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Missed opportunities ruin Georgia's comeback attempt

H. Reno Talon Card (1) (1)by: Harrison Reno09/28/25HarrisonReno
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Photo by Kathryn Skeean/UGASports.

With Saturday’s loss, Georgia is 1-7 against Alabama under Kirby Smart. Yet, despite what that record may indicate, these matchups come down to just a few plays.

Saturday was no different. Georgia was essentially a Nate Frazier fumble, a dropped potential touchdown pass, and a fourth-down conversion attempt away. Frazier’s second-quarter fumble ended up being the difference, as Alabama capitalized on it with a field goal. It is the dropped pass in the third quarter that may have been the turning point.

Following two straight scoreless drives for Alabama, thanks to a missed field goal and a turnover on downs, Georgia had a short field and momentum. That’s when they dialed up a shot play on second down, as freshman receiver Talyn Taylor found himself open in the middle of the field just yards away from the endzone.

The pass from Gunner Stockton hit Taylor in the hands; however, much like the story was last season, what would have been a touchdown turned into a momentum-swinging drop.

“Man, we picked him up as soon as that happened,” Colbie Young said of Taylor’s drop. “I told him there’s a lot of football left in this year. It’s gonna happen, you know? I made drops plenty of times. He just has to keep his head up. He’s young, and he’s gonna develop better. He’s a great player, and I’m excited to see him work.”

Taylor’s drop will likely go down as the biggest “what-if” moment from Saturday. Yet, it wasn’t the last missed opportunity.

Following a three-and-out for Alabama, Georgia’s offense quickly found momentum again, reaching Alabama’s 27-yard line in just three plays as Stockton picked up 21 yards with his legs. Three plays later, they were knocking on the door of the endzone, reaching the Alabama 10-yard line.

However, that is where the drive stalled. Trailing by three in the fourth quarter, with a defense that was pitching a second-half shutout, Georgia used tempo following a third-down run from Stockton, a tactic the Bulldogs had employed before with success.

This time was different. A handoff to Cash Jones was sniffed out by Alabama for a three-yard loss and turnover on downs.

“We run it earlier in the night and went for a conversion. And we missed a block that we gotta make,” Smart said. “And when they ran through, we made a move like I do that 10 out of 10 times in terms of going for it. The decision is whether you go for it with tempo or not. And we felt like tempo had been really good for us throughout the year.”

That was just on the offensive side. Defensively, Georgia had plenty of issues as well. Missed tackles were once again an issue at times, while KJ Bolden nearly had an early interception.

Yet, third down proved to be the biggest issue. Even with Georgia bringing pressure, Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson finished 8-13 for 92 yards and a touchdown on third down, helping the Crimson Tide finish 13 of 19 on the money down.

“Well, you gotta affect the quarterback. You gotta do a better job affecting the quarterback,” Smart said. “I mean, we’ve got more packages than the man in the moon to affect the quarterback, but we gotta do it. We gotta do it, and we gotta go out there and execute, be able to do it.”

Although the final stat may not reflect it, Georgia’s defense did peform better in the second half after an opening 30 minutes where they couldn’t get off the field consistently.

Although even after a night where his offense mustered just 130 yards through the air, while rushing for 227, Smart brought it all back to his defense.

“We know what our identity is, we know who we are. The problem is to do that, you gotta play better defensively,” Smart said. “And to be hard enough to run a team, physical, grind it out, and be able to get some shots, I mean, we get some shots, we didn’t make all our shots. But it’s hard to play from behind all the time.”