Forde’s Takeaways from Alabama-Georgia: Kirby Smart’s Dubious Record

The Crimson Tide’s win over the Bulldogs raises big questions for Smart—and the College Football Playoff race.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart is now 0–2 against Kalen DeBoer. / Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ATHENS, Ga. — Three takeaways from No. 17 Alabama 24, No. 5 Georgia 21: 

1. Kirby Smart haunted by Alabama

Kirby Smart’s Alabama demon remains terrifyingly real and unexorcised, after his seventh loss in eight meetings with the school where he worked as an assistant coach under Nick Saban. While the stakes have been bigger in some of his losses to the Crimson Tide—one in the national championship game, three in the SEC title tilt—this might have been the worst.

It was the first time Smart lost at home to Alabama, after previous defeats in Atlanta (four times) and Tuscaloosa, Ala., (two). He’s also now 0–2 against Kalen DeBoer, certainly doing his part to keep DeBoer at least partially off the hot seat. And this was Georgia’s first loss to anybody at home since 2019.

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Smart’s record is now 107–13 against the rest of college football and 1–7 against the haunting houndstooth wearers. With every defeat in this series, Smart owes a greater debt to cornerback Kelee Ringo for his pick-six that sealed his only victory over Alabama for the 2021 national championship.

This game followed a couple of patterns from previous losses: Georgia wasted little time falling behind, and failed to pressure the Crimson Tide quarterback into major mistakes. Alabama has outscored Georgia 71–28 in the first half over the last three meetings, jumping to a 14–0 lead Saturday and a 28–0 lead last year. The Tide committed just one turnover in those last three games against the Dawgs.

Smart, as he has in the past against Alabama, contributed to his own demise with a questionable decision in the fourth quarter. Trailing by three and facing a fourth-and-1 on the Tide 8-yard line, Smart bypassed the short tying field goal and went for it. The resulting play—a hurry-up snap and give to reserve running back Cash Jones, resulted in a three-yard loss and a change of possession. Georgia’s chance to tie and put more pressure on Alabama was gone.

2. QB Ty Simpson raises his game further

First-year starting quarterback Ty Simpson was nothing short of spectacular for Alabama. He was on-point from the first drive onward—quick, decisive and accurate with his passes and decisions. After an uneven starting debut in the loss to Florida State, Simpson has been among the best quarterbacks in the nation.

Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson is meshing well with offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Simpson led long scoring drives the first two times the Tide possessed the ball, and Alabama converted nine of 11 third downs in the first half. He completed passes to seven different receivers in the half, not counting a bubble screen that was actually a lateral to 6' 7", 366-pound Kadyn Proctor for a terrifying 11-yard gain.

Simpson appears to be meshing well with first-year Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, who previously did excellent work with Michael Penix Jr. as part of DeBoer’s staff at Washington. The sky appears to be the limit for that coordinator-quarterback tandem.

3. College Football Playoff implications

Alabama badly needed this to counter-balance the loss to Florida State, which looks a bit worse this week after the Seminoles’ upset defeat at Virginia. The Tide will be favored in their next two games against undefeated opponents Vanderbilt (at home) and Missouri (on the road), but they learned the hard way last year about taking the Commodores for granted. Long way to go, but this was a needed step.

READ MORE: College Football Playoff Bracket Projections After Week 5

For Georgia, this was a survivable loss last year on the way to winning the SEC championship and making the playoff. The Bulldogs have four remaining games in which they will be heavily favored (Kentucky, at Auburn, Florida in Jacksonville and Charlotte) and four that look like challenges (Mississippi, at Mississippi State, Texas and Georgia Tech in Atlanta).

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