TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Georgia and Alabama, Jalen Milroe and Carson Beck, put on quite a show even with a different Crimson Tide coach prowling the sideline.
Ryan Williams caught a 75-yard touchdown pass from Milroe with 2:18 left and No. 4 Alabama beat No. 2 Georgia 41-34 on Saturday night in a wild Southeastern Conference debut for Tide coach Kalen DeBoer.
Then, Alabama's other freshman sporting a No. 2 jersey, 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,” DeBoer said.
That's no surprise with two teams that have battled for SEC and even national supremacy almost annually. It was DeBoer’s initiation into a captivating rivalry of SEC powers that added another memorable chapter, even without Nick Saban on the sideline opposite protege Kirby Smart of Georgia.
The postgame message from DeBoer wasn't all that different.
“We expect to win these games," he said. “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."
The dynamic 17-year-old Williams turned back to grab Milroe's deep pass in tight coverage, did a quick spin and sprinted down the right sideline. Milroe then hit Germie Bernard for the two-point conversion for the Tide (4-0, 1-0).
“I did a spin move and it was like in slow motion,” Williams said. “It looked faster on the screen.”
It was fast enough.
The long TD pass came one play and 13 seconds after Carson Beck’s 67-yard bomb to Dillon Bell gave the Bulldogs (3-1, 1-1) their first lead of the game.
A rematch of last season’s SEC Championship Game, also won by Alabama, turned into a scintillating quarterback duel.
Milroe completed 27 of 33 passes for 374 yards with two touchdowns and an interception that bounced off the receiver. He also ran for 117 yards and a pair of TDs. Williams had six catches for 177 yards.
Beck was 27 of 50 passing for 439 yards with three touchdowns. He also threw three interceptions in the first multi-interception game of his career but put on a show in the second half.
Beck is 16-2 as a starter with both losses coming to the Tide.
The Bulldogs scored three touchdowns over the final 9:46. Alabama got the only one it needed.
Milroe led Alabama to touchdowns on its first four drives against a defense that stood as the only one in FBS not to allow one coming into the game.
“Obviously, we were not really prepared and that falls on me in the first half,” said Smart, who is just 1-6 against Alabama while dominating almost everyone else.
The Bulldogs were down 28-0 a few minutes into the second quarter, their streaks of 42 consecutive regular-season victories and 28 straight regular-season SEC wins seemingly all but over by halftime.
Georgia and Beck fought way back instead of folding.
“The first half, we played terrible," Beck said. "I don’t think we need to watch the film to go see that we didn’t play our best. You know, that starts with me. I;ve got to be better.
“But I’m happy about how we fought, we brought it all the way back and took the lead, just weren’t able to close it out.”
Georgia: Has looked vulnerable for a program that has won two of the last three national titles in the last two games, including a 13-12 victory over Kentucky. But the Bulldogs showed they haven’t gone anywhere with the dominant second half.
Alabama: The Tide have so far shown no signs of slippage under DeBoer, especially offensively, rolling on the road against Wisconsin and surviving at home against their recent SEC nemesis.
Alabama will jump at least one spot in the AP poll. The Bulldogs’ second-half play probably means they won’t fall far.
Former President Donald Trump, the current Republican candidate, was on hand for the game. Trump was introduced early in the second quarter, drawing chants of “USA! USA!” and waving to the crowd from a luxury box.
Georgia went for it five times on fourth down and made them all. That helped make up from a 3-of-15 performance on third down.
Alabama: At Vanderbilt on Saturday in its first SEC road game.
Georgia: Hosts struggling Auburn on Saturday.
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Alabama defensive back Domani Jackson, left, celebrates with defensive back Zabien Brown (2) and linebacker Que Robinson (34) after Brown intercepted a pass in the final minute during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Georgia, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Alabama running back Jam Miller (26) celebrates his touchdown with offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Georgia, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon killed dozens of people on Sunday as the Hezbollah militant group sustained a string of deadly blows to its command structure, including the killing of its overall leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah confirmed Nabil Kaouk, the deputy head of the militant group's Central Council, was killed Saturday, making him the seventh senior Hezbollah leader slain in Israeli strikes in a little over a week. They include founding members who had evaded death or detention for decades.
Hezbollah had earlier confirmed that Ali Karaki, another senior commander, died in Friday's strike that killed Nasrallah. Israel says at least 20 other Hezbollah militants were killed, including one in charge of Nasrallah's security detail.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes and drones carried out deadly strikes across Lebanon on Sunday. Two consecutive strikes near the southern city of Sidon, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Beirut, killed at least 32 people, the Lebanese health ministry said. Separately, Israeli strikes in the northern province of Baalbek Hermel killed 21 people and injured at least 47.
The Israeli military said it also carried out another targeted strike on Beirut, but did not immediately provide details.
Lebanese media reported dozens of strikes in the central, eastern and western Bekaa and in the south, besides strikes on Beirut. The strikes have targeted buildings where civilians were living and the death toll was expected to rise.
