College Football

Georgia defense falls flat as Alabama cruises to SEC championship win

Updated Dec. 6, 2021 12:02 a.m. ET

Defense wins championships — but offense won this year's SEC championship.

The Alabama Crimson Tide saw their offense go nuclear Saturday, roasting the vaunted Georgia Bulldogs defense en route to a 41-24 win in the SEC title game.

The Alabama charge, per usual, was led by sophomore quarterback Bryce Young, who seemingly couldn't be stopped.

But Young wasn't the story of the day. That was the UGA defense — for all the wrong reasons.

Coming into Saturday, the Bulldogs' defense was impenetrable in a real way. It had been allowing 6.9 points per game, 230.4 yards per game, 78.9 rushing yards per game and 151.5 passing yards per game.

That version of the UGA defense was not on display Saturday.

The Alabama offense hung 34 on UGA (seven points came via pick-six) and tallied 536 total yards. 'Bama threw for 421 yards and rushed for 115. The Tide gained 25 first downs and became the first team this season to score on consecutive drives against Georgia, doing so on five straight drives.

Young's 286 passing yards at halftime are an SEC title game record. The previous high Georgia had allowed was 244 passing yards to Tennessee's Hendon Hooker.

Young also set an SEC championship game record with 421 passing yards.

With the loss, Georgia became the first No. 1-ranked team to lose in a conference championship game since Florida in 2009. No. 1 teams had won nine straight conference title games.

Chances are the loss won't doom Georgia's CFP hopes, considering it's the Bulldogs' first loss of the season. On the opposite side, with the win, Alabama has all but booked its CFP berth.

And what does that mean?

The two SEC foes could cross paths once again.

Get your popcorn ready.