Morning, y’all!
We spoke Tuesday about how much Georgia has caught the injury bug (not the most fun topic, I know).
But one major bright spot that has come out of it all? The emergence of Dwight Phillips Jr., aka Peanut. This is an example of one of my favorite kind of stories in college football — a player who folks weren’t expecting who can burst onto the scene and show he belongs.
And Peanut is ready for more:
Phillips Jr. might be one of the smallest players on the Georgia football team, but no one is carrying a bigger load than him in the run game for the nation’s No. 1 team.
Phillips is likely to be the lead back again when the Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0 SEC) play host to Auburn (3-2, 1-2) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
The 185-pound Phillips, coming off a team-high 17 carries for a team-high 120-yard rushing performance in the win against Alabama told media this week he’s ready for whatever coach Kirby Smart asks of him.
The Bulldogs rank fifth in the SEC and 30th in the nation in rushing averaging 213 yards per game, an important statistic as UGA’s run game sets up the play-action pass game.
Phillips is ready for more work.
“I feel a little beat up, but through six games I bet everyone is feeling a little bruised up,” Phillips said, asked about his health after the physical 20-17 win at Alabama. “I’ll rely on my treatment and feel better. Anything to help my team week in and week out, I’m willing to do.”
Georgia has a bye the following week, so it would make sense for Smart to rest Nate Frazier and his sore ribs this Saturday knowing a “free” game weekend is ahead.
UGA will still have five regular season games and as many as five more games after that depending in its postseason draw and run in the College Football Playoff.
UGA tailback Chauncey Bowens is expected to be on the first injury report of the week when it is released on Wednesday night, as well, with a lower extremity injury.
Read Mike Griffith’s full story here.
Stockton ‘calm in the chaos,’ hits NFL radar with hurricane force
Alabama was anticipating a major storm in the days leading up to the SEC showdown against Georgia.
Few could have known that it would be quarterback Gunner Stockton striking, metaphorically speaking, with hurricane football force when the Saturday night game kicked off.
Stockton’s play lifted the Bulldogs to a No. 1 ranking and added to his growing legend, the win at Alabama’s 100,077-seat Bryant-Denny Stadium the latest crown jewel in his road warrior crown.
Stockton’s come-from-behind win against the Crimson Tide is merely his latest, as he also led comeback wins in Tennessee’s 101,915-seat Neyland Stadium and in Auburn’s raucous 88,043 at Jordan-Hare Stadium last season.
More than one person has asked the question since Saturday night’s game: “Did Georgia fans ever think they’d wake up one day saying they were glad Arch Manning chose Texas so Stockton could become the Bulldogs’ quarterback?”
As loyal as the DawgNation fanbase is, some UGA fans probably did; Georgia high school football has produced many recent quarterbacks stars, making it hard to overlook Stockton’s place in the record books as the Peach State’s career total touchdown leader (254) and passing touchdown leader (177).
Still, few analysts saw Stockton’s greatness at the collegiate level coming when one considers his 4-star, No. 7 rating among quarterbacks in the 2022 class.
The current ratings — specifically, the NCAA passing efficiency ratings — show Stockton third nationally (198.57) behind the likes of Miami QB Darian Mensah (212.25) and Indiana QB Josh Hoover (200.52), both NFL prospects.
NFL industry talk used to be that Stockton was a great college quarterback, “but he doesn’t have an NFL draft grade” entering the 2026 season, a former NFL scout said.
But the same former NFL scout noted Monday that Stockton made the sort of throws pro quarterbacks make which he hadn’t done before.
Or, perhaps he hadn’t been asked to make them, as Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo has brought him along in a measured manner.
Trivia time
Georgia is averaging 46.2 points per game this season. Where does that rank in the country in scoring offense?
3-star CB flips to Georgia football
When Nash Johnson went to sleep Monday night, he was pretty much set to become a Georgia Bulldog.
It was up to the Auburn Tigers to talk him into keeping his commitment.
That meant Auburn had to try to hold off Georgia on the recruiting trail a few days before they were tasked with stopping the No. 1 Bulldogs on the field.
That didn’t happen.
Johnson went to bed a Dawg and then woke up as the 22nd commitment of Georgia’s 2027 recruiting class. He’s now the second cornerback commit, joining No. 1 overall JUCO prospect Alius Mayo.
“1,000 percent recruitment shutdown,” Johnson shared while quoting the Hayes Fawcett social media edit on his “X” account.
Johnson took a secret official visit earlier this season while he was still committed to Auburn.
The 3-star cornerback has lived in Georgia all his life. The home-state tug did appeal to him. His “secret” official visit for the Oklahoma game also gave him what he needed to see to consider flipping to the Dawgs.
Read Jeff Sentell’s full story here.
Trivia answer
No. 2 behind Miami
