A stat that is as astounding as it is frustrating:
The programs are on essentially equal footing, with one key exception: Alabama’s experience. Bottom line, that’s been the difference, twice now.
And before you tell me that’s BS, that Kirby’s been there plenty of times and knows what it takes, blah, blah, blah, I’ll tell you if there’s one thing I bet this staff never game planned for coming in was holding a two-touchdown lead deep into the third quarter. Hell, it’s alien territory.
There is sadness in the loss — especially the way the Dawgs lost — but there should be no shame. The first way you close the gap with the best program in college football is by matching them on the recruiting trail. The second way is with player development that’s just as good. Smart’s checked both those boxes. What’s left is translating that into playing the better game for a full sixty minutes. If Georgia chops long enough, it’ll get there, too.
Get The Picture 
Fuck it, sugar is falling from the sky…
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Agree with everything you said….but still hurting, that 4th and 11 decision still is working on me. What has made it worse other than the obvious fake (Fields coming in)….is that I read today that Saban said they were in “punt safe” mode. We should have caught it and changed the call imo, thinks the stubbornness of Kirby won out…
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I am proud as hell of this team! They stood toe to toe with the one of the best teams in the nation and gave’em hell. We are the youngest SEC team in terms of starters and we are only going to get better. Kirby only needs one more top 5 recruiting class to have the depth we need to beat Bama next year in the SECCG.Go Dawgs!
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All the 5-stars and depth make no difference until Kirby learns how to be an “in-game” coach.
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Amen
I believe the hardest thing to do in athletics, and to learn how to do, is snatch momentum back. There is no easy formula.
Would an offensive play been better than the fake, who knows. Probably would have been better odds, but who knows.
One thing for very, very near certain. Next years team will be better. Very young team with patchwork OL and still one of top teams in the country.
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Well, it’s really, really hard to stem the tide against Alabama when you know that they aren’t going to be called for holding or DPI. It allows them to be super aggressive.
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^^^This^^^
As long as they’re allowed to play like they were allowed to play last night, they may never lose again. (I didn’t know that “hugging” is now allowed on the LoS.) And when Hurts came in and started scrambling, that holding/hugging got even worse. I knew we had no chance at that time. The fake punt call was a headscratcher, no doubt… and I didn’t understand the use of Fields when Jake was clearly having a career day… but there is no doubt in my mind, those Refs were not gonna let Bama lose that game if they could help it. It was ridiculous, the no calls they were getting (fasemask, holding, DPI).
Proud of our team… they played one hell of a game… but, I swear, I think their fate was sealed before they ever took the field.
And that’s just sad… real f**king sad…
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The refs are human just like everyone else. They are subject to the “Saban is king” mentality too.
It’s not that Bama never gets penalized, it’s that they never get penalized when the game is in question
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I didn’t like the calls either…I know being a ref has some pressure to get it right but being a coach has pressure,too…if we get first downs in the fourth quarter,these posts would not be here today…
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Senator, I agree. The program has come a long way in the last 2 years. It is so hard to lose back to back to Bama in games that we controlled and dictated until late in the 4th quarter.
I believe that we are not at our peak but are putting everything in place to be a top 2-3 team every year. I am especially pleased with how our young people especially QB and OL played last night and what that bodes for the future.
I doubt we get in the playoff today but going to the Sugar Bowl and playing Texas is at least to me a good end to a great albeit sort of disappointing season.
Go Dawgs!
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I totally agree with this post…the been there done that experience is the last hurdle…we are even with them now…. just have to crack the 4 the fourth quarter code…I told my 17 yr old son who was struggling with our three letting bama of the mat champ games that he might be disappointed but Kirby feels worse (and yes I get it that he makes tons of $ but he is worth every penny.). I really trust him to get us over the hump.
Three years ago we won 10 games in the sloppiest fashion ever and was so little thought of that we were not in the top 25…now we are at the point were we can lose the sec c and still have serious vocal support (pod person) for staying top 4….no tactical decision (fake punt) no matter how bad it backfires is going to change how I feel about what Kirby has done…I want the next dynasty not the inconsistent Auburn like peaks and valleys…
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The 4th quarter code is that what WE DO with a lead–note, this is KS’s leadership, not Chaney’s supposed malpractice– is that we run the ball and milk the clock and get some long drives and points to put the game away.
This strategy does not work against Alabama. We have seen two years in a row now that you can’t run on them consistently enough when they know you’re going to try to be able to sustain anything. You’ll get no points, not hold the ball long enough, and probably face a comeback.
The whole year our team has played this way, with running the ball down people’s throats after taking a multiple-score lead in the second half, and it has worked.
