Alabama Learns to Handle Punches Better on Road in Win over Georgia

ATHENS, Ga.–– Kalen DeBoer's record away from Bryant-Denny Stadium as the Alabama head coach has been well documented. The Crimson Tide entered Saturday night's contest at No. 5 Georgia with a 2-5 record away from home over the last two seasons.

The theme from the Alabama coaching staff all week was learning to handle adversity on the road when it comes, and the Crimson Tide did just that with a 24-21 victory over the Bulldogs inside Sanford Stadium on Saturday night.

"It's a mindset going in, especially against a team like this, that you're going to get punches thrown at you," DeBoer said after the game. "You're gonna get some, and we got some tonight. And it's just, what's your response gonna be? Our response was to punch back and punch back harder.

"And I felt like even when it wasn't perfect execution, it just felt like there was an attitude, an energy that our guys had. There's gonna be no regrets when our guys walk off the football field because we gave it everything we had."

No. 17 Alabama (3-1, 1-0 SEC) opened the season with a disappointing loss at Florida State, who was coming off a 2-10 season. That loss spurred on even bigger concerns about the Crimson Tide's road struggles. But with an extra week to prepare, Alabama was able to start strong against Georgia and maintain the intensity throughout all four quarters.

The Crimson Tide won the toss and deferred to the second half, opting against the opportunity to go out and drive down the field. The defense forced a three-and-out on Georgia's first possession, and the Alabama offense marched down the field with a 14-play, 74-yard drive to take an early 7-0 lead.

The defense got another stop, and the Tide responded with another long scoring drive to go up 14-0. Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson led his team down the field on a two-minute drive at the end of the first half to give the Crimson Tide a 24-14 cushion at halftime.

"I just think we were intentional about everything," Simpson said after the win. "Intentional has been our word ever since the Florida State game. We were just so laser focused on everything. We just wanted to make sure that everything we did, it was all about us. It was nothing that they were going to do. It was all about what we did and didn’t do."

Simpson finished 24-of-38 for 276 yards and two touchdowns through the air with another on the ground. He has yet to turn the ball over through Alabama's first four games. DeBoer was critical of his decision making after the Florida State loss, but Simpson has improved each week since and proved on Saturday that he can handle tough road environments.

"He's continued to do a really good job of keeping his eyes downfield, trusting his offensive line more and more in pass protection, and then the guys are getting in the right spots at the right times," DeBoer said of Simpson's improvement. "He's ripping it, cutting it loose, and I'm proud of him because he's playing with some energy and emotion."

That two-yard touchdown rush from Simpson would prove to be the final time Alabama would find the end zone or add to the scoreboard at all. Conor Talty missed a 43-yard field goal on the Tide's opening drive of the second half. Georgia was able to take advantage of the momentum and ran down the field to score its third touchdown, cutting the Alabama lead to 24-21.

Alabama's defense held strong throughout the rest of the second half, forcing a three-and-out after the offense had turned it over on downs and getting a key fourth-down red zone stop at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Alabama was criticized for its lack of passion, energy and effort in the loss at Florida State, so it was a big point of emphasis for the team coming into matchup at Georgia.

""I feel like this road game, guys came out with that energy on the sideline," Alabama safety Keon Sabb said. "Some guys that didn’t get in the game, they came with that energy and kept all the guys engaged. We ultimately fed off on that. We had that section with our fans in the corner, so that was big for us as well.”

Winning on the road has been a stumbling block for DeBoer since he arrived at Alabama. Saturday was Alabama's first time playing in Athens since 2015. Georgia had a 33-game home winning streak that dated back to 2019, and with Alabama winning nine of the last 10 matchups against the Bulldogs, Georgia fans were hungry for a win over the Crimson Tide.

The fans were loud, and Georgia utilized new in-game lighting with bracelets the fans were wearing to create an imposing atmosphere. Winning in Athens wasn't going to be an easy task. Alabama responded well after the loss to Florida State with wins over Louisiana Monroe and Wisconsin, but Saturday's road test at Georgia was really going to show how far this team had come.

Alabama passed the test. However, it's just one in a series of exams to come. Alabama pulled off a huge upset of Georgia last season and then suffered a letdown the next week in a road loss at Vanderbilt. The undefeated Commodores will be coming into Bryant-Denny Stadium next weekend.

"We’ve got to make sure we don’t forget what that chip on the shoulder was that kinda got this momentum going," DeBoer said. "We’ve got to understand what it took physically, emotionally, mentally today to sustain from start to finish. It’s not just 30 minutes, it’s 60 minutes.”