From the first kickoff to the last snap, the two best teams, the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide, go head to head and battle it out in Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the National Championship. Although Georgia was cut short of their title win, they left every bit of hard work and sweat on the field. They will always be remembered for their outstanding performance against CFP national champions in 2018.
Alabama’s freshman quarterback Tua Nigamanuolepola “Tua” Tagovailoa had big shoes to fill when he replaced Jalen Hurts in the final game. “I thought Tua would give us a better chance,” Saban said. And, as is common on the football field, he was right. This was Tagovailoa’s first game in his college career and he certainly did execute to save the season. He threw for 166 yards in the second half and overtime combined. He also threw 3 touchdown passes including the the game winner.
Going into halftime, Alabama trailed Georgia by 13 points. Both teams fighting hard but fatigued. Georgia’s defense began to fall apart. As the clock ran out, they headed into the fourth quarter. Passing lanes opened allowing several touchdown passes to be thrown by freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. This put Alabama ahead Georgia with only a few minutes left in the quarter. Alabama’s kicker Andy Pappanastos shanked two field goals throughout the game. Unfortunately one of them with only four minutes left would push the game into overtime with a score of 20-20.
With the game on the line and the fans on toes Georgia heads into overtime with the ball. Within the first couple minutes they manage to squeeze in a field goal of their own. Georgia looked in good shape as they also managed to sack Alabama’s quarterback for a loss of 16 yards on their first play. Sadly it wasn’t enough to keep them in the game. Tagovailoa found wide receiver DeVonta Smith running down the sideline for a touchdown, and Alabama’s fifth national championship in nine seasons.
by Tyler Costere
The Claw 