Alabama upsets Georgia: Ty Simpson leads No. 17 Crimson Tide to signature road win over No. 5 Bulldogs

Alabama's running game issues, which popped up in a season-opening loss, clearly haven't gone away. But Ty Simpson put together perhaps his best performance as Alabama's QB given the stakes. Simpson delivered time and time again when it mattered most, putting the ball right on the money for only his receivers to catch it. He was poised and never looked rattled, methodically carving up Georgia's pass offense. He finished with 276 yards and two passing touchdowns plus a rushing touchdown.

The run game, though, is a real concern for Alabama moving forward. The Tide managed only 117 rushing yards with no runner eclipsing more than 50 yards. It's not exclusively the running backs' fault – the offensive line wasn't exactly opening up huge holes to work with – but the lack of a star running back is apparent for Alabama. The Tide could use former running back Justice Haynes, who is averaging 8.1 yards per carry for Michigan.

Watching 6-foot-7, 366-pound Kadyn Proctor rumble toward Georgia's endzone is about as much fun as you can have in college football. We all love the big men touchdowns which usually come in the form of fumble recoveries or the occasional big man touchdown run. But when you have freak athletes like Alabama's left tackle, give them a chance to show what they can do. Proctor looked nimble, had good hands and almost took a few Bulldogs defenders with him for a touchdown after Ty Simpson hit him with a screen pass. You can't do the gadget plays too often, but college football as a whole certainly can – and should – let the big men cook more often. Credit to Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb for giving us one of the early plays of the season.

Hindsight is 20/20, and it reveals a few things Georgia could have done differently. The Bulldogs declined a chip shot field goal that would have tied the game early in the fourth quarter and instead opted for a cutesy run play with Cash Jones that was blown up in the backfield. Smart also opted to punt from on fourth-and-9 from his own 45-yard line with 3:19 remaining. Georgia never got the football back. 

Though the fourth-down decisions themselves are easy to second guess, Georgia's offensive play calling will be heavily scrutinized. The play preceding the Bulldogs' final punt was a third-and-9 run with Jones that went nowhere. With the game hanging in the balance, Georgia twice tried running plays with a gadget back who entered with six carries for the season. For a team that is loaded with high-end playmakers, those were two puzzling calls.

No. 17 Alabama jumped out to a 14-0 lead and held on through a scoreless second half to upset No. 5 Georgia 24-21 before a sellout crowd of 93,033 at Sanford Stadium on Saturday night. The Crimson Tide have now won three straight over the Bulldogs and 10 of the last 11 in the series.

More importantly, the Tide resurrected their season with a statement win after suffering a stunning Week 1 loss to Florida State. Georgia, meanwhile, will rue several missed chances -- none bigger than a fourth-and-1 inside the Alabama 10 early in the fourth quarter. Rather than kick the tying field goal, Kirby Smart kept his offense on the field. The gamble backfired when a pair of Tide defenders stuffed Cash Jones, handing the ball back to Alabama.

Though Alabama's offense didn't score after halftime, it managed the clock down the stretch. Leading by three with just over three minutes remaining, Smart again rolled the dice by punting on fourth-and-13 from the Tide 45, banking on his defense to get one final stop. It never came. Facing third-and-5 from its own 43, Alabama converted with 1:51 left to seal the game.

2:00 4Q: Alabama 24, Georgia 21

Georgia's Ellis Robinson IV was called for a 15-yard penalty when he leapt onto a pile of bodies as Ty Simpson was struggling for a first down in a scrum of linemen. That moves the football closer to midfield and puts Georgia in even more of a predicament. At the two-minute warning, Alabama has a first-and-10. The Bulldogs are down to just two timeouts. One more first down could just about do it for Alabama, which is on the cusp of a season-shifting victory.

3rd QTR: Alabama 24, Georgia 21

Alabama had its easy touchdown go bust when Ryan William dropped it in the first quarter. Now, Georgia has its own after Talyn Taylor dropped a touchdown pass on a perfect pass from Gunner Stockton. After a big defensive stop on 4th down, Georgia needed to take a shot on offense and it worked out perfectly...until it didn't.

That missed connection will loom large if Georgia can't mount a comeback against the Tide. 

3rd QTR: Alabama 24, Georgia 21

A missed Alabama field goal and a big Georgia run has this as a one-score game midway through the third quarter. Alabama moved the ball OK in its first offensive drive of the second half but the Tide badly missed a 43-yard field goal attempt.

Georgia quickly capitalized, first with a Dillon Bell 43-yard run that put the Bulldogs on Alabama's 25-yard line. Josh McCray needed two tries from inside the five but scored from 1-yard to make it 24-21. 

Through two-and-a-half quarters, Georgia has 180 rushing yards compared to Alabama's 86. 

