Georgia Football: 5 Key Moments the Turned the Bulldogs' Season Around

Every summer, college football fans flock to newsstands to pick up the latest preview magazines so they can see which teams and players will stand out by the end of the year. The problem is the predictions don’t include what will happen to the teams and players during the year that will determine their fate.

For the Georgia Bulldogs, the biggest moment happened last week when Mark Richt announced he was no longer the head coach at Georgia and the program hired Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart to take over for next year and beyond. But that happened at the end of the regular season and there were other moments that occurred at the start and during the season that really made an impact on the team and the fans.

So here are five key moments that turned the Bulldogs' 2015 season around.

Greyson Lambert Being Named Starter

Before the season began, there was a quarterback competition between Brice Ramsey, Faton Bauta and Greyson Lambert. Because Ramsey had the most experience, he looked to be the favorite to win. However, Lambert was announced the starter as soon as the season began.

According to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com), Lambert won the job because of his experience. He played at Virginia last season and tallied 1,972 passing yards with 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

As we all know he did not live up to expectations, but he did not have a terrible year either. But Lambert’s play and the coaches’ decision to have him be the starter was the reason the Bulldogs ended the regular season with a 9-3 record.

Lambert Goes off Against South Carolina

After the South Carolina game, there were thoughts that Lambert had taken the next step and was ready to lead the Bulldogs to a SEC title. The reason for that is Lambert completed 24 of his 25 passes for 330 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Lambert led the Bulldogs to a 52-20 win over South Carolina, and it was the most points the Bulldogs had scored against the Steve Spurrier-led team.

"

Beautiful throw from Greyson Lambert to Reggie Davis. South Carolina's Isaiah Johnson was flagged for targeting. pic.twitter.com/HThr0RtGon

— Dr. Saturday (@YahooDrSaturday) September 19, 2015"

It turned out not to be that great a win because the Gamecocks finished with a 3-9 record. Lambert put on a performance that rarely happens at the FBS level, which made it more frustrating to watch him struggle the rest of the way.

The Alabama Beatdown

Believe it or not, Georgia entered the game against Alabama as a small favorite. The Bulldogs came into the game with a 4-0 record, while Alabama was coming off a home loss against Ole Miss.

That probably motivated Alabama to go out and run over the Bulldogs as the team won 38-10. The Bulldogs could do nothing on offense, the defense had trouble containing Derrick Henry and Jacob Coker could hit the pass plays that Lambert couldn’t.

"

Ball slips out of UGA QB Greyson Lambert's hand: pic.twitter.com/p0dlB5PXaf

— Alex Martin Smith (@asmiff) October 3, 2015"

The matchup was a statement game for both teams. Alabama proved it was still the team to beat in the SEC while. Georgia proved it wasn't ready to take the next step yet.

Faton Bauta Starting Against Florida

The Bulldogs were coming off a performance where they did not score a touchdown in the 9-6 win over Missouri. So the coaching staff made a change at the quarterback position and Faton Bauta got the start over Lambert for the Florida game.

And things did not go Bauta’s way as he went 15-of-33 for 154 yards and four interceptions. That led to the Bulldogs getting blown out by Florida 27-3.

Bauta was never put in a position to win. Known for his running ability, he only ran the ball three times and tallied four yards.

The move showed how much faith the Bulldogs had in Lambert to be able to lead the offense, which is very little. However, they did put Lambert back at the starting role the following week and he remained there for the rest of the year.

The Nick Chubb Injury

Losing to Alabama at home is bad and losing to Florida for the second consecutive year might be worse. But it does not compare to what happened in Knoxville.

The Bulldogs did lose to Tennessee, which is never good especially when they were leading 24-3 late in the second quarter. But what happened in the first play of the game ended the Bulldogs' 2015 season.

Wade Payne/Associated Press

Nick Chubb got the ball on the first play of the game and he tried to bounce the play to the outside. But as he was going out of bounds, he suffered a brutal knee injury and he was done for the rest of the season.

Chubb was the only consistent thing going for the Bulldogs as he rushed for over 120 yards in each of the Bulldogs' first five games of the year. When he went down, the entire offense changed and not for the better.

That being said, Sony Michel did a very good job filling in, finishing the regular season with 1,076 yards and seven touchdowns. But he did not have the same impact as Chubb did at the start of the season and Bulldogs fans knew as soon as Chubb went down and they lost to Tennessee on the same afternoon that the Bulldogs' season was over before the month of November.