Alabama was in an unusual position coming into the SEC Championship Game. For just the sixth time since the start of the 2008 season, the Crimson Tide was the underdog. The experts in Vegas said so. The talking heads said so. This SEC Championship Game was not going to be a contest. It was going to be a coronation. The crown would be placed upon the head of the new king of the SEC. The trophy would be heading just 70 miles to the east to be placed in a trophy case just waiting to be filled. It was not to be.
Nick Saban and his crew of scrappy underdogs had other intentions. They had a plan. They were on a mission.
There were reasons to see an upset coming. Alabama owned a 5-1 record in those six games as an underdog. Two of those were against the Bulldogs.
There were also reasons to believe that Georgia would win and win handily. Kirby Smart’s Dawgs had not even been tested.
Alabama, meanwhile, was struggling to beat LSU, Arkansas, and Georgia. Not to mention the loss to Texas A&M.
Georgia was clearly the better team. Weren’t they?
The Bulldogs took a 10-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter and the script was playing out before our eyes.
The Georgia players and certainly their fans thought they were on their way.
Alabama had other plans.
Bryce Young connected with Jameson Williams on third and two for a 67-yard touchdown.
JAMESON WILLIAMS IS GONE@AlabamaFTBL strikes back. pic.twitter.com/JHFIBMwuwF
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) December 4, 2021
The momentum of that play clearly carried over to the Bama defense. The Bulldogs didn’t score again until the Tide offense had taken a 17-10 lead. But after Georgia knotted it at 17, Young once again led the Bama offense to a score. The 9-play, 75-yard drive ended the first half with Alabama on top 24-17. That’s as close as the Dawgs would get. Young to Williams connected early in the second half, this time on a 55-yard beauty. From there, the pressure mounted in a very familiar way for Kirby Smart and team. This was familiar territory. 
A quick scan of the crowd revealed lots of “oh no, not again” looks from the Georgia faithful. Yes, again. This time to the tune of Alabama 41 – Georgia 24, which just happens to be the same score of the 2020 contest at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Georgia will beat Alabama on the football field again. Kirby Smart will probably beat Nick Saban at some point. There is a very reasonable chance that they’ll get that chance this year. But Alabama won’t be the underdog. They proved, at least for now, that they are still the King of the SEC and of college football.
This doesn’t get old. SEC Champs! #RollTide #SECChampionship pic.twitter.com/BwBHeyGaRt — Alabama Athletics (@UA_Athletics) December 5, 2021
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