Alabama defensive linemen James Smith was ejected for targeting, a significant loss for a Tide defensive line that hasn't had a big impact so far in this game. Even worse for Alabama, Smith will also miss the first half of next week's game against Vanderbilt.

Georgia has had success this half running the ball against Tide's defense. 

Halftime: Alabama 24, Georgia 14

Alabama looked like the better team -- offensively and defensively -- to mostly take Georgia's crowd out of the game and take a two-score halftime lead over the Bulldogs. For a team that has struggled on the road under Kalen DeBoer, this was about as good a start as you could possibly ask for other than a consequential holding call that eventually led to Georgia scoring a touchdown.

Georgia's offense couldn't get anything going in the first quarter with Gunner Stockton looking uncomfortable early on. But he eventually settled in and got the 'Dawgs on the board with a 38-yard touchdown to Colbie Young.

A year ago, Alabama had a 30-7 halftime lead at home and Georgia furiously fought its way back. Can Kirby Smart come up with another big second-half adjustment to get Georgia back in this game? He should start with finding a way to get more pressure on Simpson who has had plenty of time to carve up the Bulldogs defense to the tune of 192 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. 

Alabama left tackle Kadyn Proctor delivered one of the best plays you'll see all season when the Tide dialed up a pass play for him. The 6-foot-7, 366-pounder caught it, carried multiple Georgia defenders a few years and even almost scored. Ty Simpson eventually punched it in from 2-yards out to give Alabama a 24-14 lead. 

Alabama looked like it wanted to try that same play earlier in the night but got called for a false start penalty and ultimately abandoned it. 

2nd QTR: Alabama 17, Georgia 14

Kirby Smart's decision to go for it on 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line paid off when Georgia got bailed out on a holding call against the Tide on play that looked like it was going nowhere. Two plays later, Chauncey Bowens punched it in to cut Alabama's lead to 17-14. 

The decision to go for it on 4th down felt overly aggressive in the moment this early in the game, but Kirby's aggressiveness worked out. 

2nd QTR: Alabama 17, Georgia 7

Alabama safety Bray Hubbard has played like a man possessed since he got called out on social media for appearing to loaf during the Florida State loss. Hubbard came in with a big hit on Georgia running back Nate Frazier and forced a fumble, setting the Crimson Tide up on UGA's 11-yard line. 

Alabama could only manage a 24-yard field goal off the turnover, but Hubbard gets the credit for all but putting points on the board for the Tide. 

2nd QTR: Alabama 14, Georgia 7

A great play call and double move from Colbie Young that Alabama DB Domani Jackson bit hard on sets up the Gunner Stockton to Young 38-yard touchdown pass. It was only Stockton's second completed pass of the night but it was a beauty, and Young had about as easy a touchdown he's ever going to get. 

Good response from Georgia to not panic after Alabama built an early 14-0 lead. 

2nd QTR: Alabama 14, Georgia 0

The Tide is rolling -- just like it did a year ago in the first half against the Bulldogs -- as Ty Simpson added his second touchdown of the game on a 6-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Horton. Simpson is picking apart this Georgia defense while the Bulldogs can't get anything done offensively. This has been a butt whuppin' so far. 

End of 1st QTR: Alabama 7, Georgia 0

Ty Simpson has looked like the decidedly better quarterback through one quarter here in Athens. Simpson went 9 of 14 for 111 yards and one touchdown which doesn't even include what was a gimme touchdown before Ryan Williams dropped it. Simpson has been effective in finding guys in space plus picking up a first down with his legs.

Gunner Stockton, on the other hand, has struggled mightily so far. He didn't complete a single first-quarter pass (0 for 4) on an offense that looked anemic. Georgia's offensive line isn't doing him any favors, but he's still going to have to be better if the 'Dawgs are going to keep pace here. 

1st quarter: Alabama 7, Georgia 0

Alabama gets the first points of the night on a Ty Simpson to Germie Bernard 6-yard touchdown. It was an up-and-down drive for Alabama but the Tide did what it needed to get an early lead in a challenging road environment. The run game is still mostly nonexistent outside of a Ty Simpson 10-yard scramble, but Bernard and Isaiah Horton combined for 4 catches and 58 yards to power the offense. 

Ryan Williams is not going to enjoy rewatching his drop of what looked like an easy touchdown. Williams had space, Ty Simpson put it right on the money and...Williams just dropped it. For a player who gets as much attention as Williams does, he needs to make the easy ones like that. Especially in as important a game as this is for Alabama.

We're still scoreless with 9:53 left in the game. 

We are about to kick off here in Athens for what should be a lively one between No. 5 Georgia and No. 17 Alabama. The contenders and the pretenders are beginning to separate themselves in the SEC, and this one should tell us a lot about both teams. 

Buckle up and get ready for a fun one. We'll be bringing you all the pertinent updates all night long here.