ATHENS, Ga. — With its season in the balance, No. 13 Alabama had quite a response Saturday.
Jake Coker ran the offense to perfection, the defense turned in a dominating performance and Alabama even got a touchdown from its special teams in a 38-10 pounding of No. 8 Georgia.
Alabama (4-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) jumped ahead 24-3 at halftime and iced its victory on Georgia’s first offensive play of the second half. Eddie Jackson intercepted a pass from the Bulldogs’ second quarterback, Brice Ramsey, and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown.
After a discouraging, five- turnover loss to Mississippi in its SEC opener two weeks ago, the Tide looked more like itself on a rainy day between the hedges.
“I told them before the game that the plan we had for them, ordinary men couldn’t go out there and get it done,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban, whose team avoided its first 0-2 start in the SEC since 1990. “We needed them to be extraordinary.”
They were, and Saban was about as close to gleeful as he can get.
“I know they’ve been criticized a lot, but I thought we played an outstanding game today, every part of the game,” he said.
