the Bulldogs came out swinging, taking a 13-0 lead going into halftime. It looked like Georgia was not afraid of the bright lights and national spotlight. Georgia dominated the first 30 minutes, and it looked like Georgia’s time had come. The Dawgs were on their way to their first national championship since the 1980 season where they were led by freshman running back and future College Football Hall of Famer Herschel Walker.That was only the second time the Crimson Tide under Nick Saban had been held scoreless in the first half of a football game since 2007. The other time was Nov. 5, 2016 at LSU, in a game that scoreless at halftime, and Alabama eventually won 10-0. On Sept. 29, 2007, Alabama trailed at Florida State, and the Tide lost that game 21-14.This time, the fourth quarter belonged to the Crimson Tide. With Georgia still leading the game 20-10 heading into the fourth quarter, the game was still within reach for Saban and his Crimson Tide. After benching his starting quarterback Jalen Hurts, who was the starting quarterback for Alabama all season, including Alabama’s national championship last year, Saban went to the true freshman Tua Tagovailoa to start the second half, and it proved to be the right decision. Tagovailoa eventually went 14 for 24 for a total of 166 yards and three touchdowns, with the last of them being a 41-yard touchdown throw to Alabama freshman Devonta Smith to win Alabama the title in overtime.Georgia’s freshman quarterback Jake Fromm went 16 for 32 for 232 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. His longest pass on the night was an 80-yard pass to Mecole Hardman that put Georgia up 20-7 midway through the third quarter. Hardman’s 80-yard catch and run touchdown was the longest touchdown from scrimmage in a BCS/CFP championship game.Georgia’s two-headed running back tandem of Sony Michel and Nick Chubb went for a combined 32 touches for 123 yards and no touchdowns. Senior running back Chubb, with 4,769 total rushing yards in his career, now has the second most rushing yards in SEC history (2014-2017) only behind Herschel Walker’s 5,239 rushing yards he ran in his three seasons at UGA. (1980-1982).Alabama’s Saban has now tied Alabama legend Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant for the most national titles by a head coach with his sixth. Saban won a single national title at LSU and now has won five at Alabama.“It’s heartbreaking to say the least, but I’m beyond proud of my Dawgs and the season they put together,” said UGA. sophomore Sam Adams. “Despite the hard loss, you can’t discredit the Rose Bowl victory or all the hard work our seniors put in to making this season something special. The biggest takeaway I feel is that Kirby has begun to lay a foundation for our program that can only go up from here. The Dawgs will be back and better than before.”This Georgia team nearly put their names in college football history with a win last night. Many believe that the Dawgs are not finished. In fact, many fans said that despite the heartbreak they are optimistic about the future. Coach Kirby Smart, who was a Saban assistant for nine years, nearly led the Dawgs to a national championship in his second year in Athens, and many feel he is the man to get Georgia back to the title game in the years to come.Fans all over Georgia and beyond, while heartbroken, are very proud of the season the Bulldogs had this year. While they might have their heads down now, be sure that Bulldog fans all over will not dwell on this loss forever and that next year offers a fresh start to the ultimate goal of winning the elusive national championship. Contact Leeroy Francis at lfrancis@augusta.edu