Throwback Thursday: 2012 SEC Championship Game, Alabama 32, Georgia 28

Before Alabama knocked Georgia from its No. 1 perch in the 2021 SEC Championship Game ....

Before Jalen Hurts came off the bench to lead the dramatic comeback in the 2018 SEC Championship Game ...

Before second-and-26 in the title game at the end of the 2017 season, from two freshmen who would go on to place second and first for the Heisman Trophy during different seasons (and let's face it, anyone can understand why the Bulldogs might feel a little snakebitten against Alabama) ...

There was the 2012 SEC Championship Game, which many consider the best to have been played.

The Crimson Tide was the reigning national champion and Kirby Smart was still Nick Saban's defensive coordinator. Alabama had rattled off nine straight wins and after surviving a trip to LSU stumbled the subsequent week against Texas A&M. It made the SEC title game essentially a play-in for the BCS National Championship Game against Notre Dame, as Alabama was second in the polls and Georgia third.

Wide receiver Amari Copper was still 18 at the time, and just beginning to dazzle.

There was his reaching over a defender for a touchdown reception during his breakout performance against Ole Miss, the epic showing at Tennessee that included a 42-yard touchdown and his 162 receiving yards to set an Alabama freshman receiving record, his 54-yard touchdown against Texas A&M to give the Crimson Tide a chance to steal the win against the Aggies, and the 29-yard touchdown catch-and-run against Auburn when two defenders missed and collided.

But all that that was nothing compared to what Cooper did in the Georgia Dome.

Not only did his 45-yard catch over safety Bacarri Rambo spark Alabama’s comeback, but his spectacular 45-yard touchdown bomb from quarterback AJ McCarron held up for a dramatic 32-28 victory.

The game featured six lead changes and went down to the very last play.

With final chance to pull out a victory, Georgia drove into the red zone where it had the ball at the 8-yard-line and 15 seconds remaining. Quarterback Aaron Murray looked to Chris Conley at the 5, only to have the ball tipped and caught in a way that didn't allow the Bulldogs to get another play off before time expired.

"I'm ready to have a heart attack here," Nick Saban quipped.

Eddie Lacy was named the game's MVP after totaling 181 rushing yards on 20 carries, T.J. Yeldon had 153 rushing yards on 25 attempts, and McCarron was 13-for-21 for 162 yards, but afterward the buzz focussed on Cooper.

He finished with eight catches for 128 yards and his 45-yard touchdown reception with 3:15 remaining held up as the game-winning score.

Consequently, McCarron told reporters during the days leading up to Alabama crushing Notre Dame in the title game that he was “One of those freakish freshmen that you get in every once in a while in a class. You can't say enough about Coop.”

When Cooper’s first season finally ended, his 59 catches were the sixth most in Crimson Tide history, while his 1,000 yards were tied for the fourth-best season with David Palmer in 1993, training only Julio Jones and DJ Hall. The 11 receiving touchdowns broke Al Lary’s longstanding single-season record of 10 that had stood since 1950.

He also topped Jones’ freshman records of 58 catches and 924 yards, set in 2008, while only starting the last nine of 14 games. Consequently, Cooper was a big reason why Alabama’s offense set program records for points scored (542), offensive touchdowns (68), and receiving touchdowns (31), en route to another crystal football.

“I don't feel like I did a whole lot last year as far as my expectations,” Copper said.

Georgia Hate Week Continues with @AmariCooper9 securing the win in the 2012 SEC Championship: pic.twitter.com/hSWJScsLK0
— Barstool Bama (@BarstoolAlabama) October 13, 2020