Alabama hands Georgia worst home defeat of Richt era, 38-10

Alabama's Derrick Henry (2) runs for a touchdown as offensive lineman Alphonse Taylor (50) blocks Georgia defensive tackle Trenton Thompson in the first half of the Crimson Tide's 38-10 victory Saturday in Athens, Ga.
Alabama's Derrick Henry (2) runs for a touchdown as offensive lineman Alphonse Taylor (50) blocks Georgia defensive tackle Trenton Thompson in the first half of the Crimson Tide's 38-10 victory Saturday in Athens, Ga.

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Georgia's Lambert struggles while Tide's Coker soars Alabama hands Georgia worst home defeat of Richt era, 38-10 Chubb ties Herschel with 13th straight 100-yard game

ATHENS, Ga. - Nearly 45 minutes before Saturday's showdown between No. 8 Georgia and No. 13 Alabama inside a soggy Sanford Stadium, several Bulldogs raced over to some Crimson Tide players entering the field for some jawing.

Alabama wasn't fazed in the least.

The offensive trio of quarterback Jake Coker, tailback Derrick Henry and receiver Calvin Ridley were too much for the Bulldogs to handle, and two non-offensive touchdowns added to the onslaught as the Tide rolled to a 38-10 thrashing. It was Alabama's biggest win ever over a top-10 team at an opposing venue.

"I was really proud of our players today," Tide coach Nick Saban said. "I told them before the game that the plan that we had for them, ordinary men couldn't go out there and get it done. We needed them to be extraordinary, and that they were. They were special."

Alabama was a one-point underdog at kickoff, marking the first time the Crimson Tide were not favored since the 2009 Southeastern Conference championship game against Florida, a span of 72 contests.

Coker completed 11 of 16 passes for 190 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown strike to Ridley with 3:48 left in the first half that put Alabama up 24-3. Ridley became the latest Tide freshman receiver to punish the Bulldogs, following in the footsteps of Julio Jones in 2008 and Amari Cooper in the 2012 SEC title game by catching five passes for 120 yards and the score.

Henry rushed 26 times for 148 yards, both career bests, and opened the floodgates with a 30-yard touchdown run that provided a 10-3 lead at the 8:26 mark of the second quarter.

"We came in feeling confident with the game plan that we had put together," Coker said, "but we are really excited about this win. It was unbelievable, and we had a lot of fun out there."

Alabama easily avoided its first 0-2 SEC start since 1990, instead improving to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in conference contests. Georgia also is 4-1 and 1-1 after suffering its worst home defeat in Mark Richt's 15 seasons as coach.

The loss also was the worst for the Bulldogs in Sanford Stadium since Steve Spurrier coached Florida to a 52-17 win in 1995.

"They whipped us pretty good, and we didn't have any counterpunches for them," said Richt, who described the pregame encounter as mild. "We just got outcoached and outplayed."

Georgia got the game's first big break when Henry fumbled on the third play from scrimmage, with Chris Mayes recovering at the Tide 42-yard line. Three plays netted 4 yards, however, and the Bulldogs had to punt.

After the teams exchanged field goals, Alabama drove 76 yards in eight plays and took the 10-3 lead on Henry's run. The Bulldogs netted just 4 yards in their next three plays, and Tide freshman defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick stunned the Sanford crowd by racing in to block Collin Barber's punt and then collecting the loose ball for a 1-yard touchdown.

The Bulldogs went three-and-out again, this time getting only 2 yards, and Alabama quickly capitalized with a 45-yard, first-play scoring strike from Coker to Ridley to make it a 24-3 runaway.

"We tried to do our best job of flushing down the bad plays and moving to the next one, but this just kept coming down to us not executing," Bulldogs left tackle John Theus said.

Any hopes of the Bulldogs rallying in the manner they did in 2008, when a 31-0 halftime deficit was trimmed to a 41-30 final, were dashed early when backup quarterback Brice Ramsey was intercepted by Eddie Jackson, who ran from midfield through Georgia's offense for a touchdown.

That made it 31-3, and it became 38-3 moments later when Coker scored from 2 yards out to cap a four-play, 38-yard drive.

Georgia will travel to Tennessee this week, while Alabama will host Arkansas.

"We just weren't good enough today, but it's a long season," Richt said. "There are a lot of games to be played and a lot of things to play for. Tennessee is not going to feel sorry for us."

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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