TUSCALOOSA — Kirby Smart didn’t pull any punches in defeat Saturday night, hammering himself as hard as anyone.

“Tough, played the worst half of football we’ve played since the first year I was here,” Smart said on the Georgia radio network after the 41-34 loss to Alabama.

“Turned the ball over, didn’t stop anybody on defense and didn’t tackle well — if you don’t tackle well on Jalen Milroe, he’ll embarrass you, so it was total domination.

“It was too catastrophic to come back from.”

Milroe finished 27-of-33 passing for 374 yards with two touchdowns and an interception passing along with 117 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 16 carries.

“The quarterback run hurt us; it wasn’t that we weren’t prepared, but they did it out of different looks,” Smart said. “He threw the ball well, and if he throws it well, you’re in trouble, and he can run like Bo Jackson ,so it makes ti tough.”

Smart, whose team had won 42 straight regular-season games and 21 in a row when having more than a week to prepare, said the No. 2-ranked Bulldogs might not have approached things right defensively against No. 4 Alabama, in hindsight.

“We were going to be really aggressive against him and that hurt us early,” Smart said, “jumping offsides, they work hard count to see what you’re in.”

The Tide scored touchdowns on its first four possessions, racing out to a 30-7 halftime lead before Georgia staged a miraculous comeback, taking a 34-33 lead with 2:31 left before Milroe struck back, hitting freshman phenom Ryan Williams for a 75-yard touchdown pass that proved the game winner.

“The big play was the Achilles heel,” said Smart, who watched Williams catch six passes for 177 yards.

“There was the big play to Ryan ,and we couldn’t get him on the ground.”

The Georgia defense had not allowed Alabama to get into the end zone before that the play since the fifth play of the second quarter.

“I thought we made some good adjustments, we settled down and made some calls we could execute,” Smart said. “We were less aggressive and thought we could control the line of scrimmage, and we did.”

Carson Beck, 27-of-50 passing for 439 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions, drove UGA to the Alabama 34-yard line before being intercepted in the end zone with 43 second left to play.

“The kids fought, they didn’t quit, played inspired, the O-line protected Carson and we went after the secondary,” Smart said. “We got a lot of guys that care about each other, the connection is real on this team.

“The love and passion in the locker room was real …. I had no idea it would turn as far as it did and actually take the lead, (but) you’ve got to make plays when you get an opportunity to.”

Smart said he was proud of Beck’s second0half performance.

“He made some big league throws, that’s what he’s about, one of the interceptions wasn’t on him,” Smart said. “The (second-half Beck) fumble was the one really hurt, we overcame that and put out the fire.

“But throw it away there, it was first and 10, we still have second down, third down …. "

Georgia (3-1, 1-1 SEC) returns to action at 3:30 p.m. next Saturday against Auburn in Sanford Stadium.

“Humility is always a week away in this league, no one is going to feel sorry for you,” Smart said. “We’ll keep getting better — the idea is to be playing your best football as the year goes along.”

Georgia remains in contention for the newly expanded 12-team CFP, even with the loss to Alabama, with the possibility of a rematch with the Tide in the SEC title game or playoffs still on the board.