After a strong first half, Georgia just absolutely fell apart in the second. The Bulldogs fell flat on their face and lost 41-24, but it felt a lot worse.
Stetson Bennett, as it turns out, is not the answer – he threw three interceptions on the night. It’s safe to say the Mailman did not deliver.
As for our defense, who I’ve also claimed to be the nation’s best, they looked terribly lost out there going up against Bama’s lightning fast receivers. Normally I’d say Georgia may be able to fix defensive issues if these two teams meet again in Atlanta, but you can’t teach speed. And Bama has speed that Georgia does not.
Our running backs played well, though. It’s just too bad that we barely gave it to them. Georgia decided to let Bennett, who was once a fifth stringer, throw the ball 40 times, while only letting our running backs combine for 23 carries. How does that make sense?
We saw a lot of true freshman Jermaine Burton tonight. He had 4 catches for 58 yards and a touchdown. Good numbers, but he also struggled with dropped passes, including one in the end zone. We saw James Cook get used in the passing game. That was nice. But again, where is George Pickens? Pickens should not be Bennett’s third favorite target behind Kearis Jackson and Burton. How does that make sense either?
Kirby Smart, we love you as a recruiter. But I just don’t think you’re there as a coach. Sure, maybe there were not any huge head scratching decisions like a fake punt in your own territory in the 4th quarter, but you were just terribly out-coached tonight. And the fact that you let our quarterback situation get this bad is solely on you.
But, it would not be fair to forget to mention the officiating tonight. I don’t want to spend too much time on this, because it probably would not have made a massive difference in the end, but this has to stop. How long are we going to let Alabama get away with every call? The one play I’m going to focus on is this third down pass interference called on Georgia in the end zone. This drive comes after Alabama intercepted Bennett on the other side of the field. The play before the pick? Pickens was being mugged the whole way down the sideline and there was no call. So, refs miss a PI on Alabama, and then call a bogus one on Georgia on third down. In the end zone.
A tough PI call goes against Georgia on 3rd down and Alabama turns a likely field goal attempt into a touchdown #UGAvsALA pic.twitter.com/2QKyZUxvIy
— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) October 18, 2020
And there’s one more thing I want to add. If you’re a Georgia fan who does not find it necessary to praise each player on the team regardless of how poorly they play, I don’t judge you. It’s time we stop giving out false praise to players who are not doing their part. And it’s time we stop getting mad at each other for speaking the truth.
Kirby’s had a blowout loss to an SEC West team in each of his five years in Athens now, and I’m tired of it.
If there’s one thing we learned from tonight, it’s that Bennett is not the answer, and I don’t think that Georgia can beat Alabama the second time around, if there is one.
This was a really poor display of Georgia football.