What a strange game it was as Georgia lost to Alabama again Saturday night.
From beginning to end, the Dawgs’ latest loss to the Tide was almost surreal at times.
It started with ABC having former Alabama coach Nick Saban as one of the presenters of the pre-game and halftime shows at a game held on a field named for him at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
Then came the filmed intro to the game, with shots of St. Nick beaming as he gazed lovingly over his field while Dave Matthews plunked on a piano and warbled behind the narration, which was supposed to be about the Alabama-Georgia rivalry but mostly seemed to be about the first half of that combo.
Yeah, there were some UGA shots weaved in there, but the tone was overwhelmingly focused on, as the voice-of-God narrator intoned, the tradition “here at Bama.” It was, as my daughter said, weird. I don’t ever remember CBS having such a one-sided intro to a game when they broadcast SEC games. Did Saban buy ABC-ESPN owner Disney when I wasn’t looking?
The strangeness continued as the game got underway, especially the first half, where a listless bunch of zombies wearing Georgia’s road uniforms seemed helpless as Jalen Milroe and the Tide quickly scored four times for a 28-0 lead with 12:24 remaining in the second quarter (eventually leading Georgia 30-7 at the half, with the Dawgs having scored on a 7-yard Travis Etienne run with 6:43 left in the half).
The buildup to this early-season match of titans had been tremendous, with both teams having an extra week to prepare. It was easy to see how new coach Kalen DeBoer’s Tide had spent the week off; whatever Georgia did, Bama was prepared to stop or overcome. As my buddy Scott texted during the second quarter: “Bama’s offense has diagnosed all of our defensive tendencies and has something to exploit them.”
What the Dawgs did with that extra week was a big question mark, as the UGA defense seemed completely unprepared. (Georgia head coach Kirby Smart later remarked that they hadn’t previously seen Milroe run out of an empty set — d’oh!)
The Dawgs, who previously had not allowed a touchdown all season, seemed particularly defenseless on the perimeter, where Bama was able to turn the corner for a big gain pretty much any time they tried in the first half. Milroe had game-like numbers in that half alone, with 199 yards passing and 106 yards rushing.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s mistake-prone offense got off to another slow start and could get nothing going in the first half, what with quarterback Carson Beck having his worst start ever (off-target on many of his throws and clearly rattled by the Tide defense).
How bad a half was it for Georgia’s QB? He was flagged for intentional grounding as he tossed a ball up for grabs while under pressure in his own end zone. That is considered a safety and gave the Tide another 2 points.
It didn’t help, though, that Georgia receivers kept dropping the ball when Beck did manage to get passes to them, and the Dawgs had little running game.
Plus, of course, this was Bama in Tuscaloosa, so the SEC refs penalized the Dawgs three (!) times in the first half for offensive pass interference — though, to be fair, if Georgia pass defenders had gotten within camera view of Bama’s uncovered receivers, who’s to say they wouldn’t have flagged the Tide as well for that infraction (written with a knowing smirk).
Bama did get penalized more than Georgia Saturday night, but the flags thrown against the Tide weren’t quite as costly, and their defenders did get away with a couple of cases of fairly blatant defensive pass interference that weren’t called. (That wasn’t strange, though. Like I said, it was in Tuscaloosa.)
However, what was strange was Smart explaining afterward that Georgia’s defense had come out too “aggressive” in the first half. What he meant was that, rather than having spies sit back and wait on Milroe, like in last year’s loss to Alabama in the SEC title game, Georgia blitzed him more this time. But he still eluded them and made the Dawgs pay.
And aggressive certainly doesn’t describe the rest of the Georgia defense in the first half, when Dawgs defenders were giving Alabama receivers a 5- to 10-yard cushion and letting them catch the ball unmolested. That isn’t “aggressive.”
The Dawgs defense’s tackling, which has been subpar all season, wasn’t very good in the first half against Alabama, either.
And then, after intermission, the script flipped, as Georgia’s defenders suddenly were able to contain Milroe (mostly).
The offense, meanwhile, took a bit longer to get on the new page, with Beck fumbling the ball away for the third of his four turnovers on the night.
