ALABAMA IS CHEEZ-IT NATIONAL TEAM OF THE WEEKDALLAS (FWAA) – The Alabama Crimson Tide was electric at the start and the finish in toppling No. 2 Georgia, 41-34, in a prime-time SEC classic in Tuscaloosa last Saturday. For ending Georgia’s 42-game regular-season and 28-game regular-season conference win streaks, Alabama (4-0) has earned the Cheez-It National Team of the Week for games played the weekend of Sept. 28, as selected by the All-America Committee of the Football Writers Association of America.
Alabama shot out to a 28-0 lead shortly into the second quarter as quarterback Jalen Milroe completed his first 11 passes. His 36-yard touchdown run on a read option keeper at 12:24 of the the second quarter gave the Crimson Tide a four-score lead, bringing the Bryant-Denny Stadium crowd to a deafening roar. Alabama’s defense even got into the scoring mix in the first half as it forced an intentional grounding call in the Georgia end zone for a safety and a 30-7 edge at the half. The Crimson Tide led 33-15 at the end of the third quarter before Georgia (3-1) rallied with a flurry of big plays, the last a 67-yard catch-and-run that brought it all the way back to a 34-33 lead, silencing the home crowd with 2:31 left. But Milroe, who finished 27-of-33 for a career-high 374 passing yards, had one more big play left. On the next play following the kickoff, Milroe connected with Ryan Williams down the right sideline for a 75-yard touchdown pass, with Williams leaping for the catch, spinning away from the defender, and then sprinting into the end zone on what will surely be one of the full season’s highlight plays. Williams was one of 11 receivers to catch a Milroe pass in the game. Georgia rallied again to move into scoring position, but Alabama freshman defensive back Zabien Brown intercepted Carson Beck’s pass in the end zone to secure the victory. “We pushed each other to the very end,” said first-year Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer, who won his SEC opener. “We expect to win these games. Of course, the locker room is full of excitement, but I also want to make sure they realize that’s the expectation. There’s a lot of season left.” Alabama’s defense produced four total turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble) to aid the winning effort. The win improves Alabama to 16-1 (.941) in SEC home openers since 2008, and the Crimson Tide have scored 40 or more points in the first four games of season for the first time since 2019. The Crimson Tide go to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt in a 4:15 p.m. ET kickoff Saturday on the SEC Network. Since 2002, the FWAA has named a National Team of the Week. Coming into the 2023 season, 284 teams have been honored, including 101 different Division I programs. Each honored team will receive a custom Cheez-It “care package” along with a hand-crafted game ball made in America by Dallas-based Big Game USA, the nation’s leading manufacturer of custom footballs. The other National Team of the Week nominees for the weekend of Sept. 28 were:
ABOUT KELLANOVA ABOUT FLORIDA CITRUS SPORTS Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,100 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com. For more information, follow @CheezIt and @CitrusBowl on your favorite social media platform, and stay tuned to see what absurdly satisfying antics Cheez-It has in store this season. 2024 FWAA All-America Committee |
This is the sixth time for Alabama to earn the national team of the week honor and the first since 2018 when the then-top-ranked Crimson Tide won at No. 3 LSU, 29-0, in the weekend of Nov. 3.
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