Imago
December 31, 2024, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA: Georgia Bulldog Football Head Coach Kirby Smart speaking at the CFP All State Sugar Bowl Head Coach press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz New Orleans USA – ZUMAl187 20241231_zsp_l187_012 Copyright: xJamesxLeyvax
Imago
December 31, 2024, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA: Georgia Bulldog Football Head Coach Kirby Smart speaking at the CFP All State Sugar Bowl Head Coach press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz New Orleans USA – ZUMAl187 20241231_zsp_l187_012 Copyright: xJamesxLeyvax
Georgia’s season didn’t collapse in one moment. But one snap from its own end of the field still refuses to fade. In the Sugar Bowl quarterfinal, with nine minutes left and the season hanging, head coach Kirby Smart gambled from his own 33-yard line. Fourth-and-2. Georgia down three. The decision ended in disaster and still fuels debate days later, especially among national voices who see troubling patterns.
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“Has Georgia fallen just as flat as Alabama in the NIL era?”
Bruce Drennan, a longtime Cleveland sports radio personality and former MLB and NBA announcer, used his platform to question whether Georgia under Kirby Smart is flirting with the same post-dynasty mistakes now haunting Alabama.
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“And I question why Georgia head coach Kirby Smart decided to go for it on a fourth and two from his own 33-yard line with 9.37 remaining in the game,” the national reporter said on The Bruce Drennan Show on January 11. “He had all of his timeouts, plenty of time to get the ball back after punting. However, he must not have had confidence that his defense could stop Trinidad Chambliss. That’s the only thing I can figure out.”
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If Kirby Smart didn’t trust his defense in that moment, what does that say about Georgia’s internal compass?
Has Georgia fallen just as flat as Alabama in the NIL era?
Bruce is NOT a Kirby Smart guy. 🤣
Presented by @drinkgaragebeer https://t.co/UsJc4UIb6p pic.twitter.com/N8UVL3BIVm
— Bruce Drennan Show (@Bruce_Drennan) January 12, 2026
The play itself only deepened the criticism. Georgia lined up as if it were running a hard count to draw Ole Miss offsides. Instead, the ball was snapped. Redshirt freshman center Malachi Toliver, filling in for injured starter Drew Bobo, fired it back and QB Gunner Stockton never had a chance. Rebels LB Suntarine Perkins came through untouched and strip-sacked the QB for a 10-yard loss. Several Georgia players appeared frozen as confusion was clearly visible.
At the time, Georgia was trailing 27-24. They were not out of time. There were nine minutes left and all three timeouts. Momentum was not lost. Ole Miss took over at the Bulldogs’ 23-yard line and needed just two Trinidad Chambliss passes to score and it flipped control instantly.
Kirby Smart later admitted the truth was worse than poor judgment. It was an operational failure.
“We screwed that up a little bit,” he said. “We had a misfire there… The ball was not supposed to be snapped in that situation. But that was on us as coaches.”
That’s why Bruce Drennan’s comparison to Alabama landed harder than expected. Because they’re also learning that dominance does not excuse slippage. Head coach Kalen DeBoer inherited the impossible task of following Nick Saban. In the Rose Bowl, No. 1 Indiana dismantled No. 9 Tide 38-3 who managed just 193 total yards. The Hoosiers rushed for 215 and averaged 6.6 yards per play. Bama averaged fewer than four yards per play for the third time in four games. It was their worst bowl loss ever and their worst defeat since 1998. But when perfection becomes an expectation, mistakes get louder.
Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs still beat everyone they played this season
Georgia’s season, objectively, was strong. The Bulldogs finished 12-2, won the SEC Championship, and earned the No. 3 seed. That is not failure by any national standard. But the ending is what lingers. The quarterfinal loss to Ole Miss will not age well. Yet within that disappointment sits a strange statistical footnote.
Georgia faced both Alabama and Ole Miss twice this season. 1-1 for each. Kirby Smart’s team dominated the Tide 28-7 in the SEC Championship after suffering their lone regular season loss in a 24-21 defeat. Ole Miss lost in October (43-35) before winning when it mattered most. So, the Bulldogs still beat everyone it played, even the teams that beat them.
It may be unprecedented. A two-loss team that still owns a win over every opponent on its schedule. That is not the record Georgia wanted. But it does underline the margin they lived on all season. They were not broken in 2025, but tested. And this offseason is bringing Kirby Smart more tests.
