UGA really hasn't played consistently badly against Bama.

In 2017 UGA played very well against Bama. They blew a coverage in OT, but the reality is Bama was the better team and UGA was playing lights out to be in that game.

2018 SECCG was similar. UGA lost, but overall played above their level.

In 2020 UGA didn't play horrible, but due to the covid year causing us to play without our starting QB all season and then the QB we had got hurt just before half time, UGA didn't have the gas to keep up after injuries.

In 2021, UGA had one bad quarter out of 8 against Bama. Their defense gave up more than 10 points in a quarter only that one time all season (24 vs Bama). It was a VERY bad quarter, but it wasn't a consistent level of poor play.

2023 was a consistently bad day for UGA. It's really the only one I'd say UGA played poorly for the whole game rather than just having a few bad plays or that one horrific quarter. UGA seemed to start to get out of the funk late in the game, but it was too late at that point.

UGA's only really been on par with Bama for talent since 2021. Perhaps would have been in 2020 if UGA hadn't been missing guys with Covid withdrawals. The close losses in 2017 and 2018 were not UGA playing poorly. They were playing above their talent level, just not quite good enough to get the win either time.