After facing weeks of firing alerts, Kalen DeBoer needed this win against Georgia more than anyone. After taking a massive hit from FSU in their season opener, this 24-21 victory proved their dominance. Look, after winning 6 national championships under Nick Saban, a defeat that would have dropped them to a 2-2 SEC record since 2003 is not something fans would have wanted. All thanks to Kirby Smart‘s defense, the rookie mistakes that turned in Bama’s favor. But Smart could get in peace with teams falling even after they stepped up in the second half. Looks like he’s not ready to accept his mistakes.

For Georgia, running the ball was a major issue, as they rolled up 104 yards on 17 carries against Bama. And Kalen DeBoer’s team stood tall from the start, opening with back-to-back 14-play drives where they also converted 7/7 3rd downs and jumped to a 14-point lead. Sure, Georgia showed up in the second half, scoring 7 points against Bama in the 3rd quarter and finishing with 227 rushing yards, but ended up messing it all up just because of Nate Frazier‘s fumble, resulting in Alabama’s field goal. And Coach Smart isn’t liking it at all. “It’s really frustrating because we showed we can in the second half,” he said postgame.

Now, what turned their fate late in the second half was Kirby Smart’s decision not to try a field goal inside their own red zone but to attempt a fourth-down conversion, which ultimately failed as linebacker LT Overton stopped the Dawgs and ended their only chance to have a game-tying field goal. Despite that inconsistency, Smart’s pretty firm in his decision, as postgame he made it pretty loud and clear: “I’d do it 10 out of 10 times. The decision is whether you go tempo or not.”

And Kirby Smart didn’t just stop at that; he further added, “We were third and fourth, and we had decided if we had gained anything, we were going for it. And that play had been really successful for us; we missed a block that you gotta make.” Look, even if Kirby Smart’s not ready to accept his mistake, this decision turned really ugly for them, as it dropped a chance to make a wide-open TD, which was a problem for them getting off the field on third down against Bama. With that loss, Georgia’s playoff chances fell from 77% to 56%.

It keeps getting worse as this loss triggers a massive record for Alabama, as it marks their 10th win against Georgia in their 11 meetings, and also ends their 33-game home winning streak. On top of that, the Bulldogs drop to 1-7 against the Tide under Kirby Smart, which is worse than anything. With that, Georgia’s unbeaten record is now at 3-1 and 1-1 in the SEC.

But even with the loss, their run game was firing on all cylinders, as Kirby Smart’s RB Chauney Bowens had a spectacular first half where he ran for 90 yards with a touchdown that helped keep Georgia in the game. And they recorded over 200 yards against Alabama. Yet they couldn’t win as the defense held their run in the game.

Kirby Smart’s defensive concerns

After going up against top opponents, it’s pretty clear that Kirby Smart’s defense lacks momentum. And it was evident in the first half when their secondary allowed nearly 200 yards through the air, and the worst part? By the end, they had allowed almost 400 total yards. Then, getting a consistent pass rush was a major issue for the Bulldogs, and they even failed to put constant pressure on Ty Simpson.

Then comes in the biggest issue: that Kirby Smart’s team couldn’t stop Bama’s third-down completions, as they ended up completing 13 out of 18 third-down attempts, and that’s a massive number. And their penalties also added to it, as they gave up 51 yards alone through them. Despite getting plenty of chances, they couldn’t make an impact.

Bama was held to just 135 yards and 2.7 yards per rush in the final two quarters after giving up 262 yards and eight third-down conversions in the first half. But Georgia’s defensive inconsistency and play calls made it tough for them to generate a push. Now, let’s wait and see how they hold up their game against Kentucky next week.