Happy New Year from everyone at DawgNation, and an even bigger happy game day.

After 26 days, Georgia football is back. The Bulldogs will face Ole Miss at 8 p.m. in the Sugar Bowl.

There’s no doubt Georgia benefited from its time off. The layoff aided the likely returns of wide receiver Colbie Young and tight end Ethan Barbour, who were not listed on the team’s latest injury report, while allowing other players to recover from their 13 regular season games.

But there’s one concern with receiving nearly a month off, and it resurfaced Wednesday night when Miami beat Ohio State, 24-14, in the Cotton Bowl — teams who received a first-round bye are 0-5 in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Georgia finds itself in that same scenario.

The Bulldogs previously discussed navigating the time off — and learning from last season’s experience — but until a team secures a win, the record will speak for itself.

Either way, it should be a fun day of football and an excellent way to ring in the new year.

So enjoy the game, and check out the rest of our coverage below.

Trivia time

Before this season, how many times has Georgia faced another SEC team in the Sugar Bowl?

Answer is at the bottom of the newsletter.

Gunner Stockton: ‘The recipe’ for a Georgia Sugar Bowl victory

Gunner Stockton knows the assignment, and this time, he knows exactly how to execute it.

“It’s crazy how much I’ve grown in a year,” Stockton said at the Sugar Bowl media day at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel.

Stockton’s growth has been the most consistent storyline for the Georgia team (12-1) that will take the field at 8 p.m. on Thursday to face Ole Miss (12-1) in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal.

Stockton played in this same Caesars Superdome last year in a CFP quarterfinal matchup with Notre Dame, making his first career start in a 23-10 season-ending loss to the Irish.

Stockton and his UGA teammates already beat Ole Miss once this season, 43-35, in a come-from-behind victory that saw the Bulldogs outscore the Rebels 17-0 in the fourth quarter.

As he has been all season, Stockton was magnificent in the clutch, a perfect 12-of-12 passing for 135 yards and three touchdowns in the second half of that win over Ole Miss.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart has preached the narrative that this meeting with the Rebels represents an entirely different game, as both teams have changed since their first meeting in Athens on Oct. 18.

“You can’t transfer a win or anything like that, so it’s a whole separate game,” Stockton said, echoing his head coach’s sentiments.

“It’s a whole separate season because it’s a one-game season now. So I’m excited to play in it.”

Part of that excitement, no doubt, comes from Stockton’s command of the offense and feel for the game.

CFB weekly bowl results

Final

Thursday

Freshman LB Zayden Walker illustrates why Georgia’s defense is much improved

A lot has changed for the Georgia defense since it last played Ole Miss.

After giving up 35 points against the Rebels the last time out, no opposing team has topped more than 21 points in a game against the Bulldogs. Over the past six games, the Bulldogs have finally started to get after opposing quarterbacks, while maintaining a stout run defense.

Perhaps no player better illustrates the growth and improvements of the Georgia defense than freshman Zayden Walker.

Especially when you consider that uber-athletic linebacker didn’t play at all against Ole Miss on Oct. 18.

“Zayden Walker was a piece of the plan in this game last time. We didn’t play very many third-and-longs early in the game,” defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann said. “So he kind of started to develop that way. And so that’s, I think, force more third-and-longs that create more negative plays on early downs. Play tighter coverage, it opens up where you can do a lot more of your menu.”

Walker has 2.0 sacks this season, picking up his first in Georgia’s win over Texas. His next came in the SEC championship game, when he effortlessly chased down Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson.

It was a play that made Walker particularly proud.

Photo of the day

Mississippi head coach Pete Golding (left) and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart shake hands during a joint news conference for the upcoming Sugar Bowl and College Football Playoff quarterfinal game on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in New Orleans. (Matthew Hinton/Associated Press Photo Stream)

Quote of the day

Smart on running the football:

“I don’t know that we knew then this is what the team needed to get here. We just knew what the team needed. The best version of this team was only going to get there with fire, passion and energy. Ability to run the ball and ability to stop the run. Those are things we didn’t do well last year. So it wasn’t about we scripted out what we needed to make the playoffs. We scripted out what we needed to be the best team.”

Smart shares what makes this Georgia team better prepared than last year’s

For the second straight season, Georgia finds itself in the College Football Playoff, with its first game in the Sugar Bowl.

Last season’s postseason run was a short run, as the Bulldogs lost 23-10 to Notre Dame.

Head coach Smart is confident this team is better prepared for Thursday’s game against Ole Miss. He shared why at his final availability before the game against Pete Golding’s Ole Miss Rebels.

“They’ve had a lot of energy,” Smart said of this Georgia team. “We’re a little younger, and they want to be coached. They want to be coached hard. They like practicing hard. They get out there and do exactly what you demand of them each and every day. They’ve seen some of the rewards from that, some of the physical toughness, some of the stop the run, run the ball. I mean, like they see the rewards from it, and they bought into that being an identity.”

Trivia answer

Zero: Georgia played Arkansas in 1969, but the Razorbacks didn’t join the conference until 1991.