TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Ryan Williams’ only thought after hauling in the most important catch of his young college football career was simple.

“I can’t be tackled,” he said late Saturday night.

In the open field, few defenders tackled Alabama’s dynamic freshman receiver, and it was his 75-yard touchdown catch – complete with a thrilling spin move and sprint to the end zone – that helped No. 4 Alabama hold on for a close game. 41-34 victory over No. 2 Georgia at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

In real time, Williams joked that the spin felt like it was “in slow motion.” But when he watched it on the stadium video screen, he said it looked a little faster.

“I just had to do my part to help us finish that game,” Williams said. ‘We had come too far. Someone had to make a play.”

In a game where the Crimson Tide once led 28-0, they suddenly trailed 34-33 with just over two minutes remaining after a furious Georgia rally. Williams and quarterback Jalen Milroe wasted no time in answering. On the first downhill, Milroe delivered the pass exactly where he wanted, on Williams’ back shoulder. Once he collected it, Williams pirouetted around Georgia defensive back Julian Humphrey, leaving a vapor trail down the right sideline.

“Man, when I first saw him, he was a skinny kid,” Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell said. “Then you got him on the practice field, and he’s been doing stuff like that ever since. That’s just who he is.”

As in, the most dynamic freshman in college football.

Through four games, Williams has caught five touchdown passes and is averaging 28.9 yards per catch. He also had an incredible 54-yard bobble catch in the third quarter against Georgia that set up a field goal.

“He’s just getting better, and the best thing about him is he’s always working, always doing something to become a better player, the work in the dark that not everyone sees,” said Milroe, who passed for 374 yards and two. touchdowns and rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns.

Campbell said the balance on Alabama’s sideline, starting with coach Kalen DeBoer, was never more apparent than in those final minutes when Georgia roared all the way back to take the lead after trailing 30-7 at halftime.

“That’s the standard in Alabama, and it just trickles down to the players, to everyone,” Campbell said.

As the Alabama offense trotted back onto the field, Williams said he didn’t have to nudge Milroe or even give his quarterback a quick wave once Williams lined up for the play. Yes, he wanted the ball and knew Milroe would find a way to get it to him.

“No, I don’t need to be a mailbox. He knows what’s going on,” said Williams, who finished with six catches for 177 yards and now has six catches of 40 yards or longer on the season.

Clearly, there is a budding connection between Milroe and Williams.

“He knows four plus two equals six,” Williams said, referring to Milroe’s number and his number, respectively. ‘I know four plus two equals six. The ball just has to go in the air.’

Still, this is a rare statement for someone of Williams’ age. He’s only 17 and won’t turn 18 until February 9. He wasn’t even born yet when Nick Saban was named Alabama’s coach in 2007.

And as Saban watched from his suite as Alabama defeated Georgia for the ninth time in the past 10 meetings, Williams was just one of two freshmen who helped the Crimson Tide continue their mastery of Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs.

Georgia, trying to make another mad dash to tie the score, advanced to the Alabama 20 with just under a minute to play. But on first down, quarterback Carson Beck pulled a pass into the end zone that set up a jumping Zabien Brown intercepted.

Like Williams, Brown also wears No. 2, and he is also a true freshman.

Williams said he and Brown were playing the video game “EA Sports College Football” Friday night when Brown called the game-winning interception while they were playing.

“So this morning I was like, ‘Bro, are you going to make a choice?'” Williams said. “And he said, ‘Of course that’s what I’m going to try to do.’ Next thing you know, he has the game-winning interception. I thought, ‘Man, we called it.’ I screamed. That’s how I lost my voice because I was screaming.”

Milroe laughed when asked what it was about Alabama’s program that would allow two true freshmen to have such a big impact in a top-five matchup.

“Recruiting,” Milroe said, chuckling. “No, one thing I can say about those guys is that they work very hard, and for me it’s about someone who works in the dark. I see them after practice working on their craft. I see them communicating, and they do really something wonderful.” it’s good work to continually try to build and recognize that they are not a finished product.

“I think that’s so important for our football team, just to keep climbing.”

DeBoer and the Alabama staff worked overtime to land Williams, who was ESPN’s No. 3 overall prospect in the 2024 signing class. Williams was committed to the Tide but was immediately fired after Saban retired.

DeBoer said he was impressed with how good Williams is after the catch.

“He does it over and over again, gets the ball in his hands and makes people miss and gets a lot of yards after contact,” DeBoer said.

Milroe added: “It’s what we do from here that matters, building on this. What we’re seeing now is all the work we put in in the offseason, the way the coaches believed in us and then some of the younger guys we brought in. We just have to keep growing, all of us.”