1+ day, 11+ hour ago (406+ words) Georgia will get a chance to defend its SEC championship, and it could come against its nemesis, Alabama. Brett Davis / Imagn Images Georgia will get a chance to defend its SEC championship, and it could come against the Bulldogs" nemesis, Alabama. Alternatively, it could come against Ole Miss, perhaps delaying coach Lane Kiffin"s decision on whether to leave Oxford. That"s the consequence of Texas"s win over Texas A&M on Friday night, which also eliminated the previously unbeaten Aggies from the SEC race. Georgia, which got a non-conference win over Georgia Tech on Friday, was already in the clubhouse with a 7-1 conference record. Ole Miss also got to 7-1 with a win at Mississippi State, while Texas A&M fell to 7-1 with the loss. That creates the possibility of a four-way tie for first place if Alabama (6-1) wins…...

2+ week, 5+ hour ago (877+ words) Kirby Smart's Bulldogs are playing like a team capable of winning a national title. Dale Zanine / Imagn Images ATHENS, Ga. " Cash Jones kept asking Kirby Smart: When will we do it? They practiced it over and over, several years now. When would they do it? When Smart told Jones and others on the Georgia football team that this would be the week, safety KJ Bolden didn't believe it. Such a big game. Such a big opponent. And when they finally did it, when kicker Peyton Woodring turned his foot out to give the onside kick just the right push, when Jones caught the bouncing football in stride, it caught more than just Texas by surprise. "I didn't even know we were doing it," Georgia receiver Noah Thomas said. "I just heard the crowd screaming. And I was like, "Oh, we're…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago (425+ words) Billy Napier, fired by Florida on Oct. 19, is the last coach to defeat Texas, Georgia's upcoming opponent. James Gilbert / Getty Images ATHENS, Ga. " Billy Napier didn't get to coach against Georgia this year. He did get to watch the Bulldogs practice this week, and Kirby Smart said it was no big deal, just two old friends getting together. Or perhaps it's what Smart wants Steve Sarkisian to believe. Napier was fired as Florida's coach three weeks ago, in the bye week before the Georgia game. The Gators and interim coach Billy Gonzales gave a scare to the Bulldogs, who won 24-20. This week, fifth-ranked Georgia faces No. 10 Texas, which has two losses this year " one of them to Napier. Florida beat the Longhorns in Gainesville, 29-21, running the ball particularly well: 159 rushing yards, averaging 4.3 yards per rush. Florida is also one of…...

1+ mon, 10+ hour ago (1045+ words) Georgia's defense has been middle-of-the-pack in the SEC this year, a drop-off from recent seasons. Todd Kirkland / Getty Images Over the sound of jubilant Georgia football players in the Tennessee visiting locker room, coach Kirby Smart looked their way with a wry smile. His Bulldogs defense had just been dominated by the first SEC team it played, yet it didn't seem worried. "That defensive group in there, they're not losing their confidence," Smart said after that 44-41 win in Week 3. "That group in there, they think they can stop anybody anytime." Turns out, they cannot. Georgia (6-1) is now coming off a game in which it couldn't stop the other team, Ole Miss, from getting into the end zone on its first five possessions. There was also a high-profile rough first half against Alabama in which it allowed 24 points before firming up…...

1+ mon, 1+ week ago (1379+ words) Georgia took down undefeated Ole Miss to stay in the College Football Playoff mix. Todd Kirkland / Getty Images And now, 20 Final Thoughts from Week 8, which left me pining for a Vanderbilt-Indiana national championship game. Many prefer the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL because they love watching the greatest athletes on the planet excel at their craft. College football fans much prefer when no one excels at anything. We live not for excellence but for chaos. And the 2025 season is rapidly turning into a chaos lover's dream. 2. Down goes undefeated Miami. And undefeated Ole Miss (to Georgia). And undefeated Texas Tech (to Arizona State). Throw in 5-1 LSU (to Vanderbilt) and you have four top-10 defeats in one weekend. There were also losses by undefeated Memphis (to UAB) and undefeated UNLV (to Boise State). Obviously, this is not 1998, or even 2023, when one loss…...

