DENVER -- The Colorado Crush could have used one of John Elway's patented fourth-quarter comebacks in their Arena Football League debut on Sunday.

With Elway, their co-owner, and a raucous sellout crowd of 17,483 looking on, the expansion Crush came up short against the Georgia Force 44-40.

Georgia rallied with three fourth-quarter scores, including two touchdown passes from Donnie Davis to Tyronne Jones.

John Dutton, the 2002 ArenaBowl MVP who was Colorado's top free-agent signee, threw five touchdown passes -- all to Damian Harrell. But Dutton also had two critical fumbles, both of which were converted into Georgia touchdowns.

"I wanted to go out there,'' Elway admitted after the game. "I'm as competitive now as when I played.

"Talent-wise, I think we can compete. But you can't make the mistakes we made and expect to win. This was a classic example of beating yourself. I felt for John Dutton, but I also want to find out why that happened.''

Referring to the crowd and the overall atmosphere, Elway said, "It was unbelievable. Everything went off as we planned. I'm disappointed we lost, but the fans were excited and I think they were entertained. The response was great. I hope they come back.''

Dutton's first four TD throws to Harrell -- covering 14, 31, 16 and 4 yards -- led the Crush to a 27-17 half time lead. His 14-yard toss to Harrell came on Colorado's first offensive play.

On the first play from scrimmage of the second half, Dutton fumbled when the ball slipped out of his hand as he was attempting to throw from the goal line. Defensive lineman Jermaine Smith recovered in the end zone for a touchdown.

Two field goals by Colorado's Kris Heppner made it 33-24, but Georgia dominated the fourth quarter.

Davis, who had completed only 12-of-28 passes with two interceptions to that point, hit Jones on a 36-yard TD throw early in the final period.

Moments later, Dutton fumbled again on a similar play, and Georgia's Dan Curran recovered at the Force's 15-yard line, causing an agonized Elway to writhe in his seat in the suite section. Three plays later, Davis hit Jones on a 14-yard strike for a 37-33 lead.

An interception by Kevin Gaines set up the third score of the quarter, which was aided by a roughing-the-passer penalty on Andre Cooper and an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty against Crush defensive coordinator Lee Johnson. Davis sneaked the final yard for a 44-33 lead with 1:13 left.

Dutton passed 25 yards to Harrell to make it 44-40 with 49 seconds to go, but Georgia then ran out the clock.

Heppner missed field-goal attempts of 32 and 25 yards as well as an extra point.

"Our biggest fear was laying an egg and not scoring,'' Crush coach Bob Beers said. "We didn't know whether we were any good. We showed we can score, and now we have to polish it up a little more.

"Georgia is a good team. They made the adjustments and we didn't.''

Said Dutton, "The ball was slick, but both teams played with the same ball. I have to get better.''