In a video of a strike in Sidon, verified by The Associated Press, a building swayed before collapsing as neighbors filmed. One TV station called on viewers to pray for a family caught under the rubble, posting their pictures, as rescuers failed to reach them. The Lebanese health ministry reported at least 14 medics were killed over two days in the south.
President Joe Biden said Sunday he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and believes that an all-out war in the Middle East must be avoided.
“It has to be,” Biden told reporters at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware as he boarded Air Force One for Washington.
Meanwhile, wreckage from the strike on Friday that killed Nasrallah was still smoldering. AP journalists saw smoke over the rubble as people flocked to the site, some to check on what was left of their homes and others to pay respects, pray or simply to see the destruction.
In response to the dramatic escalation in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, Hezbollah significantly increased its attacks in the past week, from several dozen to several hundred daily, the Israeli military said. The attacks injured several people and caused damage, but most of the rockets and drones were intercepted by Israel’s air defense systems or fell in open areas.
The army says its strikes have degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities and the number of launches would be much higher if Hezbollah had not been hit.
Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said dozens of its aircraft struck Houthi targets in Yemen in response to a recent attack on Israel. The military said it targeted power plants and sea port facilities in the city of Hodeida.
The Houthis launched a ballistic missile attack on Ben Gurion airport on Saturday when Netanyahu was arriving. The Houthi media office said the Israeli strikes hit the Hodeida and Rass Issa ports, along with two power plants in Hodeida city, a stronghold for the Iranian-backed rebels. The Houthi-run Health Ministry said the strikes killed four people and wounded 40 others.
The Houthis claimed they took precautionary measures ahead of the strikes, emptying oil storages in the ports, according to Nasruddin Ammer, deputy director of the Houthi media office. He said in a post on X platform the strikes won’t stop the rebels’ attacks on shipping routes and on Israel.
Meanwhile, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Israel's airstrikes in Lebanon had “wiped out” Hezbollah’s command structure, but he warned the group will work quickly to rebuild it.
“I think people are safer without him walking around,” Kirby said of Nasrallah. “But they will try to recover. We’re watching to see what they do to try to fill this leadership vacuum. It’s going to be tough. … Much of their command structure has now been wiped out.”
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Kirby sidestepped questions about whether the Biden administration agrees with how the Israelis are targeting Hezbollah leaders. The White House continues to call on Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a 21-day temporary cease-fire floated by the U.S., France and other countries as world leaders gathered for the U.N. General Assembly last week.
Netanyahu on Sunday appointed a former rival, Gideon Saar, to his Cabinet. The move expands Netanyahu’s governing coalition and helps entrench the Israeli leader in office.
Under their agreement, Netanyahu said Saar would be given a spot in the Security Cabinet, the body that oversees management of the ongoing war.
Saar had hoped to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, another rival of Netanyahu’s. But a deal to become defense minister fell through after fighting intensified with Hezbollah.
Earlier this month, Hezbollah was also targeted by a sophisticated attack on its pagers and walkie-talkies that was widely blamed on Israel. A wave of Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon have killed more than 1,030 people — including 156 women and 87 children — in less than two weeks, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been driven from their homes in Lebanon by the latest strikes. The government estimates around 250,000 are in shelters, with three to four times as many staying with friends or relatives, or camping out on the streets.
Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group and political party backed by Iran, Israel’s chief regional rival, rose to regional prominence after fighting a devastating monthlong war with Israel in 2006 that ended in a draw.
Kaouk was a veteran member of Hezbollah going back to the 1980s and served as Hezbollah's military commander in southern Lebanon during the 2006 war with Israel. The United States announced sanctions against him in 2020.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza triggered the war there. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies that consider themselves part of an Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance” against Israel.
The conflict has steadily ratcheted up to the brink of all-out war, raising fears of a region-wide conflagration.
Israel says it is determined to return some 60,000 of its citizens to communities in the north that were evacuated nearly a year ago. Hezbollah has said it will only halt its rocket fire if there is a cease-fire in Gaza, which has proven elusive despite months of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas led by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press reporters Natalie Melzer in Tel Aviv, Aamer Madhani in Washington, Samy Magdy in Cairo and Jack Jeffery in Jerusalem contributed.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
People gather near the site of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut's southern suburbs, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
People check the site of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut's southern suburbs, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man stands on the rubble of buildings near the site of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut's southern suburbs, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man walks on rubble at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
People check the site of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut's southern suburbs, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A woman sleeps on Beirut's corniche after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Children sit in a motorcycle cart in Beirut's Martyrs' square after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A boy sleeps in Beirut's Martyrs' square after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A family sleep on the ground in Beirut's corniche area after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
An elderly man stands near al-Amin Mosque in Beirut's Martyrs' square after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People gather at the site of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut's southern suburbs, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Families sleep on Beirut's corniche after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A man stands on the rubble of buildings near the site of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut's southern suburbs, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A destroyed building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A woman cares for her newborn girl, Fatima, in Beirut's Martyrs' square after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People gather near the site of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut's southern suburbs, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
People check the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A hole in the ground near the site of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut's southern suburbs, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man walks on rubble at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
