Alabama’s first loss of the season landed hard, even if the bigger picture still has some life in it.
The Crimson Tide fell 20-17 to No. 2 Georgia on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium, a result that left Alabama at 5-1 overall and 3-1 in SEC play. The defeat also marked the first collegiate loss for freshmen Trae’shawn Brown, EJ Crowell and Xavier Griffin.
For tight end Marshall Pritchett, the frustration was obvious.
“It’s a horrible feeling to lose any game,” Pritchett said. “But to lose a game we definitely feel like we should have won is, it’s not heartbreaking because I know this team, what we’re capable of, and we can shake back from this. But it definitely hurts.”
Alabama’s offense never found enough rhythm after halftime. Georgia finished with a 455-346 edge in total yards, and the Bulldogs squeezed the Tide’s possessions in the second half. Alabama didn’t score in the fourth quarter and managed only three points after the break.
Quarterback Russell finished 16 of 30 for 185 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions, and he added nine carries for 41 yards. He didn’t hide from his own role in the loss.
“I’ve got to execute at a higher level,” Russell said. “Did not play my best game tonight.
Countless throws that I missed. Just got to be better.”
Russell, in his sixth start, said the loss should be treated as a chance to improve.
“We’re going to get better,” said Russell, in his sixth start. “This is a good team we lost to.
Everybody hates to lose, but it’s a learning moment. We get to look back at the film, understand what we’ve got to critique on, get back out there and just go 1-0 next week.”
That next step is clear for Alabama: Tennessee is coming up on the road, and the Tide players kept circling back to the need to reset quickly. Pritchett said the group has to keep everyone’s spirits up and get back to work.
“Just got to make sure everybody’s heads up high and get back to work Monday and Tuesday and have a great week getting ready for Tennessee,” he said.
The Alabama defense had its own problems to sort through. Georgia ran for 206 yards despite not getting production from its top two backs, Chauncey Bowens and Nate Frazier. Dwight Phillips Jr. carried the load, finishing with 17 attempts for 120 yards.
Safety Bray Hubbard said the answer starts with watching the film, then moving on.
“We’ve got to watch film tomorrow,” Hubbard said. “Flush it and get back to the drawing board.
We can’t carry the loss into next week. We’ve got to correct it on Monday and get back to work Tuesday when we practice and keep moving forward.”
Third down was another trouble spot. Georgia went 7 of 13 on third downs, and safety Keon Sabb said Alabama didn’t meet the standard in those moments.
On third downs, Alabama “didn’t play up to the standard,” Sabb said.
“We’ve got a lot of competitive guys in our locker room,” Sabb said. “A lot of guys who love this team and love this game. Regardless of what happened tonight, we’re going to go to work on Tuesday with fire up under our ass and we’re going to go to work.”
“I can control what I can control,” Sabb said. “Outside of that, it is what it is.”
That was the common thread from Alabama’s locker room: the loss stung, the film will be ugly, and the response has to come fast.
“It’s up to us to show up Tuesday,” Pritchett said, “show up Monday and bust our ass.”
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