Georgia can still bounce back to make the 12-team College Football Playoff, but it won’t be easy

On Saturday night in Week 5, the Georgia Bulldogs lost their first regular season game since November 7, 2020, ending a streak of 42 straight regular-season victories. The 41-34 road loss to Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama Crimson Tide dropped Kirby Smart’s team to No. 5 in the country. Last season, that would have put them on the outside of the College Football Playoff picture looking in, but in the expanded 12-team CFP era, the Dawgs still have the inside track to the postseason. 

Through the first quarter in Tuscaloosa, Georgia didn’t play like it belonged on the same field with Alabama, which jumped to No. 1 in the AP poll this week. Quarterback Jalen Milroe led the Crimson Tide to four straight touchdowns on their first four possessions and took a 30-7 lead into halftime. Coming off a 13-12 narrow win over Kentucky in Week 3, some Georgia fans were ready to dust off the old panic button, but Carson Beck led a ferocious comeback that ultimately came up just short. 

In the second half, Smart and defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann finally found an answer for Milroe’s rushing ability, loading up the box, and preventing the dual-threat quarterback from getting to the edges. Georgia held Alabama to just 11 second-half points, eight of which came courtesy of a 75-yard touchdown throw to 17-year-old freshman phenom Ryan Williams, which grabbed the lead back for the Crimson Tide. 

Offensively, Carson Beck steadied himself after the worst half of football the fifth-year senior has played across his season-plus as Georgia’s starting quarterback and led four touchdown drives. If the version of Beck and Georgia that we saw in the second half on Saturday, shows up for the rest of the season, Smart can claim another SEC title even if it means a rematch with the Crimson Tide. 

However, Alabama still exposed Georgia’s biggest flaws, its lack of talent at wide receiver, its underwhelming run game, and its inexperienced secondary with two true freshmen contributors. So, with a loaded SEC schedule, there’s no guarantee that the Bulldogs stay in the CFP conversation. 

Georgia has a chance to regroup with 2-3 Auburn paying a visit to Sanford Stadium next week and 1-4 Mississippi State in town the week after, but things ramp up again after that. Georgia still has a trip to No. 2 Texas on October 19, another to No. 12 Ole Miss on November 9, and will host No. 4 Tennessee a week later on November 16. Along with Alabama in Week 5, those were the four games that Georgia had circled before the season began, and a split should be enough to claim a seat at the CFP table. That just feels significantly less likely after Georgia’s 3-1 start. 

Kirby Smart has enough time to fix many of Georgia’s issues, in a lot of cases, he fixed them at halftime on Saturday night. Though a few, like injuries to the offensive line and the lack of trustworthy playmakers at running back and wide receiver, will require medical miracles or offseason acquisitions, which doesn’t help this year’s team.

Heading into Saturday night, those problems were easy to ignore and a historic regular season win streak was an excellent distraction. Now, evaluating this team after a fresh dose of reality Georgia still has a path to the playoff, but it’ll most likely be a bumpy one.