The craziest, hardest-to-follow Georgia football season in recent memory has yet another confusing twist: Dominated by Georgia Tech, an embarrassing home performance that seemed to confirm the worst of what many had suspected about this year’s team – that it’s just not very good.

This was the first paragraph of a story submitted to my editor Friday night at 10:45 p.m. ET. Georgia Tech had just scored with 5:37 minutes left in the game to take a 27-13 lead. We wanted the story to be told quickly after the game ended, and since print media was allowed on the field at Sanford Stadium and the game lasted less than five minutes, you were eager to get there to see the scene, which was certainly one The desperation on the Georgia sidelines and the celebration at Georgia Tech would play a role.

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Georgia is almost certainly out of contention for a spot in the College Football Playoff after Friday night’s loss to Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs are now 9-3, the goodwill from their SEC schedule almost certainly wiped out by this loss, in which Georgia appeared significantly inferior to its ACC in-state rival.

That was the third paragraph. The next two went out of their way to point out that all was not lost for Georgia, which could still win the SEC championship next week and receive an automatic first-round bye in the playoffs. But now it boiled down to this, after being stunned by his in-state rival as I continued:

A win on Friday evening would have secured overall place, so that could also mean the end of the season. Georgia was the favorite by 19.5 points. It hasn’t lost to Georgia Tech since 2016, hasn’t lost at home since 2019 and hasn’t lost a home game since 2009. Someone with no prior knowledge of college football or these programs would have assumed Georgia Tech was the premier program.

I then wrote three short paragraphs summarizing why Georgia was dominated, concluding with this final key point:

Georgia fans headed for the exits with 5:37 left, leaving their team standing on the sidelines to ponder how they ended up in this position.

Feeling very comfortable with that last line, I hit send and made my way from the press box to the field.

Of course, Georgia outscored Georgia Tech in eight overtimes, winning 44-42.

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Any sports journalist who has been around long enough knows these stories. The great game stories were never published. In my case, the most notable was the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship, where at halftime I compiled the top 10 events that led to Georgia finally ending its 37-year championship drought. Then Tua Tagovailoa happened. At the time, it still looked like Georgia would win in overtime. Then 2nd and 26th happened.

The Washington Post later got four national sportswriters to provide their abandoned leads on Georgia’s win, so they ultimately weren’t in vain. Neither did mine: the next summer I used it for a story about the ten key events that led to “Georgia’s rise to national power.” But the actual national title would have to wait.

There were others. The back-and-forth ending of the 2022 Peach Bowl caused a lot of cuts and rewrites. There was Georgia’s loss at Alabama this year, where we all wrote about Georgia going out, then had to reframe it as a comeback, then Alabama won, then Georgia went offside and…

The plight of sportswriters, many of whom hope the game is “quick and easy,” is another reminder of not only how great sports are, but also how narratives are decided by narrow margins of opportunity. Seven years ago, Alabama was the No. 1 program in the country and Georgia was the contender because a safety briefly bought an eye fake from Tagovailoa. Three years ago, Georgia was the preeminent program and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day couldn’t win the big program just because a long field goal wasn’t made. And on Friday night, Georgia was still safely in the playoffs only because of… well, pick your game, but ultimately also because of a two-point shootout that was essentially a coin toss.

It will probably be the same in the future. We have an expanded playoff, but maybe no great teams. Oregon is the only undefeated team and narrowly won at home against Ohio State, largely because the Buckeyes were forced out of field position by offensive pass interference.

There seems to be parity, and games – or perhaps programs and history – can be decided based on individual, random games.

About an hour after an eight-overtime win that Kirby Smart called “epic,” Georgia’s head coach walked out of his postgame press conference. He walked on in silence for a few moments, then looked up at the sky, shook his head and let out a high sigh. The kind you do when you’re exhausted but relieved and don’t know what else to say.

A long night in an already long season and more to come. There is a lot to write about. Just don’t hit publish until it’s actually over.

(Photo: David J. Griffin / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)