Kirby Smart and Georgia went viral for all the wrong reasons during their 24-21 loss to Alabama. The Bulldogs had the Crimson Tide's defense on their heels deep in their own territory as they faced a crucial 4th and one from inside the 10-yard line.
Smart had two choices here, kick the field goal to tie the game or go for it to try and score a touchdown. He ultimately chose to go for it and hand the ball off to Cash Jones who was dropped behind the line of scrimmage.
Kirby Smart explains controversial 4th down decision
Georgia fans were furious with this decision as many believed Smart should have taken the three points and tied the game. And the fans who were fine with going for it in that situation were just as upset with what was a pretty awful play call.
Smart addressed both of these concerns during his postgame press conference, and he was very blunt that he does not regret going for it in that situation.
"I'd do that 10 out of 10 times in terms of going for it," Smart shared via ugawire.usatoday.com. "The decision is if you go for it with tempo or not and we felt like tempo had been really good for us throughout the year."
Knowing that Smart doesn't regret going for it on fourth down, the one debate that is left is the decision to hand the ball off to Jones who is the smallest running back on Georgia's roster.
"That play has been really successful for us," Smart continued. "We hit Tennessee on it three times for a conversion. We'd run it earlier in the night and run it for a conversion. We missed a block that you've got to make and they ran through and made a really good play to stop it.”
Georgia's 4th down blunder could have been prevented
So it sounds like Smart does not regret any of his decisions in this situation. However, he should probably regret going fast on this fourth down because a second look on the prior third day play shows Georgia may have actually picked up the first down.
The officials spotted the ball short of the first down marker, but it was close enough where they should have reviewed it. But Smart's decision to go fast didn't give the replay booth enough time to stop the game to take a second look.
Regardless, this fourth down blunder will be talked about forever. This potentially is one of Smart's worst play calls of his career, and while he has no regrets about his decision Georgia fans will feel the hurt for years and years to come.