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Bonus notes, observations from a second viewing of Alabama win over Georgia

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Bonus notes, observations from a second viewing of Alabama win over Georgia


We’re back.

Loyal readers might remember this weekly Sunday series from my time as a beat writer covering Alabama. It went on hiatus after moving into a new role last spring but we dust it off on special occasions.

So here’s the Sunday DVR rewind of Alabama’s 41-34 win over Georgia. For the uninitiated, this was a series to go back and clean up the notes we missed watching the game in real-time at the stadium. Sometimes, the TV copy of the game can add context to what we saw, and instead of wasting these notes, we just ran them for the whole internet to read.

So here we go, the stream-of-consciousness note-taking as we watch this one a second time.

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— Coming out, I was expecting to see a Georgia team with its hair on fire after a full offseason to think about what Alabama stole from it in last season’s SEC title game. I was clearly wrong.

— From the first play, I was surprised to see how Georgia was playing Ryan Williams. The CBs were lined up well off the ball, allowing a free release for a quick 8-yard gain on the game’s first play.

— Running back Jam Miller threw some impressive blocks several times. He’s a powerful back who got just five carries but made his impact in other ways. It’s worth pointing out Alabama RBs got just 11 carries while Jalen Milroe ran it 16 times.

— It’s hard to explain the wiggle and burst that Milroe has in the running game. He makes rushers miss with phonebooth moves and the next gear burst in the open field is unlike almost any QB I remember seeing.

— Alabama overcame three penalties on the first drive to score the first touchdown Georgia allowed in its fourth game. The Tide set the tone physically and with a great game plan.

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— It was clear Georgia was testing Alabama’s young secondary early and often after seeing how many open WRs were missed by the Tide’s first three opponents. It didn’t work early. Then it did later.

— I remember watching this in real time so I checked the stats. Carson Beck looked like he had plenty of time to operate when throwing the ball 50 times. He was sacked three times while Alabama was credited with just two QB hurries. I thought affecting Beck was going to be a big factor in the game and the fact he had time was crucial in the comeback later.

— Ryan Williams gains seven or eight extra yards (it seems) every catch with his footwork. He’s like a dancer out there with his footwork.

— It was interesting watching the TV version of Milroe’s TD pass to Jam Miller to make it 14-0. The camera angle didn’t do that throw justice but our angle in the press box did. We were right on the line of the throw that Milroe had to throw so far ahead of the RB to bend around the pursuing linebacker. That thing went through a window barely bigger than the ball, nearly kissing the LB’s helmet before landing in Miller’s breadbasket. I thought you could argue that was among the best of Milroe’s throws at Alabama, even more impressive for Miller to haul that in as a RB and not a WR.

— The third-down play on the following Georgia drive was among the most important in the game. The crowd was a factor here too. Down in the Alabama student section end, Beck tried to change the call at the line seeing Alabama had more pass rushers than they had blockers. Well the WRs didn’t get the message, Kirby Smart said after the game. Alabama DB Domani Jackson sniffed it the whole way, stepping in for an INT that changed the game. The Tide had the shortest field of the game and it cashed in. Suddenly 21-0 and the first quarter wasn’t even over.

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— Alabama CJ Dippre had an impressive game catching passes where he’s been almost primarily a blocker. He had four receptions for 38 yards.

— The most surprising thing to me early in the second quarter was the trick plays Alabama tried. It was gashing the Dawgs the traditional way before trying two tricks in three plays. The first was stopped for a one-yards loss on a WR pass that Kendrick Law ultimately ate.

— The fourth Alabama TD was a message. Jam Miller took the helmet off LB Jalon Walker as Milroe somehow turned a corner and dashed upfield for the 36-yard score. Taking you behind the scenes, that play was the subject of the opening few paragraphs of a column that never saw the light of day. The way the game changed meant scrapping that lede, but here’s what you would have seen:

Jalon Walker took a knee in the dark, helmet-less looking stunned.

The Bryant-Denny Stadium lights strobed as its seating bowl pulsed in perhaps the most stunning moment on a baffling night at the center of the universe.

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The Georgia linebacker had just been separated from his headgear as Alabama QB Jalen Milroe made a cut and dashed upfield. His 36-yard run gave the Crimson Tide a fourth touchdown on four possessions but it was the helmet-rattling block on the Bulldog ’backer that was the insult to the injury.

