At the precise moment Kirk Herbstreit was calling for Georgia to find answers for Alabama’s vaunted front during the television broadcast of Monday’s game, the Bulldogs found one.

It inserted Broderick Jones into the game at left tackle, a place the redshirt freshman was familiar with after starting four games for Georgia during the month of November. But the bigger and more impactful move was flipping Jamaree Salyer from left tackle to right guard for Warren Ericson.

All season, Kirby Smart and Salyer answered questions about if the senior would make the position switch, given he figures to do so at the NFL level. Salyer was Georgia’s best offensive lineman this year and an All-SEC player at left tackle. He played a key part in holding Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson without a sack in Georgia’s Orange Bowl.

But in the biggest moment, Smart, Todd Monken and Matt Luke pulled the trigger. Salyer slid over to right guard.

It worked. Georgia’s offense found its needed answer by making a position change. It just didn’t come at quarterback as so many screamed for at all hours of the season.

“I think the offensive line is kind of a rhythm game, kind of like pitching, kind of like anything else,” Salyer said. “It’s five guys working cohesively to make one thing happen, so sometimes it takes a minute to settle into the game.”

Jones entered the game with 7:07 remaining in the second quarter. To that point, Georgia had just 13 rushing yards on six designed runs, with the Bulldogs averaging 2.1 yards per carry. Four of the six attempts went for 1-yard or less.

The first drive after the change led to a Georgia field goal to make it a 9-6 game. On the next offensive drive, Georgia called three straight running plays which led to a first down to run the clock out on the first half.

Georgia’s first two carries of the second half were for gains of 11 and 19 by Zamir White. Georgia then called three straight pass plays which led to a punt, stalling a successful drive. On Georgia’s next drive, the Bulldogs again called three straight passing plays, which led to another punt.

Calls to run the damn ball grew louder.

And that’s exactly what Georgia did. After Jalen Carter blocked a field goal, the Bulldogs took over on their own 20-yard line. James Cook ripped off a 67-yard run, Georgia’s longest play of the night. From there, Stetson Bennett ran a quarterback draw for 4-yard gain. Kenny McIntosh then took a handoff 6-yards for a Georgia first down. An Alabama facemask put Georgia on the 1-yard line.

Carter and defensive lineman Jordan Davis entered the game and paved a hole for White to score the game’s first touchdown. While the running backs deserve credit, the offensive line made the drive possible.

“It’s kind of likes that moment before that drive that we kind of understood we had to take this game over as an offensive line unit and as the backs we kind of had a conversation on the sideline before that drive, it’s time for us to take the game over,” Salyer said. “Even me at one point, I went over to Coach Smart and was like, Put it on us. We want to win this game. That kind of sparked it off, got it going for us.”

After an Alabama field goal, Bennett’s disastrous “fumble” and then Alabama re-claiming the lead, Georgia responded again with Bennett unfurling a 40-yard bomb to Adonai Mitchell. Cook, not normally known for his blocking, did an excellent job picking up Chrisitan Harris in pass protection on the play.

Georgia got the ball again leading 19-18 with 7:10 left to go in the fourth quarter. From there, the offensive line and White drove through the Alabama defense. White had carries of 7, 5, 7 and 7 to help move Georgia to the Alabama 17-yard line. After a 2-yard run from Cook, Bennett found Brock Bowers for a 15-yard touchdown.

“I personally feel like we was built for it, like camp and just like the workouts we’ve been through and just all the things like we’re just grinding for, just everything,” White said of his second-half performance. “Like the workouts, like camp, we really worked for this. Yeah, man, that’s about it.”

It proved to be the final offensive drive of the season for Georgia. It ended in a touchdown and gave the Bulldogs a 26-18 lead. Kelee Ringo would have his pick-6 on the ensuing drive to put the finishing touches on the 33-18 victory. Georgia had won its first national championship since 1980.

Perhaps it was fitting that Salyer once again had to make one last sacrifice for the Bulldogs. Despite being a 5-star offensive lineman, he didn’t make his first start until the final game of his sophomore year. He endured a coaching change, with Luke stepping in for the departed Sam Pittman. Salyer started 20 games at left tackle, a position no one thought he would he would play. He happened to excel at it.

The Bulldogs averaged 9.0 yards per carry after Salyer moved to right guard against Alabama. Georgia had just three rushing attempts go for 1-yard or less, and one of those was a touchdown. Georgia outrushed Alabama by a margin of 140 to 30.

In Georgia’s hour of need, Salyer opened the door for the Georgia offense one final time. He allowed his team to walk through and emerge as champions.

“Just understanding the work that it took, honestly, it’s kind of one of the crazy things, just understanding how much work, manhours and how many reps,” Salyer said. “It’s kind of crazy to look back on it. I only got this opportunity once in four years, so it’s even more special for me to be a senior and to be able to do it that way, too. It’s just a lot of things make it really special for me, but God is good.”

Jamaree Salyer discusses the big offensive line change Georgia made to beat Alabama

More Georgia football stories from around DawgNation