But it doesn’t work against Alabama.
Kirby either has to make it so that what he wants to do is infallible or he has to change the strategy just for Alabama. He’s pretty bullheaded, so I expect him to try to do the former.
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What frustrates me is I think it could have worked with a fully-healthy OLine this year. Mays and Cleveland are big, strong, and mean, and neither was there.
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Maybe, but it’s on the coaching staff to find a balance between what the players can do and what the staff wants to do.
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Proud of the team, really proud. But still pissed at Kirby for fourth and dumb. Not sure how long it will take to get over that. No guarantee that we win the game with the punt I know but giving them a short field makes no sense at all.
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All those UGA freshmen and sophomores got razor-thin close to beating one of the best Bama teams of all time. Yeah, better days are ahead.
And about the fake punt – Lots of folks are railing against the call but I think Kirby’s answer about this is plausible … They knew Bama was in punt safe, which is why they called it. Problem was the snap took too long … an extra 3 seconds allowed some of the Tide players to recognize the uncovered receiver and rendered the play meaningless once the snap happened. Execution did not happen … Fields was supposed to throw it but couldn’t. Team game … Team (lack of) execution … Team loss.
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Maybe Fields should have called the timeout and Kirby is covering for him?
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Doesn’t matter, someone should have and KS was that man since Fields didn’t. You are going to entrust a true freshman, in that incredible situation, with everything riding, to have complete control of the throttle when you had eyes on and an opportunity to save the entire season for over 100 of your players? He may be covering for Justin, but only because he didn’t save him in a bigger way.
1st of all, it was reckless to put that many chips (all of them) on the success of one, do or die, play when a far less risky option was available (punting/OT). Great intention, would have been legendary had it worked, but the risk/reward analysis was flawed given the down and distance and the field position.
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I agree, Senator. Now, the cascade of “yeah, but” from anyone who can’t have their self worth diminished by a football game.
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I have now fully realized what Buffalo Bills fans went through in the 90’s
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Watch Madden and Marv Hubbard after losing to the Steelers.
https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/225462
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Huge Raiders fan growing up. Watched them lose the 68,69,70,73,74, & 75 AFL/AFC Championship games before finally winning it all in 76. Lost again in 77. Really hope I don’t have to go thru as many heartbtreaks with the Dawgs before breaking thru.
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The programs are essentially the same with one exception: the refs call everything for Bama. I thought the Dawgs outplayed Bama the whole game—certainly out-physicaled them. But call after call (or no-call as the case may be) went Bama’s way. And I am beginning to hate video review. That is what the SEC is using to ensure the team it wants to win wins.
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Like most opinions, mine stinks just as much. I think the game was lost during the season when CKS called off the Dogs in the third and fourth quarters when he sent in the 61-110 players rather than keeping the first 60 playing full blast until 5-10 minutes were left in the game. Let the first line get the taste of a kill. Let Fields and the next QB up run real plays, not just hand off to Prather Hudson. Let the defenders get in more practice against someone other than the scout team. And, yes, I can get caught in a first liner getting injured but playing a full game counts too.
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Totally agree. This offense is not really used to playing in high gear for a full 60 minutes, and when called upon to do so, can’t throw the switch. Once you have established throughout the season the rhythm of shutting it down early in the second half, it’s unrealistic to expect anything else.
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AMEN
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Yes. And i think the strategy of trying to mash and run clock does not work against Alabama (per my above post), Foot must stay on gas against them. Get it through yer skull, Kirbz.
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This loss to me, wasn’t near the devastation I felt after the NCG. We played really well (until) and we were nailing AL! That right there healed my wounds from eleven months ago. We are the youngest team in the SEC and I’m proud of them. I do have issues with Kirby, but I’m not letting that get in the way of how proud I am of our Dawgs! Next year should be awesome now that these Freshman have gotten their feet wet. GO DAWGS!
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If we could just play in a clean game, we’d be 2-0.
Beating the best team in college football AND their refs is too much for anyone.
The more I think about the fake punt, as dumb as it was, I wonder if it was colored by the fact that we knew we were up against the guys in stripes too.
I’ve got:
The horrible PI call on 27.
The no call when 2 was hit out of bounds
The hit to the head/face mask combo no call
The no call on the 66 holding 5 on the Hurts td throw.
Any more?
The no call on the hit yo Jake is more frustrating when you remember what reversed a fumble recovery against those guys in 2008 when the score was still 0-0. Our guy grazed their qb’s face mask and they got 15 yards and the ball back.
