ATHENS — One of the key pillars of the Georgia program under Kirby Smart has been elite offensive line play. The Bulldogs have regularly been finalists for the Joe Moore Award and have become an assembly line for the NFL at the position.

Which makes this Saturday’s performance all the more jarring. The Bulldogs gave up 5.0 sacks and 9.0 tackles for loss. The running backs combined for 68 yards on 22 carries. The Bulldogs rank next-to-last in rushing yards and attempts on the season.

For a group that for so long has imposed its will on opponents, it got dominated on Saturday.

“We just need to get better. I mean, it’s plain and simple as that,” offensive guard Dylan Fairchild said. “You know, we need to just attack this week of practice and clean up some footwork and some things that just trouble most offensive lines and just really just attack this week in practice and just get better with the fundamentals.”

Saturday’s performance against Ole Miss didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. The offensive line was expected to be a strength for this Georgia team but it hasn’t been that.

It was left off the Midseason Honor Roll for the Joe Moore Award, which recognized 22 of the best offensive lines in college football. Injuries have been a consistent issue for this group, so much so that heading into the Texas game, Smart said the offensive line was the position group he was most worried about.

Tate Ratledge missed four games after picking up knee and ankle injuries against Kentucky. He’s now dealing with a foot injury that prevented him from finishing Saturday’s game. His backup, Micah Morris, was unable to play Saturday after sustaining a lower-body injury against Florida.

Center Jared Wilson missed two games with a foot injury he suffered in the win over Alabama. Drew Bobo filled in for him, doing an admirable job in doing so.

All those injuries have made it difficult for the key members of the line to practice together. And as Kirby Smart has repeated multiple times, if you can’t practice, you can’t really play all that well.

“Those kids want to practice,” Smart said. “They want to go out there and do it. Sometimes they can, sometimes they can do certain things and they can’t do others. I defer to those guys, and most of the time, especially on your offensive line, it’s like the toughest unit you have. So they’re going to give you everything they’ve got, and they want to go out there and practice and play. But in some cases they can, in some cases they can’t.”

Earnest Greene illustrates Smart’s point. Greene has recently missed practice time due to a shoulder injury. He’s been healthy enough to play in every game for Georgia, but those nagging injuries have taken a toll on Georgia’s left tackle.

He hasn’t developed this year like many thought that he would.

“He’s struggling with some injury right now, and he’s a very hard player,” Fairchild said. “Like, he is personally one of my best friends, and I know he wants to perform up to our standard, and we all want to perform up to our standard, and we can all perform better. He’s attacking his rehab. We’re getting some things figured out with just where he is along the lines of injury, and he’s trying to figure his body out. He’s just got to get his body back into it, and once he does, he’s going to be back in business.”

Injuries of this magnitude would wreck most programs. That Georgia is able to withstand this level of attrition speaks to the level of functional depth it has. Even with Greene currently injured, Georgia is able to rotate Monroe Freeling into the game and get solid contributions at left tackle.

But that depth is being tested for Georgia. And eventually, you pass a point of no return.

Georgia has plenty of veterans on the offensive line, with four of the top seven players being in at least their fourth year in the program. Georgia signed seven offensive linemen in this last recruiting cycle, but it’s very difficult for freshmen to come in and play immediately. There’s a reason Andrew Thomas is a unicorn in that regard.

The Bulldogs are also experiencing some drain at this position via the transfer portal. Greene and Drew Bobo are the only two members of Georgia’s 2022 signing class with the program. The Bulldogs signed five offensive line recruits in that class that would now be in their third year in the program. Instead those players are now at Maryland, Nebraska and App State.

The 2023 recruiting class, where Freeling was the top signee, has already seen one member medically retire and another transfer out.

No program invests more in their offensive line than Georgia from a recruiting and development standpoint. But if those recruits continue to exit the program before they’re ready to help it, Georgia’s offensive line will continue to suffer.

Virtual pitchforks are out for Stacy Searels, Georgia’s current offensive line coach, even if the main culprit for that talent erosion might be former offensive line coach Matt Luke.

Assigning blame to a coach though isn’t going to fix Georgia’s offensive line, especially when the Bulldogs face a Tennessee defensive front that is every bit as physical and talented as the Ole Miss one that whipped Georgia on Saturday.

“Fundamentals are key in offensive line play, and when you don’t, when you lack fundamentals and when you lack those habits that are going to keep you on the right course during the game, you know, it’s not what you want,” Fairchild said. “You’ve got to go back to work. You’ve got to get better. You’ve got to go back to fundamentals and the basics of things and just get better.”

Georgia’s offensive line should be well-prepared on Saturday. Given the difficulty of Georgia’s schedule — the Bulldogs have played more games against Top 25 away from home than games in Sanford Stadium this season — the Bulldogs have seen plenty of elite defensive linemen to this point.

The injury situation is what it is for Georgia. Every team is dealing with it in some form or fashion. The attrition in terms of health and talent drain have hurt the offensive line more than previously believed.

And it all adds up to Georgia’s offensive line just not playing its best football at the most important time of the year. It’s a tough time for the offensive line to reach its nadir under Smart.

“I’m completely confident in our offensive line. I think our offensive line has got a good offensive line,” Smart said. “We can’t put them in harm’s way. And when you play on the road, guys, there’s not a guy in this room that’s lined up at left tackle with 80,000 people screaming at the top of their lungs and he knows it’s a pass.

“You’ve got to find ways to help people. You’ve got to be able to run the ball to slow it down. And you’ve got to help them out some.”