What Georgia football needs to improve after the Auburn loss

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ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs lost on a field goal as time expired to the Auburn Tigers in a 27-24 defeat. Georgia turned the ball over three times (all from quarterback Gunner Stockton) in the Bulldogs first loss of the season.

The turnovers and penalties in Georgia's loss prompted coach Kirby Smart to say that Georgia beat itself after the game. Of course, Smart gave plenty of credit to Auburn, who he described a physical team all week.

Following the loss, coach Smart explained how Georgia has to improve. The Bulldogs have a bye week after losing to Auburn and then will play the Florida Gators, who are coming off a major upset win over Texas.

“Number one, we’ve got to get in better shape," Smart said. "Number two, we’ve got to get some guys healthy and back. We had about eight or nine guys that really didn't practice this week in terms of getting them to the game coming out of the last game.

“We’ve got to improve. We can't turn the ball over, we can't have undisciplined penalties. But we're really good in some areas. I mean we got a good defense, we got a good offense, but we gotta get better. I need more players to play winning football. I need to be able to play more than five linemen."

Georgia needs depth more than ever with the SEC playing a nine game conference schedule. Georgia still has the best record in the SEC (tied with Kentucky).

"Need to be able to play more people up front that we can count on and, and be dependable," Smart said. "We played Anthony London tonight on third down, and he was dependable. I gotta go watch the tape, see how he played, but we're trying to play more guys because I don't know that we can make it through this grind without it. So we just need more guys that can play winning football.”

The bye week will give Georgia a good chance to self-evaluate. The Bulldogs outgained Auburn 440-366, but three Georgia turnovers and a blocked field goal helped Auburn overcome that. The Tigers also outrushed Georgia 192-113.

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This article originally appeared on UGA Wire: What Georgia football needs to improve after the Auburn loss

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