The Bulldogs were swept over by a Crimson wave on 29th September. With a score of 41-34, Georgia struggled quite a bit and even with the expertise of Kirby Smart, couldn’t manage to upstage their arch-rivals despite the lack of Nick Saban on the field. Kirby Smart, the HC for the Bulldogs, was likely going to become the new king of the SEC Conference from this season onwards due to the retirement of Nick Saban. But the loss against Alabama only proved that it might not have been the former coach that was his rival, it was the team itself. After incurring such a heavy loss and lagging 21 points behind in the first half, Smart admitted to the lack of proper strategies within the team and took it all on his chin, something which is being praised by the Georgia fans.

On the 1st October episode of the ‘UGA Football on Dawg Post’, host Dean Legge dove deep into the post-game interview of Smart and what he had to say regarding the disastrous performance of the team. Additionally, Legge praised the HC for his ability to be accountable and willingly fix the flaws within the framework of the roster.

Legge was heard saying, “My view of the world is Georgia’s coaches have got to do a better job of connecting with this team on a basis that gets him a punch coming right out of the gate. I don’t expect this to happen for a long time but I’m glad to see Kirby take some accountability for what happened the other day because they did not do a good job as a coaching staff at the beginning of that game.”

Furthermore, even with such accountability on the table, the Bulldogs need to go back to the drawing board and figure out their plans ahead of the game against the Auburn Tigers. With that being said, here’s a look at what evaluation Smart had to make about the team after incurring the loss against Alabama.

Kirby Smart addressed the real issues within the team

Even with Saban gone, the might of the Crimson Tide continues to demolish the Bulldogs. Now, this is their 6th loss at the hands of Alabama. If the Bulldogs don’t come up with a win soon, the iconic rivalry will truly become one-sided and all the heat will befall Smart’s shoulders. Even the Georgia QB Carson Beck, who’s been touted as one of the top picks for the 2025 NFL Draft, could not overturn the results and failed to make clear-cut touchdown passes.

After carefully analyzing the team’s performance, Smart addressed the issues at the press conference and said, “We can’t turn the ball over and win games. I mean, we know that. We’ve been one of the few teams that hasn’t done that. But we flirted with it, and we had several times tonight that we turned it over. And we were more explosive, but so were they. And they’re an extremely explosive team. I mean, they’re going be explosive all year. They have explosive playmakers. But I know the team I’ve got in that room. I didn’t learn anything tonight that I didn’t already know because they’re fighters.” 

Thus, the Bulldogs will need to come back stronger and better and will need to pack a louder bark if they wish to retain their reputation as one of the elite teams in the SEC Conference.