UGA Football Fights Back, But Comes Up Short In 41-34 Loss To Alabama
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TUSCALOOSA - Here are all the news and notes from UGA Football‘s tough 41-34 loss to Alabama:
*Streaks Snapped: Second-ranked Georgia saw its regular season winning streak end at 42 games as #4 UA hung on for a 41-34 decision. Before tonight, Georgia’s last regular season loss came to Florida in Jacksonville on Nov. 7, 2020. Georgia now is 49-3 in its last 52 games.
*Georgia saw its SEC and school record streak of consecutive SEC regular season victories end at 28.
*Tonight marked the first regular season loss for Georgia’s 2024 senior class as they are now 45-3 overall and 39-1 in the regular season.
*The Bulldogs had won 16 straight games in an opponent’s home stadium, the last loss coming to Alabama in 2020.
*Bulldog coach Kirby Smart had won five straight AP top-five matchups before the Bulldogs fell tonight in Tuscaloosa.
*Defensive Review: UA built a 28-0 lead and hung on for a 41-34 victory, amassing 547 yards of total offense on 65 plays.
*Coming in tonight, the Bulldogs had allowed just 18 points on six field goals to rank third nationally. UA came in ranked sixth nationally in Scoring Offense at 49.0 ppg. UA built a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and an eventual 30-7 advantage at the half. It was Georgia’s largest halftime deficit since trailing No. 23 Ole Miss 31-0 in Oxford in 2016. UA finished the first half with 355 yards of total offense on 35 plays.
*UA became the first team to score a TD on Georgia, doing on its opening drive, going 70 yards on eight plays in 4:43. UA added another TD on its second possession, going 84 yards on six plays in 3:11 for a 14-0 edge with 4:39 left in the first quarter. UA took a 21-0 lead on its third possession in the first quarter, needing to go just 22 yards following an interception. UA went up 28-0 on its fourth possession, going 67 yards on six plays capped by a 36-yard TD run by Jalen Milroe on a 4th-and-1.
*On it’s fifth possession, UA was stopped on a 4th-and-1 at the UGA 34, losing a yard with Dan Jackson and Daniel Harris on the stop. On the next play, UA got the ball back on an INT and took it to the UGA 25. It did not lead to any points.
*UA trailed 34-33 with 2:31 remaining in the contest but Jalen MIlroe connected with Ryan Williams for a 75-yard TD and a two-point conversion for a 41-34 edge.
*Georgia’s leading tacklers were senior Dan Jackson with a career-high 10 and an INT while junior Malaki Starks had eight. For Jackson, it was his third career INT and his first since the South Carolina game last year.
*Summary Of The Offense: Georgia scored 34 points including 27 in the second half and gained 519 yards on 76 plays.
*Senior QB Carson Beck finished 27-for-50 for a career-high 439 yards, 3 TDs plus a career-high three INTs and a fumble. He is now 16-2 as a starter.
*Beck’s 439 yards ranked fourth most in school history and the most since 1994 when Eric Zeier had 441 versus Vanderbilt, going 23-for-54..
*Coming in tonight, Georgia was one of three teams nationally yet to commit a turnover. In fact, the last one came on a Beck fumble in the 2023 SEC title game versus UA.
*The leading receivers were senior Arian Smith with a career-high 6-for-132 yards and a TD while senior Dominic Lovett (6-for-59 yards) and Dillon Bell with 5 for a career-high 100 yards and a score.
*The Bulldogs tallied 80 rushing yards. Junior Trevor Etienne had a team-high 12 carries for 55 yards and one score.
*Down 30-7 in the second half, Georgia converted three fourth downs as part of a season-high 15 play, 80-yard drive in 6:44, all season-highs. It ended with a 12-yard TD pass from Beck to Smith. Then, Georgia converted a two-point play on a pass to Lawson Luckie to cut it to 30-15 with 5:06 left in the 3rd quarter. Entering the game tonight, Georgia was 1-for-2 on 4th Down attempts.
*Down 33-15, Beck marched the Bulldogs down for another score, going 80 yards on six plays in 1:46, capped by an 8-yard TD pass to Luckie.
*Down 33-21 with 7:14 left, Georgia went 78 yards on just four plays in 1:35 to cut it to 33-28 with 5:39 remaining on a three-yard run by Dillon Bell. The drive featured a 30-yard catch by Cash Jones and a 47-yard completion to Smith.
*Trailing 33-28 with 2:42 left in the contest. Georgia took over at its own 33 and Beck connected with Dillon Bell for a 67-yard TD, both career-longs for Beck and Bell, and its first lead at 34-33 with 2:31 left. A two-point conversion failed.
*Down 41-34 with 2:18 left in the game, Georgia drove to the UA 22 when Zabien Brown snagged an INT in the endzone with 43 seconds left.
*In the first half, Georgia trailed 30-7. It ran 28 plays and tallied 153 yards of total offense with two turnovers and a safety.
*Facing a 14-0 deficit, Georgia had its first turnover since the 2023 SEC Championship Game as Beck was picked off by Domani Jackson at the UGA 22, and it led to an eventual TD.
*Down 28-0 with 12:24 left in the first half, Georgia went for a 4th-and-1 at its own 45 and Trevor Etienne gained seven yards. The Bulldogs would go on to
score a TD, going 75 yards on a season-high 11 plays and then season-long 5:41 capped by another seven-yard scamper by Etienne, his first as a Bulldog.
*Before tonight, the last time Georgia allowed a safety came in 2013 by Florida (Lucious Purifoy).
*Special Teams In Action: Junior Brett Thorson had three punts for a 46.7 average including a 56-yarder with a minus four-yard return.
*Sophomore PK Peyton Woodring made two PATs and handled kickoffs too.
*Sophomore Anthony Evans had three kickoff returns for 69 yards and two punt returns for one yard.
*Captains, Coin Toss and For Starters: Georgia’s captains were Carson Beck, Trevor Etienne, Malaki Starks and Jalon Walker.
Georgia won the toss and deferred the ball until the second half. There was one first-time starter in junior Micah Morris (RG).