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Last play of the 3rd quarter, Ledbetter was breaking free on Tua up the middle and got absolutely mauled, in an open area. That and the stupid PI call against Stokes had me convinced we were doomed, then add the late hit out of bounds no-call. I wanted to leave the SEC and get away from the absurdity of it all.
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Mental block for the team and the program. Now it’s pretty much an entrenched narrative from a national perspective: Georgia can’t beat Alabama. It might have them down, but can’t put them away. Richt never really recovered from the 2012 SECCG. Let’s see how Kirby can handle two soul-crushing losses to the Tide in less than a calendar year. Some wounds take a long time to heal.
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As fans it’s fine for us to feel that way. But I sure hope Kirby and the players don’t just resign themselves to thinking they can’t beat Alabama.
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I don’t think they feel that way at all. They went head to head, step for step in both games, and won both everywhere but on the scoreboard. Say what you want that the official score is all that matters, that isn’t all that matters mentally. They would show up again next week and stand tall if they had the chance. Totally convinced of that.
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When Rodrigo missed the chippy field goal I said “oh no”. It seems to me the team did as well. They dominated that game up until that missed field goal. If he makes it a 3 score game the Dawgs don’t look back imo. It gave Bama hope and gave us doubt. I’m still incredibly proud of the Dawgs and look forward to a rematch next year. Since I’m now dead inside I know it won’t hurt as much if we were to lose again. Right?
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Agree, that missed kick lifted Bama and their fans. Two score game gives hope, 3 score game is a tough mountain to climb with that amount of time remaining and the way we had played them on defense.
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I’m still astounded at the idiocy of the fake punt call. Even if had worked, it was the wrong call in the circumstances especially once Bama was clearly in their punt safe look. Punt the damn ball and play defense. 80-99 yards to defend rather than 50 with less than 2 minutes is a hell of a lot easier than 50 when a field goal wins the game.
Other than that, the team left it all out there. I can’t ask for more. It beats the hell out of walking out of the stadium at the beginning of the 3rd quarter as I did in the rain in 2015.
We got after their asses. Probably no one Clemson included is going to be able to stay within a score of Bama.
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One of the things I don’t get is : Kirby said we had a guy initially uncovered but took too long to snap the ball and gave Bama time to get a guy on the uncovered receiver. TV copy doesn’t confirm that. I didn’t notice it live but curious if anyone on here was at the game and saw an uncovered guy to back up Kirbys statement.
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I don’t have the stomach to rewatch it. I deleted the game as soon as the game ended.
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If Kirby’s public statements about the two 4th-and-notSmart decisions in our two losses continue to defend the indefensible, that may hint at the ceiling on his tenure at UGA. Against the few teams he faces with comparable talent, Kirby’s decisionmaking will lead to losses. While a public mea culpa would demonstrate a high degree of humility and accountability- and help fans move past these stumbles – ultimately he needs at least to simply learn a lesson and make better decisions in the future. Special teams – outside of Rodrigo’s excellence – CLEARLY rates more attention from the staff. Whether it’s Fountain or a product of roster youth, it KILLED us last night – from coverage to inexplicable confusion about handling pooch kicks.
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“what may hint at the ceiling on his tenure at UGA.”
I have a hint for you.
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This stat legit makes me want to punch a kitten.
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What bothered me the most was that, like in the NCG we played the final 20 minutes not to lose instead of to win with our offensive play calling.
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Rational me will agree with everything you said. Angry, bitter, ref-hating, WTF-was-he-thinking-me is tired of the narrative of we’re almost there. As a kid I could never understand why Charlie Brown kept trying to kick that f-ing football. And now as an (alleged) adult I’m here kicking away. All the heartbreaks I’ve set myself up for makes me think how improbable it was they Braves actually won a World Series. Excuse me while I go kick the sh*t out of rational me who’s trying to tell me to keep chopping. The tree is down and it fell on my house.
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The Braves won the WS the same day I watched Spurrier run the score up on us in Sanford Stadium.
I went to bed pissed.
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Yep, couldn’t even enjoy the WS without a dose of shit-infused humble pie.
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As a Pac 12 fan, officiating sucks all over. Bama, is like the old Bulls, they get the calls. Officiating just sucks all over. Also, go to neutral officials for all championship games.
Recruiting is the key and to recruit against Bama, one has to play on the same level. Not only give the staff, total control of everything, a la Saban, but also match them on under the table and bagmen. The NCAA is not going to touch Bama, so go and match them administration wise.
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When was the last time you can be disappointed about going to sugar bowl? We went so many years in the wasteland of 8 and 4 9 and 3. Seasons. It feels dam good to be in the hunt every year.
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