Casagrande: Alabama still owns Georgia, should be No. 1 in polls

This is an opinion column.

The song swept over Jalen Milroe.

Prepping to go live on ABC, the Alabama quarterback turned to his musical classmates as they played the half-truth of Rammer Jammer. Arms up, asking for more, the previously doubted, once-benched passer was in no rush for the network TV interview.

Never mind the fact the Crimson Tide went from beating the hell out of Georgia to barely escaping with its dignity.

Alabama 41, Georgia 34 was a tale of survival and a few indisputable truths.

Kalen DeBoer’s for real.

Ryan Williams is a monster.

Milroe was the only Heisman candidate on the field.

And Alabama should be No. 1 when the polls come out Sunday after its latest terror ride through the full range of emotions against Georgia.

The plot lines shifted, but the result remained unchanged. Georgia is still property of the Crimson Tide. This time, it was Alabama’s turn to almost gag away a huge lead on a night that started to feel eerily like the 2010 nightmare Iron Bowl.

For 13 football seconds, visions of Cam Newton danced in the depths of Alabama’s subconscious -- a memory that couldn’t burden its crowned prince of catching footballs. Williams was but a 3-year-old in Mobile when that 24-0 Alabama lead faded into a 28-27 Auburn win.

He grew up to snag the 75-yard circus catch that ended the brief panic that swept over Bryant-Denny. The 28-0 second-quarter lead was suddenly a 34-33 deficit when Milroe launched one deep for the young man who’ll be eligible to vote in his first presidential election in 2028.

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There was a sense of existential dread among the 100,077 crammed into Bryant-Denny Stadium before Williams’ final act of heroism. Forget the fact that a loss wouldn’t doom a postseason bid in this 12-team playoff era, the home crowd knew the psychological impact looming should they blow this one.

Kirby Smart’s boogeyman would be dead -- a real-life exorcism of the demons that stood between him and a dadgum dynasty.

The story of Saturday night would’ve been the resurrection of a Georgia team that was already at the farm upstate. Milroe’s 36-yard touchdown run with 12:24 left in the first half put the Tide up 28-0 on the scoreboard as it outgained the visitors 258-27.

The whole moment was staggering.

Just stunning.

Alabama, a home underdog for the first time since Williams was a toddler, had Georgia on its back asking for a belly rub. Swap the uniforms and this game could’ve been mistaken for FCS appetizer week in Tuscaloosa, not a No. 2 vs. No. 4 primetime extravaganza.

Georgia was undisciplined, unnerved and out-manned in every aspect of those first 18-plus minutes.

That made the scene with 2:31 left on the fourth-quarter clock all the more unbelievable.

Like a zombie, Georgia crawled and then sprinted from the grave and into an Alabama night terror come true. Everything that was once humming with assembly-line efficiency turned into a disjointed mess.

After scoring touchdowns on its first four drives, the Tide netted just three offensive points over the next eight possessions.

It was all happening and the ghost of Harvey Updyke was on full alert when Carson Beck spotted Dillon Bell on the first play of Georgia’s comeback-completing drive. Down just five, the Bulldogs got the defensive look they sought all night.

Pitch.

Catch.

Alabama’s suddenly losing and Bryant-Denny had the spins.

The walls were closing after the 67-yard touchdown gave Georgia the stunning 34-33 lead. From the sideline, the panic was unmistakable.

And 13 seconds later, it was gone.

Poof.

All it took was one final perfect toss to Williams, a spin move mixed with a juke and Alabama horror was back to a fairytale.

The 75-yard touchdown pass on the first Tide snap after regifting the lead unburdened the Bryant-Denny faithful.

Disaster averted.

Another freshman ensured it when Zabien Brown intercepted Beck in the end zone as he was attempting to tie the game in the final minute. It was preseason-Heisman-favorite Beck’s third pick of the game on a night he completed 27 of 50 throws for 439 yards.

Milroe, meanwhile, completed 27 of his 33 passes for 374 yards (177 to Williams) to go with his 117 rushing yards.

He had a part in four touchdowns.

A legit Heisman contender on the team that’ll exit September with the nation’s most impressive win.

For a while, he was single-handedly beating the hell out of Georgia.

That didn’t last because the Alabama-Georgia storyline is never linear.

There’s always a twist.

So Milroe will take the 41-34 final and nobody’s fact-checking Rammer Jammer.

Especially not on this sanity-testing night of wild mood swings.

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