— Alabama had a 258-27 yardage advantage after taking that 28-0 lead that was clearly as good as it would get for the home team. The Tide ultimately finished with a narrow edge (547-519).

— There was serious whiplash from Alabama getting stuffed on fourth down late in the half, followed directly by Beck’s second INT of the half thrown to LB Jihaad Campbell. He made an impressive play on the ball for a linebacker but that was wasted when Dippre batted a Milroe pass into the air for the first INT of the year (compared to 10 TDs).

— Was impressed with Alabama’s sell-out blitz that led to the intentional grounding safety three plays after the INT. They sent EIGHT pass rushers at Beck. Robinson and Koht sandwiched the QB because Georgia just didn’t have enough blockers to stop eight blitzers.

— Totally forgot about the failed flea flicker late in the half when Alabama was driving up 30-7 before halftime. It lost eight yards on 2nd-and-5 from the 40. The Tide ultimately punted when there was blood in the water.

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— Can only imagine how Saban would’ve handled a post-half unsportsmanlike penalty like the one Alabama got with a dust up going to halftime.

— I remember thinking the third-down sack of Beck on the first drive of the second half was huge. It forced a three-and-out when Georgia was in desperate need of momentum.

— The level of desperation peaked on the next Bulldog drive down 30-7. Georgia went for it on three fourth downs on its own side of the 50. That included plays at the 29, 37 and 46. Getting stuffed on any and Alabama has a short field and a play from making it 37-7. Impressive play under pressure to keep this game competitive.

— Malachi Moore played with an edge all night.

— A stat of note, Alabama defenders were credited with nine pass break-ups. Moore and DeVonta Smith led with two apiece.

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— To show how quickly this game changed, Georgia was behind the 50 down 30-7 with 5:45 left in the third quarter. It would come all the way back to take the lead in just over 17 football minutes.

— What more could be said about this insane Ryan Williams catch. Here it is. Watch it again.

— It’s crazy to think Alabama brought in Graham Nicholson, the reigning Lou Groza Award winner, and his first field goal came late in the third quarter of his fourth game. And the 28-yarder barely missed the upright to make it 33-14 with 1:23 left. Again, it was a three-score lead with just over a quarter to play.

— Georgia outgained Alabama 275-115 in the fourth quarter with 75 of those Tide yards coming on the game-winning touchdown pass to Williams.

— Alabama defenders started to looked gassed in the fourth quarter, just as Georgia hit another gear and scored three straight touchdowns.

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— Just noticed Ryan Williams did the Dirty Bird dance after scoring the game-winning TD.

— A stat that was huge: Georgia was 1-for-3 on 2-point conversions. Alabama was 1-for-1.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.





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Right Solution, Wrong Method For Alabama Baseball This Season: Just a Minute

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Right Solution, Wrong Method For Alabama Baseball This Season: Just a Minute


Welcome to BamaCentral’s “Just a Minute,” a video series featuring Alabama Crimson Tide on SI’s beat writers. Multiple times per week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

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Watch the above video as BamaCentral baseball beat reporter Theodore Fernandez reflects on the first two months of Alabama baseball’s season and explains why the team has left much to be desired despite success on the field.


At face value, this has been a successful campaign for Alabama baseball. Entering the final four weeks of the regular season, a Crimson Tide team that was projected to finish No. 13 in the SEC is 9-9 in conference play, and just one game out of fourth place. The first sweep of Auburn in more than a decade, the Frisco Classic title, and a road series win over Oklahoma are big-time results that speak to the potential Alabama clearly possesses.

But it continues to appear increasingly likely that this team may not realize that potential.

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There are issues up and down the roster. The bulk of the attention has been on Justin Lebron’s struggles. His career-high in errors and underwhelming offensive numbers have led to his draft stock beginning to fall, and it led to him even being experimentally moved out of the two-hole for a game against Arkansas.

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Players like Luke Vaughn and Jason Torres have struggled, and there is still a significant amount of regular roster experimentation occurring on a week-to-week basis. Will Plattner, Justin Osterhouse, Chase Kroberger, Andrew Purdy and Peyton Steele are all among the players who have started games over the past two weekends and still appear to have undefined roles.

The biggest question remains the bullpen, as it is nearly impossible to predict what it will provide on any given day. There was a two-weekend stretch where it gave up just five earned runs over 22.1 combined innings against Auburn and Oklahoma, willing Alabama to wins in games where the bats did not show up. Then there have been the lows: implosions against Arkansas and Texas that cast serious doubt on the unit’s ability to show up in big moments.

