There are countless plays during Georgia's loss to Ole Miss that will haunt UGA for many years to come. However, it was the final play on Georgia's game-tying drive that will stick with fans forever.
Georgia faced a third down from the Ole Miss six with under a minute to play. Gunner Stockton dropped back for a pass that ended up falling incomplete in the end zone and Georgia was forced to kick the tying field goal.
Ole Miss however had plenty of time left on the clock, so they marched down the field to win the game with a field goal of their own. Georgia and college football fans however pointed to this third down play as a huge mistake that gifted Ole Miss the win.
Kirby Smart defended that play call after the game.
“We wanted to score a touchdown,” Smart said via 247Sports.com. “I think we were on the 3 or 4. We wanted to score to win. The book says, Go win the game. We talked about it in between. I thought by calling a timeout, run it, they don't have timeouts, ease the clock down. Playing for a tie doing that, right? And I just don't believe in playing for a tie.“
Kirby Smart’s 3rd down blunder is a head scratcher
No one should be upset with Smart deciding to play for the win. That is the aggressive mindset that has brought Georgia so much success, so being conservative at this point was the wrong choice.
But Smart should’ve called a completely different play.
A better option would’ve been to roll Stockton out of the pocket and give him the option to pass or run. This would ensure that if no one was open that he could run for a touchdown and get tackled inbounds if he came up short. This would’ve allowed Georgia to kick a field goal with about 10 seconds left which would’ve ensured overtime.
That unfortunately is not what happened, and it sounds like Smart isn’t willing to say that he made a mistake. But he could’ve made a better play call, so hopefully he learns for next time.