Georgia football’s season is officially over.

The Bulldogs fell to Ole Miss, 39-34, Thursday evening in the Sugar Bowl to conclude it. It was a game Georgia had multiple chances to win — even holding a nine-point lead at one point — but miscues and decisions that later backfired proved detrimental.

The loss stung for the Bulldogs — you could see it as they spoke to reporters after the game — but most of the group will return next season.

Georgia will lose key contributors like Micah Morris, Oscar Delp and Daylen Everette but it expected to return many others.

And that should make fans excited for what’s to come.

Check out the rest of our coverage below.

Trivia time

What is Georgia’s record in the Sugar Bowl?

Answer is at the bottom of the newsletter.

Inside the Georgia locker room as Bulldogs grapple with a season that ended too soon

You can say a lot of things about this Georgia team.

Its season came to an end too soon. It was young. It didn’t go on the run it should’ve after a 39-34 loss to Ole Miss.

But one walk through the Georgia locker room would also let even the most casual observer know that this team truly cared.

Which makes the way Thursday’s game ended all the more crushing.

“I just reflect on how much we, you know, how long we came,” linebacker CJ Allen said. “A lot of people doubted us and said we wouldn’t make it this far, you know. But we had big goals, we came out short, man. So proud of this team and the growth, you know. Proud of the seniors, the way they lead the team, man.”

You could see the agony on the faces of seniors like Oscar Delp, Micah Morris and Brett Thorson. They’ve all played their last games in a Georgia uniform.

But the young players on the team were just as gutted as Georgia blew a nine-point halftime lead. Freshman guard Dontrell Glover and sophomore linebacker Justin Williams were leaning on veterans for support.

Georgia took a lead into halftime and lost for the first time since a 2020 game against Alabama. That unfamiliar feeling permeated after the final buzzer sounded three separate times.

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Final

Smart explains Georgia process on key third, fourth-down calls

Smart insisted Georgia was trying to win the game.

Yet two of his late calls in the fourth quarter proved costly, as the Bulldogs saw their season end with a 39-34 loss to Ole Miss.

The first came with Georgia trailing 27-24 with 9:21 remaining in the fourth quarter. Gunner Stockton had been stopped two yards short on third down, giving Georgia a fourth-down decision.

Smart initially sent the punt team out onto the field, only to then run the offense back out in an effort to catch Ole Miss off guard. It’s a move Georgia has employed before. Notre Dame did it to Georgia in this very spot last year.

Photo of the day

Mississippi kicker Lucas Carneiro (17) kicks a field goal in the first half of the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football playoff quarterfinal game against Georgia in New Orleans, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert/Associated Press Photo Stream)

Quote of the day

Smart on passing the ball on third-and-goal:

“I just don’t believe in playing for a tie. Had to go for tie because we didn’t complete it. But we knew we were going to leave time on the clock. We felt like defensively we were playing well. To be honest with you, it was a two-point play to win the Sugar Bowl, or at least have a chance to win the Sugar Bowl, because they would have got the ball back. But I feel really good about that. I didn’t want to run it. We ran it on second thinking we could do it, and they got the look. And Gunner [Stockton] did a good job checking that run.”

Final grades as Georgia football falls to Ole Miss to end 2025 season

Georgia fought all the way to the end. It lived up to the hard-to-kill mantra, which Kirby Smart first coined against Ole Miss back in October.

But Ole Miss found a way to take down the Bulldogs, ending their season for good in a 39-34 thriller.

“They made more plays than we did; and I’ve got to be honest, that’s part of football. They made more, and out-executed us, outcoached us, outplayed us,” Smart said. “But I enjoyed that game and that atmosphere. I am proud of our team. I’m sick that we lost, and there’s things I would love to go back and do differently. But I’m just so proud of the way our guys competed when down 10, and just didn’t finish it.”

The loss will no doubt sting. Georgia held a nine-point halftime lead, marking the first time since 2020 that the Bulldogs lost after leading at halftime.

Use the link below to see our final grades from what ultimately proved to be the final game of the 2025 season.

Trivia answer

5-8