In all of those areas where the team has struggled, there is hope of a turnaround. There are the bullpen’s aforementioned elite stretches. There are the web-gem plays in short by Lebron, that will leave him with one of the most impressive defensive highlight reels of any player in the nation. There’s Torres responding to a 1-for-12 weekend against the Razorbacks with a two-hit game where he drove in one of Alabama’s two runs to avoid a sweep against Texas last Sunday.

In a sport defined by randomness, where the thinnest of margins can mean the difference between going home in a regional or making a run to Omaha, we simply have no way of knowing where Alabama will land.

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Would we really expect it any other way?

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That’s baseball.

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Alabama juvenile is charged with murder of missing 10-year-old girl found dead at a home

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Alabama juvenile is charged with murder of missing 10-year-old girl found dead at a home


A “joyful” 10-year-old Alabama girl was found dead soon after being reported missing — with another juvenile charged with her murder.

Katheryn Bigbee, 10, was reported missing just before 11 p.m. Friday, when police were called to an undisclosed address in Calhoun County, AL.com reported.

“Officers responded immediately to the residence,” Piedmont Police Chief Nathan Johnson said in a statement. “They tragically discovered a deceased juvenile inside the home.”

Katheryn Bigbee, 10, was found dead in an Alabama home on Friday night, with another juvenile soon arrested. Piedmont Elementary School

It remains unclear where the house was, or whether it was the young girl’s family home — but another juvenile was soon taken into custody and hit with murder charges.

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Their identity and connection to Bigbee have not been disclosed due to their age.

Bigbee’s cause of death also remains unclear, with police saying the investigation was still ongoing.

“Our family has been torn to pieces, and we have lost the most amazing, sweetest little girl,” relative Blake Trammel wrote on Facebook.

“She was a light in any room she walked into. I cannot express the pain, guilt, and emptiness that has come from all of this. We don’t have answers, only more questions,” he added.

The girl’s school also recalled her as a beloved member of its community.

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“Our entire Piedmont Elementary School family is grieving as we remember a sweet little girl who brought smiles, kindness, and a bright light to our halls each day,” the school said in a statement.

“Katheryn had a joyful, spunky personality that made her truly special,” the school said. “She was an enthusiastic reader and will be remembered for the happiness she shared so freely.”

“She will always be a part of our school family, and her memory will live on in the hearts of her classmates, teachers, and all who knew and loved her.”



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Alabama AHSAA softball key dates and top teams approaching the 2026 playoffs

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Alabama AHSAA softball key dates and top teams approaching the 2026 playoffs


Alabama AHSAA softball key dates and top teams approaching the 2026 playoffs originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Alabama’s AHSAA softball playoffs are just around the corner with three of the state’s top teams ranked in the national Top 15.

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The No. 5 Orange Beach [AL] Makos, No. 10 Thompson [Alabaster, AL] Warriors, and No. 15 Wetumpka [AL] Indians are all ranked in the most recent edition of the MaxPreps Top 50 with the start of Alabama’s postseason less than two weeks away.

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Orange Beach was previously ranked No. 1 before losing to the South Warren [Bowling Green, KY] Spartans last week. Both teams were undefeated going into the contest, and the Barbers Hill [Mt. Belvieu, TX] Eagles took the Makos’ place at the top of the rankings following the loss.

WATCH: ALABAMA AHSAA SOFTBALL ON THE NFHS NETWORK

Key dates for the Alabama AHSAA softball playoffs

DATE

PLAYOFF DEADLINES

5/1-5/26

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Area Tournaments

5/11-14/26

Regional Tournaments

5/18-22/26

State Tournaments

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National Top 50 contenders by classification

Alabama’s three nationally-ranked teams all compete in different classifications.

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Class 7A

The Thompson Warriors are 34-1-2, and they compete in the AHSAA’s top-level Class 7A ranks. The team’s only loss is to the No. 15 Wetumpka Indians in a 3-2 setback on April 3.

Class 6A

Wetumpka is 34-5, and as noted above, they are the only team to beat Thompson so far.

Class 4A

Orange Beach is the state’s top-ranked team despite competing at the AHSAA’s Class 4A level. Their loss to South Warren of Kentucky in a 6-1 setback on April 9 ended a 45-game win streak at the time. The Makos had only allowed 25 runs all season prior to the relative outburst by the Spartans.

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