Georgia safety Shawn Williams (36) and Kwame Geathers (99) trackle Alabama running back T.J. Yeldon (4) during the second half of the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football†game, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Atlanta.ATLANTA – The Georgia Bulldogs were hoping the chaos of the final seconds would lead to Alabama’s demise in Saturday’s SEC championship game, but the plan backfired.
Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray connected with tight end Arthur Lynch for a 26-yard gain to Alabama’s 8-yard line with 15 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs did not have any timeouts, and they chose to run a play without spiking the ball to stop the clock.
“We didn’t want them to be able to change their personnel,” Bulldogs receiver Chris Conley said. “We wanted to keep what we had going.”
Several seconds ticked off before Murray got the snap and attempted a fade route to Malcolm Mitchell, but the ball was tipped at the line and caught by Conley at the 5. Time ran out, and jubilant Alabama players ran out on the field to celebrate their 32-28 victory.
“They were kind of on the ropes,” Bulldogs offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said, “and we were trying to hurry up and get a play called and throw it in the end zone, but it just didn’t happen. There was some confusion in us lining up. There was a fade on either side of the end zone, and the frustrating thing is it took us too long to snap the ball.”