A lot of issues came to light for Georgia football during their loss to Alabama last weekend. A great team like the Crimson Tide will always find a way to expose certain aspects of UGA that they need to improve one, so that isn't a huge concern going forward. However, the largest issue of all is something that has been occurring for far too long now, which David Pollack expressed serious concerns about earlier this week.
“What about these slow starts?” Pollack asked via athlonsports.com. “October 19th (2024) was the last time they had a first half lead against a Power Four team. They’ve played Tennessee, they’ve played Florida, they’ve played Ole Miss, they’ve played Georgia Tech, they’ve played Texas, they played Tennessee again and they played Alabama. They haven’t had a first half lead. It’s starting to become an issue.”
Kirby Smart, Georgia can't seem to find an answer of their slow starts
When was the last time Georgia held a lead at halftime against a power four opponent? Most Georgia fans would say it feels like it's been forever, but that unfortunately is the answer.
Pollack shared that Georgia hasn't held a halftime lead against a power four team since Oct. 19, 2024. This means that UGA has almost gone an entire year without a lead at halftime against the good teams on their schedule.
That is not a winning formula. Georgia's horrifically slow starts are part of the reason why they aren't winning as many games as they would like. Their slow starts are the reason they lost to Alabama last week and why they lost to Ole Miss and Notre Dame last season as well. Georgia's terrible start is why they were one play away from losing at Tennessee as well.
Something has to change if Georgia is going to accomplish their goals this season. The Bulldogs have the perfect opportunity to start fast this weekend as they play one of the worst teams in the SEC in Kentucky, but Georgia needs to show they can start fast against a team like the Wildcats before anyone will have any faith in them going forward.