Freshman sensation Ryan Williams saved No. 4 Alabama from an epic collapse against No. 2 Georgia on Saturday night.
Williams made an incredible 75-yard go-ahead TD catch with 2:18 to go to give Alabama a 41-34 win over the Bulldogs. Look at his ability to adjust to the football while it was in the air, the awareness to stay in bounds and the spin move to make the Georgia defenders miss.
The TD came as Alabama was on the verge of blowing a 28-0 first-half lead. Georgia had gone ahead 34-33 — its first lead of the game — just 13 seconds before Williams crossed the goal line when Carson Beck hit Dillon Bell for a 67-yard TD pass after Bell had gotten behind Alabama’s secondary.
The Bulldogs still had plenty of time after Williams’ TD and got all the way to the Alabama 20. This time, another freshman sealed the game. Zabien Brown picked off Beck in the end zone with 43 seconds to go as Beck tried to beat him one-on-one.
It was the second straight play Georgia had targeted Brown in single coverage with a bigger receiver in Colbie Young.
“I knew he’s a smart guy and sooner or later he’d read what’s going on and make a play,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said after the game on ABC.
Georgia scored 19 straight points after Alabama had gone up 33-15 with 1:23 to go in the third quarter. That Crimson Tide field goal was set up by another improbable catch by the 17-year-old Williams.
Outside of Williams’ heroics, Alabama’s offense was in a funk for the second half. It was a stark contrast to the first half, when Georgia was helpless to stop the Crimson Tide.
Alabama QB Jalen Milroe accounted for three of Alabama’s first four TDs and combined with Jam Miller to produce a highlight that shouldn’t get lost in what Williams did. As DeBoer made the smart decision to go for it on a fourth-and-short in Georgia territory, Milroe took a shotgun snap with Miller alongside him in the backfield.
Miller made a block that knocked Jalon Walker’s helmet off. The hit allowed Milroe to get to the edge and he turned upfield along the sideline for a 36-yard TD run.
Milroe finished the game 27-of-33 passing for 374 yards and four total touchdowns with one interception. He also rushed 16 times for 117 yards as he assumed the status of clear Heisman favorite at the end of September. With 18 combined passing and rushing TDs over four games, Milroe leads the country in touchdowns per game.
Carson Beck’s rough night
As Milroe shined in the first half, Beck never really got on track. He found his rhythm in the second half as Georgia mounted a furious comeback, but his struggles in the first half helped put the Bulldogs in a serious hole.
Beck threw three interceptions and also fumbled early in the fourth quarter as Alabama was up by 18. Beck’s first interception set up a short field for Alabama’s third TD of the night and he looked flummoxed by the Crimson Tide’s coverages throughout the first 30 minutes.
Beck finished the game 27-of-50 passing for 439 yards and three TDs.
Alabama’s second-half drought
Georgia opened the second half with a punt, but Alabama quickly went three-and-out. The Bulldogs followed with a long TD drive before Alabama needed Williams’ catch to set up a field goal to restore a three-possession lead.
In the three drives in between the field goal and Williams’ TD, Alabama ran a total of 14 plays for 41 yards. Outside of Williams’ two catches (and excluding the team’s final drive of the game as Milroe knelt the clock out), Alabama had just 62 yards of offense in the second half.
It was a run of offensive futility that would have lived in infamy in DeBoer’s first SEC game had Bell’s TD held up as the game-winning score or had Beck thrown his final pass to a spot where Young could have made a play over Brown.
Ryan Williams has been great all season
Williams has been Alabama’s top receiver as a true freshman since the start of the season. He re-classified into the class of 2024 to sign with the Crimson Tide in January and was the No. 4 player in the country despite being younger than most of the players in his recruiting class at 17 years old.
Williams finished Saturday night’s game with six catches for 177 yards. It’s already his second 100-yard game of 2024 and he has five touchdown catches. On the season, Williams has 16 catches for 462 yards for an absurd 28.9 yards per catch. Williams and Ohio State freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith are already two of the best wide receivers in the country in their first month of college football.
