Welp.
That 45-14 loss to Ole Miss was Georgia's worst loss since a 49-10 loss to Florida in 2008.
I have to admit, I thought the Bulldogs would lose, but I never expected such a blow out.
Now let's try to figure out why.
1) The defense.
In a lot of ways, it was like the defense never showed up, only consistently stopping the Rebels when they put in their backups well into the second half, leading 45-0.
The Georgia secondary — the unit that was supposed to carry the defense — looked lost as Chad Kelly contiually shredded them.
I think the Bulldogs were victims of stats and good fortune leading up to this game.
Remember 2015's passing defense? The one that finished No. 1 in the nation?
Well, it came against two option teams (Ga. Southern and Ga. Tech), and the four worst offenses in the SEC (South Carolina, Missouri, Vanderbilt and Auburn).
Anybody would've looked good against that slate.
This year, the defense lucked out when Mizzou decided to run the ball (after amassing 300+ passing yards in the first two quarters) and North Carolina couldn't connect on a couple open deep balls.
Ole Miss stuck with the pass (it worked), connected on deep passes (almost all of them) and continually exposed the problems that looked like abberations last year against Alabama and Tennessee.
The good news is there likely isn't a quarterback left on the schedule who's better than Kelly. The bad news is the second best quarterback (Josh Dobbs) on the schedule comes to town next week.
Not exactly a lot of time to put all the pieces together.
2) Drops.
Georgia was able to overcome them against Missouri, but the drops from the receivers continued Saturday in Oxford.
Jayson Stanley dropped a sure touchdown. Isaiah McKenzie did too, plus a potential third down conversion in the red zone, which led to a missed field goal.
Eason made plenty of good throws (with several exceptions), but at some point the guys on the other end need to snag one.
It wouldn't have mattered much this game — even if Stanley hauled in that sure touchdown, it would have only affected the final score cosmetically — but you hope it doesn't cost the Bulldogs a game.
(Imagine if McKenzie dropped the game winner against Missouri, or if Michael Chigbu dropped the clinching first down against Nicholls State.)
But that's not the only way Georgia could take itself out of a ballgame via a bullet to the foot.
3) Kickers.
Do you think Kirby Smart regrets not spending a scholarship on a kicker?
Perhaps he does, perhaps he doesn't. I don't pretend to know what the head coach thinks about these things.
One thing I feel reasonably certain about, however, is that he wishes he had even a semi-reliable kicker.
William Ham and Rodrigo Blankenship are a combined 3-for-8 on field goals so far this year, with Blankenship missing his one and only attempt Saturday.
Maybe Smart could try having an open tryout with the student body, as other schools have done in the past.
Or maybe we'll just have to go for it on fourth down every time we cross the 50.
