ATHENS — It did not take Gunner Stockton long to bring up Georgia’s season-ending loss to Ole Miss.
When asked about his next steps in development, Stockton noted that last season did not go as planned. The Bulldogs went 11-1 in the regular season and then beat Alabama to win the SEC championship.
Yet the 39-34 loss to Ole Miss in Georgia’s first and only playoff game stained how many felt about the season.
“It’s probably on everybody’s mind really, but we just try not to dwell on the past, focus on the things we can still control, and that’s just getting better every day,” linebacker Raylen Wilson said.
As Georgia returned to the practice field last week, it’s clear the loss to Ole Miss, a team Georgia beat during the regular season, provided plenty of fuel this offseason.
In the biggest game of the 2025 season, Georgia didn’t play its best. The Bulldogs left a lot of plays on the field on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, the Bulldogs sputtered during the middle quarters of the game. Georgia had a 21-12 lead going into halftime and multiple positions to extend the lead.
Yet the Bulldogs found themselves trailing 34-24 in the fourth quarter. Stockton rallied the team to tie the game, but Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss responded to give Ole Miss the go-ahead and game-winning points.
“It definitely left a bad taste,” Stockton said of the loss. “And just try not to let that happen and do our best to make it not happen.”
Ole Miss would go on to lose to Miami in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
There’s a feeling around the program that Georgia was the more talented team, but Ole Miss bested them on that day. The Rebels exploited some of Georgia’s weaknesses, chiefly on the defensive side. Georgia had no sacks in the loss, which is why creating more negative plays by way of sacks and tackles for loss is an added priority for the defense this spring.
Offensively, Georgia wants more explosive plays. Georgia had just three explosive rushing plays — defined as carries that gain at least 12 yards — and none after Georgia’s first touchdown drive of the game.
“We have to be able to be more explosive in the run game, which some of that is blocking downfield or making people miss,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of the offense. “And same thing in the pass game. We ran the ball better last year. So if we run the ball better, our play-actions should be more explosive and more effective than they were. So that comes from decision-making for him, that comes from protection from the front, and making plays vertical down the field for the other guys.”
This time last season, Stockton was aiming to win the starting quarterback job for Georgia. He’s a much more proven player and returning production numbers suggest this is a more veteran Georgia team. The Bulldogs rank 8th nationally in returning production per Bill Connelly of ESPN. Entering the 2025 season, Georgia ranked 105th in that category.
Stockton knows there are plays from that Ole Miss loss he’d like to have back, including a key miss on third down in the red zone.
He knows there was plenty of good last season for both him on the team. He’s seen it when he’s gone back to review the 2025 season in totality.
But the last game of the season showed him and the team plenty of bad as well. And as the Bulldogs move forward in 2026, they know they’ll have plenty of things to work on if Georgia is to avoid another early College Football Playoff exit.
“It’s been great just being able to look back and the great plays, like, ‘Dang, that was pretty good,’” Stockton said. “And then the bad ones, just like, ‘God, what was I thinking?’ But definitely being able to learn from my mistakes and be able to build on, OK, that was pretty good, having some banked reps in that.”
