And so it ends. Georgia played the type of sloppy football it has played for most of this season this evening in the Sugar Bowl. And on this occasion, they ran into a team good enough to make them pay for it.
The most egregious evidence that Georgia was not going to win this football game came in the “middle eight” minutes of the game. You may recall that is the brief window that Kirby Smart again and again emphasizes are the most important sliver of time in a 60 minute football game. Georgia gave up 17 points in the middle 30 seconds of the ball game and lost by 13. That isn’t difficult math.
Georgia imploded the old-fashioned way: turnovers and special teams miscues. We said before the game that Georgia would need to win the turnover battle to make things easier on young Gunner Stockton. Instead they surrendered two costly fumbles and didn’t turn the Irish over once. Trevor Etienne’s first quarter fumble inside the 10 was the first of his college career and fiendishly costly, giving the Blue and Gold the ball back when they’d been on their heels and appeared set to give up a touchdown. Gunner Stockton’s fumble right before the half widened the lead to ten points when only moments earlier it appeared the Dawgs might go into the half tied at 3.
But giving up the touchdown return to open the second half was the real nail in the coffin. It was an uncharacteristic bust for a Bulldog team that had been sound on special teams all season. Later on a key 4th down Georgia would be caught napping as Notre Dame substituted quickly. Butkus Award winner and All-American Jalen Walker jumped offsides on a play on which the Irish were very unlikely to even snap the ball. You just don’t win big games when your best veteran players make boneheaded rookie errors. The football Gods simply don’t allow it.
While that second quarter fumble was a killer, Gunner Stockton absolutely didn’t lose this game. He finished 20 of 32 passing for 234 yards and a touchdown. He don’t throw any interceptions and generally did a nice job getting rid of the ball smartly and not trying to do too much. I’m actually pretty excited to see what he develops into as a signal caller in 2025. He clearly demonstrated that he has the arm and the athletic ability to play at this level. With some experience, he can be a great one.
I opined in this space after the Mississippi State game that this Georgia football team was a good, but not great, unit which simply did not have what it took to win another national title. I could reiterate that sentiment, but I would be preaching to the choir. I think all of us who followed this team have known that for a long time. This is the most frustrating Bulldog football team since at least 2019 in terms of playing below its estimable potential.
That being said, I still love this team. They found a way to win time and time again when they frankly had no business doing so. They just kept coming from behind and fighting, and showed the kind of grit and heart that many coaches can only dream of seeing from their charges. They battled and scrapped and won an SEC championship.
That is no small thing. Is it a national title? No. But it still matters. The people who we actually care about can’t say a darn thing about us this off-season. And guys like Jalon Walker, Tate Ratledge, and Malaki Starks played through injuries and a vicious schedule to lead a generally young team to key wins.
That being said, Georgia is not the kind of place where we cotton to lovable losers. There are some hard questions that need to be answered in Athens this offseason. Georgia got outcoached tonight. I think Kirby will admit as much in his postgame remarks. You just can’t be minus 2 in turnovers, give up a special teams touchdown, drop key passes, and commit critical penalties in a game like this.
The offensive line was inconsistent all year. The secondary was the most porous in years. And even if Mike Bobo’s playcalling wasn’t philosophically bad, we can at least agree that at times it just wasn’t effective. These are things that will need to improve (I have thoughts on that which I’ll share in the coming days). But for now, I want to wish the Notre Dame Fighting Irish congratulations. They made the plays they had to in order to win a physical football game.
I’d also like to thank all of you who read and commiserated in the comments all season. Thanks for your humor, your optimism, and your insight. 2025 starts now.
Go ‘Dawgs!!!