The College Football Playoff National Championship between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs was a battle of field goals in the first half. However, both teams have started scoring touchdowns in the second half. For Alabama, their touchdown score came after one of the wildest fumble recoveries of the whole season.
Down 13-9 in the fourth quarter and in need of a big break, Alabama defenders swarmed on Georgia QB Stetson Bennett and forced him to try to get rid of the ball deep in Bulldogs territory. However, by the time the ball left his hand, he was in the grasp of Tide defender Christion Harris and instead of throwing the ball it appears to go flying wildly. The ball flew towards the sideline where Brian Branch casually caught it as he stepped out of bounds. While even Branch assumed it was an incomplete pass, it was ruled a fumble and Alabama ball.
Sure enough, upon review, you can see Branch gain control of the ball literally just before he steps out of bounds.
The ruling on the field stood.
And with that, the Tide scored their first touchdown of the evening to take an 18-13 lead. They were unable to convert the two-point conversion and that lead stuck.
As you might imagine, the fumble call left a lot of people confused, mad, or possibly both. And they shared those feelings on social media.
That was pretty clearly a fumble? I didn't think it was that close, nor was Young's being incomplete on the first Bama drive. This just sucks immensely for Georgia
— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) January 11, 2022
Georgia has since recaptured the lead on another touchdown of their own. We’ll see if this fumble call ends up being the difference or if the Bulldogs can put it behind them and slay the mighty Tide.