The 2026 Georgia defense returns a solid base of starters and key contributors from 2025’s SEC Championship squad. That may be nowhere more apparent than at safety and STAR, where a potent mix of returning all-conference honorees and immediate impact transfers combine to create potentially the strongest unit on the defense.

Georgia’s 2025 safety room was anchored by sophomore KJ Bolden, who took over as the full-time starter after Malaki Starks departed for the NFL. Bolden picked up where he’d left off as a freshman, earning Second Team All-SEC honors. Kyron Jones broke through as a first year starter before a foot injury ended his season in October.

Former five star recruit Joenel Aguero appeared in 12 games, starting all of them, and tallied 39 tackles (22 solo) and 0.5 tackles for loss for two yards. Aguero actually yielded some snaps as the season went on to freshman Rasean Dinkins, who saw action in 13 games as a true freshman.

Southern Cal transfer Zion Branch emerged as a key contributor, seeing anction in 11 games and tallying 27 tackles, 5 of them in the Sugar Bowl against Ole Miss. UAB transfer Adrian Maddox rotated in behind them, while senior JaCorey Thomas stepped up significantly once Jones went down. Though the secondary as a whole was exposed at times, most notably in the Sugar Bowl loss to Ole Miss, there was enough there to expect big things moving forward.

Maddox is now at Kansas State, Aguero transferred to Ole Miss, and Thomas decamped for the NFL. But what remains on the roster in Athens is a ton of experience and a ton of talent.

Bolden is back for his junior season as the unquestioned leader of the room. In 2025 he started all 14 games and finished second on the team with 76 tackles, adding two interceptions, 5 pass breakups, a fumble recovery, and a blocked punt. His combination of physicality and range makes him a preseason All-SEC candidate again, and a likely first day NFL Draft selection next April.

Kyron Jones returns after his breakout redshirt-sophomore campaign was cut short. He started Georgia’s first six games in 2025, racking up 24 tackles and a key fumble recovery in a win over Auburn, before that foot injury sidelined him for the rest of the year. A full offseason of recovery puts him right back in the mix for a starting job.

Branch is back for another season after playing a complementary role in 2025. He appeared in 11 games, making 27 tackles (19 solo) with two pass breakups, and saw his workload increase late in the year as injuries to Jones and others took a toll on the depth chart. He should pick up right where he left off.

Dinkins likewise returns, having started the SEC Championship Game in place of Aguero, whose nagging injuries during his three seasons in Athens appear to have helped the freshman from Warner Robins pass him on the depth chart. Dinkins will likely play a versatile role in the 2026 rotation, though it’s unclear whether he’ll earn a starting nod over Jones.

Valdosta native Todd Robinson didn’t record any stats in 2025, but will likely be in the rotation for snaps and contribute on special teams. Fellow redshirt freshman Jaylan Morgan likewise didn’t make waves last season in his first year on campus, but returns with a chance to earn snaps in a reserve role.

Georgia also added two experienced transfers to fortify the position. Khalil Barnes arrives from Clemson, where a lingering hamstring injury limited him to 40 tackles and two pass breakups over 9 starts in 2025. However for his career at Auburn with a Lake Barnes was wildly productive, posting 139 tackles, 7 interceptions, and 3 forced fumbles across three seasons. He’s expected to compete immediately for a starting spot, likely at STAR.

Ja’Marley Riddle joins from East Carolina, where he earned First Team All-AAC recognition in 2025 after totaling 70 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, 6 pass breakups, and a fumble recovery. Across two seasons with the Pirates he piled up 134 tackles and six interceptions, and he brings two years of remaining eligibility to Athens. While the SEC is certainly a step up in competition, Riddle’s production at ECU can’t be ignored. Like Barnes, even though he may be new to Bulldog fans he’s a player who’s excelled against solid competition and is already accustomed to the speed of the college game.

As if there weren’t enough guys vying for snaps, Georgia’s 2026 signing class also brought in a wave of safety talent. Jordan Smith, a four star prospect out of Houston County High in Warner Robins, was ranked among the top ten safeties nationally and gives the Bulldogs another premium in-state building block. Zech Fort, a four star signee from Bradenton, Florida, adds size, range, and ball skills to the room.

Tyriq Green and Blake Stewart, both four star in-state signees from the Atlanta area, round out a group of four true freshmen safeties, part of a six man defensive back haul that also included two cornerbacks.

None of the four newcomers are expected to start right away given the presence of veterans like Bolden, Jones, Dinkins, and Branch, along with proven transfers in Barnes and Riddle. But Green in particular showed in the spring that he’s going to earn some chances to prove himself. Kirby Smart expects his players to compete every day in practice, and we’ll likely see the four freshmen get early tryouts against Tennessee State, Western Kentucky, and Arkansas in the first three weeks of the season.

With so many new and returning pieces competing for reps throughout fall camp, Georgia’s safety room looks deeper and more experienced on paper than it did a year ago, even if the exact starting lineup will not be settled until closer to the season opener.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Admittedly there is a lot of cynicism surrounding college football, and college athletics generally, these days. And that’s definitely justified.The television people and the agents and the private equity stuffed Patagonia vests are mostly in charge, and the rest of us who actually give a dang about the sport often feel either ignored or taken for granted. It’s tempting to look back on a far-off halcyon yesteryear, when things were simpler and better, and to wonder how long the sport will survive.

I find however that those sentiments tend to be most prominent during the long offseason, when the business side of college football is on full, hideous display. Once the games actually kick off we’re reminded that college football is still a whole lot of fun. It retains the power to excite, to captivate, and even to inspire like no other show on turf.

Just consider Senior Day at Sanford Stadium on November 20, 2021. That team would of course go on to break a four decade long drought by winning a national title only a few weeks later, but we didn’t know that at the time. We just knew there were a lot of special footballs players on that team. And few were more special than Jordan Davis.

The big guy began his Senior Day celebration in the first quarter by going over the goal line on a one yard run for the first touchdown of his collegiate career. Then after the Dawgs finished off Charleston Southern 56-7, Davis received an honor few expected.

A lot of people did not know that Davis had friends in the Redcoats Band, and in addition to being a fantastic singer, has a penchant for conducting. It was one of those moments that is really only possible in college football. So on this morning, with only a scant handful of Saturday mornings between you and college football, rest assured that there will be magical moments in 2026, and know that we can’t wait to share them with you in these digital pages. Until later…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

The SEC generally, and Georgia’s schedule specifically is absolutely full of elite players. Along with the other preview series we’re running here at Dawg Sports as fall practice looms, I thought it would be instructive to look at the ten best players the Red and Black will see this season. We begin with a Vandy defensive back who’s going to have a lot on his shoulders this year.

Martel Hight, CB, Vanderbilt (vs. Vanderbilt, Oct. 3)

With Diego Pavia gone to the NFL, Vanderbilt’s defense becomes the more proven side of the ball, and Hight is its anchor. In 2025 he led the SEC in interceptions among defensive players, finishing with four picks and 35 tackles despite Vanderbilt not placing any defenders on the All-SEC teams.

Hight has been a steady piece of the Vanderbilt secondary since his true freshman year, when he played in all 12 games and accounted for 38 tackles and an interception. As a sophomore he added 33 tackles, two interceptions, four passes defended, and a forced fumble, while also handling return duties. He was chosen to represent the program at SEC Media Days entering his senior season, a sign of the trust the staff has in his leadership as the Commodores transition to a new quarterback.

In 2025 the Commodore staff gave Hight a look at receiver, where he’d been a standout in high school. The move made sense with Diego Pavia at QB but question marks surrounding Vandy’s receiving corps. Getting Hight, among the best athletes on the roster, more snaps to be explosiive made sense on paper.

On the field it was less of a winner. Hight was targeted just 11 times out of 55 offensive snaps, catching just 7 balls and accounting for just 64 yards and no touchdowns. Hight played more than 10 offensive snaps in three of Vanderbilt’s first four games, then never got that level of usage again. Just one throw went Hight’s way after week four, as the staff seems to have realized his highest and best use is at corner.

For Georgia, Hight is the kind of corner who can turn a broken coverage into a turnover. His ball skills and instincts for finding the football make him dangerous on any pass that isn’t placed well. Gunner Stockton will need to know where Hight lines up on every snap and avoid feeding him opportunities in obvious passing situations, since he has shown a knack for cashing in on mistakes against the SEC’s best offenses.

Go ‘‘Dawgs!!!

Is there anything in this world better than watching Florida Gator fans being miserable. I submit that there is not.

And if you enjoy miserable Florida fans, the 2021 World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party was a banner affair for you.It began promisingly enough. The #1 ranked Bulldogs missed a field goal on their opening drive, giving the Gators a sliver of hope. In fact the Gators held the Dawgs to a 0-0 tie through the first quarter.

The Bulldogs did manage to connect on a field goal early in the second, but the Sunshine State Saurians were still in this one.

Right up until they weren’t.

It started innocuously enough with an Anthony Richardson fumble. James Cook then scored on the next play. Then when Florida got the ball back and Richardson threw a pick. Stetson Bennett made him pay for it by completing a 36 yard touchdown to Kearis Jackson on the ensuing play. Suddenly it was 17-3 Georgia. It couldn’t get worse, right? Wrong.

Richardson’s second interception in less than a minute of game time resulted in a Nakobe Dean touchdown that everyone , including Gary Danielson, saw coming from a mile away.

Two offensive snaps. 21 points. Total Gator humiliation. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Vanderbilt is coming off one of the most successful seasons in program history, going 10-3 overall and 6-2 in the SEC while being in the playoff conversation the whole year. Head coach Clark Lea has built up the Vandy program into something extremely respectful, if not borderline borderline playoff contending – will need a couple more years of sustained success to go that far.

Offense

In 2025, the Commodores finished 8th in the nation in points per game at 38.5 thanks in large part to quarterback Diego Pavia. Pavia was the engine of the Vandy offense and finished as the Heisman runner-up. 2026, though, will see a new signal caller under center. Most believe that true freshman and former UGA commit Jared Curtis will be the starter in Week 1. A former five-star recruit and Nashville native, Curtis flipped to Vanderbilt just prior to putting pen to paper for his signing. Curtis is by far the biggest recruit in the history of Vanderbilt football, who had never had even a top 50 commit prior to Curtis signing. Having already drawn comparisons from his head coach Lea, it seems that Curtis will indeed be the starter. Other quarterbacks pushing Curtis for the starting spot are third year quarterback Blaze Berlowitz and and Whit Muschamp, son of Will Muschamp.

Though the quarterback will be new, the main player they will hand the ball off to is not. Sedrick Alexander returns for another year as the starting running back after averaging 5.4 yard per carry and accumulating 15 total touchdowns last season. Alexander will likely be tasked with carrying a bigger workload in 2026 to ease the pressure off the true-freshman Curtis.

The Commodores did lose All-American tight end Eli Stowers who will now be catching passes from Jalen Hurts for the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite the loss of their leading pass catcher in terms of receptions, Vanderbilt does return their top wide receiver in Junior Sherrill who led the team with 800 yards through the air.

Even with Alexander, Sherrill, and more returning, the offense will only go as far as Curtis can take them. While an elite talent, it remains to be seen how well his game translates from Tennessee Class A football to the SEC

Defense

While Vanderbilt’s offense was putting up video game numbers, their defense was merely trying to do their part in securing each win, giving up 22.8 points per game which was 48th in the country.

The Dores return cornerback and Rome High School grad Martel Hight who led the team in interceptions in 2025 (he also added seven catches on offense, too). Additionally, Vanderbilt returns both of their leading tacklers in CJ Heard (safety) and Bryan Longwell (linebacker). Furthermore, their leading edge rusher Miles Capers also returns to add to his sack total from 2025.

All of this is to say, while Vanderbilt’s defense was not one of the conference’s elite in 2025, they do return a good amount of their talent. Clark Lea made his name coordinating one great defense after another, and he will have that side of the ball prepared to complement their offense in 2026.

Prediction

As is the case often times when Vanderbilt comes to Athens, it will be Homecoming week of the Dawgs. As someone who holds degrees from both institutions, the game is uniquely exciting for me; however, make no mistake, I want Georgia to win by 50 every time out.

While I don’t think Georgia wins by quite that amount, I find it difficult to see Vanderbilt not just pulling off the upset but keeping it relatively close. The Dawgs are formidable in Sanford, and no one in the stadium, from the players to the fans, will make Curtis’ life any easier after spurning Georgia late in the recruiting cycle.

Georgia 34 Vanderbilt 17

Alabamas safety Keon Sabb was one of the most productive defensive backs in the SEC in 2025, leading the Tide with 4 interceptions while earning first-team All-SEC and third-team All-American honors as a junior. He was a projected top-five safety in the 2026 NFL Draft before deciding to return to Tuscaloosa for one more season, a decision that gives Alabama a proven veteran leader on the back end of its defense.

Preseason accolades have followed him into 2026. Sabb earned a spot on Athlon Sports’ preseason All-America second team at safety and has continued to be recognized as one of the premier defensive backs in the conference. His ability to read quarterbacks and close on the ball has made him a focal point of Alabama’s defensive game plan, and he’s regarded as one of the best returning safeties anywhere in the country entering the season.

For Georgia, Sabb is the type of player who can single-handedly change the math on a passing down. A safety who knows how to bait quarterbacks into thinking a window is open when it isn’t, and has shown he can finish those plays rather than just batting the ball away. When the Dawgs and Tide face off on October 10th in Tuscaloosa Georgia’s passing game will need to account for where Sabb is playing on any given snap, particularly on deep shots or intermediate crossers, since a mistake in his direction could easily end a possession.

The 6’1, 208 pound New Jersey native is also big and physical enough to make plays against the run and to create pressure at the line of scrimmage. I’s expect the Michigan transfer entering his third season at Alabama to be moved around more, making him harder to account for and taking advantage of his instincts and football IQ.

Here at DOT HQ the last several weeks, we’ve been watching the bubble for which former Bulldogs will qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs – the PGA Tour’s postseason. Last week in Detroit was fairly kind to some of our boys on the wrong side of the 70th position, so let’s take a look at who did what.

Brendon Todd started the week in 217th place, and only a win would’ve given him hope. Since he missed the cut, he is mathematically eliminated. Harris English was already top 50 and used the Rocket Classic to work on his game. It looked decent for the first two rounds and he made the weekend, but over par on Saturday and Sunday gave him a 71st place finish and he dropped to #49 on the playoff points list. No need to worry – he’s assured of a playoff berth. Russell Henley was likewise a lock for extended play at #14. He still shot all four rounds under par and tied for 20th. But that actually dropped him 1 spot to #15 in FedEx Cup points – still a lock.

Chris Kirk began last week at #147 and really needed a win to get close to the magic 70th position. His Saturday 66 gave him a realistic shot, and he spent a good chunk of Sunday within 1 or 2 shots of the lead. But a honest-to-God shank early on his final 9 holes really shook him, and his final round 70 meant a tie for 8th and he only moved up to 127th place in the playoff race.

Similarly Davis Thompson began in 93rd spot, and to leapfrog the logjam in front of him required a top 3 finish. He was 2nd page leaderboard material until a Sunday 66 jumped him into a tie with Kirk for 8th, which means he only moved up to 81st. But still within shouting distance and a realistic chance to advance if he gets top 3 or better this week. He finished 11th at Wyndham last year, and Kirk finished 5th, so there’s a chance.

After 34-odd weeks, the PGA Tour’s final regular season event is upon us. 4 majors, 8 signature events, the Players Championship, 20 other regular tournaments and a smattering of opposite-field events are in the books and it all comes down to this week. Sorta (there’s a Fall season that is only kinda official, but can be used to better your status going into 2027).

Tournament: Wyndham Championship, August 6-9, 2026

Course: Sedgefield Country Club par 70, 7,131 yards. It will likely play closer to 6,800 or 6,900 yards each day as they move tee boxes up and back. After a brutal June, the hot and wet July means the small undulating greens are protected by pretty thick rough, so be prepared to find fairways.

Purse: $8.5 million in total, and $1,530,000 to the winner.

Defending Champ: Cameron Young. The Wake Forest Demon Deacon famous for runner-up finishes finally broke through for his first Tour win. And it wasn’t particularly close – he lapped the field and was up 6 or more shots pretty much the entire final round.

Fun Fact: It’s an old-school Donald Ross design in Greensboro, NC which is famous for shuttered textile mills and birthplace of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Literally the ACC was formally brought into existence at the Sedgefield clubhouse. Do you think the ACC founding fathers envisioned Cal as a future member, and having Belichick and Dabo as the flag bearers?

TV Times: Just like last week, Golf Channel has broadcast coverage 3-6 pm ET Thursday and Friday and 1-3 pm ET Saturday and Sunday. CBS will have its last golf broadcast of the year Saturday and Sunday starting at 3 pm ET.

‘Dawgs in the Field: 6. In addition to Thompson, English, and Kirk mentioned above, Keith Mitchell (#47 in FedEx), Brian Harman (#63), and Sepp Straka (#37) are teeing it up this week in Greensboro.

So there’s who to watch and root for. When the only football is NFL preseason, this might be a good alternative. Check out the pressure as millionaires and hundred-thousandaires fight to keep their cushy jobs for next year. And as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

Georgia fans and people at a squat rack have one main thing in common; they want to see a tight end.

Luckily for all, Georgia boasts a solid TE room mixed with veterans and newcomers ready to make an impact when the 2026 season begins in just a few weeks.

The most notable and positive name in the group is Lawson Luckie, who returns for his senior year after posting 15 catches for 158 yards and 4 TDs last season. Mike Bobo is certainly Luckie to have a reliable veteran in the fold, especially one who has shown the ability to make big plays when he’s needed. Luckie posted 3/4 of his TDs last season in the Ole Miss V1.0 game in Athens, each of which were needed to help secure the Dawgs’ one-possession win.

The big Senior out of Norcross, GA, coming in at 6’4” 240 lbs, is not a player you want to mess with nor cross, as he has the size and strength to certainly hold his own. This size helps in the running game, as Luckie is often tasked with blocking Defensive Ends and Outside Linebackers. Last season, he spent a considerable number of plays as the lead blocker on WR screens, of which Georgia fans are undoubtedly all too familiar.

This commitment to WR screens was frustrating to some, but opened up the “fake WR screen TE wheel route” play that seemed to work for at least one big gain every game. With the Screen Menace Branch now in the NFL, it will be interesting to see if this type of play is as potent as before.

If not, Mike Bobo et al. will have to come up with more creative ways to get Luckie the ball. His combination of size and speed makes him a mismatch, and like we said, any Offensive Coordinator would be Luckie to have him on their team.

With that being said, Luckie has career totals of 41 catches for 515 yards over three season, not necessarily numbers that jump out at you. But as one of only two returning players who had multiple TD receptions last season, he should have plenty of opportunity to improve upon those significantly.

The other big name to know in the TE room is Elyiss Williams. Not unlike real estate, the three most important words when talking about Elyiss Williams are “potential, potential, potential.” The towering 6’7” Sophomore returns after showing flashes in an overall quiet Freshman season. But in an offense that loves featuring 2-tight end sets, and with Oscar Delp now in the NFL, Williams should see the field much more often in 2026.

This aforementioned potential was on full display early in the Mississippi State game last season. On one first-quarter drive, he made an acrobatic, leaping catch on third down, then shoved a defender 5 yards back to pave the way for a Chauncey Bowens TD run.

Mike Bobo, like a young artist seeking inspiration, should look no further than the 2022 UGA offense to find ways to properly use Williams. That national title winning squad used fellow giant TE Darnell Washington perfectly, taking advantage of his agility and strength as a lead blocker on the perimeter, while using his frame and catch radius in the passing game.

Defenders hated seeing Big 0 rumbling full speed at them, and his consistent presence as a lead blocker wore teams down over the course of games, opening up lanes all over.

We saw the natural abilities and uncoachable size of Williams last season, but he needs to improve his blocking ability if he wants to be the offensive staple Georgia fans hope to see. He has the potential to completely open up the playbook in a way that’s been missing since Washington crossed the Allegheny into the NFL, and here’s to hoping that potential is realized.

Lastly but not leastly, and excuse my French, nous avons Kaiden Prothro. The electric young Freshman moves more like a WR but could be listed as a TE given he’s 6’6” and 210 lbs. Though it is hard to project ahead, the highlight reel and high school accolades hint at a promising collegiate career. Prothro enters college this year as the great state of Georgia’s all-time leading TD catcher, which not many others can say (none, to be specific).

Prothro certainly has a chance to make an impact from day 1, but Kirby has always been adamant that if you can’t block, you can’t play. Adjusting to the physical nature of SEC ball will be the biggest challenge for him in year 1, especially early, but if he is able to hold his own in the running game, then we could see some electric plays from the start.

The offensive coaching staff has a lot of interesting and complimentary pieces to play with this season when it comes to the TE position. While this room may not have a Brock Bowers, becuase no room ever will, there are players who are capable of impacting the game at multiple levels.

How the coaching staff chooses to use these chess pieces will be very interesting, and luckily, we are only a few weeks away from finding out.

The SEC enters 2026 with six new head coaches after last year’s carousel turned into a Game of Thrones episode, sending Auburn, Florida, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Kentucky, and LSU to the Indeed portal to make new hires. That churn means most of the pressure this season falls on a smaller group of holdovers who’ve already had time to prove, or fail perhaps fail to prove, that they’re the man for the job. Let’s take a look at the coaches feeling the heat, what needs to go right for them, and the games that could decide their futures.

Five alarm fires (coaches under the most pressure)

Shane Beamer, South Carolina. Nobody in the league enters 2026 with a toastier back side than Beamer, who followed his best season in the lesser of the Columbias (9-4 in 2024) with a 4-8 shambles of a 2025 that included blowing a 30-3 halftime lead to Texas A&M and a five game losing streak. He fired his offensive coordinator and brought in Kendal Briles, which given Briles’ baggage shows a palpable sense of desperation. I also means that there’s no one left to blame if the ‘Cocks can’t score points. For Beamer to survive, South Carolina probably needs at least a couple of statement wins. Knocking off Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Florida in the Swamp, or Oklahoma in Norman would fit the bill. A win over Clemson in the season finale might also salvage things if the SEC slate doesn’t go according to plan, but only if there are no more “statement losses” like last year’s A&M debacle. Anything resembling last year’s finish likely ends his tenure.

Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State. Lebby’s improvement from 2-10 to 5-8 in 2025 was real, but a 1-15 SEC mark over two years won’t buy much more patience in Starkville. One advantage Lebby had that Beamer doesn’t is that the path to survival runs through Davis-Wade Stadium: a home upset of Alabama or Oklahoma would change the entire narrative, and there are winnable conference games against Missouri, Vanderbilt, and Auburn. Win those three and upset somebody else and he probably has another year to really hit pay dirt, as a finish on the good side of .500 is likely the bar for a fourth season.

Fire contained (For Now)

Josh Heupel, Tennessee. Heupel’s tenure on Rocky Top has been a study in inconsistency. There was an 11-2, Orange Bowl-winning 2022 sandwiched around 4-4 SEC finishes in three other seasons. The 2026 schedule offers a lifeline, though: Texas, Alabama, and LSU all visit Neyland Stadium. Going 2-1 in those games, on top of handling the teams Tennessee is supposed to beat, likely keeps Heupel in Knoxville. A 1-2 showing at home against that trio would turn up the temperature considerably.

Kalen DeBoer, Alabama. I don’t really think DeBoer is in danger of being fired in 2026, but Alabama’s standard is unlike just about anywhere else in the sport. And when that type of fire kicks up it usually does so in a hurry. Following a living legend like Nick Saban means the grading curve doesn’t bend. In Tuscaloosa a Playoff berth and quarterfinal run that would thrill every other fan base in the country would barely register as “good enough.” DeBoer needs to contend for the SEC title and make a real January run to fully quiet the noise.

No smoke, but conditions are right.

Steve Sarkisian, Texas. Sark’s seat is far cooler than the others on this list, but the bar has been raised by his own roster. With Arch Manning entering his second year as a starter and a loaded team that will open the year ranked in the top three, a favorable home slate against Ohio State and Ole Miss means the Longhorns are expected to make the College Football Playoff. Missing it two years running would start real conversations in Austin about whether he’s the man for the job.

Brent Venables, Oklahoma. Norman, like Austin, is not a place known for patient and forgiving football fans. But a 10-3 record and a College Football Playoff appearance in 2025 should buy him another year unless the Sooners absolutely self-immolate this season. With John Mateer back and healthy and plenty of talent around him, I just don’t expect a blaze to kick up under Venables’ nether regions this season.

What buys everyone else safety

Kirby Smart remains the standard-bearer for stability in the league, and new hires at Florida (Jon Sumrall), Auburn (Alex Golesh), Kentucky (Will Stein), and Arkansas (Ryan Silverfield) all get the traditional grace period afforded to first-year coaches, whatever their win totals look like. Barring an odious scandal or actual criminal wrongdoing I don’t see any of those guys getting the hook.

LSU’s Lane Kiffin arrives with enormous expectations after his Ole Miss departure, but a first season at a new job typically buys patience even at a program with LSU’s resources. That said, Lane’s a different kind of guy, and LSU’s got alumni crazier than a bag full of nutria rats beneath a full bayou moon. So who knows?

Texas A&M’s Mike Elko and Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz have both built real momentum, and Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea has turned a longtime SEC punching bag into a genuinely competitive program. None of the three faces meaningful pressure. If anything, their administrators and donors probably need to be thinking about how to keep them in town if 2026 goes really well and other programs come calling.

Ranking all 16 SEC coaches from safest to most in jeopardy

1. Kirby Smart, Georgia
2. Mike Elko, Texas A&M
3. Lane Kiffin, LSU
4. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt
5. Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri
6. Jon Sumrall, Florida
7. Alex Golesh, Auburn
8. Ryan Silverfield, Arkansas
9. Will Stein, Kentucky
10. Pete Golding, Ole Miss
11. Brent Venables, Oklahoma
12. Steve Sarkisian, Texas
13. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama
14. Josh Heupel, Tennessee
15. Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State
16. Shane Beamer, South Carolina

Barring an unexpected implosion, the SEC probably won’t see the six-coach turnover it experienced heading into 2026. But athletic directors and boosters across the league are rarely content with the status quo, and for at least a couple of names near the bottom of this list one more disappointing fall could mean a very different sideline in 2027.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

SEC Media Days 2026 was, as usual, a lot of sizzle and very little steak. But one announcement was significant enough that it merits further consideration.

The league announced that beginning in 2026 a player’s first targeting ejection of the season will no longer carry an automatic suspension into the next game. The player is still disqualified for the remainder of the current game, but may play the following week regardless of whether the foul occurred in the first or second half. A second targeting ejection in the same season results in missing the first half of the next game, while a third results in a full game suspension. Conferences may also use an appeals process after a second offense. This all aligns the SEC with the NCAA’s new one year trial rule. 

