Three unanswered touchdowns from No. 1 Alabama lifted the Crimson Tide past No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs in a 35-28 finish Saturday in the 2018 SEC Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Bulldogs will represent the Southeastern Conference and play Big 12 runnerup Texas in the Allstate Sugar Bowl scheduled for Jan. 1, 2019, in New Orleans.
Kickoff for the game between the fifth-ranked Bulldogs (11-2) and the Big 12 Longhorns (9-4) is scheduled for 8:45 p.m. and be televised on ESPN. This will be the fifth all time meeting between the programs.
“It was a tremendous atmosphere, the SEC Championship Game once again is one of the best games of the year,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “A lot of credit goes to Alabama, they outperformed us in the second half. The game had a lot of momentum swings – up and down, back and forth, which we knew it would. We have a lot of champions on this team and a lot of kids that have a heart of a lion like these two [Jonathan Ledbetter and Jake Fromm at the podium] right here, especially. They lead this team and care about this university and play really hard.”
“[The Sugar Bowl] will be an outstanding experience for our coaches, players, and fans,” Smart said. “Most of our coaches and none of our players have had the opportunity of a Sugar Bowl trip and I’m especially proud for our seniors who have worked so hard over the last 12 months. It also presents a great opportunity for our fans who have been so supportive of our team throughout the season.”
UGA photographers Andrew Davis Tucker, Peter Frey and Dorothy Kozlowski captured Bulldog Nation supporting the team in the gallery above. Full coverage of the game is on georgiadogs.com.