Short and simple, the Gym Dogs underperformed Friday.

A season-low of 195.000 was good enough for a good-sized victory against N.C. State in Raleigh, but a meet marred by five falls and a lack of execution left a lot to be desired.

“Basically, we had people that were under-trained, and people that choked,” coach Suzanne Yoculan said.

Georgia had reclaimed the nation’s No. 1 spot, but Friday’s performance dropped it back to No. 3 behind Utah and UCLA and undid any of the confidence that might have been garnered after running through a trio of top-10 opponents in seven days.

“We go from 195 [in the season opener against West Virginia] to two 197s to 195 again?” said junior Courtney McCool. “It just shoots your confidence and shoots your momentum. It’s all shot to hell.”

McCool, last year’s NCAA champion on floor, has not competed this season due to a fracture of the navicular bone in her left foot. She’s been walking in a boot and performing routines on bars since getting off of crutches two weeks ago, and hopes to be out of the boot by Friday and competing by the end of February.

Senior all-arounder Tiffany Tolnay, a 12-time All-American, didn’t compete at all in Raleigh as she continues to battle an avulsion fracture in her foot. She plans to be back in the lineup when the Gym Dogs host No. 5 Auburn on Saturday, but on Friday, she shared McCool’s disappointment from the sidelines.

“It was terrible to watch,” she said. “Just falling apart one person right after each other is just not good . We were there, we were getting better, we were moving up the mountain, making progress. And then you take like 20 steps backwards in one night. We have a lot of work to do.”

The absence of McCool and Tolnay has definitely been felt, as the Gym Dogs struggle to trade their increasingly transient lineup for a more stable one.

“It’s hard to come up with a lineup when you have two strong variables, two X-factors, Tiffany and Courtney, that aren’t regulars in your lineup,” Yoculan said. “And you’re switching them off with freshmen. I don’t think anybody would have consistency in that situation.”

Despite recent disappointment, Georgia’s push for a fifth-straight national title moves on. The Gym Dogs’ next two home meets against Auburn and Florida already have sold out, and the future is all about building themselves back up.

“I’m not a believer in beating somebody down that’s broken, and right now our team is broken,” Yoculan said. “It’s my job and the other coaches’ jobs, and all of the athletes, it’s our job together to fix it.”