The change could reduce the impact of borderline targeting calls on future games, especially when star players are ejected late in a contest. Supporters of the changes argue the new rule preserves player safety while making the punishment more proportional since a first offense no longer creates an automatic carryover suspension. Critics may worry that removing the immediate next game consequence could slightly weaken deterrence, though players still face ejection and escalating penalties for repeat violations. At a minimum, there’s a strong argument that this rule penalizes repeat offenders and actual “head hunters” while not penalizing players as harshly for an isolated incident.

According the SEC coordinator of officials John McDaid, six FBS players were given two targeting fouls during the 2025 season. Seven players were given two targeting flags in both 2021 and 2022. Five were flagged twice in 2023 and four were given two in 2024. No FBS players were given three or more targeting fouls in a season over the last five years. McDaid highlighted the data as evidence showing the targeting rule is effective to shape player behavior. Personally, I think some of it is also a shift in coaching practices now that the targeting rule has been generally in its current form for a decade. Nobody teaches tackling the way Greg Blue did it anymore, whether for good or ill.

Other conferences are likely to monitor the rule’s effects closely. Because the NCAA approved the policy as a one year experiment across  the Football Bowl Subdivision, many leagues are expected to gather data on player behavior, officiating consistency, and injury trends before advocating permanent adoption or further revisions. If the trial appears to be  maintaining safety while reducing controversy broader support across college football seems all but assured. Conversely, if repeat offenses increase or enforcement becomes more contentious, conferences could still push for stricter penalties or modifications before making the rule permanent.

It remains to be seen how these changes will actually affect the game. I think the best outcome would be that they really don’t, and we don’t notice the change. I’m all for player safety, but there’s long been a school of thought that the current rule is overly penal, especially on bang/bang plays where there’s clearly no intent to injure. Not taking players off the field for extended periods in that situation strikes me as, on balance, a more sensible way of administering the rule.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

The Twin Cities injected some excitement into the late season last week, and there was good news for former Bulldogs to boot. First, Tour rookie (I mean like 24 days since turning pro) Jackson Koivun won the 3M Open in his 3rd start as a professional and 7th time playing a Tour event (he played several as an amateur and based on his NCAA Championship). He beat everyone not named Scottie Scheffler by 5 shots, and held off the world #1 in the process. His incredible collegiate career at Auburn was not a fluke, unlike their academic credentials.

For the boys in red & black: Keith Mitchell finished in a tie for 44th, so his position in the FedEx Cup points did not change. Chris Kirk got to 12 under par, and the T31 finish bumped him up 3 spots to 143rd in the FedEx. But he’ll need a VERY high finish the next two weeks to get into the post-season. David Thompson got a much-needed top 10 (T7) and that moved him up to 93rd position – still outside the top 70 but do now he has an outside chance to advance.

And Brian Harman played the final day alongside Scottie Scheffler and for the most part kept up with him. Harman shot a Sunday 65 and got a T3 – and those points bumped him from the dangerous 74th spot to a more comfortable 62nd spot. So let’s see what’s on tap this week.

Tournament: Rocket Classic, July 30-August 2, 2026.

Course: Detroit Golf Club, par 70, 7,328 yards. 

Purse: $10 million total, with $1.8 million to the winner.

Defending Champ: Aldrich Potgeiter. The youngster (only 20 at the time) came out blazing and had a 2 stroke lead entering the final round. He shot a 1 under 69 Sunday, but that was enough for Georgia’s own Chris Kirk to catch him with a 67. Duke Blue Devel Max Greyserman matched Kirk and got into the playoff too, but that’s the side story. The main story is that Kirk felt sorry for the South African rookie and let him win after a few holes.

TV Times: Similar to last week, and much like a “regular” Tour event, Golf Channel has coverage Thursday and Friday from 3-6 pm ET, and Saturday and Sunday 1-3 pm. CBS will take over the late weekend coverage Saturday and Sunday at 3 pm ET.

‘Dawgs in the Field: Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Brendon Todd, Davis Thomson, Harris English.

If you’ve been following along, and Mom I know you have, you realize both Henley and English are in good shape for the FedEx Cup Playoffs at 14th and 48th respectively. You know Davis Thompson needs some high finishes the next two weeks to jump from now 93rd place into the top 70. Chris Kirk is at 143 and needs a miracle. And Brendon Todd would need a win this week (and only a win), plus make the cut next week at Wyndham and I’m not sure he can enter next week. Straka, Harman, and Mitchell are in pretty good shape, but some may play next week to tune up for the fast-approaching post-season.

Enjoy this during the dog days, before the ‘Dawg Days truly begin, and hopefully a ‘Dawg will have his Day in the winners circle in Rock City. And as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

There have been other Bulldogs tailbacks who ran for more yards than Knowshon Moreno. There are Bulldog tailbacks with more SEC and national title rings than Knowshon Moreno. But pound for pound and carry for carry, has there ever been a more electric Bulldog tailbacks who ran than Knowshon Moreno? I submit that the answer is ““no.” Just ask the Central Michigan Chippewas.

CMU came to Athens for the second game of the 2008 season and met a Bulldog squad with a chip on its shoulder. Georgia, led by future #1 draft pick and likely NFL Hall of Famer Matt Stafford had begun the season ranked #1 in the nation for the first time in decades. But the Red and Black actually dropped to #2 after a sleepy home opener win against Georgia Southern. They took their frustrations out on the Chips, scoring on four straight possessions coming out of halftime to cruise to a 56-17 victory.

There were plenty of highlights in this one, but the iconic moment remains Knowshon’s twisting, leaping run for a drive extending first down.

Few tailbacks have ever been as shifty in traffic and as smooth in the open field as noted quiet hours back flipper Knowshon Rockwell Moreno. Knowshon would finish his day with 168 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. But it was this leap that ended up on teeshirts and message board avatars.

Go ‘‘Dawgs!!!

Quintavius Johnson took a major step forward in his first year as a full-time starter at outside linebacker for the Red and Black in 2025. The redshirt sophomore played and started all 14 games, finishing with 35 total tackles (21 solo), 6.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, a forced fumble, and 3 pass breakups.

Even better, his production was spread across the schedule rather than concentrated in a couple of standout games. Johnson showed out against Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, and Mississippi State, where he notched a sack, a forced fumble, and a tackle for loss in the same outing. It was a steady, productive season that established him as a reliable piece of Georgia’s defense. Johnson justified the rave reviews coaches bestowed on him in fall camp, showing real growth in his ability to set the edge, shed blocks, and get after the quarterback. Just ask poor Ty Simpson.

Entering 2026, Johnson should retain a featured role in Georgia’s outside linebacker rotation. With the ‘Dawgs losing key front seven pieces to the NFL, including linebacker CJ Allen, the door is open for Johnson to become not just a primary edge rusher and every-down defender, but also a vocal veteran leader of the defense. He’ll be working alongside returning veterans like Raylen Wilson and Chris Cole, and is one of Georgia’s third-year players whose draft stock could take a significant jump this season.

At 6’4 and 255 pounds, he has the frame to hold up against the run while still offering the athleticism to win as a pass rusher, and Kirby Smart’s staff will likely lean on him to be more disruptive in obvious passing situations. If he can build on last year’s 6.0 tackles for loss and turn that into double-digit disruptive plays, he could emerge as one of the anchors of Glenn Schumann’s defense.

Johnson is not yet a household name in NFL Draft circles, but his combination of size, athletic testing history (he was clocked below 4.70 in the 40-yard dash coming out of high school and looks even quicker now) and increasing production puts him firmly on the radar for the 2027 NFL Draft cycle. He projects ann a true edge defender with room to add strength and refine his pass rush counters. A strong, featured 2026 season, particularly one with a jump in sacks and pressures, would likely push him into early-round conversations. For now, he profiles as a developmental but high-upside prospect whose stock hinges heavily on how much he can produce as a full-time featured rusher in Georgia’s 2026 defense. If he picks up where he left off in 2025, it would be a huge boost for an already loaded Bulldog defense.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

There are many ways in which Georgia is fortunate to have Kirby Smart as its head football coach. One of them is seen currently at six other SEC schools.

As this season begins, LSU, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Auburn, Florida and Arkansas have new head football coaches. For Auburn, Florida and Arkansas, they get a handful of a the cruelest of measuring sticks since each of them draw Georgia on their schedule.

Did any of these teams get these hires right? Clearly time will tell. But that’s not the utmost concern for Georgia fans. That worry, on the other hand, should be which new coaching staff should cause fans from the Classic City point of view the most concern.

Which should worry Dawg fans the most? Here’s a ranking, at least for the current time before the season.

Ole Miss: Pete Golding

Look, this team came within a break or two of playing for a national title, and Georgia fans saw first-hand what kind of group that the Rebels have. There’s no adjusting as a program to a new regime since Pete Golding took over as interim last year…and having a Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy in an offense does not hurt…neither those a defense with a core group that’s a year more experienced.

LSU: Lane Kiffin

It’s hard to discredit Lane Kiffin. Toss aside of thoughts about how he flung himself at the feet of multiple suitors in front of the world not just last year, but in his entire coaching career. He’s coveted for a good reason. If his offensive mind alongside OC Charlie Weis, Jr. and embarrasing load of transfers can accelerate an adjustment curb, the Tigers could quickly slingshot back near the top of the SEC. Having all key contests aside from Ole Miss at home does not hurt, either.

Auburn: Alex Golesh

Auburn University is to be commended for ensuring the program is stuck in ditch with the recent head-coaching hires of Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze.

At some point, the Tigers will get back to a point of respectability. Is Alex Golesh the one to do that? There’s an obvious desire to see if what he was able to do as South Florida can be replicated. He took a Bulls team from a three-year, 4-49 mark to three winning seasons in a row, so it’s not a shock that of Auburn’s 60 new players, 13 are from USF. That’s all well and good…but at some point, you have to consider that these players were at an American Athletic Conference school for a reason. Golesh may very well get results that the YellaWood Mafia desires..but it may not happen this year, not with an October From Hell with games at Tennessee, Georgia and Ole Miss with LSU at home.

Florida: Jon Sumrall

If there’s one thing Georgia fans have an easy way of doing, it’s making fun of the University of Florida. Look, when you consider Jorts as high-quality fashion and count Corrine Brown as an alumna, it’s kind of low-hanging fruit. New Gator boss Jon Sumrall made it easy with his recent personal-care habits being revealed. To quote Lewis Grizzard, “Damn, Brother. I don’t believe I’d of that.”

One thing that is no laughing matter is that Sumrall looks to be counting on Buster Faulkner to replicate what he was able to do with Haynes King at Georgia Tech at Florida…with Tech transfer Aaron Philo under center. The Gators may have been shaky last year in a four-win season, but their upset of Texas likely kept the Longhorns out of the postseason, and they gave both Georgia and Ole Miss a handful in late-season losses. If this new coaching staff can sew up some weak spots on both sides of the ball, this is easily a top-25 team.

Arkansas: Ryan Silverfield

Congrats, Ryan Silverfield. You get to feel like General Custer at Little Big Horn.

Coming over from Memphis, he’ll take on one of the nation’s toughest schedules. Before the schedule gets deep into October, the Hawgs draw Utah, Texas A&M and Georgia, and the season wraps up against Texas and LSU. That Utah game is on the road the week before hosting Georgia, for those who missed those offseason airings of grievances.

While there should be solace in being just -11 in turnover margin last year amid an 0-8 SEC mark, they’re one of the conferences least experienced. As this year goes on, it may be more obvious that Sam Pittman got more out of this team than he had any business doing.

Kentucky: Will Stein

After Mark Stoops publicly tried to leave town, it was a matter of time for the Wildcats to make a move at head coach. Enter Will Stein, whose roster and coaching staff are full of energy. With just five starters back from last year, this new staff was done few favors. Facing Alabama and Texas A&M in September may very well have fans asking when basketball practice is earlier than usual.

January 1, 2021 could be looked back upon as the catalyst for the Dawgs’ back to back national championships. If you don’t want to go THAT far, then surely we can all agree that this day provided some serious good vibes heading into the 2021 offseason that led to Georgia’s first title in 41 years (and don’t call me Shirley).

On that day, in the midst of the world still dealing with the Covid pandemic, the Georgia Bulldogs faced the Cincinnati Bearcats in the Peach Bowl. It was a tough fought game, with Cincy up 11 heading into the fourth quarter. Georgia, in what has now become a theme for the program, did not quit and fought back to 21-19 with seven seconds left.

Up steps up kicker Jack Podlesny to attempt a game-winning 54-yard field goal, in the black jerseys nonetheless.

We all know what happens next. Hot Pod drills a curling right-to-left kick that sails through the uprights, giving the Dawgs a 22-21 win. Podlesny would go on to be the starting kicker for both of Georgia’s national championships, playing a key role on both teams.

So raise your morning cup of Joe to Hot Pod, a DGD.

Arkansas football enters 2026 looking almost nothing like the team that stumbled through a disastrous 2025 season that saw them go 2-10 overall and 0-for-the-SEC. After Sam Pittman was fired in late September and Bobby Petrino finished out the year as interim coach, the Razorbacks turned to Memphis’ Ryan Silverfield to lead yet another full scale rebuild of the program. With a new staff, a roster overhauled through the transfer portal, but one of the toughest schedules in the country waiting, expectations in Northwest Arkansas are cautious but hopeful.

Silverfield arrives after six seasons at Memphis, where he went a solid 50-25 and built a reputation for explosive offenses. Memphis has always been a place at which it was tough to succeed. Despite a ton of local talent, the university’s commitment level (or lack thereof) and competition on the recruiting trail from SEC schools frequently combined to keep the Tigers from reaching their potential.

Silverfield won more than ten games twice, but 2025 saw the Tigers drop to 8-4, and Silverfield leave prior to them taking a 31-7 beating from NC State in the Gasparilla Bowl. In short, he was not the most highly sought after coach on the carousel, and probably had a hit of a sell by date in Memphis. But Arkansas isn’t exactly a plum assignment in the SEC. So in some ways it felt like program and coach found each other at the right time.

Silverfield wasted little time assembling his first Arkansas staff. Tim Cramsey, his offensive coordinator at Memphis for four seasons, follows him to Fayetteville after helping the Tigers average 36 points per game and rank among the top 25 offenses nationally. On defense, Silverfield hired Ron Roberts, who spent the last two years running Florida’s defense and previously called plays at Auburn, Baylor and Louisiana, including on Baylor’s Sugar Bowl winning 2022 staff. Chad Lunsford, a former Georgia Southern head coach, takes over special teams duties after a strong 2025 at Auburn. The staff also brought in several assistants from Memphis and around the country, including veteran offensive line coaches Jeff Myers and Marcus Johnson, signaling a clear intent to rebuild a line that struggled last season.

Those new coaches are going to need name tags to keep up with all their new players. Few programs churned their roster harder than Arkansas this offseason. With dozens of scholarship spots to fill, the Razorbacks needed a portal class that ranked among the largest in the country, and they landed roughly 29 commitments that placed them near the top of the SEC and top 15 nationally in industry transfer rankings.

The quarterback room was essentially rebuilt from scratch. Longtime starter Taylen Green departed for the NFL Draft, and both Trever Jackson and Grayson Wilson left for Coastal Carolina and Boston College. In their place, Arkansas brought in Memphis transfer (and cousin of former Georgia offensive lineman Trey Hill) AJ Hill, a former top 100 recruit out of Houston County who nearly won the Memphis job before Silverfield left. He’ll be joined by Clemson’s Cade Trotter and Division II standout Braeden Fuller from Angelo State. Returning sophomore KJ Jackson remains in the mix as well.
Hill and Jackson appear to be the top options at the position, but the battle for the starting spot may extend well into fall camp.

Whoever takes the snaps will likely be handing off to bruising junior tailback Braylen Russell or shiftier senior Sutton Smith. Russell tallied 286 rushing yards on 55 carries in 2025, earning one start. Smith comes with the new staff from Memphis, where he put up 778 yards of offense (662 on the ground) and 7 touchdowns. Smith will likely be the every down versatility back in Silverfield’s system, while Russell at 227 pounds is likely going to be the short yardage go-to.

At receiver junior CJ Brown returns off a solid 2025 season in which he hauled in 28 catches for 319 yards and 3 touchdowns. Redshirt junior Ismael Cisse is looking to contribute after catching 26 passes for 241 yards at Stanford in 2024 but missing last year with an injury. Boise State transfer Chris Marshall gives the Razorbacks another big, experienced outside receiver.

Arkansas always seems to have a weapon at tight end, and this season should be no different. Big (6’5, 255 pound) Jaden Platt is back as the leading tight end, coming off a 2025 season in which he had 21 catches for 296 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Cramsey’s offense should look familiar to anyone who watched Memphis in recent years: up-tempo, balanced, and built to create explosive plays. The quarterback battle between AJ Hill and KJ Jackson will be one of the more closely watched position competitions in the SEC this preseason. While it didn’t show up in the win column, Arkansas actually finished last season ranked among the nation’s top 15 offenses in total yards and averaged nearly 33 points per game under Bobby Petrino, so there is a foundation to build on even with the staff and personnel turnover.

The receiving corps returns several contributors and adds portal pieces like Marshall, who should stretch the field after averaging significant yards per catch production in his career. The offensive line is the biggest question mark, given the wholesale coaching and personnel changes up front. But but the addition of experienced linemen through the portal gives the staff options as they piece together protection for a new quarterback.

Defense on the other hand was the story of Arkansas’ collapse in 2025, when the Razorbacks allowed 33.8 points per game, among the worst marks in the country. Ron Roberts inherits a unit that returns limited production and had to be almost entirely restocked through the portal, with new defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs arriving from programs across the country.

Up front, senior defensive end Quincy Rhodes Jr. could be the unit’s key player and is a legitimate all-conference candidate. At linebacker, Bradley Shaw has shown flashes as one of the SEC’s more underrated linebackers, recording 62 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble over his career, and he’s expected to anchor the position as a full-time starter.

Roberts’ track record suggests improved structure and discipline, but expecting an immediate turnaround against SEC competition may be unrealistic. If Arkansas can simply avoid being the conference’s worst defense, that alone would represent progress.

The Bottom Line

The schedule does the new staff no favors, and it’s possible the Hawgs could be better on the field but not much better in the win column. Arkansas opens with North Alabama and a tough road trip to Utah before diving into a nine game SEC slate that includes the Red and Black, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Auburn, Texas and LSU.

With that lineup five wins feels like a stretch goal, though better coaching and depth on defense could make games more competitive even without a leap in the standings. Arkansas has not had a winning SEC season since 2015, and this year is less about a bowl game and more about establishing a culture and picking up the program’s first conference win in nearly two seasons. Silverfield will get patience early if he can demonstrate proof of concept, but Razorback fans will be watching closely for signs that the rebuild is heading in the right direction.

When the Razorbacks come to Athens on September 19th the Athenians will be fresh off hosting Tennessee State and Western Kentucky in Athens. Arkansas on the other hand plays at Utah on September 12th (in a game set to start at 10:15 eastern/9:15 central). It will likely be a tired and physically beaten up Razorback squad taking the field in Sanford Stadium, but they will have had some time to build cohesion, and I think will be surprisingly tough. But in the end I expect this one to be a microcosm of a tough rebuilding year. A better Arkansas team is still not good enough to hang with the SEC’s big boys. Arkansas scores a late touchdown to make this one look respectable in the box score, if not on the field.

Score prediction: Georgia 34, Arkansas 20

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

So after two SEC title game appearances in three years, how did Georgia spend the 2005 college football offseason?

As a trendy prediction to lose to an upstart.

With mega-stars like David Greene, David Pollack and Fred Gibson having just graduated, holes had to be filled in a hurry – and that will had to be proven against an upstart from out West in Boise State.

With Georgia’s perceived rebuild and the Broncos coming off a third WAC title and high-scoring Liberty loss to Louisville, throes of conventional wisdom called for a coming out party for Boise.

But the new breed of Bulldogs turned out to be just fine in this top-20 matchup. It wasn’t even close as the Dawgs won 48-13 Between The Hedges. Chief among them? DJ Shockley. After previously spitting time under center with Greene, his first start saw him break a school record with six total touchdown passes – five through the air.

Boise’s much-touted quarterback Jared Zabransky – he did his best Shane Falco in the Sugar Bowl impression. He was picked off on the game’s first offensive play by Tony Taylor and again on the next drive by Dannell Ellerbe, helping to a 14-0 Georgia lead as the Broncos didn’t even scratch the scoreboard until the third quarter. After having five interceptions in all of 2004, Georgia had four against Boise alone.

The romp of Boise set the tone for the rest of the year for the Dawgs, who’d go on to topple LSU for the SEC title in December. The Broncos’ 2005 showed that they were a team not yet ready for prime time. They went 9-4, losing three times to ranked opponents. But as we know, Boise would eventually get their arrival a few years later against Oklahoma, who Georgia also has fond memories of playing against.

Go Dawgs!

Mascot: Sooners, named for the *ahem* overly enthusiastic folks who rushed into the territory to claim land prior to the starter’s pistol that officially announced the race had begun. 

2025 Record: 10-3, 6-2 SEC

Conference: Big 12 SEC. Still feels weird.

Series History: Georgia leads 1-0 (won 54-48-in the greatest Rose Bowl ever played).

Head Coach: Brent Venables, aka Great Valu Kirby Smart.

Famous Alumni: Ed Harris, Olivia Munn, Dari Nowkhah, Atlanta Braves broadcaster Joe Simpson, a whole buncha NFL talent, including Kyler Murray, Adrian Peterson, and DeMarco Murray, former Atlanta Hawk Trae Young.

Fun Fact: The university was founded in 1890, 17 years before Oklahoma itself became a state.

2025 Recap

Venables seems to live his life perpetually on the hot seat. The 2025 edition of the Sooners may have bought him some goodwill with a surprise playoff appearance and marquee victories over Michigan at home and Alabama on the road. They were sometimes fun to watch, thanks to quarterback John Mateer’s swashbucking style of play and the fact that their biggest margin of victory over a Power Four team was beating a floundering South Carolina by 19. 

Of course, they also lost the game they care about the most, dropping the Red River Shootout 23-6 after trying to rush Mateer back from a hand injury, leading to a three-interception performance that set offensive football back a decade or two. And despite a thrilling regular-season win in Tuscaloosa, the Sooners promptly bowed out of the playoff at the hands of those same Elephants in a 34-24 loss.

Tl;dr: They overperformed last year, and they’re a likely candidate for regression.

On Offense

The Oklahoma teams of yesteryear wed high-powered offenses to Swiss cheese defenses, turning every game into a wild shootout. Under Venables, they’ve reversed that formula to play a grueling style of defense-first football that only a fan could enjoy. To try to goose the offense a bit, last year’s team brought in rising star OC Ben Arbuckle and Mateer from Wazzu. Early results were promising, with Mateer getting Heisman buzz after the Michigan win. But he never got quite back on track after his injury. Was that the nagging effects of the injury, or was Mateer just bumping up against his ceiling after beating an overrated Michigan team with a host of problems of its own? He’s back this year, so we’ll find out!

Beyond Mateer, the team returns its best offensive weapon in wide receiver Isaiah Sategna, III. He’s not CeeDee Lamb, but he’s fast and elusive. Whatever he lacks in size (he’s listed at 5’10, so he’s small for a wideout), he makes up for in speed and YAC ability. To help out some, the team also added receiver Parker Livingstone from Texas. 

Arbuckle’s offense has elements of the air raid, and Mateer is well-suited to running it because he gets the ball out fast and is dangerous in the short- and mid-range passing game. But the Sooners were at their best last year when taking advantage of his abilities as a runner. If you’re looking for a reason to be nervous about this one, let me draw your attention to the frustrations a dual-threat QB has traditionally caused Kirby Smart’s defenses. 

On the other hand, Mateer’s biggest weaknesses are his long-range accuracy and a susceptibility to pre-snap confusion. Stopping the Sooners will be a matter of jamming the middle with a lot of bodies, employing ample pre-snap twists and stunts, and forcing them to throw deep where Ellis Robinson will be waiting. 

On Defense

Venables’ teams have made their hay on the defensive side of the ball, and there’s no reason to suspect the 2026 edition will be any different. Although they lost fearsome pass rusher R. Mason Thomas to the NFL, last year’s team sack leader Taylor Wein is back, as is Kip Lewis. If there’s a defensive weakness, the Sooners aren’t quite as ball hawky as you might expect a Venables defense to be. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to be a pushover by any stretch.

Unless Arkansas is much, much better than anyone expects, this game will be the first real test for new o-line coach Phil Rauscher’s group. You can be fairly certain their gameplan is going to be to stuff the line and jam the run, hassle Gunner Stockton and try to make him win it through the air. So basically the exact same thing we’re going to do to them. 

Prediction

Because it’s early in the season, I’d be a little more worried if this were in Norman. And if the offensive line is still a work in progress in late September, this one could turn into a hammer fight in a phone booth. Oklahoma plays a similar style to Georgia but without quite as much panache or the same quality players, which should favor the Dawgs, as will playing in Athens. Points will come at a premium, but I think UGA pulls away late to win, 28-17.

Day two of SEC Media Days is about to get underway with Kirby Smart first up on the schedule. The Bulldog Skipper is notoriously tightlipped about his football team at these type of events, but occasionally offers some interesting remarks about the league more generally or the state of college football writ large. I expect this year will be no different.

As with yesterday, you can catch coverage of the event live on SEC Network , and check in here with any breaking news.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

In a casual sense, the instant reaction to hearing about Buck Belue is one of two things:

“Belue To Scott”

Or executing the well-planned offensive strategy of one of two run plays in 1980 and 1981 – “Herschel left or Herschel right.”

But if you want to talk about Buck Belue in the full sense of of a Georgia Bulldog, possibly his greatest moment came outside both of those instances.

Rather, it was in December of 1978 when Belue was subbed into the game against Georgia Tech, leading a comeback win from trailing 20-0 in the second quarter. The win was thrilling, no doubt. But given the 1978 season for a team appropriately named the “Wonderdogs,” a riveting rally in Clean Old-Fashioned Hate should honestly be expected.

After all, this scrappy bunch of Dogs beat a Clemson team that would not lose again in 1978 and rallied for road wins at LSU and Kentucky as well as holding off Florida in Jacksonville.

But could this team, one that had in the late weeks of the season seen SEC title hopes dry up thanks in part to a tie against Auburn, pull together another comeback?

