Morning, y’all! And happy Friday.
I wanted to start off today’s newsletter with a question: How is everyone liking the trivia section? Is it too easy, too difficult or just right?
I’ve been trying to find a balance, but if there are any topics you’d like more trivia questions on, feel free to let me know at sarah.spencer@ajc.com and I will start researching and try to add it in.
I’m a fan of statistics and records myself, so a lot of the questions center around those, but I also try to mix it up. Let me know!
Also, how wild is it that SEC Media Days is next week? We’ll have some boots on the ground in Tampa, Florida, to keep you in the loop.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart is set to talk Tuesday — and Drew Bobo, Gunner Stockton and Raylen Wilson will be the player representatives for the Bulldogs.
Let’s get into a few football stories:
Who emerges as ‘easy button’ for 2026 Georgia football offense?
For all the offseason discourse about Zachariah Branch at Georgia, it’s hard to argue how critical he was to the Bulldogs last season.
Branch set a school record in receptions with 81. He led the team in receiving yards (811) and touchdown receptions last season. Perhaps most critically, he was the guy who Georgia would turn to when it needed to make a play.
The Atlanta Falcons drafted Branch in the third round of the 2026 NFL draft. While he was not the biggest player on Georgia’s offense, he was clearly the team’s most important skill player.
So, entering this upcoming season, who replaces Branch as the easy button of the offense? Which player becomes the guy Mike Bobo dials up a play for to kick-start the offense?
Georgia doesn’t have an obvious replacement. It would be a shock if a player received the steady diet of screen passes Branch did last season.
But the Bulldogs aren’t lacking in terms of talented skill players this fall. While they may not have a proven option, Branch was far from a sure thing at this point last season.
The biggest name entering the season on the Georgia offense is running back Nate Frazier. He’s led the Bulldogs in rushing in each of the previous two seasons.
With Cash Jones departing the program, Frazier will have a chance to make a bigger impact in the passing game this coming fall. But with the depth the Bulldogs have in the running back room, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Frazier have fewer touches — even with an uptick in the passing game.
The key for Frazier will come in terms of explosiveness. He averaged 5.47 yards per carry last season. Georgia will want that number to be higher this coming season if Frazier is to emerge as the engine of this offense.
Georgia will want to lean on the ground game, perhaps even more so than a season ago given the personnel departures from the wide receiver room. London Humphreys is the only wide receiver who caught more than 15 passes who returns for 2026.
Humphreys is not viewed as a likely breakout option, as he’s often worked best as a secondary option.
Perhaps the two best options at wide receiver are Isiah Canion and Talyn Taylor. The former spent last season at Georgia Tech, where he caught 33 passes for 480 yards and four touchdowns.
If he is to emerge as a go-to option for Georgia this season, his numbers will obviously need to surpass those that he had with the Yellow Jackets last season.
Canion’s game is similar to that of Colbie Young, who was leading Georgia in receiving before an injury he suffered against Ole Miss. When Young went down, Georgia put even more onto Branch’s plate.
At 6-foot-4, Canion possesses the type of frame that should excel as an outside receiver. With how well Stockton throws outside the numbers, Canion’s abilities set him up to be an instant contributor at Georgia.
When Taylor arrived as a 5-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, there were thoughts that he could provide some immediate juice to the passing offense.
That did not end up happening, with Taylor missing most of 2025 because of a collarbone injury he suffered before an October game against Kentucky.
Taylor was healthy this spring, and showed his explosive ability in the spring game when he hauled in a 32-yard reception.
Canion was the only wide receiver Georgia brought in via the transfer portal this offseason, signaling that the Bulldogs wanted to make a sizable bet on the younger options on the roster, like Taylor, to make an impact this season.
Read more of Connor Riley’s story on who could step up for Georgia here.
Trivia section
Sanford Stadium’s capacity is 93,033, one of the Top 10 largest on-campus stadiums in college football. Can you guess where it ranks in the Top 10?
Bonus: Can you guess where it ranks among fellow SEC stadiums?
