The Georgia Bulldogs needed some momentum. With the SEC championship game tied at 13 and only 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart decided to roll the dice. Smart called a fake punt, which resulted in a critical first down for the Bulldogs.
Georgia offensive lineman Drew Bobo completed a nine yard touch pass to wide receiver Arian Smith on fourth and five from Georgia’s own 30 yard line. Georgia went on to kick a field goal on the drive, which gave UGA a 16-13 lead.
“Yeah, I got some history of fake punts in that building,” said Smart, who stopped a successful Ohio State fake punt in the 2022 College Football Playoff semifinals with a perfectly timed timeout. Smart also had a failed fake punt attempt with Justin Fields in the Bulldogs’ 2018 SEC championship loss to Alabama.
“The biggest risk of snapping it to Drew Bobo, he had to catch it and toss it, so he’ll go down in history with a higher passing percentage than his father (former Georgia quarterback Mike Bobo),” Smart said. “I had one for one, so he should be 1,000%.”
There’s no doubt that Georgia’s fake punt is a massive reason why the Bulldogs went on to win the 2024 SEC championship over the Texas Longhorns.
“So it gave us a field goal, gave us a little momentum, a little juice,” continued Smart. “And we had lost a little momentum at that point. I think that was after they scored the touchdown. Look, it’s a lot easier to call it when you think you’re gonna be in the playoffs either way.”
According to ESPN, Georgia’s successful fake punt gave the Bulldogs a 2.2% higher chance to win. Of course, if the fake punt failed, then it would have been devastating for Georgia’s hopes of knocking off Texas.