NEW ORLEANS, La. – The signs were always there. The Alabama game. The Ole Miss game. Even a lot of wins: Kentucky, Georgia Tech, the second Texas game. It all left everyone, including members of the Georgia football program, questioning whether this was a group that would continue on the crazy path to another championship or whether it was doomed to failure.

We got this answer on Thursday afternoon. It was final. This was not the best team in the country and deserved their fate.

Now it leads to the next mystery: Was this game and this difficult (for Georgia) season a kick in the butt for the program, a message that it is no longer the program it was two years ago and that action will be taken need to avoid slipping? further?

Or did it still end up being the SEC champion and then lose in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff while facing its backup quarterback?

Kirby Smart said some strange things after the 23-10 loss to Notre Dame. Actually more than a few. But let’s start with his postmortem of the season, which he described as “the toughest year of my tenure.” Certainly the hardest of my term in office.” That could be a bit of a recency bias. But when Smart explained what he told his team in the locker room, he alluded to the injuries, the tough schedule and all the close games.

“And to win some of the comeback games that they won,” Smart said, “and never give up, even in that game, never give up, that’s the mindset you have to have to get better as a football program. “

Get better as a football program. Let that sit for a moment and realize that this is not a second-year coach trying to take his program to another level, but rather the ninth-year coach of a team two out of the previous three won national title. Maybe that’s smart in a way, like his mentor Nick Saban, who has the mentality of always trying to improve even when he’s at the top.

Or maybe it’s a sign that this program isn’t currently at the top.

There is no clear answer. It can be argued that transfer rules and paying players have changed the game. The Big Ten and Notre Dame, which has three of the four semifinalists, factor into this narrative. But the 2022 season wasn’t that long ago, and it’s not like this was a glaring disappointment for a Georgia team: They were 4-0 against teams that made the playoffs. Well, now it’s 4:1. There was simply something missing, and Smart’s job is to figure out what needs to be changed and to what extent.

The seemingly good news: Gunner Stockton seemed like a viable starter. His pocket presence needs to improve, but that should come with experience. The underrated gap between Carson Beck and Stockton in a start of this magnitude could be down to game management and line controls, something Stockton admitted.

“I could have done better. Just knowing where the game box is and managing it is a big part of it,” he said.

But if it’s Stockton, the coaches around him need to get help. They need receivers who won’t drop the ball, which they hope to achieve with the development of current players, an immediate impact from five-star recruit Talyn Taylor or someone out of the portal. Georgia was burned during this portal window by receivers who weren’t sure who Georgia’s quarterback will be next season or what his throwing ability will be. Maybe Stockton’s game will help.

“We definitely have to play better and do better,” Smart said. “A lot of it has to do with health and the schedule we play and having some playmakers who can make some plays.”

There is also a danger of exaggerating the events in this game. Georgia outrebounded Notre Dame and averaged more yards. It reached the red zone more often. It’s not that it was a dominance that didn’t belong to the same field.

Still, Georgia should be the more mature program in the building. Instead, it committed the game’s only two turnovers, gave up a 98-yard kickoff return because it couldn’t attack, and its coach took a risk that backfired.

Why did Smart let Stockton, with 40 seconds left in the first half and the ball at 25, drop back to pass? Smart pointed out that he was down at the time (6-3), had timeouts and wanted to be aggressive.

“I don’t question that decision because I really agree with the decision to be aggressive and try to score,” he said.

Some things bordered on bad luck or signs that it just wasn’t Georgia’s night. Notre Dame kicker Mitch Jeter had missed two of his last six field goals entering the game, but went 3-for-3. Then there was an inactive Georgia player who got too excited about Arian Smith’s 63-yard catch-and-run and collided with a side judge; Smart said that would normally result in a warning, but this Big 12 crew opted for the 15-yard penalty. Georgia still scored a field goal, but the penalty may have slowed the momentum.

“I call these things undisciplined, self-inflicted wounds where you lose momentum,” Smart said. “So it’s just something that shouldn’t happen.”

But much of Georgia’s problems were overcome, especially in the second half when it looked like they were on the verge of another epic comeback. The defense made a big fourth-down stop and gave the offense the ball at midfield. A 10-point game, plenty of time left, momentum at Georgia’s back. But the Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize as they had no chance on third-and-3 and fourth-and-2.

That was another secret of this team. Stockton, whose arm was the question, passed for 234 yards and looked pretty good. But Georgia couldn’t run the ball, even though Notre Dame was without its best defensive player, lineman Rylie Mills. It also didn’t protect well, yielding four sacks.

In the coming days, we will hear from players leaving the program for the NFL Draft. The defense will almost certainly lose safety Malaki Starks, edge Mykel Williams, linebacker Jalon Walker, perhaps cornerback Daylen Everette and several other starters. The offense loses guard Tate Ratledge and second-best receiver Dominic Lovett and waits for decisions like tailback Trevor Etienne.

The offensive will continue to be the focus. The defense can add resources by retaining the talented young players who were undermanned this year. But it will still be young, and inconsistent play this year has shown Georgia doesn’t have a birthright to elite defense.

Georgia doesn’t automatically belong to the elite just because of the rings for 2021 and 2022 and as long as Smart is the coach. Although there was still optimism in the losers’ locker room.

“As much as you want to, you’re not going to win the national championship every year,” senior linebacker Smael Mondon said. “Just to be in the picture, compete and be able to compete for a spot, the program is definitely where we’re supposed to be.”

“The expectation will not change next year. I know that,” said safety Dan Jackson, the final link to the great 2021 defense. “Because we always have guys that will keep the standard up and be great. And we never really rebuild, we reload here.”

Then there was Smith, the receiver whose play symbolized the team throughout the season: drops that helped corner the team and the clutch plays that helped secure victories. This game didn’t take place either. Smith played well and had no misfires, but the team couldn’t get through in the final stages.

What did this loss mean for the program? Was it a blow to the ego?

“It’s a blow to the heart,” Smith said. “Someone will be on this side of the game and someone will be on that side. Winners and losers. We were losers. It sucks.”

(Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images)