White shares what went wrong for Georgia basketball in NCAA tournament
Our intern, Hunter DeLauder, wrote a story on Georgia basketball:
There is no denying the last two seasons for Georgia basketball have been anything but a storybook ending. In fact, it was more than a bad ending, it was a nightmare, both times.
In 2025, Georgia finally punched its ticket back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade, only to be paired up with No. 8 Gonzaga, which blew out the Bulldogs 89-68.
Last season, the Bulldogs had their best season under head coach Mike White, finishing 22-11 overall and posting a program-best 10 conference wins. The regular season success helped lead Georgia to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 2001-02.
However, a similar, if not worse, fate struck the Bulldogs in Buffalo, New York, this time around. UGA came into its first-round matchup versus 10th-seeded St. Louis, which blitzed the Bulldogs into another immediate exit. At one point, St. Louis led by as much as 40 points before finishing with a 102-77 win.
This past season’s defeat was shocking because of how well Georgia was playing to round out the regular season, winning five of its final six games, before a second-round exit to Ole Miss at the SEC Tournament and then a season-ending beatdown by the Billikens.
“I feel like our focus down the stretch wasn’t what it was to finish the SEC regular season. I mean, we finished really strong,” White said on Tuesday.
These unfortunate endings left White and his staff searching for answers on how to avoid this situation again in the future. One thing he pointed out was players dealing with off-the-court distractions, the transfer portal and not being as locked in as they needed to be.
“When you have guys that know that they’re hearing noise, and sometimes not even noise, it’s legitimate; it’s from their agent. These guys have representatives that know that they’ve got very lucrative options at other places,” White said. “It’s easier said than done to continue to be locked in and play the role that your current team needs you to play.”
Read more from Hunter’s story here.
Nike announces NIL partnerships with 6 Georgia players, 5-star commit
Jaxon Dollar is one of Georgia’s top commits in its 2027 recruiting class.
Dollar is a 5-star prospect, with the 247Sports Composite rankings listing him as the No. 34 overall player in the country.
Nike has taken notice of the North Carolina standout, as the global footwear power announced it had reached a name, image and likeness deal with Dollar and other top high school prospects.
“Nike’s football roster has always been defined by the athletes who are shaping where the game goes next,” Ann Miller, Nike’s executive vice president of Global Sports Marketing, said in a statement put out by the company. “These signings reflect our commitment to serving the best football talent at every level with the support, innovation and partnership they need to reach their full potential on the field and away from the game.”
Nike also announced that Georgia cornerback Ellis Robinson, safety KJ Bolden, inside linebacker Chris Cole, tight end Kaiden Prothro, tight end Elyiss Williams and wide receiver Talyn Taylor were added to its roster.
“Nike’s NIL partnerships also extend to athlete-centered design and innovation, as well as support for athletes in their pursuit to stand for something bigger,” Nike said in the news release. “This industry-leading approach reflects Nike’s five-decade history as the brand of athletes and underscores its continued commitment to inspiring and uplifting the next generation.”
Dollar committed to Georgia back in April, picking the Bulldogs over Notre Dame and Miami. As a junior, Dollar caught 54 passes for 1,190 yards and 20 touchdowns for East Lincoln High School in Denver, North Carolina.
“I got on the field,” Dollar told DawgNation’s Jeff Sentell as to why he committed to Georgia. “I saw the players warming up and in my head, I was like, ‘I could see myself doing that.’ Then the game started. I saw a couple of deep balls and I was like, ‘That’s me’ right there. So just seeing the environment there and seeing how physical and tough it was. That’s a big part to me.”
Read more from Connor’s story here.
Trivia answer
In terms of capacity, Sanford Stadium ranks No. 9 in the Top 10 and No. 6 in the SEC, with these schools ahead of it:
- Michigan Stadium (Michigan), 107,601
- Beaver Stadium (Penn State) 106,572
- Ohio Stadium (Ohio State), 102,780
- Kyle Field (Texas A&M), 102,733
- Tiger Stadium (LSU), 102,321
- Neyland Stadium (Tennessee), 101,915
- Bryant-Denny Stadium (Alabama), 100,077
- Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (Texas), 100,119
