Fans react to Georgia’s national championship win

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Alabama fought to the finish in Indianapolis but just couldn’t get it done. The Crimson Tide fell to the Georgia Bulldogs 33-18 in the 2022 national championship.

Alabama fans packed local sports bars and restaurants across the state as they watched the nail-biter of a game unfold.

At Baumhower’s Victory Grille in Montgomery, fans were sitting on the edge of their seats. During the game, Bama fans were optimistic the tide would come out on top.

“Alabama will win,” said one fan. “Roll tide,” he then yelled.

“Throughout the year Alabama’s been known to give up the big plays, but they usually tighten up towards the end zone, so as long as we can control that the rest of the game I think we’ll be all right,” said another fan.

However, not everyone was routing for the Tide. There were some Georgia fans in the house.

“I’m an Auburn fan so I’m all for the SEC but Alabama has won enough, it’s time for Georgia to get one,” said another fan watching.

The game began as a battle of the field goals but eventually turned to the battle of back and fourth touch downs in the fourth quarter.

The final blow came from Georgia’s dominant defense. Kelee Ringo intercepted an underthrown deep ball down the sideline by Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young.

With just over a minute left, Ringo took off behind a convoy of blockers and went 79 yards. The touchdown set off a wild celebration by the relieved Georgia fans.

Alabama fans watching the game left Baumhower’s before the game even ended, but the few Georgia fans that were in attendance could be heard celebrating after the final touchdown.

“Yo, yo, yo touchdown!” One fan yelled across Baumhower’s.

“This is Alabama’s next coach beating Nick Saban. Everybody in Alabama should be proud,” one fan said. “I am a Georgia resident. This is so beautiful.”

“I think that fumble that the officials called when the Georgina quarterback’s hand was going forward energized Georgia, and the rest was all Georgia, so I was routing for Alabama but after that I began to route for Georgia because I did not like that call,” said another fan.

Saban could be heard after the game saying they just couldn’t finish the game like they would have liked to.

“We played a heck of a game against a heck of a team for the first three quarters of the game,” said Saban, who was denied his eight national title, seventh with Alabama in the last 13 years. “Nobody can take the SEC championship away from this team, the Cotton Bowl championship.”

Win or lose for college football, it was a win for local businesses.

Baumhower’s manager, Kimyatta Winfrey, said it’s been a difficult couple of years for business, but nights like these make up for it.

“We were super busy. We’ve been super slow lately due to COVID and things like that but tonight we brought a large crowd in, played the games, played them loud, and made everybody happy, we were very accommodating so it worked out greatly,” Winfrey said.

Overall, it was not the ending the tide wanted in Indianapolis, but there’s always more football and another chance at a national title next year.

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