Down 20-0 to the Yellow Jackets, it seemed doubtful. But Vince Dooley went looking for an offensive spark and found it as he swapped out quarterbacks, subbing in Belue in place of Jeff Pyburn.

The change paid off quickly with Belue engineering one scoring drive to get UGA on the board, and a Scott Woerner interception set up a short scoring drive. Just like that, Georgia was down 20-14, and the Dawgs went up front in the third on a ground-shaking punt return by Woerner.

The drama was not done on both sides, however. Georgia’s 21-20 lead was short-lived as Tech’s Drew Hill ran back the kickoff 101 yards for a 28-21 Georgia Tech lead. Down by the same margin with about five minutes left, the Bulldogs began a drive that stalled at the Yellow Jackets 42-yard line.

Larry Munson may have summed it all up.

“Fourth down…what a year!”

Dropping back on that fourth down, Belue scrambled, finding an open Amp Arnold for a 42-yard score. But an extra point would only tie the score. Georgia went for a the win, a call that nearly blew up in disaster on an incomplete pass before a penalty gave the Dogs one more shot. UGA took advantage as Arnold took a reverse pitch in for a two-pointer, sealing the win along with a Dave Archer interception.

No, this frigid day didn’t win a national title. But wins over your in-state rival are sweet, especially when it involves a big comeback.

Go Dawgs!

2026 Majors are in the books. The boys in Red & Black had some good showings, but it is time to put that behind you, as the end of the season and the big payout in the FedEx Cup playoffs looms.

Tournament: 3M Open, July 23-26, 2026.

Course: TPC Twin Cities, par 71, 7,431 yards. On the outskirts of Minneapolis.

Purse: $8.8 million total, $1,584,000 to the winner.

Defending Champ: Kurt Kitayama. The UNLV Rebel got his 2nd Tour victory here in 2025, after getting into contention on Saturday and then a blistering opening stretch on Sunday put him way out in front.

Fun Fact: The course is technically in Blaine, MN. They say it’s in the Twin Cities, but that is not Blaine. But the Tour was in the “Quad Cities” a couple of weeks ago for the John Deere, and the Quad Cities is made up of 5 cities. Seems UNC Chapel Hill isn’t the only place where they can’t math.

TV Times: Back to regularly scheduled programming. Thursday and Friday on Golf Channel from 4-7 pm ET. Saturday and Sunday on Golf Channel 1-3 pm, then CBS from 3-6 pm ET.

‘Dawgs in the Field: 4. Brian Harman, Chris Kirk, Keith Mitchell, Davis Thompson.

Most of the other Classic City alums are both weary from a compressed 2026 golf season and sitting pretty in the FedEx Cup points race. Remember that only the top 70 players make the opening playoff event, and some of our boys are lucky enough to take time off due to their position.

The same can’t be said of Chris Kirk. He’s currently 146th in points, and would need at least a 2nd place finish in the next 3 weeks, or 3 top 5s. Otherwise his season will end in early August.

Davis Thompson is a little better off in 100th place. But he will still probably need a top 10 finish in the next couple of events to qualify.

Brian Harman is officially on the bubble in the 74th spot. At a minimum, some top 25 finishes would help move him up a few spots into that coveted top 20. A top 10 or top 15 would go a long way too.

Keith Mitchell is 46th. And with the way players are logjammed between 20-60, he’s pretty much assured of getting to the post season.

Other former Bulldogs not playing this week and their spot in the points race:

Russell Henley – 14th

Sepp Straka – 36th

Harris English – 48th

Brendon Todd – 217th (so basically only a win would help, and Todd has a conditional status currently so it doesn’t look good. He might not even be trying.)

The Tour season winds down just as college football talking season. Either way, Fall Is Coming.

As always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

Looking ahead to this fall in Athens, the atmosphere leading up to kickoff stands to be tamer against Tennessee State and Western Kentucky compared to that of later in September when Oklahoma comes to town.

Sure, those early-season tailgates will have lots of elements of reuniting with old game-day friends. But as far as intensity of SEC games? It won’t be at that level.

That is of course if someone brings up two words – “Mike Bobo.”

Yes, that Mike Bobo. The former Georgia quarterback who is a lightning rod for disagreement. The same one that won the Frank Broyles Award and has directed one of the country’s top-performing offenses under two Georgia head coaches and was a finalists for that award last year, too. That’s not an award handed out as a courtesy.

But there’s the rub, as well. Yes, for the most part Mike Bobo’s offenses have been high-performing and good enough to get the job done.

Trouble is, the key reason for Georgia going about things like gangbusters in its back-to-back title run was what Todd Monken was able to do – having a generational player like Brock Bowers helped, obviously.

But almost ever since Bobo came aboard Georgia’s staff under Kirby Smart, you could hear the grumbling from a segment of Georgia’s fans that had anxiety of Bobo even being allowed in the football offices, let along a later elevation of offensive coordinator.

The play of Georgia’s offense in losses to last two years to Notre Dame and Alabama and being good enough but no great in other big moments has not helped that anxiety for one group of the fan base, with the other being of the mind that ‘if it’s ok by Kirby, it’s ok by me.‘

But if Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was looking to overwhelmingly reassure Georgia’s fans of how confident they should be in Bobo’s offense, Tuesday at SEC Media Days in Tampa was not a slam dunk when asked directly about Bobo by reporters at SEC Media Days.

“I look at things through facts and I look at things I see with my own two eyes. I was blessed to work for the greatest college football coach in the history of all of college football, and I don’t even think it’s arguable. I don’t think you can even debate it, but I learned from him that you evaluate things from inside out. And I do think that football intuition is one of my strengths. Knowing that, I know that we’ve got the right offensive coordinator. What you guys want to write and talk about is completely up to you. I look at the production he’s had, the success he’s had, the team success where he doesn’t worry about stats. He worries about winning football games, and the way he coaches our players day-to-day is unmatched in this country.”

Look, it’s fine and well to say that ‘we have the right offensive coordinator,’ and talk about production and success, but at the end of the day, the expectation in Athens is simple – not just win a lot of games, but win the ones that matter the most.

Last season, you saw Georgia slowly cut Alabama apart and take its will in the SEC Championship Game, but it was hardly flashy. Against Georgia Tech, moving the ball was a problem. The Sugar Bowl saw the Bulldogs unable to keep as torrid of a pace as Ole Miss.

Is Mike Bobo saddled with replacing an incredible OC in Monken? Yes. But at the end of the day, Georgia’s offense needs to be more than good enough, and time will tell if that’s enough to meet the standard in Athens, or if this offense will be just good enough.

Go Dawgs!

There may be no figure associated with University of Georgia football less respected proportionally to their program contribution than Ray Goff. Before Goff was the Bulldogs’ head coach he was the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback, and he was a danged good one. In fact, Goff was the SEC player of the year in 1976, when he led the Bulldogs to an SEC title and a 10-2 record.

Goff then moved into the coaching ranks, coaching tight ends and tailbacks for the Bulldogs, as well as serving as recruiting coordinator for Vince Dooley. In that capacity he recruited and coached Bulldog legends like Tim Worley, Lars Tate, and Rodney Hampton. Then when Dooley retired Goff stepped in to try to be the guy who replaces The Guy. That’s never an easy or enviable position.

But good deeds are seldom rewarded and not every story gets an Hollywood soft And so it was that after some early success the Ray Goff era in Athens ended with less of a bang and more of a whimper. Goff was terminated prior to the 1995 Georgia Texh game after having already dropped games to Tennessee, Ole Miss, Alabama, Florida, and Auburn. If you were around in those days, you probably remember that things were over long before athletic director Dooley called Goff in to deliver the news.

And yet the Bulldogs soldiered on. And the team found itself with nothing to lose as the Red and Black took on hated rival Georgia Tech on Thanksgiving afternoon 1995. A loss would be the final indignity of the “Ray Goof” era. But a win could, improbably, propel the Athenians to a bowl game as Goff’s final sendoff.

However things didn’t start out well. The Bulldogs fell behind the Jackets 14-0. But then the staff put the ball in the hands of their best player, do-everything standout Hines Ward.

Ward’s 3870 yards of total offense placed him second only to Herschel Walker in Bulldog history, and on this day he earned a big chunk of those yards by bringing the Bulldogs back for a chance to win. On the Bulldogs’ final drive Ward, who’d been forced to move from wide receiver to tailback and then to quarterback due to injuries, completed three separate third down passes to move the chains. Kanon Parkman then hit a knuckling 34 yard field goal to deliver an 18-17 victory for the beleaguered Goff.

Georgia would then end the season by losing to Virginia in the Oahu Bowl, a miserable experience for another day. For now, let’s instead focus on the fact that Hines Ward remains one of the most gifted athletes to ever don a bock G helmet.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

At SEC Media Days this morning Kirby Smart provided an injury updates on a number of players. While most of those were pretty pedestrian, the update on transfer tailback Dante Dowdell is more serious.

Smart confirmed reports that Dowdell did indeed suffer a significant injury. The Top Dawg didn’t specify a timeline for a possible return, and also didn’t downplay the seriousness of the injury. 

“The Dante Dowdell situation is tough,” Smart conceded . “I don’t know when he’ll be back. He had an off-campus accident back home during our break, and we’re praying for him and his family. We expect a full recovery, but the outlook right now is we’re waiting to see.” 

Reports from several other outlets indicated that Dowdell’s injury while riding an ATV, and that he is treating at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, a world-renowned facility for head and spinal cord injury, an ominous sign. Coach Smart provided some details, saying “I don’t know the specifics of it, to be honest with you. It was a recreational vehicle, and he had some serious injuries.” Smart added that Dowdell is “out of the really tough range, but as far as his complete health and coming all the way back, I don’t know what that looks like in terms of this year.”

Dowdell transferred in from Kentucky this offseason after rushing for 560 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Wildcats last in 2025. Dowdell spent the 2024 season with Nebraska and the 2023 season with Oregon and was looking to polish his NFL resume in Athens while splitting carries with Nate Frazier, Chauncey Bowens and others. It sounds like that goal may be on hold for now, if not permanently.

When Georgia landed Khalil Barnes out of the transfer portal in January it marked a full-circle moment for the Bogart, native. Barnes grew up minutes from Athens, starred at North Oconee High School, but chose Clemson over the hometown Bulldogs coming out of high school. But three seasons and 30 starts later, he is finally putting on the red and black, arriving with one year of eligibility remaining and skills that should make him an immediate factor in Kirby Smart’s defense.

Barnes’ body of work at Clemson is substantial. Over three seasons, he racked up 139 total tackles, 7 interceptions, 11 pass breakups, 6.5 tackles for loss, 3 forced fumbles, and a sack. He burst onto the scene as a true freshman in 2022, becoming the first player of the Dabo Swinney era to record multiple interceptions and multiple forced fumbles in his debut season, earning Freshman All-America recognition.

Barnes’ best all-around year with the Country Gentlemen came in 2024, when he posted 61 tackles and 4 interceptions, third highest in the ACC, while helping Clemson reach the College Football Playoff. His 2025 season was more quiet. Nagging injuries limited him to 10 games and 9 starts, and he finished with 40 tackles, 5 quarterback hurries, 2 pass breakups, and one tackle for loss, and without an interception for the first time in his career.

Barnes brings Power 4 experience, football IQ, and versatility to a secondary that lost five players in the transfer portal this offseason. Coach Smart praised him as intelligent, well-coached, and comfortable having played multiple positions and defensive schemes at a high level. Barnes’ 2022 and 2024 tape shows a player with natural ball skills and the instincts to be around the football, evidenced by his takeaway numbers early in his career. At 6’0 and 200 pounds he also brings physicality against the run, reflected in his tackle for loss production.

The questions surrounding Barnes are tied mostly to his 2025 season. The lack of turnovers and reduced role, driven largely by injury, leave some uncertainty about whether his playmaking ability will translate immediately to the SEC.

Barnes appears ticketed to start at the STAR position where Georgia has had success plugging in transfer standouts in the past. Tykee Smith for example earned All-SEC honors in 2023 after transferring in from West Virginia and taking over that slot. With former five star prospect Joenel Aguero transferring out, Barnes and sophomore Rasean Dinkins will likely be the competitors for the STAR spot in fall camp. But Barnes, with his experience and physical tools, could be a key component if the Bulldog secondary is to live up to its substantial potential.

In this age of college football coaches don’t take transfers, especially transfers like Barnes with one year of eligibility, unless they expect that guy to make an immediate impact. A successful season for Khalil Barnes would involve a return to his 2024 form, with solid production and an injury-free season. It will also be interesting to see how much of a leadership Barnes can assume as a “brand new veteran” on a defense that returns experienced starters at every level.

Go ‘‘Dawgs!!!

Here’s a terrifying thought for you: one day in the distant future college football fans may forget just how amazing Brock Bowers was during his Georgia Bulldogs career.

I know, it’s difficult to imagine. Bowers played three seasons of college football and was named All-SEC and All-American in each of them. He won the Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end two years running. Over 50 catches every season, 2538 receiving yards, and 26 receiving touchdowns. Every honor and number is truly impressive.

But a picture is worth a thousand words. Just ask the South Carolina Gamecocks.

In 2022 Bowers could have beaten Shane Beamer’s squad all by himself, scoring three touchdowns, one on the ground and two through the air, including a 78 yarder in which he made the Gamecock defense look like it was stuck in concrete.

Unfortunately for the Garnet and Black Bowers had teammates, on both sides of the ball. The Gamecocks ran only 34 plays on offense in a first half that saw them shut out while the Bulldogs cruised out to a 24-0 halftime lead. Somehow it got even worse in the second half, with Georgia veritably tap dancing to a three more touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 45-0 lead into the fourth quarter. The Dawgs would tack on one more field goal before the ‘Cocks got on the board late to avoid a shutout, losing “only” 48-7.

Bowers led all Bulldog receivers with 121 yards on 5 catches, to go with his rushing touchdowns. It was a bravura performance from one of the greatest to ever play his position, and one of the greatest to ever play in Athens.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? Shame on me. Win the SEC twice in a row over the teams that league media had thought would take home the trophy? Well then people decide they won’t be fooled again.

The assembled voters at SEC Media Days have tabbed the Red and Black to be back in Atlanta this December. Georgia is projected to finish first in the SEC, according to the predicted order of finish poll conducted at Media Days. The Bulldogs comfortably beat out the Texas Longhorns for the top spot ahead of the 2026 season.

The ’Dawgs received 88 votes to be crowned SEC Champions on December 5 in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with Texas being picked to be the Bulldogs’ opponent. The ‘‘Horns picked up 57 votes to win the title under the leadership of reputed genius Steve Sarkisian and golden child Arch Manning, who has one more year to win one of the three Heisman Trophies Longhorn fans assured me he’d pick up before leaving Austin.

Before you get too excited, bear in mind that only 10 times since the league began playing a championship game in 1992 has the predicted preseason champion at SEC Media Days gone on to win the SEC Championship Game. But there’s no doubt that a Bulldog team bringing back loads of talent and experience on both sides of the ball will be a contender once again.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

This is Free Form Friday, the virtual community pool around which we lounge while waiting for the blessed return of college football. Remember, one poster at a time in the diving board, and yes, all minors must be accompanied by an adult who’s consumed fewer Coors Lites than they have fingers. Other than that, it’s just like Heaven.

As usual, I’ll throw out a topic about which you’re free to give your opinion, or to ignore in favor of other more interesting topics. Maestro, the music:

As we noted recently, the return of talkin’ season heralds the coming of college football as surely as day follows dawn. And you’re going to be watching some of it, regardless of how frustrating you may find the current landscape of collegiate athletics. What we want to know is, how do you plan to do that?

I’ve determined that YouTube TV is a viable option for getting the SEC football that I need to watch. It also carries the CBS and FOX major matchups that I could pick up on terrestrial television.

Our family also happens to have a subscription to Disney+, which members of our household demand in order to watch Bluey and Dance Moms (okay, you caught me, it’s me). And that service is a sneaky good add-on for a football degenerate like me who occasionally likes to unwind by watching North Dakota State, Colorado School of Mines, or some other streaming-only level FCS program do freaky things on offense that won’t show up in the SEC until next year.

How about you? Am I missing a better streaming option for the money? Has anyone made a purchasing mistake they’re willing to own up to so the rest if us can avoid it? We’d love to hear from you.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

2017 may not have ended with the raising of a championship trophy for the Georgia Bulldogs, but it will never not be special.

It harkened the arrival of what the current level of the Georgia football program is today. For sure, it had plenty of moments that still stand out, and you can probably start some good back and forth conversations at tailgates this fall about which was the favorite.

Yes, there was the dawg-stomping of Tennessee, Florida, and Georgia Tech. You had the South Bend Takeover and the riveting Rose Bowl win.

Yes, those wins were great and memorable in their own way. But each special season has a moment when you knew something really special was in the works. And that came in another slice of time in the Classic City – that was on Sept. 23 when Georgia absolutely demolished Mississippi State, who entered the game unbeaten.

So many trendy picks coming into this game were leaning on an upset of Georgia. In multiple ways, that logic had some legs, albeit shaky. Georgia did not yet have a reputation of staying on a high level after an emotional win like they had the week before at Notre Dame. Sure, Jake Fromm and Co. had beaten Notre Dame that week before, but could it be enough week-to-week. And then you had Dan Mullen, having elevated Mississippi State and gained notoriety for doing as well as one could at a second-tier program, one that could take down conference heavyweights.

It took only a few seconds to show that this time…things will be different.

How long? Try less than three minutes, when Jake Fromm’s flea flicker way downfield to Terry Godwin was good for 59 yards, and the route was on as the Dawgs led 14-3 at halftime. If MSU was going to key on the run, it already had second thoughts thanks to that offensive trickery.

On both sides of the ball, the Bizzaro Dogs had no answer for Georgia, which rolled up 404 yards of offense in a 31-3 win with Nick Chubb’s two rushing touchdowns pacing to a 21-3 third-quarter lead, one added to by a 41-yard pass from Fromm to Isaac Nauta in the second half.

With the win, that night in Sanford Stadium showed that just one signature win would not define Georgia in a football season. It also was the start of showing that MSU had reached a ceiling under Mullen, a team that had progressed but could not get over the hump. 2017 saw State lose four games, three to Georgia, Alabama, and Auburn. Mullen would not escape being tormented by Kirby Smart, however, as he departed Stark Vegas for Florida at season’s end.

Go Dawgs!

The day has arrived. It’s time for us to start previewing the Georgia Bulldogs’ 2026 opponents, starting with the Tennessee State Tigers.

We make it a policy here at Dawg Sports not to lie to our readers, and we’re not going to start now. So here goes: the Tigers aren’t an exceptional football team. I do not expect the Bulldogs to find themselves in a close football game when they visit Sanford Stadium next month. But that won’t stop us from bringing you an inordinate amount of information about them. Let’s dive in.

2025 Review: It’s Gotta Get Better, Right?

Tennessee State’s first season under head coach Reggie Barlow was a rough one. Barlow arrived from the DC Defenders of the UFL to replace Eddie George, who left for Bowling Green after leading the Tigers to a share of the OVC-Big South title in 2024.

The transition wasn’t particularly smooth, with dozens of players leaving the program through the transfer portal before Barlow’s staff could even hold spring practice. The result on the field was a 2-10 record, including an 0-8 mark in OVC-Big South play. The Tigers opened the year with a win over North Carolina A&T in the John Merritt Classic, but that turned out to be the season’s high point. They were blown out by top ranked North Dakota State, dropped a tight one to Alabama A&M, and lost lopsided games to Tennessee Tech and Eastern Illinois down the stretch. With the previous three year starting quarterback gone to graduation, the offense had to be rebuilt almost entirely through the portal, and it showed in the win column. By year’s end, quarterback Rodney Tisdale Jr. had emerged as the primary option under center, giving the staff at least one building block heading into year two. Hooray progress!

Offense: Maybe Better, Definitely Different

The biggest change on offense is at the top, where Barlow brought in Matt Leone as offensive coordinator to replace Shannon Harris and install a new system this offseason. That shift alone reshapes how the Tigers will attack defenses in 2026. At quarterback, the spring competition was expected to come down to Tisdale and Florida State transfer Brock Glenn, but an injury to Glenn during spring camp opened the door for Tisdale to take firm hold of the starting job. The staff also added depth at the position by bringing in South Florida transfer Marcelis Tate as another arm in the room.

Up front, Tennessee State restocked the offensive line with additions like Conner Speller from Erskine College and Lookman Balogun, a Southern Utah and Iowa Central transfer, both expected to compete for guard spots. At tight end, Francisco Pratts III joined a group that Leone’s new scheme may make more use of, a departure from how the position was deployed under the previous staff. Overall, the offensive identity is still being defined, but continuity at quarterback paired with a fresh coordinator gives the Tigers a chance to be more stable than the patchwork unit that struggled in 2025.

Defense: Continuity, For A Change.

Unlike the offense, the defensive staff returns largely intact, with Gregg Williams back for his second season as coordinator. That continuity should help after a first year in which the group had to be pieced together on short notice following the coaching change and mass roster turnover. Williams brings decades of coaching experience at the NFL and college level, and having a full offseason to install his scheme and evaluate personnel is a meaningful upgrade over the compressed timeline the staff faced a year ago.

The 2026 signing class leaned more toward offensive and depth pieces, so the defensive roster is expected to rely heavily on players who were already on campus in 2025 growing into bigger roles, along with a handful of transfer additions still being folded into the two deep. The unit gave up a lot of points last season, including in blowout losses to North Dakota State and Tennessee Tech, so tightening things up against the run and creating more turnovers will be a central focus this fall. That being said, Georgia is still going to have a pretty decided advantage when looking across the line of scrimmage.

Special Teams

Special teams was not a major storyline in Tennessee State’s offseason moves, with most of the attention going to the quarterback competition and offensive line overhaul. In the words of the great Charlie Munger, “I have nothing more to add.”

The Bottom Line

Tennessee State was just picked to finish last in the conference by league media, and that wasn’t an accident. This remains a team clawing its way back up toward respectability after requiring a total program rebuild. Sadly that kind of thing is happening a lot in college football’s lower echelons,.

I don’t expect the Tigers to be particularly competitive in Athens. The combination of a Georgia team returning a lot of key components and a TSU squad that would be outmanned at best could get ugly. Score prediction: Georgia 56, Tennessee State 7.

Mascot: Hilltoppers

2025 Record: 9-4, 6-2

Conference: Conference USA

Series History: Georgia leads 1-0 (won 48-12 in 2006).

Head Coach: Tyson Helton

Famous Alumni: John Carpenter, director of Halloween and Escape From New York

Fun Fact: Its mascot is a literal blob

Tyson Helton is liable to get a few side-eyes in the Peach State due to Georgia Southern fans being uneasy with the tenure of his brother, GSU head coach Clay Helton as the Eagles head coach. That’s not so much the case for Tyson Helton at WKU, where he’s grown a knack for developing a revolving door of talent season-to-season to make a team better – no easy task with teams in the Conference USA being akin to a AAA baseball team in the current college football landscape. Case in point, this year’s team lost six in the offseason via the transfer portal to FBS schools and has 66 new players on its roster, give or take. Also, take last year when WKU overcame returning two defensive starters to have a shot at playing for a conference title near the end of the season.

Despite the current dynamics of college football, WKU still finds success. The Hilltoppers’ eight bowl wins in 12 years are the most nationally behind Georgia and Minnesota. Under Helton, he has led Western Kentucky to a winning season in each year. The black mark? No conference title and just one C-USA title game appearance. It goes without saying that there’s a desire in Bowling Green to see a next step taken.

Anytime, anywhere…

Say this about Western Kentucky – it does not duck hard challenges. This year, it begins not just with a three-game road trip, but one that cuts few corners. The Hilltoppers face Georgia after a road opener at Nevada followed by going to defending national champion Indiana.

On Offense…

WKU uses what’s best called “pro raid,” a hybrid between a pro-style and air raid on a unit that is the stronger of the two sides of the ball thanks to seven returning starters.

One of those is quarterback Rodney Tisdale, who established himself the final six games last year and can impact the game as a dual threat. There’s not a lot of returning muscle on the offensive line with Karsten Upchurch being the only returner, but there seems to be a feeling that thanks to heavy lifting in the portal, this could be one of the team’s positions of strength.

There are a good number of playmakers as well in KD Hutchinson at receiver and Ajay Allen at running back, which mesh well (no pun intended for you fans of the air raid) with Tisdale’s mobility.

On Defense…

This is where there could be growing pains, which could be tough for OJT against Georgia. The defensive line is entirely new, and no transfers have any FBS experience. The flip side is in the defensive secondary with Jaylen Lewis and Jaylen Webster expected to set the tone.

Prediction

Look for WKU to put a few solid chunk plays up ahead of Georgia’s first SEC game, but the Bulldogs to have a big offensive day in a 51-10 win.

It’s the dog (or Dawg) days of summer. And while it may not be, in the words of a classic country song, ““too hot to fish, too hot for golf, and too cold at home”, it certainly is a good time to catch up on some of the programming you won’t catch while watching Hawaii kick off at midnight eastern against some bleary eyed visitors from the mainland.

But there are so many options out there. If you subscribe to more than a single streaming service you have access to more entertainment options at any given moment than 99.999% of humans who have ever lived had during their entire lives. It’s borderline overwhelming.

So Dawg Sports wants to know: what are you watching these days? For my part I’ve recently been working on the Hulu series Tucci in Italy, in which actor Stanley Tucci explores Italy through the lens of its eclectic regional culinary traditions. The scenery is evocative, and Tucci is in an ongoing contest with Michael Stipe to be the coolest bald man in America. I highly recommend it.

I also recently finished The Boroughs, the new series from Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers. The Boroughs could be cheekily described as “Stranger Things, but set in a retirement community.” That however would be shortchanging its meditations on life, loss, and how to enjoy the former while coming to terms with the latter. It’s worth your time if you’re a fan of supernatural spine tinglers.

What about you? What is occupying your viewing hours in the temporary absence of college football?

With only six games remaining in the 2026 World Cup, I wanted to get out this crossover post before the tournament wraps up. While Georgia football is my favorite team across all sports, my favorite sport is actually soccer. So, what better way to blend the two than to assign each SEC school as a World Cup nation.

Disclaimer: I know there are probably several other iterations of this same idea, whether it’s also just for SEC teams or college football at large. I have not seen any of these, so any comparisons below have not been taken from a different article.

If you either like a comparison or think I’m completely off base, let me know in the comments or just yell directly at me on X/Twitter @joeyhnath.

Here are the SEC teams if they were World Cup Nations:

Georgia: Argentina

The kings, the champs, the best. Everyone is looking to knock them off the mountain top. Both teams won it all in 2022 after not having won it all since the 80s (though this was year 2 of the back-to-back titles for Georgia).

Ole Miss: Morocco

Both Ole Miss and Morocco are in the midst of their greatest run of success in their history, and both are doing it off the backs of bringing in transfers. We know Ole Miss loves the transfer portal, but Morocco also loves an international soccer “transfer”. Against Brazil, Morocco field a starting XI where all eleven players were born outside of Morocco, a first in World Cup history. They have done a great job of getting the Moroccan diaspora to declare for Morocco instead of other potential national teams.

Florida: Italy

Both teams won it all in 2006 but are currently no where to be seen, though both had a random year of success in 2020.

Tennessee: Netherlands

Maybe best known for their orange uniforms, both Tennessee and Netherlands field competitive teams that you know aren’t going to win it all. In reality, their best sports are not football (check out Netherlands speed skating – they’re awesome).

Alabama: Brazil

Both teams have won the most titles, though many of them came over 50 years ago. While they have both won titles six season/tournaments ago (2020 for Bama, 2002 for Brazil), their respective fan bases believe that has been too long and are anxious for another trophy.

Mississippi State: South Africa

Neither team is much of a threat, and they are both maybe best known for their fans’ noise makers in the stadium (Mississippi State’s cowbells, South Africa’s vuvuzelas)

Missouri: New Zealand

Both are really just happy to be included. Missouri received their SEC invite in 2013 somewhat surprisingly, and thanks to the expanded World Cup to 48 teams, the Oceania Football Confederation is now able to send at least on nation to the World Cup through automatic qualification, which will almost assuredly be New Zealand every time.

Oklahoma: Mexico

Both Oklahoma and Mexico are known as a football school/country, yet they struggle in elimination rounds. Oklahoma is 0-5 in the College Football Playoff, and Mexico has lost eight straight Round of 16 matches.

LSU: Scotland

This has nothing to do with the on-field product, as LSU has a great history while Scotland not so much. It is about the fans. Both fan bases will come to your city/country and drink every ounce of booze that is there. Boston won’t forget the Scottish invasion anytime soon.

Kentucky: Japan

Neither Kentucky nor Japan are bad at football, but they neither are great. Honestly, they just can’t wait for basketball (Kentucky) and baseball (Japan) season.

South Carolina: USA

Both South Carolina and the U.S. are fine at football and experienced a bit more success than they’re used to in the early 2010’s. But really, both are more known for their dominant women’s team.

Vanderbilt: Switzerland

Honestly, what country screams elite private school more than Switzerland? Both have a small enrollment/population that have found recent success. Additionally, both of their best players in recent times are short kings (Diego Pavia for Vanderbilt, Xherdan Shaqiri for Switzerland).

Auburn: Spain

Auburn and Spain both experienced their best moments in their history in 2010, winning it all. However, there isn’t much to talk about for either outside of 2010 except for a couple conference/continent titles.

Texas: England

I’m positive that this comparison has been made before because it’s too perfect. Both fan bases clutch onto one crowning achievement (Texas title in 2005, England World Cup in in 1966), and both fan bases declare every single year that they are back (Texas) or that it’s coming home (England), and yet it never does.

Texas A&M: Qatar

Oil money. Copious amounts of oil money. Whether its the latest five-star recruit or the hosting rights to the 2022 World Cup, there isn’t anything oil money can’t buy (except for actually winning games). As the cherry on top, both A&M and Qatar’s primary color is maroon.

Arkansas: Uruguay

Sometimes you forget about them due to their large, successful neighbors, but both Arkansas and Uruguay are pesky and won a title a looooong time ago (Arkansas in 1966, Uruguay in 1930 and 1950).

With the 37th pick in today’s MLB Draft the Colorado Rockies made Daniel Jackson the first Bulldog off the board. Colorado is getting one of the most productive players college baseball has seen in years, along with a genuine personality who made himself a fan favorite in Athens.

A Record-Setting Season

Jackson’s numbers from his 2026 season in Athens are staggering. In 67 games, he slashed .379/.473/.803 with 32 home runs, 87 RBI, 88 runs scored, and 26 stolen bases in 28 attempts. He led the nation in total bases and runs scored, finished second in hits, home runs, and RBI, and became just the third player in Southeastern Conference history to win the batting triple crown.

Perhaps most remarkable, Jackson became the first catcher, and just the sixth player in Division I history, to record a 25 home run, 25 stolen base season while playing the sport’s most physically taxing position. He posted a .997 fielding percentage behind the plate with only two errors in 593 total chances, throwing out roughly a third of opposing base runners. production earned Jackson a full sweep of college baseball’s top individual honors: the Golden Spikes Award, the Dick Howser Trophy, the Buster Posey Award as the nation’s top catcher, the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award, SEC Player of the Year, and consensus first team All-America recognition. And of course he led Georgia to its first College World Series appearance since 2008.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Jackson’s calling card is a blend of power and speed that’s rare for a catcher. He flashes raw power to all fields, and his athleticism behind the plate and on the bases sets him apart from nearly every other catching prospect in this draft class. His arm strength should also allow him to handle a corner outfield spot if a team wants to move him out from behind the plate down the road.

The concern scouts raise most often seem to cite with Jackson is consistency making contact. Jackson has shown real swing and miss throughout his college career, striking out 64 times in 319 plate appearances during his otherwise stellar junior year. His path has also been unusual. He started at Wofford, where he won Southern Conference Freshman of the Year, then struggled through a difficult sophomore transition after transferring to Georgia before breaking out as a junior. That inconsistency gives some evaluators pause about how his bat will translate against professional pitching, even though his improved strikeout rate this past season suggests real growth.

Why The Rhino?

Jackson’s teammates and coaches will tell you his personality is as memorable as his statistics. A self-described nature documentary enthusiast, Jackson has taken to narrating batting practice in his best Nat Geo voice and handing out animal nicknames to teammates, calling “the Orca” for Kolby Branch because of his tendency to play with his food at the plate, and “Talons” for pitcher Paul Farley. When he tried to nickname a teammate the Rhino, the name boomeranged right back at him, and it stuck. Given that rhinos are big and powerful, but surprisingly fast, and tough as a three dollar steak, the name fits Jackson to a tee.

Head coach Wes Johnson has been direct about what Jackson meant to the program’s turnaround season, saying unequivocally that the Bulldogs would not have reached Omaha without him.

For the Rockies, Jackson represents a high ceiling bet at a premium position. If the hit tool continues to develop the way it did in 2026, his new organization could be getting a middle of the order bat who also happens to catch.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

If there is a pain point from Georgia’s defense a season ago, it’s a lack of something that Bulldog fans have gotten used to since Kirby Smart was hired as head coach – a relentless pass rush.

Georgia’s defense was good enough for the most part last year, but it was not elite. It was not overwhelmingly special. Sure, it was enough to get the job done, but not by the standards in place in Athens.

This is not to say that there is an expectation of talents like Nolan Smith, Nakobe Dean or Jalen Carter reincarnated, but there should be a presence of relentless effort to get after the opposing quarterback.

The bottom line is this – that ranking last in sacks cannot happen again for Georgia. And this year’s group of edge rushers will make or break that effort.

It’ll be a group that’s high on potential, but not yet proven. Nobody sums all of that up much more than Quintavius Johnson. He’s flashed some promise previously, and now he’s expected to step up as the primary pass-rush threat. In baseball terms, he’s a promising prospect who you expect to get better with more at-bats. For Johnson, that time to step up is now.

It’s a similar story when it comes to Gabe Harris, a starter a season ago after spot duty before that. Could he be one of those guys that develops over time thanks to this staff’s ability to make guys better? It would not be a shock if that happens.

But perhaps the most intriguing storyline to follow is that Chase Linton. When you hear of someone who was flipped from a school like Rutgers as Linton was, that does not move the needle – but that is not always the full story – Ladd McConkey, anyone? Linton’s rangy frame could be an x-factor matchup-wise when it comes to the pass rush, and that has been backed up with buzz around Linton coming away from spring practice.

For sure, you can expect inside linebackers such as Justin Williams and Chris Cole to play a part in the pass rush this fall. But if Georgia is to get back to what its used to on defense, it’ll fail or succeed with its edge rushers.

Go Dawgs!

Tournament: 154th Open Championship, July 16-19, 2025

Course: Royal Birkdale Golf Club, par 70, 7,223 yards. On the west coast of England, but up north between Blackpool and Liverpool.

Purse: $17 million in total, with $3.1 million to the winner.

Defending Champ: Scottie Scheffler. The UT-Austin golfer got some lucky bounces and nipped Georgia Bulldog Harris English by a slim 4 shot margin. Speaking of lucky bounces and favorable rulings, another UT-Austin golfer won at Birkdale the last time it was held here in 2017.

Fun Fact: If your idea of a 150 year old golf course and clubhouse look something like St. Andrews, you’ll enjoy the change Birkdale offers. The course is what you’d expect from an Open Championship venue – dunes, on the ocean, pot bunkers, but the clubhouse is completely different. It was built in 1935 in an art deco style, and honestly looks completely out of place.

TV Times: Do you enjoy breakfast at Wimbledon? Then you’ll love this week. The time zone and latitude combine to provide us Yankees Americans early morning watching. Local tee times start around 6:30 am and continue until after 4 pm. So if you’re stateside, you can catch live golf starting at 1:30 am ET on Peacock, which switches over to USA at 4:00 am ET. That will continue Thursday and Friday until 3:30 pm ET.

After the field is cut, they let players sleep in for the weekend so Saturday coverage starts on USA at 5:00 am ET, with NBC picking it up at 7 until 3 pm. Sunday is much the same except for a start time of 4:00 am ET. Adjust your phone alarms accordingly.

‘Dawgs in the Field:6. Brian Harman, Harris English, Russell Henley, Sepp Straka, Keith Mitchell, and upcoming enrollee Mason Howell.

The British Open has given us some of the most memorable moments and victories in the history of golf. Bobby Jones completing the Grand Slam, Ben Hogan playing the British only once but winning, the Duel in the Sun with Nicklaus and Watson, Seve doing Seve things, Constantina Rocca’s dramatics to force the playoff with John Daly, the list goes on. But in this writer’s opinion, the greatest Open of all time is the 2024 championship at Royal Liverpool.

The fact that Brian Harman, in the face of inclement weather and anti-American fans, kept his cool when others around him were losing theirs, and that Harman matriculated in the Classic City and is a Damn Good ‘Dawg, has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Thursday, Round 1 tee times:

Harris English, 9:14 am local, 4:14 am ET

Russell Henley, 9:36 am local, 4:36 am ET

Brian Harman, 10:20 am local, 5:20 am ET

Keith Mitchell, 12:14 pm local, 7:14 am ET

Sepp Straka, 12:25 pm local, 7:25 am ET

Mason Howell, 1:31 pm local, 8:31 am ET

So that should help you get started. I wish you only the best viewing experience, and here’s hoping someone can bring the Claret Jug back to South Georgia where it belongs. And as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

It’s rare that life gives you a second chance. But when it does, you have to take advantage of that opportunity.

During the 2002 Georgia/Clemson game the Tigers gave Fred Gibson a second chance. And boy, did he make them regret it.

The #8 ranked Bulldogs were opening the season against the Country Gentlemen, and took a 7-0 lead. However Clemson came back and scored to tie it up early in the second quarter. With a little momentum the Tigers kicked off and looked set to continue their hot streak, stopping Gibson for a short gain out to the 24 yard line. However the officials called the Clemson kickoff team for offsides and forced them to rekick it.

And that, as they say, is when it all fell apart.

Just like on the first kickoff Gibson fielded the Clemson re-kick at the Bulldog 9 yard line. He started up the middle, broke a couple of arm tackles around the 25 before cutting upfield flying by a series of hapless potential tacklers. Around his own 40 Gibson broke into the clear and wouldn’t be touched on his way to the end zone.

No Bulldog ever ran like he was being chased quite like Fred Gibson, a man who admitted as a freshman that one reason he ran so hard was that he was scared of being tackled. Perhaps no play in his Bulldog career exemplified that phobia better than this one, on which Fred ran like his hair was on fire and his derrière was smoldering.

Gibson’s 91 yard touchdown marked the first time a UGA player had returned a kickoff for a touchdown since Andre Hastings had pulled it off in 1990 against Kentucky. It was also the first time in a dozen seasons that Clemson had allowed a kickoff return for a touchdown.

Also in the program history department, it’s worth noting that redshirt freshman and former five star recruit DJ Shockley had trotted out onto the field after the first kick for what would have been his first snaps as a Bulldog. The touchdown on the re-kick delayed that by just a bit. Until later…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Chauncey Bowens quietly turned into one of the better stories on the Bulldog offense during the 2025 season, and the sophomore now looks poised to take another step forward for the Bulldogs in 2026. Bowens, a former four star recruit out of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, barely saw the field as a true freshman in 2024, managing just 16 carries for 58 yards while he redshirted.

That patience paid off big time for Bowens last season as he carried the ball 103 times for 526 yards and six touchdowns, good for a strong 5.1 yards per carry average. He also caught 14 passes for 82 yards, showing he can contribute as a receiver out of the backfield, not just as a between the tackles runner.

Significantly, Bowens’ role grew as the season progressed. He actually took over as Georgia’s leading rusher for a stretch when Nate Frazier battled ball security issues, and he scored the first two touchdowns of his career against Austin Peay before adding a highlight reel 36 yard, go ahead score late in Georgia’s win over Florida. That performance in particular showed the physical running style scouts praised coming out of high school, where he was known as a powerful, downhill runner with sneaky track speed to finish off long runs.

Heading into 2026, Georgia’s running back room looks deep and experienced, but Bowens has clearly established himself as the 1B to Frazier’s 1A. Frazier remains the headline name after deciding to return to Athens, and he has piled up 1,618 career yards and 14 touchdowns. Still, Bowens proved last season he can be trusted with real carries, including in high leverage moments, and he carried that momentum into the spring, running for 42 yards on nine carries in the G-Day spring game.

Given his size at 5’11 and 225 pounds, his physical running style, and the trust he built with the coaching staff last season, Bowens looks like a strong bet to see his workload increase again in 2026. A season in the range of 130 to 150 carries, somewhere between 650 and 800 yards, and seven or eight touchdowns feels realistic if he stays healthy and continues splitting carries evenly with Frazier (and if newcomer Dante Dowdell doesn’t cannibalize the short yardage carries).

If Frazier were to miss time, Bowens has already shown he can handle a true featured back workload without much drop off. And it’s likely that at some point this season, whether due to injury or ball security issues, Georgia is going to need to lean on Bowens again.

The Georgia offense will again lean on its ground game behind an experienced front five. Bowens looks like one of the more important complementary pieces if the Red and Black are going to be consistent and explosive running the ball.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

So, when it comes to the 1980 National Championship season, what really set the tone?

Was it a bond of unity formed by five players ‘borrowing” a pig from the agriculture research farm?

A pretty solid hard-nosed defense core?

The signing of some kid named Herschel?

All of those played significant parts, for sure.

But none of them pegged things in the prime direction than what was written this week in 1980 than none other than defensive coordinator Erk Russell.

With preseason camp and a season ahead, the revered defensive mind wrote a letter to his defensive charges.

By the end of the season, it’d be a piece of Bulldog lore.

Here’s a look back at a piece of Bulldog lore.

Gentlemen: (and Linemen)

It starts off with gusto – making it clear that if you played in the trenches, you were a different breed.

The football season of 80′ will be my seventeenth as a Georgia Bulldog. During this time there have been many thrilling Saturdays of competition, each with it’s individual memories, because each game has it’s own personality.

There are two Saturday traditions and experiences which have remained basically the same throughout the years for me and I would like to share them with you.

This is key – it sets the table for not just the fact that someone is a Georgia Bulldog, but what putting on the red & black represents.

The first one concerns THE RAILROAD TRACK CROWD. These are my people because they love the Dogs almost as much as I do. Oh, I know they do some crazy things- like turn over our opponents’s busses sometimes and now and then they throw one another down the bank and into the street below. But they stamp out Kudzu and they pull for us to win and that ain’t bad.

Changing of times sadly mandated the end of the special time and place that was the railroad track crowd. Were things there basically Talladega Boulevard on a NASCAR weekend? Probably. Did this group inspire the Dawgs? Also, true.

If you can get off the bus to cheers of THE RAILROAD TRACK CROWD and walk down those steps to the dressing room and not be inspired to play football as best you possibly can, something important is missing beneath the Georgia jersey you wear. It is impossible not to be inspired. They choke me up!

To quote the late Larry Munson: “There is no tradition more worth of envy, no institution worthy of such loyalty, as the University of Georgia.“

The season of 1980 will be the last for THE RAILROAD TRACK CROWD A great Georgia tradition will have passed with the new addition to our stadium. The view from the tracks will be no more.

Your team will be the last Georgia Team to be greeted and cheered by THE RAILROAD TRACK CROWD. Wouldn’t it be fitting if their last team was also the best Georgia Team ever. Think about it!

It was indeed fitting. This 1980 team was not flashy, it was hard-nosed and found a way, somehow to win every game, a fitting tribute to the Railroad Track Crowd.

Another Saturday tradition which has meant so much to me over the years can be stated very simply.
“THERE AIN’T NOTHING LIKE BEING A BULLDOG ON SATURDAY NIGHT AFTER WINNING A FOOTBALL GAME.”
I mean like whipping Tennessee’s ass to start with, then ten more and then another one.

This is the game plan. We have no alternate plan.

Sincerely,
Coach Russell

Go Dawgs…hope you all have a drywall repairman nearby…

Maetsro, the music:

This is Free Form Friday, the closest we can come to a weekend tailgate thread in the absence of any college sporting events whatsoever. It’s the place to talk about anything or nothing at all, though as usual I have a little conversation starter to get you going if you choose. And it’s this: who is the greatest Georgia Bulldog quarterback of the 21st century?

It’s actually a mind-bogglingly difficult question depending on your criteria. Stetson Bennett is the only signal caller in program history to win two national titles. David Greene long held the college football record for victories as a starter. Aaron Murray remains the SEC’s most prolific passer. Matt Stafford was a top overall draft pick and is a surefire Pro Football Hall of Famer. Heck, Jake Fromm played for a national title as a true freshman, played in the NFL, and would be the best QB in history at many programs, and he’s probably no higher than 4th on his own alma mater’s list in the last 25 years.

Feel free to make the case for your Bulldog of choice. I’ll chime in with my own answer shortly.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

College football season will be here before you know it. And once again this season we’re counting down the Georgia Bulldogs whose performance will make the biggest impact on the season’s success. Only this time I couldn’t pick twelve, so we’re examining eighteen key contributorsWe start with a veteran wide receiver who’s no stranger to clutch performances.

London Humphreys comes into 2026 as the most experienced returning wide receiver for a Georgia program that lost the bulk of its pass-catching production from a season ago. After transferring in from Vanderbilt, the Nashville native has spent two seasons building a resume defined more by timely plays than bulk production. But 2026 looks like the year he is finally handed a full-time role.

The statistical case for a breakout starts with what came before. In 2024, Humphreys caught 15 passes for 244 yards and 2 touchdowns, averaging 27.1 receiving yards per game, flashing big play ability even in a limited role behind established veterans. In 2025, his numbers weren’t much more impressive, with 18 receptions for 276 yards and three touchdowns on just 14 games played, making only one start. Humphreys’ per catch average sat at 15.3 yards, and his usage stayed inconsistent throughout the year, with stretches of just one or two catches a game mixed in with occasional explosive plays, like that 59 yard connection against Tennessee that set up a game tying score in overtime, and a touchdown grab against Texas. 

What changes the equation for 2026 is roster attrition, not . Georgia’s receiver corps was gutted this offseason. Zachariah Branch, who set a program record with an SEC leading 81 receptions, declared for the NFL Draft, and Georgia also lost key contributors Noah Thomas, Colbie Young and Dillon Bell to eligibility exhaustion. That exodus means Humphreys is the only returning player from last year’s receiving corps with more than 8 receptions to his credit. Georgia Tech transfer Isaiah Camino is certainly a big edition, but make no mistake, Humphreys will likely be leaned on pretty hard to produce.

By my count Georgia returns just one wide receiver who saw more than 100 snaps on offense last year in Humphreys, and he should step up as an every snap starter thanks to his run blocking and underrated speed. As a guy who can both stretch the field vertically and make contested catches underneath, he should have opportunities to shine.

That combination of opportunity and trust from the coaching staff suggests a real chance at a career year. Quarterback Gunner Stockton returns for his second full season as starter, and the two seem to have grown more comfortable with each other, something Humphreys himself pointed to this spring when discussing Georgia’s push for more explosive plays downfield. If that chemistry translates to game reps, a receiver who has shown flashes of big play production, a 40 yard touchdown as a Georgia debut, a game tying score against Tennessee, a long touchdown against Texas, could see those flashes become a weekly expectation rather than an occasional spark.

What would a successful year look like for Humphreys? I think a realistic projection lands somewhere in the range of 30 to 40 catches, 430 to 600 yards, and five to seven touchdowns, a substantial jump from his 2025 total but not an unreasonable one given the sheer volume of targets now available with Branch, Thomas, Young and Bell gone.

The competition around him, including Talyn Taylor, Sacovie White-Helton, Landon Roldan and Canion, means the target share is not guaranteed to funnel his way. But among that group, Humphreys carries the most game experience and the most trust built with his quarterback, which historically matters in Kirby Smart’s offense. Barring injury, 2026 could well be the first season where London Humphreys is Georgia’s primary outside threat rather than a complementary piece.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

We continue our tour through the eighteen Georgia Bulldogs whose efforts will define the 2026 season with a linebacking Dawg who is no longer a pup.

Chris Cole enters his third season in Athens carrying more responsibility than ever before. The 6’3, 235-pound linebacker from Salem, Virginia arrived as a five star recruit, and now the Bulldogs need him to translate that pedigree into a breakout year.

Cole’s numbers tell a story of steady growth. As a true freshman he notched 16 tackles and two fumble recoveries, earning a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team. Last season he took a real step forward, playing in all 14 games and finishing with 59 tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss, and a team-leading 4.5 sacks. That sack total actually led a Georgia defense that managed just 20 sacks all year, a number that tied for 107th nationally and ranked dead last in the SEC. It’s a stat that says as much about the unit’s needs as it does about Cole’s individual promise.

With CJ Allen off to the NFL Cole steps into a larger leadership role at linebacker, working alongside fellow returning veterans Raylen Wilson and Justin Williams. Kirby Smart has praised his growth this spring, noting how much Cole has improved as a pass rusher, even while conceding that improving the pass rush will require a group effort rather than a one man job.

It’s been obvious since he stepped on campus that Cole possesses a rare blend of length, speed, and coverage instincts, traits that trace back to his days as a high school safety. He shows real range in space, closes on ball carriers with excellent speed, and reads plays quickly and instinctively. Those instincts let him step into extended run when Georgia needed a coverage linebacker in 2024, and that versatility remains his calling card.

Cole still needs to add strength and functional mass to consistently shed blocks against physical SEC run games. His tackles for loss and sack totals, while promising, need to climb significantly if he’s going to match the ceiling scouts once projected. Consistency, translating those athletic flashes into weekly production, is the real question mark entering fall camp.

Off the field, Cole faced scrutiny after a February reckless driving arrest, though Smart has stood by his character. On the field, the path forward is simple. Georgia needs its pass rush fixed, and Cole is square in the middle of that equation. For a program with national championship aspirations, his development from promising contributor to proven difference maker may decide how far the defense can carry them.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

We’ve all been there. You feel like you’re sitting on top of the world. Everything’s going your way. Then, all of a sudden the skies go from clear to dark and foreboding and the whole world begins kicking you in the shins. Or, you know, somewhere else painful.

Such was the experience of the Clemson Tigers on August 30, 2014. The Country Gentlemen were on the road opening the season against Georgia and had staked themselves to a 21-14 lead in the second quarter. Then, they kicked it to Todd Gurley. It was a bad idea. A very, very bad idea.

The only thing more terrifying than trying to tackle #3 in the hole was trying to corral him in open space, and letting him take a running start at your kickofff team was second only to getting involved in a land war in Asia among classic blunders.

Gurley crossed the goal line to score the first six of thirty-one unanswered points that day, as #12 Georgia cruised to a 45-21 victory over #16 Clemson. Gurley added 198 yards and three touchdowns rushing to install himself as the early leader for the 2014 Heisman Trophy, which he would have won in a just world. Not that we’re still bitter. Because in fact we’re still volcanically, permanently bitter.

But we’ll always have Clemson’s kickoff team looking like a peewee team trying to tackle a fully grown wildebeest. And that’s a great way to start the week. Until later…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

It’s July 4th, the day we celebrate one of history’s earliest and most impactful conference realignments. The decision by our founding fathers that the British Empire’s revenue sharing model just wasn’t for them, and became the Notre Dame of the Western Hemisphere, geopolitically speaking.

Their fateful decision saved us from a number of indignities, such as taxation without representation, and having to pretend to care about cricket. It also secured your right to bark at Georgia Tech fans in your own home, and the freedom to point out that Tennessee hasn’t won anything in football since before any of their current players were born, or in some cases before their current players’ parents had graduated from junior high.

And while it may be true that King Charles attends University of Georgia games on those rare occasions when he attends college football games, you’re allowed to be a fan of a different college football team. Because in this country we protect the freedom to be a blooming idiot, or even a Florida Gator fan.
So today, enjoy a burger and a brew, knowing that we at Dawg Sports are thankful for the freedom of the (digital) press, and that we’re glad you exercise your right to congregate peacefully in this space.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Punters get almost no respect. They don’t score any points. They’re not even on the field when things are going really well. And if they do much as miss by a millimeter and shank a punt they become enemy #1 of every drunken fan in the fifty-third row.

It takes a special person to undertake that job and do it at the highest level. Brett Thorson, I’m sure I don’t need to remind you, is a pretty special guy in that way. The Thunder from Down Under had many big, beautiful kicks during his time in the Classic City. But perhaps none rivaled his punt against Tennessee during the 2022 #1 vs. #2 matchup in Athens.

As the late, great Larry Munson would have said, ““get the picture.” Tennessee came to town undefeated and with more swagger than they’d had in years. Hendon Hooker was a Heisman candidate at the helm of Josh Heupel’s high-powered offense. This, the Creamsicle Contingent thought, would be the year they finally taught Georgia a lesson.

And in the early going things looked promising. The Bulldogs fumbled away the first possession of the game, but the defense held the Vols to a field goal. Then the Bulldogs slowly began to assert themselves. Georgia took a 7-3 lead, but was forced to punt from deep in its own territory. Giving the Big Urnge a short field could put them behind the eight ball. In stepped Thorson. Then Thorson stepped into it.

His 75 yard punt decisively flipped the field, and was in many ways the turning point of the game. Tennessee would go three-and-out and be forced to punt from their own endzone.

In contrast to Thorson’s heroic boot, Tennessee’s Paxton Brooks managed to only dribble the ball out to the Vol 36 yard line, where Ladd McConkey fair caught it to give the ‘‘Dawgs excellent field position. Madd Ladd then blew through the Tennessee secondary on the Red and Black’s first offensive snap, taking a Stetson Bennett pass to the house and staking Georgia to a 14-3 lead it would not relinquish.

Never, ever let anyone tell you the kicking game doesn’t matter. Like vegemite and listening to Men At Work, it’s good for what ails you.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

This is one of those needlessly confusing magical weeks in professional golf where there are two PGA Tour events occuring concurrently. You have options for your golf viewing pleasure, and while the events are fairly disparate, they’re contested in areas famous for good spirits.

After the PGA Tour bailed out the (European) DP World Tour with a cash infusion, they also propped it up by cross-pollinating some of the Tours and players in a few select instances. This is one of those instances.

The Scottish Open has long been a staple of European Tour golf, and normally a tune-up for the British Open. It offers similar weather, similar time zones, and somewhat similar golf courses. The PGA Tour used its purse power to squeeze onto the Scottish Open dias, co-sanctioned the event by upping the prize money and offering FedEx Cup points, and leveraged that to bring some of the big US stars over to Europe for a couple of weeks. All this bolsters ratings and the somewhat scant bank accounts of the DP World Tour.

The Scottish has decidedly found a home at the Rennaissance Club – even if they haven’t decided how to pronounce it. It is both linksy and parkland in nature – it has 3 holes along the Scottish coast but was orignally carved out of a pine forest. After a spring and summer of big golf events jammed too close to each other causing some big names to skip a week here and there, all the big names will be on property this week. And because it is technically a DP World Tour event, some LIV golfers are able to play like Jon Rahm.

Back in the States, the PGA Tour is holding an “alternate field event” in Louisville, KY at the Hurstbourne Country Club. The field of the ISCO Championship is less familiar that the Scottish field, unless you’re a week-in week-out golf junkie like myself. You have your Luke Lists, your Christiaan Bezuidenhouts, Tom Hoges and Denny McCarthys, and you have your Jackson Koivuns and J.B. Holmes to boot.

Dawgs in the Genesis Scottish Open field: Chris Kirk, Harris English, Brian Harman, Sepp Straka

‘Dawgs in the ISCO Championship field: Davis Thompson, Brendon Todd.

The purses will probably tell you most of the story. In Scotland, they’re handing out $9 million in total and $1.575 million to the winner. In Louisville, its cut to $4 million in total and a paltry $720,000 to the victor.

Because of the time zones, the Scottish will be on Golf Channel Thursday and Friday from 11am-2pm ET, Golf Channel Friday and Saturday 10am-noon and then noon-3pm on CBS. The ISCO will be exclusively on Golf Channel 4-7 pm all four days.

So different tournaments, different continents, different time zones, different fields, and different distilling. But they both have former Bulldogs. Enjoy your break from soccer, and as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

‘

Ted Scott likes Connecticut. As the caddie for former Bulldog Bubba Watson, Scott saw his golfer capture 3 Travelers Championships at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, CT. But the last was in 2018, as Watson’s mercurial nature bled into his golf game producing inconsistent play and falling farther down leaderboards.

After discussions with Watson, and apparently an interview process that Ted insisted upon with a prospective player, Scott left for a up and comer out of Texas. Fast forward a couple of years, and Ted Scott is on the bag for the most dominant player in golf since Tiger Woods.

With the PGA Tour back in the northeast this week, we find Ted Scott in a familiar place, with his player Scottie Schefler at the top of the leaderboard. The bad news is that Scheffler had company at the top, with Viktor Hovland tying him at 21 under par. And a rain delay forced a playoff until Monday morning, where Hovland dispatched Scottie after 1 hole in sudden death.

That’s all well and good, but let’s take a look at where former Bulldogs finished up:

Sepp Straka seemed uninspired, and shot every round over par en route to a last place finish for the 72 man, no cut field. He still cashes a check though.

Harris English never shot over par, but you have to go low when everyone around you is making birdies in bunches. He finishes T38 at 10 under par.

Brian Harman was in the same boat as English, but a Saturday 63 jumped him around 30 places, and he eventually settles at 12 under par and T25.

Keith Mitchell did the same thing, shot 63 in the 3rd round and eventually got to 13 under par, good for T22.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Russell Henley plugs along early, but has a great weekend to backdoor a high finish. At only 4 under par, a 65-64 weekend pushes Russell all the way to T12.

The Tour now heads to Illinois for the John Deere Classic – a tournament won by a couple of former ‘Dawgs listed above. Enjoy your week, and as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

Doing something once can be framed by your detractors as a flash. But when it happens multiple times in a short span? It becomes a standard of expectation.

That standard was stomped into the ground at Neyland Stadium early in the 2003 Georgia football season when Georgia made it three wins in a row against Tennessee in what ended up being a 41-14 walkover win.

That win was the Bulldogs’ fourth in a row against the Vols, a realization of what was asked upon Mark Richt when he was hired as Georgia’s head coach in December, 2000.

The mandate for the Richt regime was simple – regularly beat Georgia’s rivals – something that cost his predecessor, Jim Donnan his job.

Of course, the ‘blowing the roof off the lid’ moment for Richt came in 2001 with the “Hobnail Boot” game. But believe it or not, there was a time when as Georgia you wondered if UGA could ever beat Tennessee regularly. Before the 2000 field-storming win, one in which UTK’s quarterback situation was in flux, Georgia had lost nine in a row in this series.

But in October 2003, Georgia showed without a doubt that it had ownership of the rivalry against Tennessee. Going into that game itself, you knew this Bulldogs team could be good, but not quite how good. Sure, there was a shutout on the road against Clemson and a physical manhandling of Alabama, but there was also a road loss to LSU to left a sour taste in many minds of the Bulldog nation. Tennessee was also I na similar boat, a 4-1 record after a win against Florida but loss to Auburn.

Oh, and there was plenty of fodder thanks to Casey Clausen, the Tennessee quarterback who lamented the year before that the win by UGA in Athens was impacted by quarterback injuries.

So yes, this rivalry had plenty of juice when it kicked off on Saturday night in prime time.

By the time this game ended, it Georgia had won 41-14, handing Tennessee its worst home loss since 1994 against Florida.

The result may have been one-sided, but not before a close game was absolutely turned on its lid just before halftime. The Bulldogs crept out to 10-o lead, but a 90-yard scoring strike trimmed that advantage to 10-7. And the Vols were on the doorstep of going up 14-10 until….

It wasn’t Larry Munson’s greatest call of all time, but it’s for sure a top ten. For fans who lamented Jamal Lewis heading to Tennessee and taking a “Peach Bowl” cheap shot at Georgia, its still satisifying to hear Munson exclaim, “Jabari fumbled!”

Plus, you know its a great Munson call when he implores someone to, “Run!!”

Without question, Sean Jones’ return, which according to one press-box observer caused loud shouts of frustration from the Tennessee coaches box, snatched the soul out of Neyland Stadium. Tennessee was demoralized, and it showed by how the Dawgs rolled on to a lopsided win. The Neyland crowd? It was also a non-factor – shown by how listless the reaction was when Rocky Top was played to end halftime.

It’s rare that a single play can change a game’s dynamic into blowout. Sean Jones’ scoop and score was one of them.

Go Dawgs!

The Georgia Bulldogs enter 2026 with a defensive line that is at once experienced and still coming into its own. But the potential is certainly there for the trench ‘Dawgs to become an anchor for the defense. The unit lost All-SEC performer Christen Miller to the 2026 NFL Draft, where he was taken in the second round by the New Orleans Saints, but the group that remains is deep with blue chippers and bursting with developmental upside.

Senior Jordan Hall is the most experienced veteran in the group. Hall played and started in eight games in 2025, finishing the season with 12 tackles, three solo, and 2.0 tackles for loss. The Jacksonville native however spent much of his first two seasons dealing with leg injuries that limited his development, and missed spring practice with another injury suffered against the Florida Gators.

But a healthy Hall could be a first day NFL selection, ticking all the boxes scouts look for. At 6’4 and 320 pounds, Hall has an ideal frame and has taken on a leadership role on the team. With Miller gone, Hall enters 2026 as the most experienced returning presence on the interior and the anchor the unit needs. The question surrounding him is not talent but durability, and if he can stay on the field for a full season this unit’s floor goes up considerably.

Sophomore Elijah Griffin played in all 14 games during the 2025 season, earning spots on the On3 Freshman All-America Team, the Athletic Freshman All-America First Team, PFF All-Freshman Team, and the Freshman All-SEC Team. He recorded 22 tackles, 14 solo stops, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack for seven yards, and one pass breakup.

Griffin arrived at Georgia as the consensus top defensive line prospect in the 2025 recruiting cycle and justified the hype immediately. And after a serious offseason of conditioning he could be even better. Griffin was noticeably bigger and more muscular at G Day, which should allow him to take even more snaps on the interior.

He has already established himself as one of the stronger players on the roster physically, and Georgia ranked 4th nationally in run defense in 2025 with Griffin playing a key role. His pass-rush production was modest as a freshman, but my expectation entering 2026 is that Griffin takes a significant leap as a disruptive force. He may well be the most talented player on Georgia’s entire defense, and I can’t wait to see the havoc he can create.

Senior Xzavier McLeod also played in all 14 games in 2025 and made six starts, finishing with 17 tackles (8 solo), six quarterback pressures, and two pass breakups. The Charlotte product transferred to Georgia from South Carolina and has steadily worked his way into meaningful snaps. At 6’4 and 315 pounds, McLeod has the size to handle interior work and the experience in this system and in the SEC game to mentor younger players. I see him as a steady presence who gives reliable snaps whether starting or rotating in, adding real value to the rotation. His six starts in 2025 suggest he is in the mix for a larger role in 2026, likely his final season in Athens.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but Joseph Jonah-Ajonye also played in all 14 games in 2025 and made one start, finishing with 9 tackles, 5 solo, and 11 quarterback hurries. That pressure number stands out. Sure , some of that came as a late game sub once Miller and Hall were out of the rotation and teams were forced to throw a little more. Eleven quarterback hurries however in a rotational role is a strong indicator of a player who can affect the game without always showing up in the box score.

The former five star recruit out of Oak Ridge High School in Texas dealt with a foot injury early in his Georgia career but has progressively grown in the program. At 6’ 4 and 275 pounds, he plays with a lighter frame than Georgia’s primary interior tackles, giving the defense a quicker, more movement-oriented option off the bench. In 2026 his value could come from his ability to move and chase plays rather than simply take on blocks, making him a complementary piece who changes what the defense can do on passing downs.

Redshirt sophomore Nnamdi Ogboko appeared in 12 games last season as a reserve defensive lineman, recording 10 tackles, 5 solo stops, 1 tackle for loss, and a sack. At 6’4 and and 340 pounds, Ogboko is one of the heaviest players on the roster and brings a physical presence that is difficult to replicate. You can’t coach size, and most Kirby Smart defenses have been at their best with a huge, two-gap space eater in the middle. Could Ogboko be that guy in 2026?

I’m not saying he’s Jordan Davis just yet, but there’s potential there. The North Carolina product is still learning the game at this level, but the raw tools on display. His sack against Kentucky was a glimpse of what he can do when he wins his initial battle. Georgia’s two-gap defensive scheme benefits enormously from players Ogboko’s size, and he will be expected to eat blocks and free up space for the linebackers behind him.

Sophomore JJ Hanne remains an intriguing player as well. Hanne appeared in all 14 games during 2025 as a reserve, recording one tackle against Austin Peay and another against Florida in Jacksonville. His story is one of the more unique in college football. Originally from Berlin, Germany, Hanne only began playing American football in high school and arrived at Georgia still learning the fundamentals of the game. At 6-foot-4 and 290 pounds, his physical upside is considerable, and coaches have praised both his motor and his development throughout his time in the program. With a full year of seasoning now behind him, 2026 represents an important step in determining whether Hanne can grow into a reliable rotation piece.

The Bottom Line

The 2026 Georgia defensive line will look different from recent years, lacking the veteran continuity that came with someone like Miller anchoring the middle through multiple seasons. But the depth is there, and the level of experience is almost sneakily high. With major returning contributors and frequent starters like McLeod, Hall, and Griffin giving Tray Scott a solid base to work with. The unit also welcomes new additions in freshmen Preston Carey, Carter Luckie, AJ Lonon Jr., and Valdin Sone to provide additional bodies and competition. At least a couple of those freshmen could also work into the rotation by season’s end. If Hall stays healthy and Griffin takes the leap everyone expects, this group can still rank among the SEC’s better front fours. The ceiling is high; the floor is secure.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Admittedly in this space we’ve been pretty harsh about the creeping commercialism of college football.

We get it, somebody has to pay those NIL deals, and the palatial stadiums don’t build themselves. But still it often feels like conference and school officials have uniformly undergone a very precise lobotomy that removed the part of their brains that says “I like money and all, but that just seems a little crass even to me.”

However, in the interest of equal time and fairness, I want to recognize a major college athletic department for doing something right. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Wisconsin Badger football, sponsored by Culver’s delicious creamy custards.

Of all the things a college football team can do to raise some cash, a tasteful (tasty?) uniform patch seems like the least of all available evils. Plus Culver’s, with their famous fried cheese curds and butter burgers are about as Wisconsin as you can get. If you’re going to sell out, sell out to your own home folks. If the Georgia Bulldogs came out sporting patches advertising Pepsi cola, I might riot. I wouldn’t start the riot, but I would almost certainly take an enthusiastic part in it.

Conversely, if the Red and Black were to take some green in exchange for a small patch advertising Coca Cola Classic, a Peach State institution on par with Ty Cobb, boiled peanuts, and the Yatesville Chitlin Hoedown, I would say not word in protest. Bulldog football and Coca Cola are perhaps my two favorite things on earth that I haven’t bought a diamond ring for. Combining them often and in liberal doses is fine by me.

So good on you, Badger Nation. You’ve managed to sell out in the best way possible, and I salute you for it. Now if you need me I’ll be down the street ordering onion rings and a Butterfinger custard.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Not to overstate things, but June 29, 2026 may end up being the most consequential day when it comes to the current state of the Georgia baseball program.

If you just took Monday night’s news that Dan Jackson won the Golden Spikes Award, the honor given to the top player in college baseball, that would have been monumental on its own. In Jackson, the Diamond Dawgs have now had a player take that prize in two of the past three seasons. That stretch, of course, coincides with Wes Johnson being the Bulldogs’ head coach.

The message is clear. If you want to be college baseball’s best, the confines of Foley Field are a pretty good place to spend your time.

Certainly, it would have been nice for Jackson to get a send-off last week as a national champion in Omaha, but Georgia was one of the last four teams standing in college baseball’s mecca.

Jackson’s Monday coronation proves what this program has been able to do.

Earlier in the day, however, hammered home what Georgia plans to do – seeing to it that this year was not a one-and-done trip to the College World Series.

Or to call back to Kirby Smart’s famous post-game quote after the 2018 National Title Game – “we’re not going anywhere.”

Dislike the transfer portal or embrace it, the reality is that those who utilize it well help themselves the most. Those who don’t in the current landscape…well, just check in on Dabo Swinney when you get a chance.

Guys like Kolby Branch and Dan Jackson are not easy to replace, that’s for sure. But the Diamond Dawgs being able to cook with gas in the transfer portal on Monday helps, without a doubt.

Among the incoming transfers will be Oregon DH Naulivou Lauaki Jr., having hit .321 with 14 dingers last year.

More offensive firepower will be on the way through Utah outfielder Jet Gilliam, who hit .362 last year as well as Indiana first baseman Jake Hanley, who hit .338 this past spring and ripped 14 homers the last two years.

The arrival of infielder Casey McCoy from Louisiana Tech and previous add of FSU catcher Hunter Carnes should bolster things even more.

And yes, pitching help is also incoming via Matthew Cuccias from Wichita State, who in 15 starts had a 3.53 ERA with 76 strikeouts.

For Georgia, the message on Monday was clear – that it does not want its current window to close anytime soon.

Go Dawgs!

You ever think it just might not be your day? You and South Carolina quarterback Corey Jenkins have that in common, or at least you would as you pointlessly asked the back judge what happened after David Pollack ruined your afternoon.

Georgia and South Carolina were locked in a sloppy, low scoring early season matchup in 2002, with the Bulldogs defense pitching a 3-0 shutout. Backed up on their own goal line the Gamecock offense managed to give up one more touchdown than the Garnet and Black defense would give up all day.

Pollack’s 0 yard interception return staked the Bulldogs to a 10-0 lead, and was the only touchdown the Bulldogs would score all day. But that and a pair of Billy Bennett field goals were enough to deliver a 13-7 victory. That Bulldog team would go on to win Georgia’s first SEC title in twenty years. Pollack’s improbable play was perhaps the first hint that the 2002 Bulldogs just wouldn’t be denied. Until later…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

The first of these touchdowns was Week 2 against the Steve Spurrier South Carolina Gamecocks. Up 34-30 in the fourth, Aaron Murray connected with a streaking JSW down the sidelines for an 85-yard touchdown, sealing the victory.

The other came a few weeks later against LSU which was the game of the season in 2013. Trailing with under 2:00 to play, Aaron Murray again finds a streaking JSW, this time down the right sideline for a 25-yard game-winning touchdown.

Though injuries derailed his career, JSW will never be forgotten for those two epic touchdowns in 2013. JSW: DGD forever.

Welcome to the Morning Memory, in which we look back fondly on a treasured moment from the Bulldog past.

This morning’s installment comes to you all the way from September 22, 2007. That’s when Mark Richt and #22 Georgia went to Tuscaloosa to take on #16 Alabama and second year head coach Nick Saban. The Red and Black, keyed by Knowshon Moreno, Thomas Brown, and a high octane rushing attack jumped out to a 10-0 lead and led the Tide 20-10 with 12:15 to go in the fourth quarter.

Then things got unnecessarily and inconveniently interesting for fans of the Classic City Canines. The Crimson Tide drove down for a field goal to pull within a touchdown, and the Red and Black responded by going three and out and punting back to the Sabanites (they’re in the Bible between the Ammonites and the Hittites, look it up). The Tide then took the air out of the ball on a grinding drive that ended with quarterback John Sarah Jessica Parker Wilson of all people running it in from 6 yards out. An extra point tied it up, and a Brandon Coutu missed 47 yard field goal as time expired sent the game to overtime, and the Tuscaloosa crowd into a frenzy.

Georgia won the toss and gave Bama the ball first in the extra stanza with the Red Elephants settling for a field goal.

The Tide led 23-20. The entire crowd into Tuscaloosa and a prime time television audience of millions sat perched on the edge of their seats.The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. What would ESPN analysts Mike Patrick and Todd Blackledge have to say in this electric moment? Patrick obviously asked the question on everyone’s mind.

Poor Todd Blackledge, not the most elusive guy during his quarterbacking days, was perhaps even less so in the booth as a broadcaster. Fortunately, Matt Stafford and Mikey Henderson bailed him out before he had to provide Patrick with a definitive answer:

The Dawgs walked off the Tide 26-23. It was a singular moment in a season that contained a lot of highlights. That Georgia team would go on to dance in the endzone on the way to victory I. Jacksonville, to black out Auburn in Sanford Stadium, and to beat Hawaii so senseless in a lopsided Sugar Bowl that Thom Brenamen would worry aloud that they were hitting the Rainbow Warriors too hard.

I maintain that the 2007 Georgia Bulldogs would have won a national title if only they’d gotten the chance to play for one. No team finished the year hotter than Mark Richt’s. That would be Richt’s last victory over Saban in his tenure in Athens. But oh what a sweet one it was. Until later…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

To say that it has been a transformational time in Athens since the hiring of Kirby Smart in December of 2015 is one of the biggest understatements that can be made.

The standard of what can be has come to Georgia football, and the Bulldogs have become college football’s standard bearer through being relentless, unyielding and aggressive. That result, of course, peaked with two back-to-back titles in a row.

That energy has, of course followed the manta of a team’s mentality been set, of course, by Kirby Smart. And part of that has come through Smart’s sound bites. Some have been public, others ‘leaked,’ from the inner sanctum. Many of them, of course, are not safe for work or a small Bulldog child’s ears.

Here’s a rating of the top ten Kirby Sound Bites. Is one of your favorites missing or ranked too low? Comment below!

The Florida Speech

Did this audio jar the conscience when it found its way online? Yes. Did it also make Bulldog fans want to run through a wall and also reinforce that Kirby Smart dislikes Georgia’s rivals as much as its fans? Also yes. And while it can never be confirmed, its hard not to consider that this speech…just before embarrassing Florida…helped encourage UF to ask Dan Mullen to seek employment elsewhere.

How Bout Them F’ing Dawgs?!

Did Kirby Smart likely have some ‘splaining to do for this press conference remark? Yes. Did it instill how much the Auburn game matters to him as a former player? Absolutely.

Post-TCU Audio

While its never been confirmed which game this came from during 2022, the audio that found its way online after the TCU domination reinforced who Georgia football was, and how driven Kirby Smart was – and the reason why the Bulldogs had just gone back-to-back as national champs.

South Carolina in 2022

This game’s first half was highly frustrating, but this halftime speech was every bit of a called shot. It summed up how confident Kirby Smart is in his team, and how that belief drives Georgia’s players.

All I Wanna Do Is Eat!

In case you wondered why Kirby Smart was successful early at Georgia, this showed why. It’s also a fun Thanksgiving reference when food is not quite ready yet.

Calling Out The Detractors After Texas Win

Georgia was counted out and had to overcome bad officiating to beat Texas two years ago. Smart tapped into that sentiment in a big way. There was no PC comment here, there was no fear to go after the TV or SEC partners. It was very much a ‘we’re not taking this’ moment.

Mizzou Hot Mic

A hard lesson this day to SEC officials – don’t stand too close to Kirby Smart with a microphone on.

National Title Post Game

In short, this ripped the cover off when it came to what a national title meant. To quote Lewis Grizzard, “it meant that much.”

Overheard…

If you have afternoon classes near South campus, odds are good you may hear some high-quality gems..

“I believe in you.”

Nothing quite says being driven like “I believe in you” before a second-half domination

Go Dawgs!

It was an Okie St. Cowboy-turned-Oregon Duck that hoisted the trophy Sunday evening, but we still had Bulldog representation sprinkled across the Long Island leaderboard.

Yes, Wyndham Clark held onto the lead and held off LSU Tiger Sam Burns to claim the third major of 2026. It was really an opening 64 in blustery conditions that won him the title, but it was validated by great recovery shots, sick scrambling, and a pretty hot putter to complete the wire-to-wire win.

In tough but fair conditions, only 6 players finished at even par or better. Many big names didn’t make the cut including Bryson Dechambeau, Viktor Hovland, Adam Scott, Brooks Koepka, and defending champ JJ Spaun. Unfortunately that claimed the weekends of former Bulldogs. With the cut line of +4 (144), Harris English missed it by one; Sepp Straka by 3; Chris Kirk by 5, and Davis Thompson by 6. It also quenched young dreams of amateurs and future Bulldogs Mason Howell (+8) and Hamilton Coleman (+11).

Somehow I missed Coleman’s Open qualification, but he won the 2025 US Junior Amateur last summer which gained him an invitation. Coleman is an Augusta native, playing for Lakeside-Evans and capturing the State 6A title in 2024 as a sophomore. His golf game and Sigma Nu pledge class worthy name will serve him well in Athens.

Now for the former ‘Dawgs who were in the top 72 and did play the weekend at the 126th US Open at Shinnecock.

Russell Henley was top 20 after an opening even par 70, and started the weekend at +3 with a chance to make a move. A third round 80 derailed that, and a closing 71 gave him a T65 finish.

Brian Harman was first page of the leaderboard Friday morning and borderline Friday night. But weekend rounds of 73-73 never let him gain ground and he ties for 32nd.

But Keith Mitchell gave us a Cashmere Keith Experience for the ages.

That was Mitchell’s Thursday opening round. Even par 70? That’s not the interesting part. He doubled his first hole of the tournament en route to a 41 for 9 holes. +6 after 9 probably shoots you out of contention. But Keith is a ‘Dawg, so he comes back and shoots 29 for his inward nine and a total of 70 that makes you look meme-worthy. He is the first player in US Open history to shoot a 9 hole score in the 40’s and a 9 hole score in the 20’s in a single round. History made.

It was obvious he didn’t have his “A” game, but it was also obvious he could golf his ball around and get it in the hole. The final 3 rounds he proceeds to shoot 70-70-70 for a total of 280. Even par for the tournament, and even par in every single round. Also the first player to accomplish that in a US Open. It was good for a tie for 4th place, $920,882 dollars, and invite to the 2027 Masters and US Open.

It might not go down as one of the most exciting US Opens, but it was played in a truly great venue, it constantly humbled the best players in the world, and we had plenty of Red and Black to keep an eye on. I hope you had as good of a Father’s Day as I did, and as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

I’m a simple man. I like to start my day with a good cup of coffee. Maybe a nice stack of pancakes. And a video of the Florida Gators getting beaten like a set of bongos.

1997 came squarely in the middle of a long stretch of utter torment for Bulldog fans in Jacksonville.It’s difficult to explain if you weren’t there for it, but the best summation I can give is that the Georgia/Florida game was the most important contest of the season for a fanbase that had no illusions of their chances of playing for a national title. A

And we lost it every year. Sometimes by a little, often by a lot. But when the Bulldogs arrived in Jacksonville on November 1, 1997 they had dropped seven in a row to the Gators. The Gators had won 52-14, 52-17 and 47-7 in the previous three meetings. While the Dawgs entered ranked #14 in the country under second year head coach Jim Donnan, there was little reason to expect they’d offer much resistance to the defending national champion Gators.

But that’s why they actually play the games:

Robert Edwards ground out 124 yards on the ground and tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns. Junior safety Kirby Smart picked off two passes as the Florida offense looked out of sorts most of the day. Steve Spurrier, always quick with the hook for his quarterbacks, tried three of them on the afternoon. But neither starter Doug Johnson nor backups Noah Brindise or Jessie Palmer could do much of anything to crack the Red and Black D.

The result was a 37-17 victory that would go down as arguably the high point of the Donnan era in Athens. It was also Steve Spurrier’s only loss to the Athenians during his twelve seasons as the coach at his alma mater. I wish the ‘Dawgs could have beaten that smug so-and-so a few more times. But I do take some joy from remembering how sad he was on that day in 1997. Again, it’s the simple things in life.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Maestro, the music:

Welcome to Free Form Friday, a laissez faire lounge for your college football-free weekends from here to the start of the season. It’s the place for you to talk with your fellow readers about anything or nothing at all, though I usually try to offer at least one potential topic. Sometimes it’s college sports related. Sometimes it’s not. Today’s isn’t even college sports adjacent.

My question for you is this: tell us about your first car. Mine was a 1982 Chevy pickup I inherited from my grandfather. It was painted a very demure metal fleck silver, and had an eight foot bed suitable for hauling camping gear, lumber, and eventually helping friends move in exchange for pizza and beer. It had a top speed of about 58 miles per hour, at which point the front end and the back end would lose communication entirely like two old spinsters who had a falling out over a spice cake recipe and haven’t spoken to each other since the Carter administration.

Its two moments of crowning glory were:

• The time a brahma bull charged it, lifting the driver side wheels off the ground but otherwise leaving the occupants unhurt.
• The time an Atlantan in a hurry to pick up his fiancé from the airport rearended it outside Macon. Again, no one inside the Chevy was injured, but the boyfriend’s Honda Accord, deployed airbags and all, was borderline unrecognizable. When last I saw its owner he was on the way to the I-16 Huddle House in Bleckley County with the tow truck driver, hoping to salvage his relationship if not his car. This earned the truck the nickname “The Tank.”

We’d love to hear about your first set of wheels, whether super cool or grossly unreliable (or both). Or feel free to talk amongst yourselves about any other subject that tunes your Stratocaster. Until later…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

We begin our rundown of every position group on the 2026 Georgia Bulldogs roster with a group that returns both a ton of production and yet a few questions as well.

There are plenty of position groups to get excited about for the Georgia Bulldogs heading into the 2026 college football season.  Offensively, one of the rooms most loaded with talent is the running backs room.  Featuring a nice blend of veterans, transfers, and young newcomers, the running game will once again be heavily relied upon on offense.

Let’s take a look at the cast of RBs that will be performing for Georgia on Saturdays this fall.

Nate Frazier

The alpha of the running backs room, Nate Frazier returns to Athens having flirted with the transfer portal this offseason.  During his time at Georgia, Frazier has amassed 1618 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground.  Most notably, having dealt with fumbling issues as a freshman and the beginning of the 2025 season, Frazier looks to have moved past those issues, carrying the football more securely and taking a leap in the second half of the 2025 season.

An ankle injury limited Frazier to just one carry on G-Day, though he should be ready to start for the Dawgs in the opening game.

Chauncey Bowens

Having played sparingly as a freshman, Chauncey Bowens showed that he is a very capable 1B to Frazier’s 1A.  Bowens ran for 526 yards on 103 carries in 2025, starting some games over Frazier when Frazier was dealing with his ball security issues.

Bowens looked sharp at G-Day, running for 42 yards on 9 carries as he carves out a substantial role in the running game for the Dawgs in 2026.

Dwight Phillips Jr.

Phillips Jr. is a burner on the ground, and he adds a nice change of pace to the RB room and can easily take an end around to the house.

Phillips will look to build off of his 210 yard season from 2025, and he should also be a threat catching the ball out of the backfield.

Bo Walker

Walker burst onto the scene late during his freshman season, highlighted by his three touchdown day against Charlotte.

The powerful back will look to carve out an even bigger role in 2026, albeit likely still in a reserve role.

Jae Lamar

Lamar arrives to Athens as a four star prospect and the #16 RB recruit in the 2026 class.  He got his first action in the G-Day game, carrying the ball six times for 26 yards.

Kirby Smart is not afraid to give playing time to talented freshmen, and it’ll be fascinating to see what Lamar’s playing time looks like in 2026.

Dante Dowdell

Georgia is the fourth stop for Dowdell during his college football career, having previously attended Kentucky, Nebraska, and Oregon.

Dowdell ran for 560 yards at Kentucky as a junior and 614 as a sophomore at Nebraska.  The senior provides needed experience and depth to the RB, filling the void the departing Josh McCray left.

The special and amazing ride ended for the Diamond Dawgs in the College World Series on Wednesday night in Omaha, Neb., as Georgia’s fortunes ran out of gas in an 11-4 loss to Oklahoma. The Sooners now advance to face North Carolina in the CWS Championship Series.

Thus ends a magical season for Georgia, one in which records were set for wins and homers as Foley Field became an even more special place that it is by default given that it exists within Athens, Ga. during the springtime.

For the first time since 2008, Georgia found itself in college baseball’s holy land. In perhaps a cruel twist of irony, the Bulldogs, who had a 53-win season, were done in on Wednesday by the very thing that helped define them this season. Georgia may have won the SEC regular-season and tournament title. But the Sooners, who lost multiple SEC weekend series and lasted one game in the SEC Tournament, kept up a postseason hot streak at Georgia’s expense, smacking five homers against Georgia pitching on Wednesday.

Such is the cruel mistress of the College World Series. Sometimes, the team that steamrolls in comes up short to a team that catches fire at the right time – a truth Georgia knows well on both sides from its CWS history.

Speaking of homers – the long ball, something that powered Georgia all season long, apparently got lost somewhere over the flyover states on the way to Omaha, as the Dawgs had to scrape and scrounge for runs in Omaha, something that makes the fact of getting two wins there over Texas impressive. A load of credit, obviously goes to Georgia’s pitchers.

That trend continued on Wednesday as UGA didn’t get on the board until a fifth-inning Ryan Black RBI single, the first frame in which Georgia had more than one runner aboard.

By then, the Bulldogs were playing catch up, down 4-1 after starting pitcher Paul Farley went 3.1 innings before giving way to Matt Scott. Farley gave up four runs and six hits before Scott’s four runs saw him yield four runs and five hits in four innings.

The Bulldogs got back in it in the fifth, taking advantage of a pair of bases-loaded walks to trail 5-3. But a single Sooner run in the seventh and two homers in the eighth by OU helped the Sooners put the night away, ending hopes of the program’s second national title.

But as much of a letdown as the loss was, there was a bit more of Diamond Dawg magic. Yes, the game was wrapped up in the ninth, but Kolby Branch’s final at-bat was one to remember, as he blasted a ninth-inning homer.

The outcome on Wednesday was disappointing for the Bulldogs and fans watching from near and far, but Branch’s blast was a reminder – that this team was special and will be one of Georgia baseball’s most revered.

Go Dawgs!

Happy Saturday morning ‘Dawg fans. I don’t know how you plan to spend your weekend. I hope you make smart decisions. But whatever decisions you make, it’s unlikely that they’ll be better than the decision to give the ball to freshman Nick Chubb on a toss sweep against a Clemson defense that’s already been tenderized by a heavy dose of Todd Gurley:

That was Nick Chubb’s first college touchdown, during the game in which the Georgia Bulldog offense pounded Dabo Swinney’s Clemson defense to the point that they just didn’t want to play football anymore. The Ground Hound from Cedartown would score 44 rushing touchdowns over the course of his career in the Classic City. And in retrospect that outcome seems like a foregone conclusion after watching that first one. Freshmen aren’t supposed to do that against elite competition.

In that 2014 season opener Todd Gurley set a UGA single game record for total yards with 293. 100 of those came on a kickoff return to which I am certain we will return ere the summer, and this series with it, ends.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

The app formerly known as Twitter isn’t nearly as fun or as useful as it once was. If you’re like me, you occasionally saddle over there, get a costed by a series of bots and spammers, and then log right back off. But occasionally, it still comes in sort of handy. For example, while scrolling this weekend, I came across the below handy graphic, showcasing, the University of Florida’s current state of gridiron futility.

I think it is worth noting that the University of Florida currently has a losing record against every SEC school which they would rightfully consider a rival and coeval except the University of Tennessee. That is of course, because the Hillbillies have been in even worse straits for even longer than the lizard people.

but I think the thing that truly puts a spring in my step and a song in my heart is the fact that Florida has a winning record against a mere six out of sixteen SEC schools. In historical terms, the McElwain/Mullen/Napier era has seen the Sunshine State Saurians slowly sink from the upper echelons of the Southeastern Conference to no higher than the sunburned, probably pierced midriff of the league.

Remember, the Spurrier and Meyer eras were the aberration, not the rule. And while it may still be said that nothing sucks like a big orange, it can also be noted that nothing crawls lower than a gator.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Maestro, the music if you will:

The Diamond ‘Dawgs have bowed out of the postseason. Collegiate track, softball and golf have closed up shop for the year. Friends, it is officially the offest part of the offseason.

That’s not my problem. It’s not your problem. It’s our problem. And collective problems call for collective solutions. In that spirit we present Free Form Friday, an open-ended community exploration of, well, all kinds of stuff. It’s sort of like the in-season Friday Tailgate, only without the structure a forthcoming opponent provides. Think of it as the gateway to your weekend.

This Friday I pose to you, fellow Dawg Sporters, a simple question: what letter grade would you assign to Georgia’s 2025-2026 sports season? I don’t mean just in the recently concluded baseball season or the football season that draws so much of our attention. I mean as a collective athletic endeavor, across all sports.

My grade? A solid A. Not an A+, but also not an A-. Here’s how I arrived at that mark:

I don’t think any college football season that ends in an SEC-By God football championship is a bad one, even if it involves an earlier than hoped postseason exit. Basketball likewise made the men’s and women’s tournaments, which is sort of the expectation In Athens from where I sit.

Womens track took home a national title and the men were national runners (pun intended) up. You can’t get much better than that. Gymnastics returned to national prominence with a top six national finish. Golf and tennis were both national title contenders, and obviously baseball had its best outing in over a decade.

Football remains the straw that stirs the drink for this fanbase, and there was certainly some disappointment to bow out of the CFP at the earliest available opportunity for a second season in a row. I don’t think that’s the result Bulldog fans (or Kirby Smart and his staff) would consider their annual goal. And if the ‘Dawgs had made a deeper run or once again hoisted the Dr. Pepper Championship Trophy I would have bumped up that grade. Had the Hoop Hounds made an improbable Sweet Sixteen run I perhaps might also have given the year the highest mark possible.

But for an athletic program whose bogey for many years has been excellence, true national title contention in every sport, you have to say this was a season that met that goal. Unlike in some past seasons I can’t name a high profile UGA sporting team that was just bad this year.

In an era of budget cuts for non-revenue sports and even some SEC schools outright cutting teams, Georgia’s athletic performance this year was dangerously near unparalleled. I don’t always agree with how Josh Brooks and his team have handled the shifting tides of college sports. But they and the Bulldog coaches, staff, and athletes across all sports deserve a hearty pat on the back for this season. It remains great to be a Georgia Bulldog.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Few Georgia football players have ever been so legendary and at the same time so lost to the sands of history as Andre “Pulpwood” Smith. The bruising fullback out of Coffee County emerged in the post-Herschel days when Georgia was definitively “Running Back University.” Smith ran with a combination of bruising power and blazing speed that made him seem like the next great UGA backfield star.

That may have never been more evident than when Georgia took on Vanderbilt in 1984.

That electrifying touchdown run was vintage Pulpwood, and it keyed one of the most explosive offensive efforts of the Vince Dooley era in Athens. Dooley’s offenses were never known as point-a-minute affairs.

But on this afternoon in Sanford Stadium they couldn’t stop finding the endzone. Vanderbilt began the 1984 season on a tear, going 4-0 to start the season, including beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa and rising into the AP poll for the first time since 1958. But on an October afternoon they ran into an absolute buzzsaw in Red and Black.

The Athenians would run over, around and through the Commodores, piling up 562 yards of total offense and lighting up the scoreboard to the tune of 62 points, the most they would ever score in Dooley’s 26 seasons as the top ‘Dawg.Interestingly the game was actually tied 21-21 with three minutes to go until halftime. But Georgia put three touchdowns on the board before intermission, then two more in the third quarter, including that Pulpwood jaunt, to put the game out of reach. Unfortunately Pulpwood’s Bulldog career would come to an end just when it looked like it was about to take off.After leading the team in rushing in 1984 with 655 yards (an impressive 6.0 yards per carry) Smith was dismissed from the team for academic reasons. How great he could have been remains one of the biggest unanswered questions in UGA history. Until later…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Welcome to the Morning Memory, in which we take a brief stroll down Bulldog memory lane to look back at a special moment from UGA football history.

I think I could make a compelling argument that the 2018 Rose Bowl against Oklahoma was no lower than the third most memorable Georgia football game of the Kirby Smart era, perhaps even the twenty-first century. It was just an evening when all the elements aligned to create pure magic. The scenery was spectacular. The stakes were high. The opponent was formidable. The outcome? Absolutely one for the ages.

And there were certainly a ton of memorable moments in the game. Baker Mayfield’s “It’s over!” exclamation that turned out to be far from the truth. A clutch Rodrigo Blankenship field goal. Nick Chubb and Sony Michel running like Clydesdales. Lorenzo Carter soaring for a critical blocked field goal. And of course Sony rocketing around right end to put the game away in overtime. Again, an instant classic.

But one aspect of that game that bears remembering but seems to have been a bit lost with time? Roquan Smith’s trail of Sooner carnage.

Fresh off winning the Butkus Award as the nation’s top defender the Montezuma Missile bullied Oklahoma ball carriers all night, finishing with a team-leading 11 tackles, including 4 solo stops. It’s no stretch to say that a couple of those arrested Oklahoma’s momentum at times when failing to do so may have been the end for the Bulldogs. The Smart era has produced some of the best linebackers in recent college football history. But there will only ever be one Roquan.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

My standing rule is that you cannot, under any circumstances, own too many items of Georgia Bulldogs clothing. Especially when that clothing commemorates a special moment in Bulldog history. I believe qualifying for a trip to Omaha for the College World Series is just such a special moment.

Luckily our friends at Breaking T’s have just released a commemorative teeshirt for Georgia’s 2026 College World Series run.

Like all Breaking T’s designs this stylish shirt (or sweatshirt if you’re a winter wear fan) is officially licensed by the University of Georgia and the NCAA. All Breaking T’s clothing is soft, durable and designed and printed in the USA. Plus all items come with free returns and exchanges, allowing you to buy with confidence.

You can pick yours up here at the Breaking T’s site. You can also peruse other Bulldog designs while you’re there.

Until later…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

This morning we look back at the time Georgia broke Auburn’s cheatin’ little hearts. Again.

The 1994 season will not go down as one of the highlights in the pantheon of Georgia Bulldog football. In many ways it was the epitome of the pre-Mark Richt era at Georgia. The Bulldogs began the season by beating South Carolina and getting waxed by Tennessee. Ray Goff’s Dawgs beat Ole Miss, but then lost a one point game on the road at #11 Alabama.

And that, as they say, is when the ship hit the sand. After beating Clemson the Red and Black found a way to lose at home by two touchdowns to Vanderbilt. Then they went down to Gainesville and. in their only post-WWII appearance in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, took an absolute shellacking at the hands of the Florida Gators, 52-14.

And so it was a battered, bruised, and rightfully unranked Bulldog team that limped into Jordan-Hare Stadium on November 12, 1994 to take on Terry Bowden’s undefeated and #3 ranked Auburn Tigers.

True to expectation the Tigers jumped out to a 23-9 lead and appeared set to cruise to victory before heading into a top five Iron Bowl showdown with Alabama. Then the strangest thing happened: the Athenians decided to wake up and play ball. Cornerback (and future tailback) Robert Edwards picked off Plainsmen QB Patrick Nix to stall the Tiger offense. Then this happened:

Eric Zeier hit Juan Daniels across the middle for an 80 yard touchdown to pull the Dawgs within a score. Zeier would lead another drive to tie it up 23-23. Auburn still had a chance to pull out the win, but a last ditch field goal attempt fell wide of the uprights with 8 seconds remaining.

So shocking was the result that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the next day declared “Georgia wins 23-23.” The Bulldogs would end the year by trouncing Georgia Tech 48-10, finishing 6-4-1 on the season and buying the foundering Goff a one year reprieve. Auburn, still on probation from one of their many and varied cheating scandals, was banned from the postseason and ended their ‘94 season with a 21-14 loss in the Iron Bowl.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

The Diamond Dawgs are set to take on Oklahoma at 7 PM Eastern tonight from Omaha, Nebraska in their second appearance of the 2026 College World Series.

Oklahoma was last seen shutting out the Alabama Crimson Tide behind a tour de force performance from freshman pitcher Cord Rager. Georgia also reached this stage thanks to some masterful pitching from ace Joey Volchko. It will be interesting to see if both teams can similarly hold the other’s powerful lineup free of offensive fireworks. I sort of suspect that we’ll see some runs in this one.

Television coverage and streaming will once again be live on the ESPN family of channels and apps. We will be here through the evening to keep an eye on the game, talk about what’s happening, and wrap it all up when the action is done.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

The eyes of the college sports world may have been on Omaha this weekend, but the Bulldog track team was busy making history elsewhere.

Powered by record-setting performances from redshirt freshman Adaejah Hodge and senior Dejanea Oakley, the Lady Bulldogs captured their second consecutive NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Saturday in Eugene, Ore. Georgia’s 50 point total placed the Dawgs well in front of second place finisher Florida (43) and third place Arkansas (38).

The victory gives Georgia back-to-back outdoor national championships after also winning in 2025. The win also off capped off a memorable season that also included the 2026 NCAA indoor championship back in March.

Hodge delivered one of the meet’s most electrifying moments, turning in a 200 meter time of 21.68 seconds to set a new collegiate record. Earlier in the evening, Hodge also finished runner-up in the 100 meters with a time of 10.93 after establishing the collegiate record during the semifinal round.

Oakley won the 400 meters in dominating fashion, turning in a 48.79 lap of the University of Oregon track. That set not only a personal best for the Texas transfer, but also new UGA, NCAA, and NCAA championship records.

On the men’s side, the Bulldogs finished runner-up to Arkansas. Graduate student Kimani Jack won the high jump, and the 4×400 relay team also took home top honors in the 400 meters Dawgs Jonathan Simms and Sidi Njie finished second and third respectively to key a strong showing for the men.

With the victory Director of Track & Field Caryl Smith-Gilbert joins Texas’ Bev Kearney (1998-99) as the only female coaches to win two consecutive women’s outdoor titles. Smith-Gilbert also becomes the first female head coach to win four NCAA outdoor women’s championships (two in Athens, two at Southern Cal).

Even for a program which has produced some dominant performances over the years both individually and in the team ranking, 2026 has to go down as among the most impressive seasons in school history.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Your Georgia Bulldogs return to action tonight in Omaha in a loser goes home rematch with the Texas Longhorns.

The Bulldogs couldn’t recover from a sloppy, three run first inning last night and a late rally fizzled as they fell 4–3 to the blazing hot Oklahoma Sooners. Now, West Johnson’s squad looks to put that behind them in a must win losers bracket contest with the ‘Horns.

If you’d told me that two games into the Series the Dawgs would have yet to use a reliever and had given up five total runs I’d have never thought they were in the losers’ side of the ledger. But on the bright side, the Red and Black have a fresh bullpen to deploy. Also, hopefully they won’t repeat last night’s, well, whatever adjective is the opposite of “clutch” performance at the plate. When you go 0 for 12 with runners on base and 0-3 with runners in scoring position you can’t really complain about a loss.

Texas got here by destroying Alabama, 14-2, in Monday’s elimination game, exploding for the most runs by a Texas team in a College World Series game since 1992. The star of the game for the Burnt Orange was Adrian Rodriguez, who hit for the cycle, making him just the third player to do so in CWS history.

The Longhorns scored in only four innings, but each time they plated at least three runs: three in the 1st, four in the 2nd and 6th and three in the 8th.

Georgia has to avoid giving up that kind of offensive explosion if they want to have a shot in this one. First pitch is scheduled for 8 PM Eastern, with television coverage again live on ESPN.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Summer is the time for travel, and Bulldogs of all kinds are hitting the roads.

The UGA Women’s Track & Field team was in Eugene, OR the last few days, just wrapping up consecutive Outdoor National Championships (and completing the sweep after taking the Indoors Natty earlier). The Men’s squad finished a respectable 2nd place to champ and powerhouse Arkansas.

You’ve seen the Diamond Dawgs hit up Omaha, and beat down Texas University-Burnt Orange Campus.

Now the pro golfing ’Dawgs are driving the Long Island Expressway on their way to swanky Southampton. Because nestled just inland is a hunk of real estate known as Shinnecock Hills. And if the best golfers in the world are descending on Shinnecock, that means the USGA is ramping up to deliver some carnage.

That carnage is more commonly known as the United States Open, the toughest test in golf. The United States Golf Association who puts on the tournament is infamous for selecting tough courses, then over the span of months setting up the track to be as tough as possible. Tighten fairway landing areas, shave false fronts, lengthen and thicken the rough, and eventually cut the greens slicker than Lane Kiffin at a 5:30 am small town hot yoga class.

And Shinnecock Hills is already a tough test, often ranked as one of the most difficult courses in America (and the world) on a daily basis. Usually called a “links style” course, the land is actually quite arable. Links courses are of course the “link” between fertile, arable land and the beach/salt water. It can’t be farmed, it can’t be fished, so it links the two valuable geographic features and is only good for 18 holes. Shinnecock has more undulation than a links course, and is surrounded by farmland, vineyards, and 8-9 figure real estate parcels. It is wide open, windswept, tons of tall, wide fescue, plenty of bunkering, and looks like a links course. But it is more accurately a B****-slap to anyone who can’t control their golf ball.

And the USGA drools over their appropriation of Shinnecock Hills every few years. The land and daily conditions contribute a perfect canvas that they can tweak, distort, and pervert to their heart’s content. If you doubt, just check out YouTube highlights from the last 3 US Opens held here in 1995, 2004, and 2018. Or you can check out how fan favorite and multiple major winner Phil Mickelson handled a poorly struck putt in such challenging conditions. Phil not accepting responsibility and looking for a short-cut against the rules when things don’t go his way? Perish the thought. Or perish the insider trading. Or the soul sold. Or the unwanted attention given to club staff. Sorry Phil – I know today’s your birthday. And it’s best to sit this out for a while.

World #1 Scottie Scheffler comes to Long Island with his first attempt at the career grand slam, having already captured a couple of green jackets, a Wannamaker, and the 2025 Claret Jug. Brooks Koepka returns to friendly confines for him, but he’s got an upper extremity issue. Rory McIlroy has been mostly quiet since his consecutive Masters, but would love a 7th major.

And there’s a host of former Georgia Bulldogs ready to take this test. Russell Henley, already a winner on Tour this year, comes in with good form. Harris English is not far behind, and was 2nd at the British last year. Brian Harman, Sepp Straka, Chris Kirk, Keith Mitchell, Davis Thompson, and even incoming ‘Dawg Mason Howell will be on site and ready with sharpened #2 pencils.

We’ll be back with tee times and some other stats to get you ready. For now, gird thy loins, and as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

If Georgia wants to last longer in Omaha, it’ll have to now do the job with its backs against the wall.

Despite Caden Aoki being strong over the game’s final eight innings on Monday night in the College World Series, Oklahoma starting pitcher Xander Mercurius was a bit better. The result: A 4-3 win for the Sooners, who took full advantage of a three-run first inning. Georgia, having lost for the first time in nearly a month, now faces Texas on Tuesday night in a loser’s bracket matchup where the winner will have to knock off Oklahoma twice to advance to the best-of-three College World Series Championship Series.

Much like Saturday’s CWS opener against Texas, the first inning saw multiple runs pushed across the plate. This time, however, it was Georgia that was unable to recover after an RBI groundout followed by a two-run homer off of Aoki gave the Sooners a 3-0 lead.

Georgia never got the big inning that it has seemingly become used to in recent weeks thanks to the pitching of Mercurius, who held Georgia to one hit through the first three innings.

The Diamond Dawgs would break through in the fourth on a two-out homer by Kenny Ishikawa.

That was one of three dingers ripped out of Charles Schwab Field by the Bulldogs on Monday night, but if Georgia was sunk by what happened around those homers, as each of them, also by Brannan Hudson in the fifth and Dan Jackson in the eighth came with no runners aboard. That, combined with Oklahoma’s Brendan Brock hitting a solo shot in the fourth, ended up being the difference. The Dawgs were not only 0-12 with runners on base, but 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.

Georgia tried its best to stage some late-inning magic in the eighth, when Jackson’s homer cut the Sooners lead to 4-3, chasing Mercurius from the game. But after Rylan Lujo singled, the Bulldogs could draw no closer as pinch hitter Jack Acramone popped up before Ishikawa walked and Ryan Wynn flew out to deep right field, ending the threat.

Aoki settled in after the first inning, holding Oklahoma to just one run. Georgia has now used just two pitchers through to games in Omaha. That ability to save the bullpen so far could prove vital if the Diamond Dawgs extend their stay with a few more wins.

Starting Tuesday night, they get that chance.

Go Dawgs!

Your Georgia Bulldogs are once again taking on the Oklahoma Sooners in the College World Series, this time with even more at stake.

The Bulldogs dispatched the Texas Longhorns last night and now need two straight victories over the red hot Sooners to avoid elimination. If they can pull that off, they’ll book a trip to the finals and secure a shot at the school’s first baseball national title in 36 years.

First pitch is at 7:00 p.m. eastern. As has been the case all week the game will be carried live on ESPN, and we’ll be here for all your in-game commenting needs.

Tournament: The 126th United States Open Championship, June 18-21, 2026

Course: Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, par 70, 7,440 yards. In Southampton, Long Island NY.

Purse: $21.5 million in total, $4.3 million to the winner.

Defending Champ: JJ Spaun. The Aztec from SDSU had shown positive signs earlier in the year when he took Rory McIlroy to a playoff at the Players. Solid ball striking, good putting, and staying away from the big number at Oakmont kept Spaun near the lead every day, and even after a 40 on his first 9 holes Sunday. But steady as she goes and watch your fellow competitors wilt, which they did. Spaun was the only player to finish under par for the tourney.

Fun Fact: Shinnecock was one of the 5 founding clubs of the USGA in the 1890’s. It held the second US Open in 1896 at a grand total of 4,432 yards… for 12 total holes. Of course the players were wearing vests and tweed jackets, and hitting leather balls stuffed with feathers.

TV Times: NBC has the rights for USGA events, so get ready for some Dan Hicks. The plus side is we get a lot of Kevin Kisner. Another downside is swapping channels, apps, feeds, etc. because… NBC.
Thursday is 6:30 a.m.-5 p.m. (USA); 5-8 p.m. (NBC Sports Network, Peacock).
Friday is slightly different: 6:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (NBC Sports Network, Peacock); 1:30-7:30 p.m. (NBC); 7:30-8:30 p.m. (NBC Sports Network, Peacock).
The weekend is thankfully a little more straightforward and available on common cable channels.
Saturday: 10 a.m.-noon (USA); noon-8 p.m. (NBC), and similarly…
Sunday 9 a.m.-noon (USA); noon-7 p.m. (NBC) **All times Eastern**

‘Dawgs in the Field and Thursday Tee Times (also displayed in Eastern Daylight Time):

Keith Mitchell #10 tee, 7:19 am EDT

Harris English #1 tee, 8:03 am

Sepp Straka #10 tee, 8:03 am

Mason Howell (a) #1 tee, 8:14 am (with Scottie Scheffler and defending champ JJ Spaun)

Brian Harman #10 tee, 8:14 am

Chris Kirk #1 tee, 12:52 pm

Davis Thompson #1 tee, 1:14 pm

Russell Henley #1 tee, 1:36 pm

So now you know when to watch, how to watch, who to root for, and where they’re playing, and what they’re playing for. It’s a very strong field with no overwhelming favourite. Yet storylines abound and I’m sure there will be new ones popping up every day that no one saw coming. Enjoy watching the best players in the world humbled and struggle to shoot even par. And as always…

GO ‘DAWGS

Thanks to what’s become a tried and true formula, the Diamond Dawgs are still alive in the College World Series.

For the third time in as many games in Omaha, Georgia received strong starting pitching. The end result? A gritty 2-0 win in Tuesday’s night’s elimination game against Texas to move on to the bracket final against Oklahoma, where the Dawgs need to beat the Sooners twice in order to advance to the best-of-three championship series.

For the first time in this College World Series, Georgia had to look to its bullpen. That dip into the depth of the pitching staff stood tall, as well. After Dylan Vigue’s four innings of work in which he gave up two Longhorn hits and struck out eight, Justin Byrd entered. To say that there was no dropoff would be an understatement, as he allowed just two hits, fanning four UT batters.

And with a low-scoring game, an anomaly in this era of big offensive numbers, there was little margin for error. Byrd delivered, getting out of a two-aboard jam in the eighth before setting the side down in the ninth to clinch the win.

Offense has not come easy for Georgia the past two games in Omaha, and Tuesday night continued that. Part of that at Charles Schwab Field had to do with Texas starter Luke Harrison, who Georgia’s skipper rightly compared on the TV broadcast to Sandy Koufax. Through the first three innings, Georgia hitters struck out eight times. But the Diamond Dawgs finally broke through in the fifth, when Tre Phelps broke out of his Omaha doldrums to double in Brennan Hudson, who drew a leadoff walk. Georgia would later add a shred of insurance off of Texas reliever Sam Cozart, who had been unflappable all year long. He was at first on Tuesday, entering the game with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth, striking out Kolby Branch. But Georgia would break through an inning later, getting a single run as Ryan Black barely beat the tag at the plate from a Rylan Lujo sacrifice fly. That score was inexplicably challenged twice, both from the play at the plate and to also review whether or not Black left third early. Both were upheld, as the gutsy call to send the runner home paid largely with an extra run.

Its bullpen mostly untouched, Georgia now has to win twice against Oklahoma. It’s a definite upside that key reliever Matt Scott is yet to be used, and Saturday’s starter Joey Volchko also stands to be a likely option in the next two games, where the goal is to go 2-0.

Go Dawgs!

The Georgia Diamond Dawgs haven’t taken part in the spectacle that is the College World Series since 2008. They got there this year by taking on a rigorous SEC schedule and emerging as the regular season and conference tournament champions.

Their reward? Yet another trip through the gauntlet of Southeastern Conference elites.

Georgia’s path to its first baseball national championship in 36 years will start Saturday night at 8:00 pm when the ‘Dawgs take on the Texas Longhorns. The winner of that matchup will take on the winner of another SEC tilt between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Oklahoma Sooners, who will take to the Schwab Stadium field at 3:00 pm on Saturday.

That winners bracket game will be on Monday, immediately following the losers bracket game between the losers of UGA/ Texas and Bama/Oklahoma. The loser of that Monday 2:00 pm game goes home.

All games are set to be televised live on ESPN.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

As Georgia prepares to head to Omaha for their first College World Series outing in 18 years, I thought it might be worthwhile to hop in the way back machine and take a look at the 1990 Diamond ‘Dawgs, winners of the school’s only NCAA baseball championship. Fortunately YouTube remains undefeated. You can watch the final two and a half innings of the Red and Black’s thrilling win over Oklahoma State to take home the title.

A few interesting notes about that 1990 team:

• The Bulldogs had actually made it to Omaha in 1987, but were sent back to Athens without winning a single game. That 1990 squad was in large part led by the freshmen from that 1987 team, all grown up.
• The 1990 national champions weren’t loaded with star power. In fact, only one player from that squad, All-American relief pitcher Dave Fleming, logged any significant time in the major leagues.
• They also weren’t a model of consistency. The 1990 Dawgs lost three out of their first five games, then reeled off a fourteen game midseason win streak. But they then managed to drop their last five regular season contests to finish second to LSU in the regular season SEC title chase.
• But they did play defense and pitch well down the stretch, which remains a great way to go deep into the postseason. Fleming shut out Mississippi State in the Omaha opener to win 3-0, then Mike Rebhan gave up two runs to the Mike Mussina-led Stanford Cardinal in a complete game victory. All told the UGA pitching staff gave up only 7 runs in 4 games leading up to the title matchup with Oklahoma State.
• On a final note, I also happen to believe they wore the most iconic baseball hat design in Georgia Bulldog history. That block “G” on a red background with the black bill was much sought after in the days before the campus bookstore had online ordering, and was a bit of a status symbol among junior high schoolers in my neck of the woods. My aunt, a recent grad, was able to snag one for me for Christmas in 1990 and I still miss that sucker.

I hope you enjoy this walk down memory lane. We’ll be back shortly to talk about this year’s College World Series. Until then…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

For the first time since 2008, the Diamond Dawgs are headed to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

And for the second day in a row during an absolutely thrilling super regional at Foley Field against Mississippi State, Georgia pulled off another round of late-inning theatrics.

After seeing a 7-2 lead through four and a half innings evaporate and trail 9-8 after eight innings, the Diamond Dawgs would once again pull themselves up off the mat. After Brennan Hudson’s ninth-inning single scored Kenny Ishikawa to force extra innings, Daniel Jackson’s riveting two-run blast in the tenth put Georgia in front. From there, Justin Byrd sealed the deal for the second day in a row, getting out of a two-aboard situation in the tenth as Georgia won 11-9.

“I tell our guys all the time I think toughness gets a bad rap. People think it’s some kind of physical element, and it’s not. You have to learn to be capable of great endurance and understand that our game is really long. They got to get you out. Teams are going to get emotional,” Georgia head coach Wes Johnson said. “Those emotions are going to carry you out of what you normally do every day. That’s what we talk a lot about. Not only do we talk about it, we practice it. We try to try to give our guys something hard to do every single day, whether it be physical or mental. And you just saw a bunch of resilient guys, and you saw the fruition of all that work come through.”

After multiple seasons of bad postseason breaks, close calls, and one Omaha-contending season halted by COVID-19, this team is going to college baseball’s promised land. It’ll also be the Diamond Dawgs’ first CWS trip since it moved across town to Charles Schwab Field from Rosenblatt Stadium. One of those heartbreaks, a 2024 super regional loss to NC State, was on the mind of Kolby Branch this weekend.

For the first few innings on Sunday, the agenda was simple for the Bulldogs. Take advantage of a sterling pitching performance from Caden Aoki and slowly pad an early lead. That shook out nicely through the game’s first half with Georgia leading 7-2 despite missed early chances to plate more runners. Aoki was more than up to the task, throwing more than 120 pitches into the sixth inning, giving up four runs on eight hits and striking out nine.

Georgia put two runs across in the first inning a Rylan Lujo sac fly and Ryan Wynn groundout with a 3-0 lead coming in the second on a Kolby Branch homer and Ryan Black drawing a bases-loaded walk. A pair of second-inning runs by MSU was answered by a Brennan Hudson solo homer for a 5-2 third-inning lead, and single runs in the fourth and fifth on a Lujo RBI and run-scoring groundout by Tre Phelps extended the UGA lead to 7-2.

In most cases, that’d of seemed like a safe lead. But not against this MSU team that slammed balls out of the park the day before, and Sunday was more of the same, starting with a homer and RBI single to trim the Georgia lead to 7-4, one that would be a 8-7 Georgia lead after seven before a two-run homer in the eighth put the Maroon Dogs in front 9-8, setting the table for yet another day of late-inning Foley Field magic.

“When you’re winning together, it’s fun and it’s true. The locker room is a much happier place after a win,” Jackson said. “The whole sour power thing, like that’s been a crazy thing that’s united us just because it’s turned into this fun thing.” 

Go Dawgs!

There are places in the sports lexicon that have a certain air of reverence when coming to mind, even more so when mentioned. Wrigley Field, Lambeau Field, Augusta National, and Indianapolis. Those are all places that when they get brought up in conversation, they mean something.

Omaha, home of the Men’s College World Series, is firmly nestled alongside those places, whether you are talking about its iconic history at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium or the current venue of Charles Schwab Field.

The exchange in Field of Dreams is well known – “Is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa?” But if there is indeed a baseball heaven, it’s probably something a lot like how Omaha, Neb. will be within a day or so as fans converge for the CWS. And interestingly enough, Omaha is a very short drive from Iowa itself.

Just getting to Omaha is an experience in itself. Once you get there, anything else that happens is usually icing on the cake. If you want to see baseball players act like kids on Christmas morning, just hang out near them during their walk-through if they are CWS-first timers.

The specialness of Omaha even begins depending on how you get there.

I was fortunate enough to be there in 2006 when Georgia was in the College World Series. With more flights per day at the time being from Atlanta to Kansas City compared to Omaha, flying into KC made more sense. That means on the way from Kansas City to Omaha, it can actually be a fun trip with stops, if desired, like touring Kauffman Stadium, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, and the Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Library.

From there, it’s a mostly desolate drive, but one that will make you feel at home if you enjoy the drive from Macon to Savannah on I-16.

But like an obelisk rising up over the desert, downtown Omaha awaits as you make your way toward Council Bluffs, Iowa and across the Missouri River. Back when the CWS was at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium, it was one of the first things you encountered after crossing into Nebraska on I-80, a gleaming emotion that you had arrived at somewhere special.

The College World Series is much like the Indy 500 in that many there are fans of the game of baseball itself.

Sure, each team’s fans travel there too, but others nearby know how much this event means. Over the course of the CWS, locals adopt teams as their own….even if the week before they knew zero names of the players making Omaha their home for the week.

As Georgia fans sadly know, that can be a bad thing if you are playing against an underdog team such as the 2008 Nike bat debacle.

But it’s not just locals that love this event. I still vividly recall seeing Mississippi State fans tailgating outside Rosenblatt Stadium in 2006, and the Maroon Bulldogs were not even playing in the College World Series that year. Fans like those were there not for a team, but because they loved the event itself and what it means – that it’s a pure celebration of baseball.

Of course, this is the same city that makes you think of steak. And Omaha veterans will tell you that The Drover is legendary (I can attest to this personally), a place where at least two associated with UGA in 2006 ate at not once, but twice.

Omaha is indeed special. Georgia certainly heads there with a goal to win it all this week. But regardless, if you are one of eight teams that’s there this week, it’s a perfect slice of baseball heaven.

Go Dawgs!

This is the first in a new series known as the Morning Memory, in which we help you get your day off to a roaring start by showcasing a classic Georgia Bulldog highlight of years gone by. Today, Mr. Tuberville may have gone to Washington. But Mr. Thurman is the one who actually won the race.

Auburn came into Sanford Stadium in November 2003 looking to spoil #6 Georgia’s SEC title aspirations.
As has so often been the case in the ensuing two decades, it didn’t turn out well for the Plainsmen. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 19-0 lead on Tommy Tuberville’s torpid Tigers.

But early in the fourth quarter Auburn was still looking to put points on the board deep in Bulldog territory. But instead quarterback Jason Campbell’s third-down pass into the end zone was tipped and caught by linebacker Odell Thurman. The rest is pure Barner burning magic:

There’s so much to admire about this play. The blindside pressure to force Campbell’s throw. Thurman’s ahoestring grab. Tim Jennings flying down the field like he’s on rocket skates to throw the final block. Cinema. Absolute cinema.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

It’s the college sports beef you never saw coming.

Yesterday news broke that a Texas judge has issued an injunction preventing the NCAA from barring Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby from playing college football. The NCAA is seeking to do that because Sorsby has admitted to betting on college football. A lot.

Sorsby admitted to placing over 9,000 sports wagers valued at over $90,000 in total. That included bets on the University of Indiana while he was playing for the Hoosiers. For the vast majority of the history of college sports that would have been completely disqualifying, and no one would have dared to argue it shouldn’t be. It wasn’t that long ago, you may recall, that Rick Neuheisel was forced to resign from his coaching job because he’d taken part in America’s totemic sports betting enterprise: a March Madness pool.

Again, Sorsby’s conduct would have been completely unacceptable even five years ago. It’s probably still unacceptable to most college football fans, journalists, and administrators. Just not to the folks at Texas Tech.

Among the folks who still find Sorsby’s conduct unacceptable, and the rootin’, tootin’ west Texas ruling that shrugged it off just as bad was UGA athletic director Josh Brooks. Brooks hasn’t been a shrinking violet as college football goes through generational upheaval. On the contrary, he’s gone to bat to advocate for Georgia and the SEC. His response to the Sorsby ruling was no different.

Word also came out yesterday that a memo went around the UGA athletic department clarifying that no Georgia athletic squad will be allowed to schedule Texas Tech. Some have described this as a “leak.” I don’t think that’s an accurate characterization.

I can’t remember the last time news like this made it out of Butts-Mehre unintentionally. I think it was calculated to clarify where Brooks and Georgia’s administration and compliance staff land on this issue. I believe Brooks has decided to step forward as one of the national leaders on issues like this because he’s the athletic director of one of the nation’s top five athletic programs in one of the premier conferences. If not him, who? If not now, when?

Brooks’ statement apparently rankled Texas Tech booster and energy executive Cody Campbell, who fired back on Twitter:

I think one can make an argument that Brooks’ post was begging for a response. It was a strong, categorical statement of principle and there was no mistaking at whom it was aimed. And Georgia is a ripe target for allegations of hypocrisy. Admittedly the Bulldogs are no strangers to the police blotter. That’s a whole different discussion which we’ve had on this site for almost two decades.

But here’s the thing. Zachariah Branch standing on a sidewalk smirking lawlessly or Jordan Love misspelling his middle name or any number of Bulldogs driving 87 in a 25 mile per hour zone does not, in any way at all, affect the integrity of the game of college football. It doesn’t call the veracity of the outcomes into question.

Having a compulsive gambler, who has admitted to a voracious gambling habit, on the field directly influencing the outcome of games does. And saying that’s okay opens the door for countless other such players to likewise influence every single game. Or not. We’ll likely never know. And that’s why it’s a major problem.

You may believe that emerging from an alley on a scooter is abhorrent, anti-social behavior. But it doesn’t call the legitimacy of the outcome of the game into question.

That’s the distinction Cody Campbell isn’t making. The one he can’t make. Because admitting that it’s a problem lays bare the fact that he and his fellow power brokers in Lubbock are willing to destroy the integrity of college football in pursuit of a national title they feel they desperately deserve, and which the traditional powers of college football are trying to shut them out of.

I’m not sure why a man with all the things Campbell has still feels such a phenomenal level of grievance. But his swing at Brooks missed the point like a hitter looking for the curve and trying to catch up to a 99 mile an hour fastball. What he and Texas Tech are arguing that the NCAA has to accept would call the outcome of every NCAA sporting event into question. While the folks at the NCAA may not have a lot of integrity generally, they care about at least the appearance of integrity in the games. If you’re a fan of college sports you should too. And that’s why you should side with Josh Brooks in this middle school beef between grown men.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

A lot of words describe all that’s around the Georgia baseball program right now.

Euphora. Joy. Thrill. Jubilation. Drought-ending. Pride.

Needless to say, as excited as the Georgia fan base may be right now, there’s a lot for anyone within the Diamond Dawgs program to excitedly contend with this week. In addition to practices and workouts, there’s also the prepping to travel halfway across the country to begin the College World Series, where Georgia will play Texas on Saturday night.

Getting ready for college baseball’s biggest and brightest stage has a lot of moving parts, and if there’s a way that Georgia and head coach Wes Johnson would like to do things, it has that right. In other words, if it does not want to add unneeded weight to an already hectic week, that’s Georgia’s right to do so. No matter who is asking.

But at least one outlet appears to think that does not apply to them.

Less than 24 hours after Georgia clinched its first CWS berth since 2008, the Barstool brand decided to try to tarnish Georgia’s moment with a hissyfit that’d make my youngest child blush.

For the crime of apparently deciding that one of its star players was not going to be made available for a segment on Wake Up Barstool.

In case you don’t care to listen, Barstool’s Dave Portnoy, went even further, stating “screw Georgia. The Georgia Bulldogs are dead to me” as well as “I will never root for Georgia, I will never side with Georgia.”

Perhaps Barstool should be dead to anyone who has any affiliation with The University of Georgia, from a fan all the way up to those who proudly call themself alumni.

It’s very notable that the very same outlet that is upset about Georgia rightly did not make Daniel Jackson available for is the same one that vehemently dismissed college baseball a week ago.

The University of Georgia Athletic Department was blessed to have one of the best…scratch that…the best Sports Information Director in the business for many years with Claude Felton. He may have taken a well-earned retirement in recent years, but there are plenty of people within that team that do things very similarly to Claude Felton, and Georgia’s outstanding baseball SID Christopher Lakos is one of them.

This is an enormous week for Georgia baseball, and it has every right to do things that way it chooses, regardless of what someone who cared nothing of the Diamond Dawgs existence until 72 hours ago.

Go Dawgs!

Welcome to the Morning Memory, in which we take a brief stroll through the storied past of University of Georgia football, pausing to admire a work of art from the treasured past.

Today I’d ask you to join me in October 1985. Vince Dooley’s Georgia Bulldogs, until recently the clear top team in the SEC, only four seasons removed from a national title, came into the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party ranked outside the top ten for the first time since 1979, and coming off a 27-0 beating by the Gators in 1984, their first loss to the Sunshine State Saurians since 1977.

As if that wasn’t enough indignity, the Gators came into the game undefeated and ranked #1 in the country for the first time in program history. Bulldog fans filed down to the coast justifiably apprehensive about the annual matchup, and understandably concerned that the rivalry may have reached one of its occasional turning points. Gator fans tapdanced over to the banks of the St. John’s River imagining that a victory over the Red and Black was all but in the bag.

But to paraphrase John Lennon, “Tim Worley is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.”

A Bulldog defense that had only three weeks earlier surrendered a tie to the Vanderbilt Commodores held the Gators all but scoreless through three quarters. Then, with the Athenians backed up to their own 11 yard line Georgia called on freshman tailback Tim Worley to move the ball out of the shadow of the goalpost. Instead he cut right, shucked a Gator, and rambled 89 yards for the touchdown. Worley’s jaunt tied the record for the longest touchdown run in Bulldog history, and was the nail in the coffin for the Gators in a 24-3 upset win for the good guys.

Unfortunately this would be the high point of the season, as Georgia would finish the shear with losses to Auburn and Tech, falling out of the polls and into the Sun Bowl, where they would tie the Arizona Wildcats 13-13 to finish off a disappointing 7-3-2 season. That however was cold comfort for a Florida fanbase that would have to wait a decade for Steve Spurrier to return them to the top of the polls. Until later,

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

The Georgia Diamond Dawgs have a difficult road ahead in Omaha as they prepare to face some of the toughest competition in the country, much of it familiar SEC opposition. Georgia finds itself on the Bracket Two side of the Men’s College World Series alongside Texas, Oklahoma, and Alabama. The Dawgs will open their Omaha run on Saturday night against the Texas Longhorns.

Georgia enters the College World Series riding a wave of momentum and confidence after earning its first trip to Omaha since 2008. After everything this team has accomplished throughout the season, it would be easy for players and coaches alike to get caught up in the excitement of the moment. However, Head Coach Wes Johnson has made sure his team remains focused on the ultimate goal.

Johnson has repeatedly emphasized the importance of this opportunity, not just for the program but for the players themselves. To him, this is a business trip, not a vacation. Earlier this week, Johnson said, “I don’t want these young men living with regret 20 years from now.” The message is clear: enjoy the experience, but finish the job. If the Dawgs’ skipper is locked in, there is little doubt his players are as well.

Standing in Georgia’s way is a Texas squad that has been one of the most complete teams in college baseball all season. Interestingly enough, the two programs have not faced each other this year, making Saturday night’s matchup even more intriguing.

The Longhorns are led by Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle, who is making his first College World Series appearance with Texas in just his second season at the helm. While it may be his first trip to Omaha with the Longhorns, Schlossnagle is no stranger to the sport’s biggest stage. The 2026 College World Series marks his eighth appearance as a head coach. He previously guided TCU to five Omaha appearances and Texas A&M to two, making him one of only four coaches in college baseball history to lead three different programs to the College World Series.

Despite all of those appearances, a national championship has remained elusive for Schlossnagle. That fact alone should make Texas an even more dangerous opponent as the Longhorns chase the first title of his accomplished coaching career.

Texas possesses an outstanding pitching staff, headlined by sophomore left-hander Dylan Volantis. Volantis has been dominant throughout the season, leading the Longhorns in strikeouts with 126 while posting a stellar 2.03 ERA. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound southpaw does an excellent job using his frame to create extension and keep the ball at the bottom of the strike zone. His fastball typically sits between 92 and 94 mph, but it is his elite sweeping curveball that serves as his true out pitch and allows him to finish hitters.

Another key arm on the Texas staff is freshman right-hander Sam Cozart. While primarily working out of the bullpen, Cozart has provided valuable innings all season and could potentially earn a start depending on how the tournament unfolds. Cozart leads the team with a remarkable 1.59 ERA and uses his imposing 6-foot-6, 260-pound frame to overpower hitters with a fastball that reaches the upper 90s.

Needless to say, Georgia’s lineup will have its hands full Saturday night if Volantis gets the ball.

The Longhorns also feature one of the most dangerous lineups in the country, particularly at the top of the order with Anthony Pack Jr., Aiden Robbins, and Carson Tinney.

Pack Jr., the SEC Freshman of the Year, has been a catalyst for the Texas offense all season. A high-contact hitter with plus speed, he leads the team in batting average (.359), on-base percentage (.485), and stolen bases (20). His ability to get on base and create havoc makes him a constant threat.

Batting alongside Pack is perhaps Texas’ most complete offensive player in Aiden Robbins. Robbins has put together an exceptional season, leading the Longhorns with 24 home runs and 64 RBIs while hitting .342. Like Pack, Robbins can impact the game on the bases and is widely viewed by scouts as a potential first-round selection in July’s MLB Draft.

Rounding out Texas’ dangerous trio is junior catcher Carson Tinney, one of the Longhorns’ biggest transfer portal additions. After arriving from Notre Dame, Tinney immediately became one of the most productive hitters in the lineup. He leads Texas with a 1.194 OPS while batting .333 and launching 22 home runs. Tinney is also a quality defender behind the plate, and his combination of power and defensive ability should make him a top-three-round selection in July.

With all of that talent packed into one lineup, Georgia’s pitching staff, led by Joey Volchko and Caden Aoki, must be sharp from the first pitch. Location will be critical. Volchko should be getting the starting nod for game one. Georgia cannot afford a repeat of its Super Regional pitching performance, where the staff surrendered 10 home runs across two games. Like Foley Field, Charles Schwab Field has shown that the ball can carry when hitters square it up, making execution even more important.

If Georgia wants to secure a massive Game One victory and put itself in a favorable position for the remainder of the tournament, the pitching staff must consistently locate and avoid costly mistakes.

Of course, Georgia’s offense has been the story of the season and may ultimately provide the toughest test Texas has faced all year.

The Diamond Dawgs enter Omaha fresh off a Super Regional performance that saw them launch 12 home runs in just two games. The biggest of those blasts came from Golden Spikes Award finalist Dan Jackson, whose postseason dominance has only strengthened an already incredible season. Jackson leads Georgia in virtually every major offensive category, hitting .396 with 31 home runs, 86 RBIs, a staggering 1.329 OPS, and 26 stolen bases. His rare blend of power and speed has rapidly elevated his draft stock, with many believing he could hear his name called in the first round this July.

The rest of Georgia’s lineup has been outstanding as well. Players such as Michael O’Shaughnessy and Brennan Hudson have consistently delivered in big moments and have played major roles in the Dawgs’ postseason success.

Overall, this matchup has all the ingredients of a College World Series classic and is more than deserving of its 8:00 p.m. ET primetime slot on ESPN.

Georgia has finally made it back to the dance. The question now is whether the Dawgs can finish what they started and bring home a national championship.

GO DAWGS!!!

Contrary to the national championship success that Alabama has traditionally enjoyed in college football and softball, the Crimson Tide baseball program has found itself in the national title conversation for the first time in nearly three decades.

Alabama has been one of the hottest teams in the country throughout the NCAA Tournament, breezing through both regional and super regional play with a perfect 5-0 record while outscoring opponents by a combined margin of 52-17. The Tide enter Omaha with an overall record of 42-19 and is playing with confidence and carrying momentum that few teams can match.

Offensively, Alabama is led by senior Brady Neal, who has put together an outstanding season at the plate. Neal enters the College World Series hitting .328 with 10 home runs while leading the team in both OPS (1.004) and RBIs (51). His ability to consistently drive in runs and get on base has made him one of the most important pieces of the Crimson Tide lineup.

Senior outfielder Bryce Fowler has also been a major contributor throughout the season. Fowler ranks second on the team behind Neal in both batting average (.322) and on-base percentage (.418), giving Alabama another reliable bat at the top of the order and helping provide stability throughout the lineup.

While Alabama features several key offensive contributors, the unquestioned star of the roster is junior infielder Justin Lebron. Entering the 2026 season, Lebron carried significant hype as a projected top-10 MLB Draft selection, and his production has largely lived up to those expectations. Although his batting average dipped slightly to .277 this season, Lebron has continued to impact games in a variety of ways. He has blasted 16 home runs while swiping 41 bases, showcasing a rare combination of power and speed. Defensively, he remains one of the premier shortstops in college baseball, making him a true five-tool player and one of the most dynamic talents remaining in Omaha.

