Mississippi State safety Brylan Lanier made one of the more bizarre business decisions of the college football season when he got burned for a touchdown by the Georgia Bulldogs in Saturday’s game.
Early in the third quarter, Georgia’s Carson Beck linked up with wide receiver Arian Smith for a 42-yard touchdown catch. The score could have been prevented, or at least delayed, by Lanier, who was beaten in coverage but was able to close on Smith early enough to tackle the receiver about five yards short of the end zone.
There was just one problem: Lanier did not do that. He wrapped Smith up for the tackle, then simply let go, allowing the Georgia receiver to score.
🤷♂️ Don't mind if we do.
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— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) October 12, 2024
It was not clear what happened for Lanier to give up on the play. It did not appear to be a question of effort. One possibility is that he lost track of where he was on the field and thought that Smith was already in the end zone. It might also be possible that he thought Smith had not made the catch, though it is tough to imagine where Lanier would have gotten the idea. Regardless, instead of first and goal from about the 5-yard line, Georgia got six points out of the play.
We have seen some players give up on plays prematurely this season, but that did not appear to be the case here. Lanier simply lost track of what was going on for some reason. You can’t make those kinds of mistakes when trying to upset a team of Georgia’s caliber.
