Everything Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said after falling to Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs 41-34 on Saturday night in a game for the ages.

The Bulldogs erased a 28-0 deficit and took the lead 34-33 with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. However, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe's connection with freshman phenom wide receiver Ryan Williams for a 75-yard touchdown just 13 seconds later ended Georgia's hopes of a miraculous comeback.

Here's everything Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said after their sixth loss to Alabama:

Opening speech:

“Of course, a damn good game. Great atmosphere, great respect for Alabama's team, its fans, the venue, it was a heck of a game. A tale of two halves. “Obviously we weren’t really prepared,” and that’s on me. We didn't do a great job in the first half, especially on defense, but we also gave them a short field and the short field in a quarterback like Milroe gives me a lot of difficult times. I'm very proud of our team. At half time I thought everyone was getting along well. I told them, “Look, I was in the stadium, probably just as bad, and came back to do it.” I had one game, had a chance to win the game and didn't make any more plays, and for us Humility is always a week away, we have to prepare for another tough opponent coming to us so I open it.

What went wrong in the first half and how it was fixed in the second half:

“Well, we probably weren’t that aggressive. “We were more aggressive in the first half and took some chances and probably hit some things they did well with him packing the run and pass and you know he's tough.” But when he was 28 of 31, wasn't it very hard to defend him Are you running? Do you want to play loose coverage and try to keep an eye on him so he doesn't fly off? It was really difficult. We made a few stops in the second half. We have the ball on offense.

About Ryan Williams (and also a little snippet from Jalen Milroe):

“Great player. I mean, I was asked before the game by the GameDay crew, what are you going to do special for Ryan Williams? I said, 'We can't do anything special.' They have a quarterback back there who can be the best running back in the country, and he can't put two people on the ball. You have to make him do it. We've known Ryan for a long time. He's a great kid who's very good with the ball. If I had to do it over again, we'd challenge him even more and pass him. We were wrong a lot, but the play he made was actually in the press coverage Okay, giving that up is hard, but we've caught the ball now, we've got to get them on the ground, get them caught again, and if we If we have momentum, we have to break through them. This is the biggest fatal flaw of this piece.

On meeting Jalen Milroe:

“I was surprised that we turned the ball over I don't know how many times, two or three in the short area, short field, and they did a really good job in the red zone. We wanted to get Milroe to throw the ball.” We didn't have to run around us in the red zone and he ran down the sideline and scored. We ran outside a blitz defense when they could block there and they ran outside, which we call a “moon sweep”. He's a really good football player I think you could do it, but if he throws it well and they catch it more, it's really hard to stop it.

On the message to Georgia at halftime:

“Get stops. We have to get stops. You know what I mean, game by game. You have to do a better job. You need to calm down. You have to communicate well. If you go back to the first or third drive- and seven, and we've been working on it all week. They count hard. And we've been talking all week about not jumping outside. We jump from the side. And they are hard to stop on third and second. So we have third and second pass no pass and they score and then we make a turnover and they score. It was definitely tough and I give them a lot of credit. They did some different things, very similar plays, but they also looked different when they weren't in the backfield.

On quarterback Carson Beck in the first half compared to what he was able to do late:

“I don’t know if there was a big difference. We had four downs in the second half to do anything. We got to the point where we had to be aggressive and move quickly, which made some things really proud of the way he played. You know, some of the interceptions weren't his fault, and the fumble was probably the one that he looks back on and says, “It's just gone.” We don't have to play there because we've had four losses, we have second, third and fourth, and messing that up when we go back to the redzone makes it really difficult.

On his assessment of Alabama as a team:

“I think they have really good players. They have a great program. I have great respect for them. They're doing a great job. I mean, they have some pretty good players. Kalen (DeBoers) got new players here. “It's a tough battle, you know, they were really tough battles.

On what he said to the players as they left the field:

“Well, there is no better reaction from a leader than to be with the boys who are going into battle with you, and these kids went into battle tonight. But make no mistake, this group we have in there, man, they're connected.” . You are proud. And I told them, “Guys, I don't know what the second half is going to be, but I know when we see it, we'll find out.” We'll see what kind of character we have. I thought we were a really good team in the situation we were in, we just had to take it one moment at a time and I didn't want to leave the field without telling each and every one of them how much I appreciated it “How they responded to that real, tough adversity there.”

If there's anything other than what he learned about Alabama before, today's loss showed you:

“We can’t turn the ball over and win games. I mean, we know that. We were one of the few teams that didn't do that, but we flirted with it, you know, and we had that several times. “Tonight we were more explosive, but so were they, and I mean, they will be all year about being explosive because they have a group of explosive playmakers You know, I never know the team I have. I didn't learn anything tonight that I didn't already know because they are fighters.

On the late touchdown that gave Georgia its first lead:

“Great game design from Mike, and we thought it was there all week and had to have the right look. We thought we could take advantage of their aggressiveness. They got some really aggressive safeties and he bit on them and it was a great throw by Carson, a great play.

On his assessment of Georgia's offense:

“Well, it's hard to judge tonight because the third round was the second. I can't say tonight, I mean, we were behind so early, it was a difficult game from an offensive point of view when it comes.” You know what I mean? And I think we need to communicate at a higher level. But look, this is a difficult environment I've been in this league for a long time and trying to get 11 people on the same page and execute it without it being a challenge and they make it difficult to play on the road We have to do a better job, I mean checking a screen. It's a great thing, and one guy misses it. “I don’t see the signal and we throw a pick, you know? So it’s like, in the end, you can’t do those things against good teams.”

The reason for Carson Beck's sales:

“Pressure. Carson simply didn't protect the ball. He had one hand on the ball. You know, you can point at anything, and they also lost the ball, you know, because it was really important that you don't turn around. “The ball was over, but we also had to take a risk . Every time we had a fourth down, it was a potential turnover. That was a turnover this game. Lots of big plays to move forward.

How the players managed to stay motivated and not exhaust themselves while they were behind:

“We’re not built that way. We won't do that. I mean, that's not who we are. We struggle too much every day outside of training to sit down and give up. I mean, they had a great reaction. “The way they handled it, I thought it was great at halftime.