I know it's risky and risque to even say, but I think that regular season loss does wonders for a team's motivation. In 2017, it kept us out of the SEC title game, and our CFP hopes in the air. But we got in, and deservedly so. I do believe that an expanded playoff for football would go a long way toward not having one less be the end-all, be-all to a season.
So, obviously, a loss to UGA, which was really the only game that was competitive on paper, could not be accepted. Couldn't let that game be the one to keep you out of the CFP, and knowing we got in the year before, the noise would have been too loud for the committee to put us in. UGA takes our place. Not advocating at all that the SEC title should have been a loss. Just saying that having a loss during the regular season, or at least a near miss, like Clemson with Syracuse, wakes guys up a bit. We slept walked through the first 7 weeks. Had to get punched in the mouth a bit in November, PITCHED TWO SHUT OUTS, and then played UGA.
We were just not up to snuff defensively this year. I put that on the coaches on that side of the ball.