Ohio State legend cost Georgia a Championship before he became a Buckeye

One of the best Ohio State quarterbacks in recent history is Justin Fields. He is a very familiar name to Georgia fans because he began his college career in Athens before transferring to Ohio State in 2019.

Fields never saw any significant time during his one year in Athens, but he did impact Georgia's 2018 season in a very negative way that many fans may have forgotten about.

Georgia entered the 2018 SEC Championship game with an 11-1 record and the No. 4 team in the country. All that stood between them and a trip to the College Football Playoff was No. 1 Alabama in the SEC title game. Georgia and Alabama were tied at 28 with three minutes to play, and the Bulldogs lined up for a punt near the 50-yard line.

This is when Kirby Smart called on Fields to make a play that ultimately cost Georgia a chance to win the SEC and head to the playoff.

Former Ohio State QB Justin Fields cost Georgia an SEC Championship

Alabama has been the one team Georgia wasn't able to fully overcome until recently. That was especially the case back in 2018 when Smart hadn't beaten the Crimson Tide as Georgia's head coach yet. But they had every chance to win the 2018 SEC Championship game until Fields' critical mistake.

There's no denying how risky of a call his was from Smart, but it could've been converted. Being a quarterback one would assume Fields would be confident to step into a throw on this play, but he did not do that.

Instead it doesn't even look like Fields took the time to look downfield, but if he did he would've seen a Bulldog wide open.

If this play was made Georgia likely would've gone on to win this game and earn their spot in the College Football Playoff. And who knows, maybe they go on to win a national title and change the trajectory of Georgia's program forever.

Georgia's trajectory could've been very different with Justin Fields

As this season was coming to an end many fans still thought Fields was the future at quarterback for Georgia. He instead opted to transfer to Ohio State where he went on to dominate for two years, lead the Buckeyes to two Big Ten Championships and a National Championship game appearance in 2020.

But if he converted this fake punt he may have decided to stick around. Jake Fromm still had one more year at Georgia, but he could've decided to wait instead and become Georgia's starter in 2020.

At the time Georgia would've been ecstatic to see this happen, but that could've changed Georgia's history for the worse. Stetson Bennett ended up getting his first opportunity to start some games in 2020 before taking over in 2021. That is when he led the Bulldogs to back-to-back national titles, but who knows if that would've happened if Fields stuck around.

Georgia fans would never trade for this victory if it meant things could've been different in the years that followed. But there is a scenario where Fields converts this fake punt, Georgia beats Alabama and then goes on to win the National Championship with Bennett still winning two titles a few years later.

Georgia is already one of the best programs in the country, but that would've taken them to an even higher level. Unfortunately Fields cost Georgia that opportunity because he failed on this fake punt.

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