Georgia football, 2022: National champions
‘Look at the confetti falling from the sky’
“Look at the confetti falling from the roof! Look at the confetti falling from the roof!”
Surely, the angels in heaven were hearing that from the great Larry Munson on Monday night as the Georgia Bulldogs finally won that oh-so-elusive national championship at Lucas Oil Stadium. Gone now since 2011, Munson was the last Georgia play-by-play broadcaster to call a national championship victory for the Bulldogs.
Forty-one years later, that earthly honor fell to Scott Howard, Munson’s longtime sidekick and the man calling the Dogs every year since Munson dropped the mic. His punctuating words will now enter UGA’s annals for perpetuity.
“Dogs are winners; a national championship for a new generation of Bulldogs,” Howard exclaimed. “How bout that final score, 33-18.”
Confetti rained down on Georgia. The Bulldogs fans chanted “Kir-by, Kir-by!”
Four decades of pent-up emotion were unleashed Monday night as the Bulldogs snapped a frustrating national championship drought by vanquishing their nemesis.
Stetson Bennett delivered the biggest throws of his storybook career and Georgia's defense sealed the sweetest victory in program history, beating Alabama 33-18 in the College Football Playoff for its first title in 41 years.
“I’ve never been around a group of players that really wanted it so bad and wouldn’t be denied,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “I told the guys in the locker room, just take a picture of this."
Bryce Young couldn't deliver another dramatic drive with his two best wide receivers watching from the sideline.
Not with the nation's best defense in the way.
The Alabama sophomore had his Heisman Trophy-winning season effectively ended by a last-minute pick six in a 33-18 loss to Georgia in the College Football Playoff championship game Monday night in Indianapolis.
Georgia won its long-awaited national championship the way it dominated during an undefeated regular season — by relying on its defense.
The Bulldogs allowed only 30 yards rushing in beating Alabama 33-18 on Monday night in Indianapolis. Georgia (14-1) won its first national title since the 1980 season.
“I hope it doesn't take that long again,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said.
The clinching touchdown came on cornerback Kelee Ringo's 79-yard interception return with less than a minute remaining.
Alabama had plenty of chances Monday — but rarely turned those opportunities into touchdowns.
The Crimson Tide settled for field goals on three of four red-zone trips and scored its only touchdown on a 16-yard drive after a Georgia fumble. A blocked field goal prevented Alabama from adding any points after a 17-play drive that took nearly eight minutes off the clock in the third quarter.
Alabama was trying to extend a 9-6 lead when coach Nick Saban sent Will Reichard onto the field late in the third quarter. But the blocked kick changed everything.
Column: Georgia erases 41 years of frustration
After 41 agonizing years, the Georgia Bulldogs were not about to let another championship slip through their fingers.
Not even after a bizarre fumble and recovery handed Alabama a go-ahead touchdown with just over 10 minutes to go in the national title game Monday night.
The gritty Bulldogs and their undersized quarterback, the former walk-on known as “The Mailman,” finally delivered a national championship to the red-and-black faithful.
The fact that they did it against Nick Saban and the mighty Crimson Tide, the team that had dished out so much heartache to the Dawgs, only made the triumph that much sweeter.
Defense earns redemption for Dawgs
Georgia won its long-awaited national championship the way it dominated during an undefeated regular season — by relying on its defense.
The Bulldogs allowed only 30 yards rushing in beating Alabama 33-18 on Monday night in Indianapolis. Georgia (14-1) won its first national title since the 1980 season.
“I hope it doesn’t take that long again,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said.
The clinching touchdown came on cornerback Kelee Ringo’s 79-yard interception return with less than a minute remaining.
Emotions hit Bennett late
Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett wasn't the most popular guy among fans after the Bulldogs were pushed around last month in their SEC championship loss against Alabama.
Coughing up the football while being sacked early in the fourth quarter of Monday's CFP title game -- leading to Alabama's only touchdown -- certainly didn't help.
But the former walk-on persevered, throwing two fourth-quarter touchdowns, the last a 15-yard TD on a screen pass to Brock Bowers with 3:33 left, as Georgia beat Alabama 33-18. It's the Bulldogs' first national title since 1980.
Cameras showed Bennett weeping on the sideline after realizing the game was in hand.
"It just hit me. I didn’t even watch Kelee [Ringo] score," Bennett said. "I thought he went down.
"Soon as he caught it, I just teared up."
No comeback for the Tide, Heisman winner