10 Thoughts From A Terrible, No-Good Day In Athens

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To quote the great philosopher Macho Man Randy Savage, Georgia finds itself today “unjustifiably in the position it’d rather not be in.” Now, after Saturday’s shocking loss to Auburn, the only thing left to do is bounce back and try and become the SEC’s Cream of the Crop once again.

Here are ten thoughts from a sour afternoon in Athens.

1. Losing to a rival stings. This one stings worse if you live in places like Columbus, Newnan or Macon since odds are very good that you will have to show yourself to Auburn fans in the morning…if not sooner. But beyond the rivalry aspect of things, how much does this loss really matter? Georgia can win out and likely still play for the SEC title. It can even lose one more time and still make the CFP. Does that sound defeatist to say after losing to a hated rival? Oh yes. But you can thank the current college football postseason structure for all of that. 

2. Does this team all of a sudden ball security problem? Not to look back again to last week, but Georgia went through a lot of near-disasters against Alabama with plays that could have easily been game-changing turnovers. But playing with fire can eventually get you torched, and that’s what happened to the Bulldogs with Saturday’s three turnovers.

3. One of the worst things about this loss for Georgia is that it almost, as Larry Munson would say, ‘saved its whatchamacallits!“ After getting a late-game defensive stop, you could almost picture, at the least, Peyton Woodring getting in position for a game-winning field goal, if not taking the game to overtime. And with how Georgia was moving the ball late, you had to really like Georgia’s momentum. All of that, of course, was undone with Gunner Stockon’s ill-timed fumble.

4. If you were a Georgia fan in the 1990s, Saturday should not be terribly unfamiliar. No, nobody expected this way the way a No. 1 team in the country would lose. But how many times between Georgia and Auburn did bizarre things happen? Even on Saturday, the Bulldogs’ gave up a touchdown with two defenders colliding on a trick play. When you have something happen like that, you do wonder if maybe it’ll be ‘one of those days.’ It was. 

5. Georgia has had these types of games before under Kirby Smart – against teams you felt like coming in should be a rollover win on paper. South Carolina, Mizzou, Kentucky and even Nichols State. The difference? This time Georgia stepped on its hand way, way too many times. It does not matter what level of football you are playing. You cannot extend opposing drives with undisciplined penalties. You cannot be minus-three in the turnover margin. Auburn deserves a lot of credit, but it sure got lots of help from Georgia. 

6. It was not just Georgia having problems on Saturday. Alabama also had a faceplant. Same for the national champs in their own mind at UT- Austin. Nobody outside the SEC will take this seriously, but it speaks to the fact that on any Saturday in this conference, an unexpected rock fight can happen, and sometimes those bruises are a lot more than just a slight flesh wound. 

7. Gunner Stockton was obviously not himself against Auburn. He was not hurt bad enough on Georgia’s opening offensive play to leave the game, and he was very good on Georgia’s next-to-last possession. There’s a reason why he was never pulled despite not playing his best, and without Stockton, Georgia has no chance to win late in the game. He still gave his team a chance to win in spite of one of his worst days under center at Georgia, and that may say more about Gunner Stockton than anything else. 

8. Pretty sure we know now what Lewis Grizzard would have written after a game like this…

9. Its been written here about the building feeling of zen that takes over when you make that turn northward from Madison toward Athens on game day. On the same token, Saturday also brought the opposite emotion – the feeling of dismal despair after a loss. On that road south of Athens, you feel like one, even in defeat. Basically every car in front and behind you is in the same emotional state, having been together as one. Multiple hours later, like a retreating army, you ride in vehicles cutting through the night with their LED lights, eagerly waiting for the next time that Georgia tees it up.

10. There should be zero worry about this team being laser-focused for Florida. Regardless of the Gators’ win at Texas, this Bulldogs team will have a week off to sit around, stew, get mad and be locked in before playing in Atlanta. It’s a focus that should be sharper than it would have been had Georgia won on Saturday.

Go Dawgs!

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