25 years. That's how long it has been since Alabama was shutout in a football game. Georgia had a golden opportunity in the SEC Championship game, stopping the Tide twice on third down in a crucial drive.
But, Demello Jones made not one, but two terrible penalties, resulting in a touchdown drive by Alabama. Georgia had a sack of Ty Simpson deep in Bama territory but Jones got an unsportsmanlike penalty for smacking a Tide player in the helmet. Kirby Smart clearly reamed him on the sidelines and Jones should have stayed there. Yet, he came back on the playing field.
Then a couple plays later, Jones ruined yet another third down stop with a pass interference penalty. Soon enough, the shutout was over with a touchdown by Alabama. It had been since Nov 8, 2000 against Auburn to find the Crimson Tide's last shutout loss, and Georgia was so close to pulling off what no team has been able to do since.
A legendary shutout would have ruined Alabama for the CFP
UGA was clearly scoring and would have gotten the ball back with plenty of time in the fourth quarter. It could have been 28-0or even 35-0 easily. The big loss could have been enough to kick Alabama out of the playoffs and established Georgia as the team on its way to the National Championship game.
Sure, the Bulldogs got the win, but it would have been so much sweeter as a shutout. Two penalties made the difference.
Now Georgia can heal up and prepare for a run to Miami and the National Championship game. Perhaps Jones will learn from his mistakes and not get roped into silly penalties like he did on Saturday. His teammates are counting on him to be a shutdown defensive back, so let’s hope he and the rest of the Bulldogs continue to rise up into the winners they clearly are.