Kirk Herbstreit Makes Stance Clear After Controversial Georgia-Alabama Game

It's a story as old as time-- a losing team's fans always seek a way to blame the officials. But after Alabama's 20-17 loss to Georgia, the Tide may have had a point. An otherwise excellent game between a pair of top teams was somewhat marred by shaky officiating. In his Nonstop podcast, Kirk Herbstreit weighed in on the controversy.

Herbstreit's take on Georgia/Alabama

"I thought Georgia played the game, they deserved to win the game, I have no problem with Georgia," noted Herbstreit, who then addressed the controversy. "I'm just saying those two calls would have been big. Who knows what it would have done to the outcome, but those are two calls that were pretty significant that went against Alabama."

The Big (Missed?) Calls

The first of the two disputed calls was an Alabama interception that was overturned. With the score tied at 17 in the third quarter, Georgia QB Gunner Stockton threw an apparent interception at his own 25 yard line to Alabama linebacker QB Reece. Instead of giving the Tide a short field to take the lead, instant replay review ultimately led to the call being overturned and thus ending up as an incomplete pass. While the drive ultimately ended in a missed field goal, Georgia did move the ball for 70 yards and eat up over six minutes of clock on the possession that the reversed call saved.

The later of the calls in question was a 2nd and 10 pass from Alabama QB Keelon Russell at the UGA 37 yard line with 3:34 to play. Russell tried to connect with target Ryan Coleman-Williams in the end zone, and threw a pass which was a bit short and forced Williams to stop and try to go get the ball. Georgia safety K.J. Bolden ran into Coleman-Williams well ahead of the ball and knocked him down, but the officials did not make a pass interference call.

Herbstreit didn't seem inclined to diminish Georgia's victory, but also wanted to reflect the reality of the key questionable calls.

"I hope these two teams play again," he said later in the podcast. "Whether it's in Atlanta or hopefully even in the [College Footbal] Playoff."

Alabama/Georgia History

Alabama now leads the all-time series with Georgia 45-28-4. The two teams often competed atop the SEC, with five meetings in the SEC Championship game. Those games-- played in 2012, 2018, 2021, 2023, and 2025-- ended up with Alabama claiming a 4-1 edge in those appearances, although Georgia claimed the last SEC title meeting. More notable, the two met in the national championship game twice, with Alabama winning in 2018 and Georgia picking up the win in 2022.

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