TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – How ‘bout that second half?
That’s not much in the grand scheme of things, but it’s all the Georgia Bulldogs could hang their hats on coming out of Saturday night’s 41-34 loss to Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The No. 2-ranked Bulldogs out-scored the Crimson Tide 24-11 after halftime and had their hosts beaten for 13 seconds at the end of one of the wildest fourth quarters ever waged in this storied SEC series.
Truly, it was an impressive display of resiliency and refusing to give up.
“We’re not built like that and we’re not going to do that,” coach Kirby Smart said of the Bulldogs not quitting after falling so far behind. “That’s not who we are. We fight too much each day out of practice to sit down and quit. I mean, they had a great response at the end of halftime. I thought that was great the way they handled it.”
As it happened, though, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe connected with Ryan Williams on a 75-yard touchdown catch with 2:18 to play and Georgia’s Carson Beck threw his third interception in the Crimson Tide’s end zone 95 seconds later to end the Bulldogs’ final threat. Beck and Dillon Bell had connected for a 67-yard touchdown at the 2:31 mark, which gave Georgia its first lead of the night after trailing 28-0 in the game’s first 17:36 of play and 30-7 at halftime.
The loss snapped the Bulldogs’ 42-game, regular-season game winning streak and continued the “Bama Curse.” Alabama has won nine of the last 10 in this series and new coach Kalen DeBoer is now 1-0 against Georgia’s Kirby Smart, who was 1-5 against former Tide coach Nick Saban.
The Bulldogs now have six days to heal what ails it. Heading into next Saturday’s home game against Auburn, that includes getting off to quicker offensive starts and shoring up a defense that just allowed 547 yards.
Here is what else we learned Saturday:
Auburn’s reeling
For some perspective on Georgia’s problems, the Bulldogs need only to turn their attention to the Plains. There they will find Auburn absolutely reeling after a 27-21 loss to Oklahoma.
Two plays into the fourth quarter, the Tigers led Oklahoma 21-10 and Jordan-Hare Stadium was rocking. Then Auburn inexplicably ran three unsuccessful pass plays in a row after a long Jarquez Hunter run got them into scoring range. The Tigers would subsequently miss a 51-yard field goal, and the door was cracked up for a Sooners’ comeback.
Oklahoma made it 21-16 deficit on Michael Hawkins Jr.’s 60-yard touchdown to J.J. Hester set up a Javontae Barnes touchdown. The two-point try failed and the Sooners seemed to be running out of luck when Auburn approached field goal range with the clock winding down in the fourth quarter.
But then turnovers – a problem for the Tigers this season – raised their ugly head again. Kip Lewis stepped in front of a Payton Thorne pass and ran it back 63 yards for a touchdown
“This one stings for sure,” Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said. “I’ve got to help my team get over the edge when you have a chance to win a game like that.”
With the loss, the Tigers come to Athens with a 2-3 overall record and 0-2 in the SEC. They have lost 16 of their last 19 games to Georgia, including seven in a row.
Tale of two Becks
After watching the performance of Georgia quarterback Carson Beck Saturday, perhaps the Bulldogs should consider becoming one of those four-down offensive teams that “goes for it” every time.
Playing with an edge of desperation in the second half, Georgia went 5-for-5 on fourth-down conversions. Meanwhile, after throwing for just 100 yards on 8-of-17 passing in the first half, the Bulldogs’ fifth-year senior piled up 339 yards and 3 touchdowns in the second half.
“We got to the point where we had to be aggressive and go fast, which opened some things up,” Smart said. “I was really proud of the way he played. One of the interceptions was not his fault. He did what he was supposed to do.”
Beck threw three interceptions and also had a costly fumble as the Bulldogs mounted their comeback.
Said Beck: “There were a few big plays where it’s like, ‘dang!’ But, you know, you can’t sit there and hang your head. When that does happen, we have to learn, respond and execute. It is what it is.”
Mykel Williams makes appearance
Georgia’s star defensive end Mykel Williams started Saturday’s game against Alabama, but he didn’t hang around long.
The 6-foot-5, 265-pound junior from Columbus did not record a stat against the Crimson Tide and spent most of the night on the sideline watching Milroe run up and down the field. Williams suffered a sprained ankle early in the season opener against Clemson and has been sidelined ever since.
Smart said Williams not playing was not from a lack of trying.
“He was pulling for the guys on the sideline,” Smart said. “He didn’t have to do what he did to try to get out there and play. He cares about this team, and he then he’s a warrior. I mean, I love the guy, because he’s like, ‘coach, I’m going, I’m going.’ And at halftime he was still, ‘I’m going.’ He wants to win. So, it’s just a great character reference for him.”
Defensive reset
Georgia entered the Alabama game third in the nation in scoring defense at 6.0 points per game allowed after yielding just six field goals in three games. It was the only FBS team not to allow a touchdown.
Alabama not only wasted no time getting into the end zone, it scored touchdowns on its first four drives and five of its first six.
While all of the Bulldogs’ goals and objectives remain in front of them, this year’s defense does not resemble to ones that helped them win championships in 2021 and ‘22.
After the Tide rolled up 547 total yards and 173 rushing, the Bulldogs are allowing 14.8 points, 288.3 total yards and 126.3 yards per game rushing.
“You got to get stops, you know what I mean?” Smart said, “Play-by-play, you got to do a better job. You got to settle down, you got to communicate well.”
Georgia’s defensive breakdown on the first series is an illustration of how close it is to being elite. Alabama faced third-and-7 at its own 33 on the opening drive and was going to have to punt when Milroe threw an incompletion on a quick-out left. Trouble was, Jalon Walker jumped offsides on the play. So, third-and-7 became third-and-two. Alabama converted the first down and ran five more plays on the way to a 70-yard scoring drive.
“We worked all week on not jumping offsides on third down, because they go fast and hard-count,” Smart said. “They’re deadly in 3rd and 2. … It was a tough sledding for sure, but I give them a lot of credit.”
DeBoer’s debut
Saturday’s win meant a successful SEC debut for Alabama’s first-year coach Kalen DeBoer. The hope for the Bulldogs and Smart was that Nick Saban’s retirement would mean a reversal of fortune in their series against the Crimson Tide.
Instead, Smart falls to 1-6 against the program for which he worked for nine years before coming to Georgia.
“I don’t know, what’s everybody else’s record against them?” Smart bristled. “Has anybody got one better than 1-and-6 that’s played them that many times? I don’t think so. They’ve got really good players; they’ve got a great program. … It’s a tough battle.”
Streaks snapped
Georgia saw its regular season winning streak end at 42 games. Before Saturday, Georgia’s last regular season loss came to Florida in Jacksonville on Nov. 7, 2020. Georgia now is 49-3 in its last 52 games.
The loss also ended a school-record streak of consecutive SEC regular season victories at 28. It was the first regular-season loss for the Bulldogs’ 2024 senior class as they are now 45-3 overall and 39-1 in the regular season.
The Bulldogs had won 16 straight games in an opponent’s home stadium, the last loss coming to Alabama in 2020.
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