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Joel Klatt reacts to controversial 4th down decision from Kirby Smart, Georgia vs. Alabama

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs5 hours agogrant_grubbs_
Kirby Smart, Georgia
Sep 27, 2025; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart leaves the field after the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

With 13:25 remaining in the fourth quarter and trailing 24-21, Georgia went for a fourth-and-1 on Alabama‘s 8-yard line instead of kicking a field goal to tie the game. The risky move ultimately proved deadly for the Bulldogs, who didn’t score again and fell 24-21 to the Crimson Tide on Saturday.

Naturally, many fans criticized Georgia head coach Kirby Smart‘s decision to go for it. On Monday, FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt weighed in on the controversial play call.

“I don’t hate the fact that he went for it on fourth down. I really don’t,” Klatt said. “Would I have kicked the field goal? Probably. But, that doesn’t mean that it’s like, ‘Oh, this is right. That’s wrong.’ I’m fine going for it on fourth down. I really am. What I didn’t love is the call.

“The play called on fourth down was bad. It was just bad… You can’t give it to Cash [Jones] over the right side, behind two true freshman tackles with tempo. That can’t be. Cash had two carries for -7 yards. You had all those other guys. They ran the football so well, dominated on the ground. Dominated… How does that guy get the ball in that moment on that carry?”

As Klatt mentioned, Georgia had plenty of success in the ground game against Alabama. In total, the Bulldogs amassed 227 rushing yards in the loss.

Chauncey Bowens, alone, tallied 119 rushing yards and touchdown for the Bulldogs. He averaged 9.9 rushing yards per carry. Alas, Georgia instead fed senior Cash Jones the ball on a read option.

Jones only had recorded one carry in the game prior to the fourth-and-1. After the game, Kirby Smart pulled back the curtain on the widely-discussed play call.

“We were third-and-4, I think. We had decided previous to that if we gained anything, we were going for it,” Smart said. “We were going to probably kick the field goal if we didn’t get anything. There’s a thing called sequencing where you sequence plays to try to set up and know that you’re going to go for it. We felt we were going to go for it if we got anything, and we did.

“We got it down to fourth-and-1, and that play has been really successful for us. I think we hit Tennessee on it three times for a conversion. We’d run it earlier in the night and run it for a conversion. We missed a block that we got to make and they ran through and made a great play to stop it. But I’d do that 10 out of 10 times in terms of going for it.”