Georgia's Lambert struggles while Tide's Coker soars

ATHENS, Ga. - While Alabama fifth-year senior quarterback Jake Coker was producing his finest collegiate performance Saturday inside Sanford Stadium, Georgia counterpart Greyson Lambert cooled off considerably from his previous two weeks.

Lambert was ranked third nationally in efficiency after completing 33 of 35 passes in wins over South Carolina and Southern University, but he was an ineffective 10-of-24 for 86 yards in the 38-10 loss to the Crimson Tide. The redshirt junior transfer from Virginia threw a late interception, his first of the season.

"This was definitely a tough one, and my hat is off to their defense," Lambert said. "They came ready to play, and we didn't execute. Whether it was communication or X's and O's, we didn't do our job.

"We knew they had a great front seven, and you could see that today."

Lambert, who won the starting job in late August after beating out Brice Ramsey and Faton Bauta, was replaced by Ramsey just before halftime. Ramsey started the third quarter, but his first pass of the game was intercepted by Eddie Jackson, who returned it 50 yards for a touchdown and a 31-3 lead.

Ramsey wound up 1-of-6 for 20 yards with two interceptions, which earned the redshirt sophomore an efficiency rating of minus-22.

"We were just trying to find some answers and trying to find a spark," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said. "I would say we're just going to have to re-evaluate everything. We were just trying to find a change, and it just didn't happen."

Georgia's offensive struggles were foreshadowed on the very first play, when senior receiver Malcolm Mitchell got behind the Crimson Tide secondary down the right sideline. Lambert underthrew the ball, however, resulting in an incompletion.

"The first play of the game - we had a shot if we hit him on the run," Richt said. "We just couldn't quite place it where we needed to."

Said Lambert: "I just underthrew him."

The Bulldogs went three-and-out on their first three possessions before embarking on a 14-play, 71-yard drive that ended in a 27-yard Marshall Morgan field goal early in the second quarter that tied the game at 3-3. Georgia then went three-and-out three more times in a row, and the Crimson Tide pounced to take a commanding 24-3 lead.

Georgia was just 2-of-11 on third-down conversions in the first half and finished the game 3-of-17.

"They got in a lot of third-down situations, which is very difficult to manage on a day like today," Alabama coach Nick Saban said.

Richt was quick to credit the Crimson Tide for Georgia's rough day. He cited Alabama squeezing the pocket more and playing tighter coverage than any foe the Bulldogs have faced to this point.

Obviously both teams had to play in the rain, but Lambert had the tougher time than Coker in gripping the ball.

"There are no excuses," Lambert said. "We were able to practice in the rain on Monday and Tuesday, and we've got to do a better job of holding on to it."

Georgia entered Saturday averaging a robust 491.2 yards per game. The Bulldogs wound up with 299 against the Crimson Tide, the first time they didn't reach 300 since a 2013 loss at Vanderbilt, when they were without tailbacks Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall and receivers Michael Bennett, Justin Scott-Wesley and Mitchell due to injuries.

"We've just got to go back and watch film and see what went wrong," Mitchell said, "because obviously something did."

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.