Will Anderson, Alabama grew tired of hearing about Georgia defense
Just when the college football world was about to count the Alabama Crimson Tide out and chalk a win up for the Georgia Bulldogs in Saturday’s SEC Championship Game, Alabama did what they’ve done so many times under Nick Saban. They showed up in a big game, humbling top-ranked Georgia 41-24. After the game, Crimson Tide sophomore linebacker Will Anderson, Jr. said he and his fellow teammates were sick of hearing about how good Georgia’s defense was all week.
“You know, the whole week was, all we kept hearing was Georgia defense, Georgia defense. Nobody was giving Alabama credit for how we play on defense. Sometimes we have our busts, we have our mental errors, but there’s never been a time that we don’t go out there and we don’t play fast and we don’t play physical. We fly around and we hit people,” Anderson, Jr. said.
“And enough people are not talking about that. And I feel like so far, our defense, we’ve been coming together, we’ve been on the same page, we’ve been playing tough, we’ve been playing hard, and we’ve been doing a great job on defense. Jordan Battle, I think he executed exceptionally well. I think the defense executed exceptionally well. Like I said, we had our little ups and downs here and there, but we all came together. We were playing great ball on defense.”
Jordan Battle with the house call
He’s not kidding about Crimson Tide strong Jordan Battle executing well. The junior had a huge pick-six in the game, a 42-yard backbreaking play that likely sealed Georgia’s fate.
With 12:11 left in the fourth quarter and the Bulldogs trailing 31-17, Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett dropped back and threw a pass across the middle of the field, where it was snatched by Battle. The strong safety took off down the left sideline towards the end zone. He had a convoy of blockers escort him to paydirt, so Georgia never had much of a shot at tackling him.
Below is the play.
The pick-six pretty much put the nail in Georgia’s coffin and stretched the Alabama lead to 38-17 with less than 12 minutes left in the game.
Will Anderson, Jr. stats in the game
Anderson, Jr. was his usual dominant self, racking up six tackles, two tackles for loss, and one sack in the SEC Championship. He’s been a physical freak all season long for the Crimson Tide and the school even launched a Heisman campaign for him. Truth be told, the freakish defensive end is as deserving of winning the Heisman as any defensive player in America. He’s been unblockable in 2021 and it’ll continue to be that way when he suits up in the National Football League in the next few years. The first year he’ll officially be eligible for the NFL Draft is 2023.
With the win, the Crimson Tide brought home back-to-back SEC Championship crowns. Anderson, Jr. and Alabama will wait to see where they are seeded in the upcoming College Football Playoff.