But then UGA abandoned any pretense of being able to run consistently against Bama as Air Georgia took to the skies, with pilot Beck suddenly able to zero in on his targets again and his receivers making catches.
Beck threw three touchdown passes in the second half, including a 67-yarder to Dillon Bell that put the Dawgs ahead of the Tide, and Bell also scored earlier on a run.
Yes, despite the odds, the Dawgs gradually had dug out of what had seemed too deep a hole, making a greater comeback than ever before as they caught the Tide and finally took a 34-33 lead with 2:31 left in the game.
Unfortunately, that lead lasted all of 13 seconds — or one play from scrimmage — as Milroe again found his favorite target of the night, 17-year-old receiving phenom Ryan Williams, who outmaneuvered two Georgia defenders and streaked down the sideline for a 75-yard scoring strike. Williams, who’ll probably be playing in the NFL before he leaves his teens, had 6 catches for 277 yards and a TD Saturday night.
Bama then went for 2 points and made it, taking a 41-34 lead with 2:16 left.
The feisty Dawgs were not quite done yet, though, as Beck led his team back downfield and into scoring position.
Unfortunately, a pass into the end zone was slightly underthrown by Beck, and intended receiver Colbie Young wasn’t quite as aggressive (there’s that word again) as Bama defender Zabien Brown, who reached in front of him and snagged the ball for an interception (the third thrown by the Georgia QB Saturday night). That turnover, with 43 seconds left in the game, killed any hope of a second Georgia comeback.
Said Smart afterward: “We can’t turn the ball over and win games. It’s as simple as that.”
In making its nearly legendary second-half comeback, Georgia was all-in, offensively. The Dawgs’ Brett Thorson only punted 3 times Saturday night, but that’s because UGA couldn’t afford to punt in the second half. While Georgia, who last year was the nation’s best on third down, only converted a measly 3 of its 15 attempts in this game, the Dawgs converted on all 5 of their fourth-down tries.
Beck’s personal numbers sort of sum up the game for Georgia: He completed 27 of 50 passes for a career-high 439 yards and 3 touchdowns, but also had 3 interceptions and a fumble. The leading receivers for Georgia were Arian Smith, with a career-high 6-for-132 yards and a TD; Dominic Lovett (6-for-59 yards); and Bell, who caught 5 passes for a career-high 100 yards and a touchdown.
The Dawgs rushed for just 80 yards, with Etienne the leader with 55 yards and a TD on 12 carries.
Alabama finished with 547 yards of total offense, while Georgia had 519 yards. In the first half, Alabama outgained the Dawgs 355-153 in offensive yards.
On special teams, it was a middling night at best for the Dawgs, Peyton Woodring making his 2 PAT attempts (Georgia went for 2 the other times, succeeding once) and punt receiver Anthony Evans, who tends to make every catch an adventure, fumbling one inside the Georgia 10 late in the first half, though the Dawgs recovered. Apparently, no one on the Georgia coaching staff has worked with Evans on positioning himself to receive a punt safely.
Overall, the worst first half of the Smart era doomed the Dawgs, with awful defense and no offense, and Georgia had too many turnovers and penalties.
Also, the defense was unable to tackle or cover or contain, and even though they got back on track in the second half, Bama’s final scoring pass exposed a young Georgia secondary that remains a vulnerability.
Smart summed it up like this: “One helluva game, great atmosphere. Obviously, we weren’t prepared in the first half, especially defensively. Gave them short fields and created a lot of tough times. But I’m extremely proud of our team for coming back the way they did.”
Well, really, for Georgia it was one helluva half-game, Coach.
And, so, Georgia’s won-loss record now is 49-3 in its past 52 games, with all three losses to Bama. With the exception of that one game in Indianapolis (which was, it’s worth noting, for a national title), the Bama-owns-Georgia narrative unfortunately continues.
Moving ahead, the Georgia offense needs a better overall plan and the defense needs work on fundamentals. And the Dawgs have to get out of this slow-starting mode of play. That just can’t happen again if they hope to make the College Football Playoff with the kind of schedule they still face.
However, the Dawgs did show a lot of resilience, character and fight. I hate it that they came up short, but I’m proud of the way they fought back.