1+ mon, 1+ week ago (1056+ words) Gunner Stockton completed 15 of his final 16 passes, carrying Georgia to a win on a day its defense struggled. Todd Kirkland / Getty Images ATHENS, Ga. " Georgia doesn't have a quarterback. That's what they were saying. Nice kid. Fun story, that he drives a 40-year-old truck, owns a bunch of cows, his teammates love him. That was the narrative about Gunner Stockton. Georgia needed something better. Even Georgia coaches seemed to think so, bringing Fernando Mendoza in to visit last December before he chose Indiana. Jayden Maiava (USC) and Dylan Raiola (Nebraska) were once committed. Then there was Carson Beck. If any of them is on the roster, they're starting, and Paul Finebaum isn't spending the summer doubting Georgia's quarterback. Turns out, Georgia has a quarterback. It may not have a defense, but it has a quarterback in Stockton, and he's carrying…...

1+ mon, 1+ week ago (1342+ words) Defense appeared optional for most of the game, but Kirby Smart's Georgia had enough of it late to top Ole Miss. Brett Davis / Imagn Images ATHENS, Ga. " In a top-10 showdown loaded with offensive fireworks, No. 9 Georgia outscored No. 5 Ole Miss 43-35, delivering the Rebels" their first loss of the season and shaking up the SEC race. Defense appeared optional for most of the game, with both teams combining to score on the first 11 possessions. Georgia finally forced the first punt early in the fourth quarter with a clutch three-and-out, followed by a nine-play, 67-yard scoring drive to give the Dawgs a decisive 40-35 lead. Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) trailed 35-26 in the second half after Ole Miss (6-1, 3-1 SEC) scored touchdowns on its first five drives, but held the Rebels scoreless on their final three possessions to pull off the late comeback. "I told the…...

1+ mon, 1+ week ago (459+ words) Ole Miss (6-0) looks to stay undefeated as it takes on Georgia at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga. The Rebels are looking to go 7-0 for the first time since 2022. Follow our college football writers for news, updates and analysis on this pivotal matchup. This is the 48th meeting between Georgia and Ole Miss. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 33-13-1. The last time these two teams met at Sanford Stadium, the Bulldogs trounced the Rebels 52-17. Carson Beck threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns. Last year, Ole Miss beat Georgia 28-17 in Oxford, Miss. Jaxson Dart, now with the New York Giants, went 13-of-22 passing for 199 yards and one touchdown with one interception. It's been a phenomenal season for Ole Miss thus far. The Rebels enter today's game undefeated. Here are their results: Georgia enters this game needing a win at home. Below are the…...

1+ mon, 2+ week ago (1044+ words) Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said it feels like his team is "not getting any breaks" after close calls went Georgia's way. Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images AUBURN, Ala. " Some booed. Other Auburn fans chose more emotive ways of showing their displeasure as the SEC officiating crew left the field through a corner tunnel at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday night. One Auburn fan leaned over the railing, waved his middle finger and yelled. Another cupped his hands and shouted invective. Another sarcastically clapped and shouted "good job." "We're better than Georgia," Auburn receiver Preston Howard said. "We're better than every team we've played. But we've gotta play well enough to win." And that gets to the crux of the issue for Auburn (3-3, 0-3 SEC), which was on the wrong end of a good case of two-things-can-be-true: 1. There were several questionable, controversial officiating calls,…...

1+ mon, 2+ week ago (514+ words) Georgia LB Raylen Wilson forced Auburn QB Jackson Arnold to fumble, and officials upheld a call that the ball came out before it crossed the goal line. Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images AUBURN, Ala. " Inches away from the end zone, Auburn tried a tush-push play to go up three scores on No. 10 Georgia late in the second quarter. The result: a wild play, a six-minute replay review and a controversial ruling that gave Georgia the ball, changing the momentum in a game the Tigers had dominated. There were less than two minutes left in the first half Saturday, with Auburn leading 10-0, and the Tigers had third-and-short after quarterback Jackson Arnold was ruled down just shy of the goal line. After a replay review confirmed the second-down call, Auburn's offense raced to the line in tush-push formation " the running backs behind Arnold,…...