TUSCALOOSA — Georgia football stock plunged in the first quarter of the Bulldogs’ 41-34 loss to Alabama on Saturday night.
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Georgia nearly recovered from falling behind 28-0 just five plays into the second quarter, briefly reclaiming a 34-33 lead with 2:31 left on Carson Beck’s 67-yard touchdown pass to Dillon Bell.
But Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe (27 of 33, 374 yards, 2 TDs passing, 16 carries, 117 yards, 2 TDs rushing) was simply too good.
The Bulldogs (3-1, 1-1 SEC) remain in contention for the SEC Championship Game and expanded 12-team College Football Playoffs and will face Auburn at 3:30 p.m. next Saturday.
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Here’s a look at how some individual Georgia players fared:
Stock Soaring
Dillon Bell enjoyed a break-out performance, catching five passes for 100 yards and a touchdown. Bell’s great move got him open on the 67-yard go-ahead touchdown.
Smael Mondon looked as healthy and effective as he has been since playing through a foot injury at the end of last year and undergoing offseason surgery, separating a Tide receiver from the ball leading to a clutch interception at the UGA 5-yard line
Dominic Lovett didn’t grade out the highest, guilty of an offensive pass interference, but Lovett came through with six catches for 59 tough yards.
Trevor Etienne was inexplicably underutilized in the game plan, but the Florida transfer had 12 carries for 55 yards, often running through would-be Tide tacklers.
Cornerback Daniel Harris came off his one game suspension to grade out higher than any of the other UGA defensive backs, per PFF, recording a tackle for loss and pass break-up.
Stock Even
Arian Smith had a career-high 132 yards and a touchdown on six catches, but the senior receiver missed an audible that led to an Alabama interception at the UGA 22 and allowed a 48-yard pass to slip through his hands on the opening drive.
Dan Jackson led UGA with 10 tackles, but it was clear Alabama was looking to go after the senior safety, who is not the fastest member of the Georgia secondary.
Stock Down
Georgia’s greatest head coach of all-time, Kirby Smart, doesn’t often have a down arrow, but the head coach put himself in this category at the start of his post-game press conference, saying “Obviously we were not prepared and that falls on me.”
Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann was out-coached by DeBoer’s offensive staff, which stayed a step ahead in scoring on its first four drives. Smart said UGA adjusted with simpler defenses the team could execute in the second half.
UGA offensive coordinator Mike Bobo failed to establish a run game that would have given Beck and the pass game some help, along with keeping Milroe off the field. Bobo’s go-to calls came too late, and he has failed to have Beck prepared to play his best football four games into the season.
Carson Beck has had a shaky start to the season, and Saturday’s game was a microcosm of such, as Beck threw three interceptions, fumbled in the second half and accounted for a safety with his intentional grounding from the end zone. Beck also converted on 5-of-5 fourth down throws and passed for a career-high 439 yards and three TDs, and showed some nimbleness on scrambles.
Malaki Starks had eight tackles and looked like the All-American he is at times, but Starks couldn’t keep up with Tide freshman Ryan Williams or Milroe at key moments, and failed to make the game-changing plays needed to win against elite competition.
