Georgia held Alabama to a historically bad rushing output in SEC title game
By David Wasson
Published:
The Alabama Crimson Tide fizzled out of the 2025 SEC Championship Game on Saturday at the hands of No. 3 Georgia, losing to the Bulldogs 28-7 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and doing so partially due to a historically bad rushing output.
The ninth-ranked Tide finished with minus-3 net rushing yards on 16 rushing attempts, the worst ground effort by an Alabama team since at least 1940. That’s according to Jessica Brand:
The performance was even worse than Alabama’s 6-yard total against LSU in 2021 (a 20-14 victory in Tuscaloosa) and the Tide’s 6-yard total against Penn State in 1990 (a 9-0 Nittany Lions victory in Tuscaloosa).
Alabama had 5 ballcarriers against Georgia on Saturday, but only running backs Daniel Hill and AK Dear tallied more than 1 carry. Hill finished with 11 rushing yards on 4 carries and Dear ended up with 10 rushing yards on 3 carries. Receivers Ryan Williams and Lotzier Brooks each had a single carry, with Williams’ tote gaining 5 yards and Brooks being stopped for no gain.
Where Alabama went backwards on the ground was with quarterback Ty Simpson, who was credited with 6 carries for minus-28 yards. Simpson was sacked 3 times by the Bulldogs for a combined loss of 23 yards.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
