WATCH: Georgia Bulldog Fans "Light Up Mercedes-Benz Stadium" Against Alabama
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ATLANTA - Watch Georgia fans “light up” Mercedes-Benz Stadium going into the 4th quarter of the SEC Championship.
Halftime Notes...
*First Half Review Of Defense: Top-ranked Georgia, the national leader in Scoring Defense (6.9 ppg), saw UA tally 24 points in the first half. Alabama came in averaging 42.7 ppg and 492.2 yards of total offense. UA posted 365 yards of total offense on 41 plays to build a 24-17 edge. UA scored 24 points in the second quarter including grabbing a 14-10 lead with 9:44 remaining before Georgia tied the game at 17. Coming in today, Georgia had allowed just seven points total in the second quarter, and the most total points allowed in a game this year was 17 by Tennessee when the Bulldogs won 41-17 in Knoxville.
The leading tackler at the half was junior Lewis Cine with five. Georgia did not have a sack and had one TFL and forced fumble by senior Devonte Wyatt.
Georgia is facing its first half-time deficit of the season and first since last season’s 2021 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl when undefeated No. 8 Cincinnati led 14-10 here in Atlanta. Georgia came back and won that game 24-21.
*Bennett Leads Bulldogs: Senior QB Stetson Bennett finished the first half 11-for-16 for 168 yards and 2 TDs. For the second straight game, his first nine completions went to nine different players. Today marked his 10th start of the year. Georgia’s second drive resulted in a field goal and a 3-0 lead with 6:01 left in the first quarter. On the next drive, Georgia posted a season-long 97-yard TD drive on eight plays in 3:36 for a 10-0 edge at the 14:56 mark of the 2nd quarter. Georgia tied the game with a 32-yard TD play to Ladd McConkey to cap a 75-yard drive in 1:22 game and at that point there was 2:06 left in the half.
*McConkey Headlines An Array Of Targets: In the first half, nine different Bulldogs caught a pass as they were 11 completions for 168 yards. Sophomore Jermaine Burton (2-21) and redshirt freshman Ladd McConkey (2-35, 1 TD) were the only ones with multiple catches. McConkey notched his fifth TD catch of the season, a 32-yarder to tie the game at 17. Also of note, freshman Brock Bowers (1-18) and junior WR George Pickens (1-37), who saw his first action of the year in the rout of Georgia Tech last Saturday after recovering from a knee injury, had one catch each. Sophomore TE Darnell Washington notched his first career TD, a 5-yarder to make it 10-0.
*First Half Rushing Review: The Bulldogs tallied 52 rushing yards on 16 attempts for a 3.3 average. Junior Zamir White had five carries for 25 yards while senior James Cook finished with 22 yards on six carries.
*Special Teams Summary: Junior Jack Podlesny went 2-for-2 on PATs and 1-for-1 on field goals, making a 38-yarder. For the year, he is now 63-for-64 on PATs and 18-for-22 in FG. Meanwhile, senior Jake Camarda handled the punting duties with three for a 56.7 average including a career-long 68-yarder and another that was 64 yards.
*Game Captains/Coin Toss/Starters: The captains were seniors Quay Walker (LB), James Cook (RB) and juniors Zamir White (RB) and Nakobe Dean (LB). Alabama won the toss and deferred until the second half. Senior Jamaree Salyer returned to his left tackle spot after missing the last four games due to an injury. Senior William Poole (DB) got his second career start and first since 2018.
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