TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No, Georgia Southern did not come to the big stadium off Paul Bryant Drive on Saturday and turn college football on its helmet.
The FCS (formerly Division I-AA) Eagles did not stage the biggest upset since Lyle Lovett got Julia Roberts to say, “I do.”
The Eagles did, however, get Alabama’s attention.
Before falling 45-21 on Saturday afternoon, the 44-point underdog Eagles scored more points, gained more yards and generally did more psychic damage to the Crimson Tide’s vaunted, top-ranked defense than any other opponent this season.
“They did a really good job of running their offense,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said of the Georgia Southern triple option. “It’s a tough offense to get prepared for. It’s totally different than what we do all the time. We obviously didn’t execute the way we wanted to on defense all the time.”
Against a team that had allowed 52 yards per game on the ground, the Georgia Southern option churned out 302.
On Saturday, Georgia Southern played the little team that could:
Could do something No. 1 LSU couldn’t — get into the end zone against Alabama. B-back Dominique Swope, a freshman from Buford, broke off an 82-yard run. Flowery Branch’s Jaybo Shaw finished off an 80-yard drive with a 39-yard touchdown completion — his only completion of the game — to Jonathan Bryant. Laron Scott returned a third-quarter kickoff 95 yards to close the book on Southern’s Big-Play Saturday.
Could be the first team to score more than 14 points on the Crimson Tide this season.
Could unleash a 100-yard rusher on the Tide, Swope (who ended with 153 yards) becoming the first back this year to go triple digits on Alabama, and only the 10th since 2005. He alone gained more than did LSU (148) in “The Game of the Century.”
“I guess that’s why they say stats are for losers,” Southern coach Jeff Monken said.
“You’re never going to be happy when you lose a game, but I am proud of the team and how hard it fought.”
Any wild upset ideas ended 10 minutes in, shortly after Southern lined up for a 42-yard field-goal attempt that could have tied the game at 3-3. Dont’a Hightower blocked it. Dre Kirkpatrick scooped up the ball and went 55 yards the other way for a touchdown that made the score 10-0 ’Bama.
Southern could get no closer than within 10 points because its defense could not make a stop. Alabama scored on each of its eight possessions, save one. And that was a missed field-goal attempt.
Alabama’s Trent Richardson fattened his Heisman resume, gaining 175 yards on 32 carries, scoring twice.
Third-ranked Alabama, 10-1, awoke Saturday morning in a great mood, since No. 2 Oklahoma State was beaten the night before. It could not, however, turn the day into a rout to underscore its argument for supremacy among all the once-beatens in the land.
As for Southern, 9-2, it will have a bye week before entering the FCS playoffs, attempting to add to its cache of six national titles.
“I don’t know if Georgia Southern in its 30-year history has played a better team than [Alabama],” Monken said. “That should give our guys confidence they can play with anybody.”
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