The location was different, but the result was the same. Taking the field in Bryant-Denny Stadium for the first time since 2007, the No. 3 Bulldogs played well early against the No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide. At halftime, Georgia led by four points.
But similar to the two meetings at Mercedes-Benz Stadium during the 2017 and 2018 postseasons, the Crimson Tide overcame a second-half deficit against the Bulldogs. Alabama took the lead with four minutes remaining in the third quarter on a 90-yard touchdown catch from Jaylen Waddle. The Crimson Tide added two more touchdowns while Georgia didn’t score in the second half.
Alabama tallied the final 24 points and won, 41-24.
The Bulldogs secondary had a rough night, allowing 417 passing yards and 12.6 yards per pass. Overall, the Georgia defense, which came into the matchup as the No. 1 statistical defense in the country, yielded 564 yards.
In our Facebook comment section, the Bulldogs secondary didn’t escape the wrath of Dawgs fans, but a lot of their anger was thrown towards quarterback Stetson Bennett. The former walk-on has been a great story for the Bulldogs, but he had the worst performance of his career, completing just 18 of 40 passes for 269 yards with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
Bennett threw two of those picks in the second half, and Alabama scored touchdowns off both of those turnovers.
It’s important to note that without Bennett’s strong play in the first three games, Georgia could be sitting at just 2-2 and perhaps finished in the College Football Playoff race. Having said that, a lot of DawgNation argued Saturday night that in his first true test at Alabama, Bennett proved he doesn’t have the Bulldogs any closer to winning a national championship than Jake Fromm did.
While that was much of the focus, a few comments were more positive, suggesting the Bulldogs will see the Crimson Tide again in the SEC Championship Game.
Here’s a little taste of DawgNation’s reaction to Saturday’s loss to Alabama from Facebook:
