Saturday night was a heavyweight clash between two of the top teams in the nation as Alabama fell to Georgia, 20-17, a frustrating night for the Tide. Alabama fell to 5-1 overall (3-1 SEC), while Georgia improved to 6-0 (4-0). The game will be talked about for a long time, but not all for the right reasons.
In a lot of ways, this game was a near-perfect reversal of the regular season matchup between these two squads last year in Athens (minus the controversy).
While most of the attention will be elsewhere, here are three takeaways from Alabama's 20-17 loss to Georgia.
Alabama's slow start
After several weeks of it looking like Alabama had remedied their issue of slow starts, the problem returned Saturday night. Alabama fell in a 10-0 hole to start, and did not score
through the first 24 minutes of the game. Keelon Russell started the game just four of his first ten passing for just 24 yards with a fumble through Alabama's first three drives of the game.
Slow starts were something that plagued Alabama in their games against Kentucky and Florida State, and it returned on Saturday as Georgia started strong (also a reversal of several of the recent Alabama-Georgia meetings).
Run defense struggles
Through the first five games of the season, Alabama was allowing just 78.6 rush yards per game. Georgia rushed for 206 yards on Saturday while playing without their top two running backs. The combo of Dwight "Peanut" Phillips Jr. and Bo Walker combined for 27 carries for 189 yards (seven yards per carry).
Phillips and Walker are both very talented players, but Alabama's run defense struggled, especially in the second half. Alabama only had three possessions in the second half, and a lot of that is because of the success Georgia had on the ground.
Big night from Trae'shawn Brown
True freshman Trae'Shawn Brown continues to shine. He has been arguably Alabama's biggest breakout player so far this season. Brown broke a 58-yard run to help set up Alabama's first touchdown of the game and finished the night with nine carries for a career-high 90 yards along with one catch for seven yards.
The Tide's other two running bucks in Daniel Hill and EJ Crowell combined for nine carries for 26 yards. Brown has over 60 yards in three of his last four games. For the season, Brown has 51 carries for 301 yards, averaging 5.9 yards per carry.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: 3 takeaways from Alabama's loss vs. Georgia in undefeated matchup
