Parity has fully arrived in college football. That anti-establishment wave has also arrived at the Chick-fil-A Dawg Bowl Classic.

The fourth annual event, championed by Mark Richt, saw Heyward Allen’s three-time defending champion team lose their chokehold on the title belts to Akins Ford.

The car dealers have ignited a new local rivalry.

For Heyward Allen, humility seemed only a few lanes away in the 32-team field.

“They went down,” Richt said. “I think there was little finagling going on. Not with the Akins Ford team. But I know I was trying to find a group that could beat them. I couldn’t do it. Leave it to Akins Ford to come out, go head-to-head with Heyward Allen and do it.”

Richt had recruited local young talent to stock his Richt Family Foundation teams. This time, he wanted to give the Heyward Allen team a run for the event’s WWE-style team championship belts.

“I can’t imagine what is going to happen next year,” Richt said.

The Chick-fil-A Dawg Bowl 2026 leaderboard from the event, held at ShowTime Bowl in Athens, showed how tight the standings were.

The scores weren’t cumulative; standings were based on each team’s highest individual score from the two games each team bowled.

Richt was pleased with another remarkable event. It is notable how at ease everyone seems to be at the event as the years have progressed.

“I’m just thankful that so many people cared enough to get involved and it went so well,” Richt said. “I’m thankful that Coach Smart allowed his boys to come and they wanted to come and they had fun. To make that much money and bless that many people and then have that much fun is a pretty good deal.”

Georgia reserve receiver Will Taylor took home the belt for the highest score off the Bulldogs. He rolled a 180 in his second game after posting an approximate score in the 150s in his first effort.

This was the first year the event awarded a championship belt to the Georgia player with the night’s highest single-game score.

“He probably got the coolest belt of all,” Richt said.

Check out the DawgBowl live stream below.

In the DawgNation special, you’ll see multiple 1-on-1 interviews with key members of the UGA football family, including Barbara Dooley, Jim Donnan, David Greene, UGA president Jere Morehead, Aaron Murray, David Pollack, Kirby Smart, Matt Stinchcomb, Ben Watson, and many others.

The event continues to raise substantial funds to fight Parkinson’s and Crohn’s Disease, among others.

The fundraiser runs under the theme “Taking a Bite Out of Parkinson’s and Crohn’s.” Proceeds support The Isakson Center for Neurological Disease Research at UGA, Mercy Health Center and now also the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia.

The connection to Crohn’s Disease now ties directly to a member of the Georgia football team. Freshman starting OL Zykie Helton battled Crohn’s disease in high school and lost more than 100 pounds at one time.

He now has that under control with medication and regular treatment. Georgia coach Kirby Smart discussed Helton’s story with DawgNation’s Brandon Adams at the event.

The event still has a separate $50,000 fundraising goal. The GoFundMe page currently has 186 donations.

You can find those details on the Dawg Bowl giving page.

Will Taylor took home the championship belt with the highest score from the team at he fourth annual Chick-fil-A Dawg Bowl at Showtime Bowl on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation) (Jeff Sentell/Dawgnation)

Georgia safety Rasean Dinkins takes part in the fourth annual Chick-fil-A Dawg Bowl at Showtime Bowl on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation) (Jeff Sentell/Dawgnation)

Jaden Reddell takes part in the fourth annual Chick-fil-A Dawg Bowl at Showtime Bowl on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation) (Jeff Sentell/Dawgnation)

Jaden Reddell takes part in the fourth annual Chick-fil-A Dawg Bowl at Showtime Bowl on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, in Athens, Georgia. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation) (Jeff Sentell/Dawgnation)

Have you subscribed to the DawgNation YouTube channel? If so, you will see special 1-on-1 content with key 2027 recruits like Jaxon Dollar, Joakim Gouda and Kemon Spell.

Check out this week’s “Before the Hedges” weekly Georgia football recruiting special below