Alabama remains Kirby Smart’s unsolvable riddle. Even on a night when he dialed up masterful adjustments, Georgia once again stumbled headlong into the same familiar Tide trap.
The No. 5 Bulldogs’ 24-21 loss Saturday night in Athens was all too familiar for the coach who continues to stumble whenever he tries to outrun the Alabama tidal wave. Smart’s 55-2 record against everyone else over the last five years is staggering, but the 1-4 mark against Alabama — now featuring back-to-back losses to Kalen DeBoer — is the stat that defines him.
And yet, Smart and defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann made tremendous adjustments at halftime after falling behind 24-14. The Bulldogs held No. 17 Alabama scoreless in the second half and limited the Tide to 135 yards and only 2.7 yards per rush in the final two frames after giving up 262 yards and eight third-down conversions in the first half.
And Georgia still lost — and watched its 33-game home winning streak melt away.
Smart also couldn’t overcome his own missteps with a series of head-scratching play calls on offense and a defensive front that failed to generate push.
Even if coordinator Mike Bobo made the decisions to lean on running back Cash Jones in two crucial fourth-quarter situations, Smart owns this one. The calls were costly. Jones was thrown into the fire twice and burned both times — stuffed for a three-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 at Alabama’s 8, then dragged down for a four-yard loss on third-and-9 near midfield.
The most maddening moment? Georgia passed up a chip-shot field goal that would have tied the game with 13:20 left. Instead, Smart rolled the dice behind two freshman blockers, and Alabama’s LT Overton buried Jones for a turnover on downs.
Four games into the season, Georgia’s defense looks unable to replicate the elite dominance of the early 2020s — and it might even be worse than last year’s unit that frustrated fans.
The defensive front is a shell of its old self, often shoved backward in the run game or drifting upfield on pass plays. The Dawg Pound is far from the menace that once defined Smart’s dynasty.
The Bulldogs entered Saturday dead last in the SEC in tackles for loss, averaging just 4.7 per game. They managed only four against the Tide. They also sacked Ty Simpson only once, cementing their spot as the league’s second-worst pass-rushing defense at 1.7 sacks per game. Junior Jordan Hall was the lone lineman to record a stop behind the line. Georgia’s defensive front has just four TFLs through four games.
Georgia should be better in the trenches.
Credit Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb for out-scheming Smart and Schumann early. The Tide piled up yards with a handful of big plays and were methodical with extended drives, scoring on back-to-back 14-play possessions while converting eight third downs to open a 14-0 lead.
How bad was it? Georgia hadn’t allowed more than three drives of 14-plus plays in an entire season since 2018.
And yet, there were glimpses of promise. Alabama managed only 60 yards in the third quarter. In the fourth, the Tide produced 75 yards — just enough to ice the game — aided by Ellis Robinson IV’s unsportsmanlike penalty for jumping on top of the pile after a third-and-1 conversion with 2:27 left.
Georgia lost three games last season because of its inability to run the football, finishing 102nd nationally in rushing and out-gained on the ground in each defeat. That problem seemed corrected this year, with the Bulldogs ranking in the top 30 and out-rushing Alabama 227-130 on Saturday.
The new, glaring weakness is undeniable: Georgia no longer owns the trenches. What used to be Smart’s crown jewel is now his biggest liability.
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