With 54 seconds left in Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship, Georgia cornerback Kelee Ringo intercepted Alabama quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young and returned it 79 yards for a touchdown — the longest pick-six in championship game history — cementing the No. 3 Bulldogs’ 33-18 win over the No. 1 Crimson Tide and the program’s first national championship since 1980.
The play brought Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett, a former walk-on, to tears on the sideline, and as soon as the clock expired, Georgia’s assistant coaches and staff bolted to the elevators in the shaking press box at Lucas Oil Stadium, with one yelling, “Hell yeah!” as they thundered out cheering together.
On the field, coach Kirby Smart said he hugged 89-year-old Vince Dooley’s neck — the last coach at Georgia before Smart to win the national title — and they were both in tears.
“I told the guys in the locker room, just take a picture of this, because I think back to the ’80 championship picture and seeing all those players and the Frank Walkers and the Herschel Walkers and all these people that have reached out and said things,” Smart said. “Our guys have accomplished that, something special, and as they say, they’ve become legendary, and I want that for them.”
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