Category: UGA Football

After two SEC road games sandwiched around an open date, Georgia returns to Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium Saturday for the first time since Sept. 7 when it plays host to Auburn (2-3, 0-2 SEC). This will be only Georgia’s second home game of the year.

The Deep South’s oldest rivalry continues when the Bulldogs tangle with the Tigers. This will be the 129th meeting, which ranks second in NCAA history for “Most Played Rivalries,” trailing only Wisconsin-Minnesota (133 times). Georgia leads the AU series 64-56-8. The all-time series results with the Tigers can be found on page four of these notes.

Last year, Georgia edged Auburn 27-20 on the Plains. The Bulldogs are 8-1 against the Tigers under Kirby Smart and have won the past seven meetings. During the regular season in 2017, then No. 10 Auburn upset No. 2 Georgia 40-17 on the Plains. The Bulldogs responded a few weeks later in the SEC Championship Game with a 28-7 victory over the Tigers.

Both teams enter this game looking to respond after a tough loss. Last Saturday in Tuscaloosa, No. 2 Georgia fell behind 28-0, rallied to take a brief 34-33 lead only to see the No. 4 Crimson Tide answer to post a 41-34 win. Georgia gained 519 yards on 76 plays but had four turnovers plus surrendered 547 yards on 65 plays.

On the Plains, the Tigers saw an 11-point fourth-quarter lead evaporate capped by a 61-yard pick-six by Kip Lewis to give No. 21 Oklahoma a 27-21 SEC road win.

In the Kirby Smart era, the Bulldogs are 13-3 after a loss and haven’t lost back-to-back games in the regular season since 2016, his first year at the helm. The last seven times Georgia has lost a game, it has won its next contest. Back in 2016, Georgia fell to Vanderbilt in Athens on Oct. 15 and then to Florida in Jacksonville on Oct. 29. Georgia dropped its final two games of the 2018 postseason, falling to No. 1 Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and then were upset by No. 15 Texas in the Sugar Bowl.

The more things change the more they stay the same. Through the first three games of the season, the Bulldogs were the only FBS team that did not allow a TD as opponents combined for six field goals. Georgia limited then 14th-ranked Clemson to three points, Tenn. Tech kicked a field goal on the final play of the game and UK made four field goals. However last Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., fourth-ranked Alabama built a 28-0 lead on the Bulldogs and hung on for a 41-34 win.

Going into the game with the Crimson Tide, the Bulldogs were one of just three teams in FBS that did not have a turnover on the season. Then, the Bulldogs had four in the loss. They now are even in Turnover Margin this season. Meanwhile, Auburn is minus 11 in Turnover Margin after five games.

Georgia enters this week’s game against Auburn ranked 18th nationally in Scoring Defense (14.8 ppg) and 52nd in Scoring Offense (32.3 ppg). The Tigers are 38th nationally in Scoring Defense (18.8 ppg) and 42nd in Scoring Offense (33.4 ppg).

Did You Know? The Bulldogs were the only FBS team to finish the 2023 season nationally ranked in the top five in both Scoring Offense (40.1 ppg/5th) and Scoring Defense (15.6 ppg/5th).

Read more

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The No. 2-ranked Georgia football team suffered its first regular-season defeat since 2020 on Saturday night, falling 41-34 to No. 4 Alabama in a wild game at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The loss snapped a run of 42 consecutive regular-season wins, as well as 28 straight in SEC regular-season games, for the Bulldogs.

Georgia’s last regular-season loss came against Florida on Nov. 7, 2020. On Saturday, the Crimson Tide jumped out in front early with three first-quarter touchdowns, forcing the Bulldogs (3-1, 1-1 SEC) to play catch-up the rest of the way. Despite outscoring the Tide 27-11 in the second half, and briefly taking the lead late in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs came up short in the end.

In a game with more than 1,000 yards of offense, Alabama (4-0, 1-0) finished with 547, while Georgia gained 519. Georgia’s defense had allowed just 18 points on six field goals coming into the game, and the offense had zero turnovers through three games before committing four Saturday.

Quarterback Jalen Milroe directed the Tide down the field for a touchdown on the game’s opening drive, completing all three pass attempts, including one for a 34-yard gain, and later scoring on a seven-yard run for a 7-0 lead with 10:11 left in the first quarter. It was the first touchdown the Bulldogs had allowed this season.

Read more

uga ala 24 full game stats

Streaks Snapped:

• Second-ranked Georgia saw its regular season winning streak end at 42 games as #4 UA hung on for a 41-34 decision. Before tonight, Georgia’s last regular season loss came to Florida in Jacksonville on Nov. 7, 2020. Georgia now is 49-3 in its last 52 games.
• Georgia saw its SEC and school record streak of consecutive SEC regular season victories end at 28.
• Tonight marked the first regular season loss for Georgia’s 2024 senior class as they are now 45-3 overall and 39-1 in the regular season.
• The Bulldogs had won 16 straight games in an opponent’s home stadium, the last loss coming to Alabama in 2020.
• Bulldog coach Kirby Smart had won five straight AP top-five matchups before the Bulldogs fell tonight in Tuscaloosa.

Defensive Review:

• UA built a 28-0 lead and hung on for a 41-34 victory, amassing 547 yards of total offense on 65 plays.
• Coming in tonight, the Bulldogs had allowed just 18 points on six field goals to rank third nationally. UA came in ranked sixth nationally in Scoring Offense at 49.0 ppg. UA built a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and an eventual 30-7 advantage at the half. It was Georgia’s largest halftime deficit since trailing No. 23 Ole Miss 31-0 in Oxford in 2016. UA finished the first half with 355 yards of total offense on 35 plays.
• UA became the first team to score a TD on Georgia, doing on its opening drive, going 70 yards on eight plays in 4:43. UA added another TD on its second possession, going 84 yards on six plays in 3:11 for a 14-0 edge with 4:39 left in the first quarter. UA took a 21-0 lead on its third possession in the first quarter, needing to go just 22 yards following an interception. UA went up 28-0 on its fourth possession, going 67 yards on six plays capped by a 36-yard TD run by Jalen Milroe on a 4th-and-1.
• On it’s fifth possession, UA was stopped on a 4th-and-1 at the UGA 34, losing a yard with Dan Jackson and Daniel Harris on the stop. On the next play, UA got the ball back on an INT and took it to the UGA 25. It did not lead to any points.
• UA trailed 34-33 with 2:31 remaining in the contest but Jalen MIlroe connected with Ryan Williams for a 75-yard TD and a two-point conversion for a 41-34 edge.
• Georgia’s leading tacklers were senior Dan Jackson with a career-high 10 and an INT while junior Malaki Starks had eight. For Jackson, it was his third career INT and his first since the South Carolina game last year.

Read more