Georgia Alum Sounds NIL Alarm for Kirby Smart After Auburn Nightmare, Sends Two-Loss Playoff Verdict

Georgia walked into Sanford Stadium last Saturday ranked No. 1 and heavily favored, but walked out with its first loss since the Sugar Bowl. Unranked Auburn won 27-24 on a 34-yard field goal by Alex McPherson, ending Georgia’s 53-game winning streak against unranked opponents. For Bulldogs fans, it felt different, and now, that loss has one fan warning that NIL has shrunk the gap between the SEC’s best teams and everyone else.

Bulldogs fan Luke Bryan recently sat with Fox’s Clay Travis on Big Noon Kickoff to discuss Georgia’s unfortunate loss against Auburn. Bryan pointed out that Kirby Smart had told people all week that the talent on these teams was close.

“[NIL] It has evened it up,” Bryan told Travis on Big Noon Kickoff. “I don’t think you can stack them like you used to. You certainly can’t stack the depth you used to. With KJ Bolden going down was huge. He was a huge loss for us.”

Bryan’s warned that NIL has made it harder for SEC contenders to build the kind of talent and depth advantage they once enjoyed.

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“It’s a new day and age, and I think it’s where players have to show up and listen to the coaches and execute,” said Bryan.

Former Alabama coach Nick Saban made a related point recently on The Pat McAfee Show, though he was speaking about college football in general, including top teams such as Georgia, Notre Dame, Indiana, Alabama, and Texas. He said the business side of the sport is becoming a distraction inside locker rooms.

Saban said he had talked to a coach who planned to spend a bye week meeting with agents, and questioned why that would happen in the middle of a season. He also listed three questions that he believes now shape players’ decisions: how much will I play, what if I don’t play enough, and how much will I make next year if I play well.

Bruan also described how the loss felt to the Bulldogs fans.

“It was a nightmare, but I think it’s the new SEC,” he said. “I think we’re conditioned as SEC fans to have to run the gauntlet. One loss is scary enough, so I think we’re going to start seeing a lot of two-loss teams that really wind up, after all the dust settles, being highly ranked teams.”

At 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the SEC, the Bulldogs still have a path to the playoff, and Bryan’s view is that one more slip would not end it.

On the field, Georgia opened with a 14-point advantage, then Auburn ripped off 24 points. Georgia fought back, and Gunner Stockton led a 94-yard drive to tie it. Then Stockton fumbled with 58 seconds left while Georgia was driving at the Auburn 46, and a roughing-the-passer penalty on Gabe Harris Jr. helped Auburn move into field goal range.

After the game, head coach Smart pointed at his own team first. Georgia turned the ball over three times and committed three personal fouls, and Smart said Auburn played more physically and executed better. The numbers back him up on the ground, where Auburn outrushed Georgia 192-113.

Smart blamed turnovers and penalties, among other things that went wrong. Georgia had a 54-yard field goal blocked after Stockton came off the field thinking it was a punt, and Smart said he regretted burning a timeout on a fourth-and-four.

Next, Georgia has a bye week before it meets Florida in Atlanta on October 31. The Gators just upset No. 7 Texas 27-24, so the next test is not an easy one. If Bryan is right, a second loss would not sink Georgia. But the warning from this loss is that the gap between the SEC’s best teams and everyone else is smaller than it used to be.

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