Georgia HC Kirby Smart shares the major problem that could cost Bulldogs in College Football Playoff

The Georgia Bulldogs do most everything incredibly well. Their problems are generally not like other teams' problems. But Kirby Smart is a very process-oriented coach who thrives by driving his team to execute the little details across the board. Unfortunately, that's not what Georgia did against Mississippi State, despite pulling off the victory 41-31 on Saturday.

Following the game, before Kirby Smart even took his first question from the media, he wanted to address the absolutely abysmal play from Georgia when it came to committing costly penalties and completely blowing assignments at critical moments:

"Procedural penalties [that helped Georgia], which were big, could have been the difference in the game. But we certainly helped them too with some dumb, dumb, dumb penalties. We gifted [Mississippi State] basically 14 points on two error plays. We gifted them three first downs--I think they were all third and longs. Which, I've never been a part of that, not since I've been at Georgia...It's hard to [call it] undisciplined because the guy's rushing the passer and puts his hand on the face mask and that basically gifts them another touchdown. 14 points gifted to them."

Kirby Smart took some good notes prior to stepping up to the podium as he absolutely nailed this. Mississippi State's first touchdown was the result of a bad coverage decision. Then in the second quarter Georgia gave Mississippi State their first free first down on a third and long via roughing the passer penalty.

Later in the game, Georgia gave up two free first downs on the same drive. One on a pass interference call on a 3rd & 8. The other on a face mask penalty when it was 3rd & 10. And then of course Georgia surrendered an easy 19-yard run for the score on that drive.

Coach Smart was rightfully upset with Georgia's performance in several pivotal moments. Penalties. Poor decisions in coverage. If Georgia commits those similar mental mistakes against far tougher opponents when it comes time to win in the College Football Playoff they might not be so lucky as to pull off the win. Hopefully Smart can help get this issue right quickly over the coming weeks.

Related: Georgia head coach Kirby Smart excited about explosive plays and key connections emerging for Carson Beck

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