Georgia suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, falling to Alabama 41-34 in an instant classic. But the performance was enough to drop Georgia in the Coaches Poll Top 25 rankings for Week 6.
The Bulldogs dropped from No. 1 to No. 5 in this week’s Coaches Poll. It’s the first time all season Georgia is not the No. 1 team in the Coaches Poll.
“Tale of two halves,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “Obviously, we were not really prepared and that falls on me. In the first half we didn’t do a great job, especially defensively. But we also gave them short fields, and when you have a short field and a quarterback like Milroe, it creates a lot of tough times. I am extremely proud of our team. At halftime I thought our coaches made good adjustments, everybody was positive.”
Georgia started poorly on Saturday, falling behind 28-0 just three minutes into the second quarter. The Bulldogs did rally, taking a 34-33 lead after a 67-yard touchdown catch by Dillon Bell.
But Alabama responded with a 75-yard touchdown to Ryan Williams immediately, to give Alabama a 41-34 win. Carson Beck threw an interception on the final drive of the game.
Georgia is now 1-6 against Alabama under Smart. Alabama is now No. 2 in the Coaches Poll after the win. Texas is now No. 1.
The Bulldogs will have to turn around and quickly get over the loss. The Bulldogs take on Auburn this coming Saturday. Georgia will be back at home for just the second time at all season, but Georgia will need to play much better on Saturday.
“Came back to make it a game and had a chance to win the game and didn’t make more plays than Alabama, so a lot of credit to them,” Smart said. “And for us humility is always a week away. We got to go get ready for another tough opponent coming to our place.”