Morning, y’all — happy Monday!
I say that even though I know for many of you reading this, it wasn’t the happiest weekend. Georgia’s loss to unranked Auburn was a major disappointment for a number of reasons, though the Bulldogs ended up staying in the Top 5.
Uncharacteristically, Gunner Stockton threw two interceptions and also fumbled on Georgia’s last drive of the game, when all the Bulldogs needed to do was get in field goal range to potentially win it. On Auburn’s ensuing drive, Georgia’s Gabe Harris was called for a roughing the passer penalty that helped set up the Tigers’ game-winning field goal instead.
Sorry to make everyone relive it, and I promise we won’t spend this entire week, especially with it being a bye week, rehashing a game people are eager to move on from.
But today, we’re going to offer a little analysis on what went wrong, and where the Bulldogs go from here:
Georgia football winners and losers after falling to Auburn
Loser: Gabe Harris
The thing Kirby Smart was most annoyed by wasn’t the three costly turnovers. It was the critical penalties. That’s why Harris finds himself at the top of this column.
Harris could not get off the field on an Auburn third-down attempt coming out of halftime, which led to a substitution infraction. That penalty was negated by the fact that Ellis Robinson was flagged in the end zone for defensive pass interference.
Instead of getting a third-down stop, Auburn got a first down. It turned that into a touchdown, its only one of the second half.
The other points Auburn scored after halftime came on a Harris penalty that did count.
Harris was flagged for a roughing-the-passer penalty that even the biggest Georgia supporter couldn’t argue against.
The flag moved the ball from the Georgia 34 to the 19-yard line. Most crucially, it made a difficult kick into a makeable one.
“The undisciplined penalty is probably the most disappointing thing, because we talk a lot about it,” Smart said. “We showed, on Friday night, we showed the roughing of passers that were called in our league, all over it, and said, this is what you can’t do. It takes great restraint not to do it, but we didn’t have great restraint.”
Harris is an excellent and important player for this Georgia defense. He will continue to do so in the future.
That a player as experienced as Harris — he’s in his fourth year with the program — makes the mistake sting all the more.
Auburn had seven more penalties against it than Georgia did on Saturday, as the Bulldogs had only four. But all of them added up to an outsized role in a shocking Georgia defeat.
Winner: Georgia’s wide receiver room
The Georgia wide receiver room was the biggest question mark coming into the season.
Yet even in missing Isiah Canion for the last four games, this group has steadily turned into a real bright spot.
Craig Dandridge continues to impress, finishing with four receptions for a game-high 88 yards. Talyn Taylor is a trusted option, catching four passes for 64 yards. He had a huge third-down conversion on Georgia’s game-tying drive.
London Humphreys again came up big in the red zone, hauling in Stockton’s second touchdown pass of the afternoon. Even Sacovie White-Helton chipped in with 37 yards on four receptions.
Mix this group in with the tight ends and it’s easy to see why Stockton has had the season he’s had. Sure, the Georgia quarterback has largely been great this season. But it helps when you have weapons like this contributing every week.
If Georgia can get Canion back out of the off week, and Nate Frazier can continue to recover from his rib injury, this Georgia offense should have everything it needs to be elite.
So long as Stockton takes care of the football.
Loser: Gunner Stockton
For the first time in his Georgia career, Stockton did not take care of the football in a game he started.
The Georgia quarterback was intercepted twice, both coming when Georgia was nearing points. The first was a great play made by Auburn safety AnQuon Fegans.
But the second interception was something that should be accompanied by the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme song.
“The guy was open,” Smart said. “He missed him. He said it, he said he missed him and overthrew it a little bit. I think it was Ethan Barbour or somebody right there wide open. He needed to put it on his body and threw it over him a little bit and nine caught it.”
Then to top it off, after leading Georgia back and having a chance to tie the game, Stockton fumbles the ball by running into offensive lineman Drew Bobo. Juxtapose that with Stockton somehow holding on to the football when he was blasted in the 2024 SEC Championship Game by a Texas defender.
“I thought he did a good job keeping us in the game,” Smart said. Very unfortunate on the fumble. If there was anybody I’d pick to have the ball in their hands, it’d be him because he does a great job with his ball security.”
Looming over all of Stockton’s play was the discussion as to whether or not he was hurt. Stockton left the game after Georgia’s first play and was checked out on the sideline. He missed three plays while Smart said the staff checked and cleared the Georgia quarterback of a concussion. Stockton was dealing with a stinger in his shoulder.
Neither Smart nor Stockton believed the hit had any impact on his play. On the drive immediately following his exit, he led Georgia to a touchdown to go up 14-0. And in the fourth quarter, he led Georgia on a 94-yard touchdown drive to tie the game. Stockton accounted for all 94 yards on said drive.
Read Connor Riley’s full story here.
Trivia time
Georgia’s loss to Auburn was its first loss to an unranked opponent at Sanford Stadium since when?
SEC Stock Report reflects league volatility, even as UGA stays on top
Smart doesn’t mince words or make excuses in defeat, and Saturday was no exception.
It would be easy to say it came down to a one-in-1,000 fluke fumble committed by the Bulldogs’ most trustworthy offensive player when he ran into his starting center on a well-blocked run play.
But then, that would be ignoring the defense’s inability to handle sudden change and get a stop with the game on the line, and the fact that Auburn exhibited more willpower and executed better in the final minute.
That’s why Smart held his team accountable and gave the Tigers credit for their fight and line play (Auburn out-rushed UGA 192-113) without mentioning the value of the bye week the schedule provided them entering into the game.
“We’ve got to improve, we can’t turn the ball over, we can’t have undisciplined penalties …,” Smart said. “I need more players to play winning football. I need to be able to play more than five linemen.
“We’re trying to play more guys because I don’t know that we can make it through this grind without it.”
Remember, Smart has said Georgia doesn’t practice to win one game, it practices to win all of them, and a soft start to the schedule allowed the Bulldogs to play many young players and keep starters fresh deeper into the season.
But Saturday night was a punch in the mouth and a valuable lesson for the UGA players on the price of a No. 1 ranking, as allowing an opponent any shot at victory will inspire a fierce challenge.
The bottom line is that Georgia football stock took a hit with its uncharacteristic loss and failure to measure up to the brand of a team that makes it a habit not to beat itself.
Read Mike Griffith’s story here.
3-star flips to Georgia football
Braylon Miller came into this weekend committed to Liberty.
The 3-star safety prospect from Newton High did have plans, though. Miller is the nation’s No. 104 safety and the No. 992 overall prospect for 2027 on the 247Sports Composite. He is a fast-rising in-state prospect and was at the last UGA home game against Vanderbilt.
Smart offered him then.
Georgia invited him back this weekend for an official visit for the Auburn game.
The Flames were clinging to that pledge, but Miller saw what he needed to see. The 5-foot-10, 195-pound do-everything playmaker flipped that commitment to Georgia during his weekend official visit.
The Dawgs might have fallen to Auburn, but they won Miller’s commitment this weekend.
“It’s just where I see myself,” Miller told DawgNation. “Being a good fit for the program.”
He said the best part of his official visit was chatting with Smart. What was the main message there?
“That I was a big priority,” Miller said.
Read Jeff Sentell’s full story here.
Trivia answer
Since 2019 to South Carolina (a 20-17 double overtime loss)