On the mound, Alabama boasts a deep and talented pitching staff, beginning with impressive freshman right-hander Myles Upchurch. In 15 starts, Upchurch has posted a 3.57 ERA while striking out 77 batters and holding opposing hitters to a .198 batting average. Equipped with big-league velocity and advanced stuff for his age, Upchurch appears poised to become one of the SEC’s premier arms over the next couple of seasons.

Upchurch is joined in the rotation by a pair of quality starters in Zane Adams and Tyler Fay. Adams, a junior left-hander, relies heavily on a strong offspeed arsenal but can also mix in a fastball that typically sits around 92 mph and reaches as high as 96. His ability to change speeds and keep hitters off balance makes him an ideal second-game option for the Crimson Tide.

The ace of the staff, however, is redshirt junior Tyler Fay. Serving as Alabama’s Friday night starter throughout the 2026 season, Fay has established himself as one of the most dominant pitchers in the country. He attacks hitters relentlessly with a fastball that routinely sits between 96-98 mph and can occasionally touch triple digits.

Earlier this season, Fay authored one of the more memorable performances in college baseball this season, throwing a no-hitter against Florida, striking out 13 batters in the process. He enters Omaha with 121 strikeouts on the season and possesses all the tools necessary to take control of a ballgame from the mound.

If Alabama hopes to advance, Fay’s command will be critical against the Oklahoma lineup awaiting the Tide on Saturday. While his elite velocity can overwhelm opposing hitters, fastballs of that caliber can leave the yard in a hurry if they aren’t located effectively. Expect Fay to get the starting nod in game one.

Alabama and Oklahoma will open play on the Bracket Two side of the Men’s College World Series on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ESPN.

Look, this is a high-pressure, big-stage moment this weekend. But it’s pretty simple. Two wins against Mississippi State, and Georgia plays in the College World Series for the first time since the cursed era of the Nike bats in 2008.

Larry Munson was not known to have broadcast UGA baseball (as far as we know), but I’m sure he’d be giving us all sorts of reasons if he were around to feel like poor little old Georgia is trying to beat the 1927 Yankees this weekend.

All that aside, however, there are reasons to feel really good going into this Super Regional.

1. The Silver Lining of Tre Phelps’ Suspension

Was it unjust to boot Tre Phelps for Saturday’s first game of the Super Regional? Yes. Can anything be done to rectify it? Sadly, no. A pedestrian view is that the Diamond Dawgs are at a disadvantage for Saturday’s first game. But it could be just what is needed. If you hear a crunching noise just before Saturday’s first pitch, it’ll be the huge chip on this team’s shoulder from hearing doubters surmise that Georgia can’t get the job done without a Tre Phelps. You don’t need motivation for a Super Regional to start with, but this team should be even more locked in to prove pundits wrong.

2. Is The Earlier Start Actually A Good Thing?

In a word, yes.

Sure, it’d of made Foley Field, as Munson would say, “worse than bonkers.” for a primetime first pitch on Saturday night. But without a full day to sit around and wait, it allows Georgia to have a chance to lock in, take care of business, and hopefully be ready to go for a two-game sweep on Sunday. It’ll also amp up the crowd, too.

Let’s pivot to football briefly – remember the 2021 game against Arkansas when fans were challenged to make Sanford Stadium an Arkansas nightmare? That day was honestly a moment where you knew this team was special, and it was because fans took it as a challenge to overcome an early start time to be that extra advantage.

Yes, the 11 am Saturday start is earlier, but I’m pretty sure fans will be ready to go…and that many a Blackstone or similar items will be rolling heavy with the breakfast items for everyone heading to Foley Field.

3. History Is On Georgia’s Side

Yes, I know. it’s hard to beat a team five or six times in a season. But it can be done. In fact…the last time Georgia had to topple an SEC team that it had swept in the regular season and in the SEC Tournament, it did just that in 2006, beating South Carolina 2-1 in the Super Regional to advance to Omaha. Clearly, no players from this team were around the program then, but it’s a reminder that beating a team two more times with Omaha at stake can be done.

4. Bullpen Versatility

If you have a one-route bullpen plan, the postseason can be dicey. What if your setup or closer, for example, has a bad day. That’s no problem for Georgia, and that showed itself last weekend against Liberty. On Saturday, Matt Scott and Justin Byrd were absolutely rock solid, giving up a combined no runs and one hit in 7.2 innings of combined work. A night later, Zach Brown closed things down with three innings to wrap things up, giving up no runs and one hit. Wes Johnson will have plenty of late-inning options this weekend, and that will be a very good thing.

Go Dawgs!

The Georgia Diamond Dawgs are now just two wins away from returning to the Men’s College World Series for the first time since 2008.

Georgia enters Super Regional weekend riding the momentum of a dominant performance in the Athens Regional. The Dawgs went a perfect 3-0 while outscoring their opponents 30-5, showcasing both an explosive offense and a pitching staff that delivered in crucial moments. The regional sweep secured Georgia’s sixth Super Regional appearance in program history and has the Bulldogs positioned among the final 16 teams competing for a trip to Omaha.

Standing in Georgia’s way is a familiar foe: the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The all-SEC matchup should provide one of the most entertaining Super Regional series of the weekend. While Georgia owns a perfect 4-0 record against Mississippi State this season, none of those victories came easily. Every contest was tightly contested, proving just how evenly matched these two programs are despite Georgia’s season sweep.

Mississippi State enters Athens for its 11th Super Regional appearance and its first since 2021. The Bulldogs have reached the College World Series in five of their previous ten Super Regional appearances, demonstrating a long history of postseason success. Like Georgia, Mississippi State cruised through regional play, sweeping its competition to punch its ticket to the Super Regionals.

The Bulldogs are also led by one of the most accomplished coaches in college baseball. First-year Mississippi State Head Coach Brian O’Connor is no stranger to deep postseason runs. Before accepting the Mississippi State job in June 2025, O’Connor spent 22 seasons leading the Virginia Cavaliers program, building what many consider a Hall of Fame-caliber coaching career. During his tenure in Charlottesville, O’Connor guided Virginia to 18 NCAA Tournament appearances, multiple ACC Championships, seven College World Series appearances, and the program’s first National Championship in 2015. He finished his Virginia career with an astounding 917-388-2 record, good for a .705 winning percentage.

Statistically, Georgia and Mississippi State are remarkably similar teams.

The Dawgs hold a slight advantage offensively, entering the weekend with a team batting average of .324 compared to Mississippi State’s .320. Where Georgia truly separates itself is in the power department. The Bulldogs have launched 171 home runs this season, 42 more than Mississippi State, making Georgia one of the most dangerous lineups in the country.

On the mound, however, Mississippi State owns a slight edge. The Bulldogs enter the series with a staff ERA of 4.29, compared to Georgia’s 4.91. Mississippi State has also excelled at limiting free passes, issuing roughly 100 fewer walks than Georgia this season, with 414 walks allowed as a pitching staff.

With both teams holding advantages in different areas and each playing some of their best baseball of the season, this matchup has all the ingredients to become one of the most competitive and entertaining Super Regionals in the country.

As mentioned earlier, the stakes could not be much higher for Georgia. Not only does the program have an opportunity to return to the College World Series for the first time in 18 years, but it also has a chance to further cement itself among the nation’s elite college baseball programs. Wes Johnson has quickly elevated expectations in Athens, and this weekend presents another opportunity for his club to make history.

Game One is scheduled for Saturday at 11:00 a.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN. Georgia will be forced to navigate the opener without one of its biggest stars, Tre Phelps, who was ejected during the final game of the Athens Regional against Liberty and will be unavailable for Game One.

Game Two is set for Sunday at 12:00 p.m. ET and will also air on ESPN.

If necessary, Game Three will be played on Monday, with the first pitch time to be announced at a later date.

Two teams. One trip to Omaha on the line.

GO DAWGS!!!

Summer is a great time to revisit some of the sublime writing that has appeared in these digital pages over the nearly twenty (wow, that sounds weird to say) years that this site has been talkin’ ‘bout the ‘Dawgs. This morning we revisit DavetheDawg’s classic tale of a wild ride through the Classic City. —MD

Long before a generation of UGA students and fans came to know the Nowhere Bar, Sky’s Place and even the short-lived Uncle Billy’s (bar ribs to die for), there was a drinking establishment that used to exist on Broad Street, known to an entire generation of former Georgia students and locals alike. The long-gone Fifth Quarter was my very own version of “Cheers” back when I matriculated at Georgia from 1980 to 1985. It was located roughly where a bank now sits on the north side of Broad Street just before Hawthorne, and basically across the street from my former high school and college employer, the old Kroger (store 238), that sat in the parking lot down the hill next door to the ABC Package store.

Kroger used to pay me in cold, hard cash every Thursday, and the Fifth Quarter was almost directly across the street. This quirk of geography was hard to resist. Just a quick hop across 6 lanes of traffic and nirvana! Long-neck Buds were $1 (when they went up to $1.50, a near riot ensued until I realized that no one riots at the Fifth Quarter) and Monday Night Football night was also fifty cent hot dog night. I remember this vividly because I was sitting at the bar, watching the game while dispatching approximately my 3rd hot dog on a particular Monday night in December, 1980, when Howard Cosell announced to the world that John Lennon had been murdered. One of those, “where were you when” moments, I reckon.

Craig “Sky” Hertwig, at least in my mind, ran the best bar that ever existed, although I’m pretty certain that Sky wasn’t the original owner/founder of the Fifth Quarter, but he perfected it. This was a place where I truly felt comfortable as I was never into dance clubs (remember the old Mad Hatter?) or the like. I admit it took a lot of courage just to set foot in the place for the very first time. In the parking lot, there was a mix of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, pickup trucks and shiny new vehicles that some of the well-to-do college kids drove. Never judge a bar by its parking lot I suppose. I’m glad I didn’t.

Downtown Athens did not nearly have the same number of bars (what city does?) as it has today, although The Odyssey was a favorite of mine some years later. The original and 2nd iteration of the 40 Watt Club was the place to be if I wanted to witness history as the Athens music scene was exploding as soon-to-be-famous acts (either locally or nationally) seemed to perform in town on a weekly basis. I also tipped a few at the B&L Warehouse. I remember going to Tyrone’s about a week or two before it burned down and always enjoyed The Normaltown Flyers at Allen’s. I don’t care how dirty the grill was, I lovedtheir hamburgers with the bowl of onions they’d supply. No truth to the rumor that the onions were marinated in formaldehyde. Next door to Allen’s was “Foxz.” I nearly got into a rumble there, but thought I should exercise caution and backed down as I sized up my adversary. She looked damned mean.

The Fifth Quarter, though, was my “hang.” It was my base to connect with friends, or just be myself and just blow off steam and the proximity to my employer made it convenient . I think anyone (who enjoys a drink) should experience a bar like this at least once in their life. The ‘Quarter eventually closed a few years later and a new bank went up in its place. That was a sad day. Why reminisce about something from 40 years ago? Because a recent “Old School Athens” Facebook page triggered something in me as I perused a bunch of collective memories from various contributors. Now, I’m waxing nostalgic all of a sudden. So, I put pen to paper…er…fingers to keyboard and here we are.

Sky used to call me “Poodle Head.” Never, ever did he call me Dave, or David. Back when I was still in High School, I was old enough to drink in his bar, at least briefly. I turned 18 in October, 1979 while still going to Oconee County High. The Drinking age went up to 19 on January 1, 1980. So, for two glorious months I played Asteroids (it was all the rage), shuffle board, pin ball and pool while enjoying adult beverages. I did remain a non-drinkin’ patron that lasted nearly 11 agonizing month until I turned 19, but did refine my pinball machine skills. Oh, and the “Poodle head” thing? I got a perm when I was 17. That, too, was all the rage back in the day. Mercifully, that particular fashion statement faded, although it did morph into The Mullet and seemed to gain traction in Gainesville, Florida and vicinity. I sure as hell never sported that particular style. Anyway, Sky got a ton of my hard-earned Kroger money, for sure. And I have absolutely no regrets.

One regret that I do have in life is that I didn’t visit Sky for over 25 years prior to his passing in 2012. I had moved to Texas after graduation, then to Alabama, then North Carolina and eventually south Florida where I remain. I guess I figured that Sky would just live forever because he seemed larger than life, both literally and figuratively. Everyone who knew Sky regarded him as a friend. How could you not? But in those days, Sky actually looked after me. He knew my older sister and they were friends. Sky probably realized I was a bit of a pin-headand needed watching over, so he genuinely came across as “big brotherly,” with all the barbs and teases that any diligent “big brother” would throw your way. I remember playing pool against some random dude and having a modicum of success, for a buck a game. Big money, right? As I was winning, I was talking a bit too much “smack” and the guy was getting a bit tweaked and mumbled an outright threat to do me bodily harm. Sky overheard this, walked over to the table, put his massive hand around the back of my neck and simply said, “how’s it goin’, little brother?” while smiling at the other guy. I got paid as loser left the bar.

Sky used to drive a blue and white two-toned Chevy S-10 pickup back then. It seemed way too small for him and definitely had some worn shocks on the drivers side with a perceptible lean, but whenever I saw it in the parking lot of the bar, I knew there was a friend inside.

I was Poodle Head long before “DavetheDawg.” I can’t imagine why?

The Fifth Quarter had a jukebox that had about 40 or 50 songs on a loop, unless you actually wanted to pay to hear a selection immediately. Only the “newbies” would actually put money into the machine. Sooner or later, you’d hear every song in its repertoire if you were patient. Crackly speakers were piped to the outside of the bar’s front deck, so upon walking into the establishment you might hear Waylon Jennings’ Let’s go to Luchenback, Texas, Kim Carnes’ Betty Davis Eyes, or Jefferson Starship’s Jane. The regular music rotation was about as varied – albeit somewhat limited – as the clientele. A musical certainty on any given night was that you would hear David Allan Coe’s most famous standard at least once. It was your by-God-given, civic beer drankin’ duty to sing this phrase with the passion that the song deserved:

Well, I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison
And I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got run over by a damned old train

The late-great John Prine co-wrote this tune (uncredited) along with the late Steve Goodman. Back when men were men and music was real.

If you didn’t belt this last verse out, there’s something wrong with your DNA and ‘Merican loyalties.

I remember a particular snow storm was developing and headed toward north Georgia (the winter of ‘83, I believe). WSB-TV’s meteorologist Johnny Beckman, who inspired me to follow a similar career path, was warning people of the approaching situation and that station actually ran “Snow Jam” movies all night to keep people entertained. I made a few calls just before leaving work to ask some friends to meet me at the ‘Quarter. If we were going to be snowbound, I didn’t want to be stuck in my east Athens rental. If Kroger called needing me to work, how could I answer the phone if I wasn’t home? I wanted to be in a bar. Thisbar. I think the bar game “quarters” was invented right then and there on that particular occasion. I’m gonna take credit for it anyway.

During football season, the bar would open early for home games. Back then, the kickoff was always at 1:30 PM and games were rarely televised. By 4 P.M., you were filing out of Sanford Stadium, usually basking in glorious victory. The first night game ever was the ‘82 opener vs. Clemson on Labor Day. It was so unbelievably hot that evening. It was hotter than hell. It was Macon hot, which was actually described in the original draft of Dante’s Inferno, but he left that reference out because he didn’t want to scare anyone especially his publisher.

The best blocked punt in Georgia history happened that night. (The second best blocked punt in UGA history came in ‘85 against ‘Bama. But we gave up the lead and lost late. We should’ve won that game).

Queue it to 1:28. “Dale Carver blocked it…Stan Dooley caught it on the 1 and they wrestled him in there!” 

That game also conjured up some other memories. Not the game itself, but the method of transportation which deserves its own thoughts.

The Fifth Quarter used to run these two old Chevy-powered school buses. Small-block V-8’s with 3-speed manual transmission (1 reverse gear, 1 stripped gear, and maybe 1st and 3rd). They were certainly mid-to-late 60’s models, probably procured from some surplus school board and could have been from anywhere in America. I’m assuming Sky bought these old buses and had them painted official Georgia Bulldog Red (RGB 186, 47, 12) with the “Fifth Quarter” logo carefully stenciled on all sides and some other catchy phrases embossed in white, like “How ‘Bout Them Dawgs,” and “Look What’s Comin’ Down the Tracks!” One of the buses died of unnatural causes at some point during the ‘81 season (if memory serves) on the way to the stadium, so the bar was down to a single bus for the remainder of its existence. Legend has it that one of the Fifth Quarter buses made it back from Lexington, Kentucky a year or two earlier with the help of a chicken bone from someone’s lunch that was fashioned to replace a broken carburetor butterfly linkage. That’s another story from another day. Point is, none of these buses were pristine. More on the surviving bus in a bit…

On the day of the Clemson game, the bar was absolutely packed. People arrived early and often throughout the day. As you can imagine, folks were fully saturated with anything and everything alcohol related that Sky had provisioned behind the bar, and the outside decks were open and the kegs of beer were flowing. In fact, I was pressed into service to pour beer from the tapped kegs that were mostly floating in semi-ice filled Rubbermaid trash cans. David Allan Coe never sounded better through the outside blown speakers, the beer never tasted so good and the entire vibe in Athens as people were rolling westbound into town down Broad Street was just incredible. Sky had the sole remaining bus parked in front of the bar, parallel to the highway, and when people driving into town saw the old bus, they began honking and whoopin’ and cheering and it was just the best thing ever. If you were driving into town from Atlanta and your excitement level wasn’t appropriate for the occasion, by the time you passed the Fifth Quarter and saw the party and the big red bus, it surely went up a notch – as did your heartbeat. I really miss this.

So, as the afternoon began to slowly fade into dusk and the game time inexorably approached, which seemed to take forever as the anticipation was growing throughout the summer and during the week, thoughts began to turn on how we’d actually fare on this night of nights. Clemson was the defending National Champions; we won it in ‘80. This was a big-time game on ABC to be nationally televised, on Labor Day night! Remember, Herschel had a broken thumb and was sporting a hard cast; not a 3-D printed graphite, latex and Flex Seal wonderment of modern technology that we have today like the one Sony Michel wore a few season ago after his ATV accident. Nah, this was a goddam plaster/concrete forearm battering-ram of a club that forced #34 to carry the ball in his wrong hand. I remember thinking that Herschel was going to fumble at some point, although he lost very few during his career. He did fumble a few times the year before…at Clemson. Bad omen, perhaps? How do I remember this? I swear I have no idea if I left the coffee pot on just now, but I remember obscure stats from 41 years ago. The mind is a very strange thing. Aging is funny that way.

As the traffic began to lighten up as the kickoff hour approached, those who were riding the bus to the game were summoned on board. The Fifth Quarter bus always waited until the Atlanta Highway traffic trickled down before it departed the bar. It was first-come, first-served, so if you wanted a seat, you’d better be ready to go! That particular night, the big old red bus was packed. Folks were standing in the aisle. The driver, a Fifth Quarter regular named T-Bird (I never knew his first name) cranked up the beast and we slowly pulled out of the grass-less front yard in front of the bar onto Broad Street in a sweeping arc of a curve to begin the trek to Sanford Stadium. Right away, we turned right onto Alps Road off of Broad.

“Everybody lean to the right!” someone yelled from the back because the bus was literally in danger of tipping over on its left side as we took the right hand turn. It needed a counter balance. These were the first moments of mild terror. There was more to come. We hadn’t gone a ¹⁄₂ mile before we’ve got to navigate another turn, this time onto Baxter Street.

“Everybody lean to the left!” This time, a left hand turn could have us tipped right over on the right hand side. The fact that St. Mary’s hospital is just down the road was of no comfort. We navigated that like we had done many times before, but the bus was never this full of liquored up Georgia fans like it was on this day.

You could already smell the burning asbestos, and the clutch plate made a high-pitched whine as the RPM’s increased once the bus began to ascend Baxter Street. Although a gradual slope, it was not an easy climb for that old rig. That part of the trip was relatively uneventful as we approached Clarke Central High School just before Milledge Avenue.

By now, you began to see throngs of people on foot, decked out in their Red ‘n Black, walking towards the game. As the bus began to travel beyond Milledge, the cheers from the crowd began to ramp up because every soul on the bus were yelling, “Goooooooooooooooooooo Dawwwwwwwwwggggggggggggssssssssssss!” at the top of their lungs and folks were yelling right back. You’d have to be a statue or Clemson fan to not get wrapped up in that. We were like temporary rock stars and everyone just smiled and just went bananas. A few probably muttered under their breathe, “I’m glad I’m not riding on thatthing!”

Now, we’re descending Baxter Street and the smell of clutch and brake pad is beginning to actually replace the smell of Budweiser, Jack Daniels and Wild Turkey. Things are about to get interesting.

By now, we’re beginning the long descent down Baxter hill. Thankfully, we are virtually the only vehicle on the road because it’s only about 45 minutes before kickoff and I’m beginning to think that if we had to stop, could we?

The bus is really rolling now, the engine and high-pitched squeal of the transmission has briefly quieted because we’re in neutral. T-Bird is on the brakes a bit more as we roll past Church Street. There are more people now on the sidewalks headed toward the bottom of the hill and the stadium. Our cheering gets louder and all those Dawg fans’ whooping and hollering does, too.

By the time we pass Brumby Hall, T-Bird is literally standing on the brakes and you can smell them burn. I mean, he’s upright, and down shifting at the same time.

By the time we reach Russell Hall, the throngs of Georgia fans are now really into it because here comes the Fifth Quarter Bus and it is loud, full of drunks, and someone hits a button and “Glory, Glory!” begins to play through the horn system. We are rock stars! From the sidewalk, that bus looks great; sounds great. From inside, it’s increasingly becoming unnerving.

I’m up front looking out a window and swear I can see a faint glimpse of gray, acrid smoke from the front wheels. This is probably what Chernobyl smelled like. The engine is really protesting like a high pitched banshee now and I’m thinking, if we survive this (just gotta get to the bottom of the hill), there’s no way this bus is making it back to the bar.

We’re past Russell Hall now and the folks sitting in the back where the beer is kept are seem oblivious to our dilemma of Newtonian physics and ancient Detroit engineering. Anyone up front can see and smell and hear everything as the old V-8 is now screaming in a low gear while the shimmy from the brakes is probably setting off a Richter scale somewhere in the Geology/Geography building on campus.

We’re now beyond Russell and I’m convinced the brakes have failed. The bus stops shimmying and is now literally lurching a few feet at a time as the brakes grab some, then let go. Up ahead, is Lumpkin Street and the confluence of pavement, curb and people is slightly in the way. T-Bird is laying on the horn at this point as the bus is in a semi-controlled deceleration, but we have to stop soon and the issue is in doubt. Everyone in Georgia gear is cheering us on and some are even whacking the side of the bus with their hands, seat cushions, purses, whatever. Don’t they know they’re about to be witness to a great calamity that will be made into a documentary one day?

The smell, at least up front, is literally burning my nostrils as the brake pads have surely melted away and what’s left of the clutch is probably up the hill by Guthrie’s. I don’t think we are going to stop, until we do. “Stop” is actually a liberal term. We have slowed enough to mitigate my panic as we take the left turn onto Lumpkin…horn blaring…”Glory, Glory!” and a good helping of “How ‘bout them Dawgs!” from all on-board.

“Everybody lean to the left!” as the faster-than-comfortable turn onto Lumpkin needed more counter-balance for the short trip up to Baldwin Street and the our eventual parking spot, reserved in advance, somewhere near the Journalism School.

When we finally arrive and disembark, I feel like I want to kiss the ground, but don’t want to be seen as “that guy” who had no faith in our safe arrival. I could tell by the look on T-Bird’s face that this might have been a miracle journey after all. “I hope we make it back now. We’re going via 5-Points. Not as many hills.” That’s all I needed to hear. Maybe I would ride the bus back “home” after all.

Relief. I (we) survived. There’s a feeling of accomplishment after going through something like that. Sorta’ like when you rode “The Great American Scream Machine” at Six Flags for the very first time as a little kid. You feel like you can do anything. Invincible. Now, all that’s left is to find my seat and watch Georgia kick Clemson’s ass.

So, we all went our separate ways towards the stadium to find our seats and witness a defensive struggle that had its share of big plays and physicality. It was really a helluva game. Herschel played sparingly and was a decoy for any time he actually appeared. Tron Jackson scored on a perfectly timed end-around, but holding negated it. I’m pretty sure Penn Wagers threw the flag; could be wrong. In the end, our special teams saved the day, and the defense intercepted Athens native Homer Jordan a couple of times on the night and kept Clemson from doing anything for the entire 2nd half.

The ‘82 team would play for the National Championship and nearly win it. We just couldn’t stop Penn State’s running back consistently enough, and one big pass play did us in late in the game, but that was a helluva year, and the first game of the season was a helluva memory.

I didn’t take the bus back to the bar that night. I rode that bus just one more time, on the way to the ‘83 Auburn game. As we turned right onto Alps Road from Broad Street (everybody lean to the right!), a lady pulled right out in front of us and we hit her. Not much damage, and no one was hurt but I recall someone (maybe Sky?) getting out of the bus to deal with the aftermath and to take care of the police report. Once the cop showed up, we went on our way to the stadium. Auburn beat us that day. This wreck was a bad omen.

Looking back, the Labor Day night of 1982 was something to remember. The first night game, national television hype, an all-day party at my most favorite watering hole ever and a great Georgia victory. And a short, if not terrifying, bus trip that has never left me. That was the evening the brakes burned all the way down Baxter Street.

Never graduate.

Go Dawgs!

Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs landed one of their most coveted recruiting targets on Friday evening, securing a commitment from four star quarterback Colton Nussmeier out of Denton Ryan High School in Denton, Texas.

If that name sounds familiar, there’s a good reason. Nussmeier is the younger brother of former LSU QB standout Garrett Nussmeier and the son of longtime coach Doug Nussmeier, who worked with Kirby Smart at Alabama as the Tide’s offensive coordinator in 2012 and 2013.

The commitment is welcome news for a Bulldog program that had struggled to lock down an elite quarterback in the 2027 class. Nussmeier committed to Georgia coaches on Friday night, forgoing his planned official visit to Arkansas. In addition to the Razorbacks Nussmeier also claimed offers from the likes of UCLA, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Indiana, LSU, and Texas Tech.

Nussmeier visited LSU, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama for camps and unofficial visits as he navigated a deliberate recruitment. Many thought the family connection to LSU and the hype surrounding Lane Kiffin’s impending tenure in Red Stick made Baton Rouge a real possibility for much of the process. For years, many assumed the younger Nussmeier would eventually follow his brother’s footsteps to Baton Rouge.

Instead, the relationship between the Nussmeier family and Kirby Smart appears to have proved decisive. Nussmeier had been in consistent contact with offensive coordinator Mike Bobo for awhile, and repeatedly pointed to the staff and program culture as reasons Georgia stood out. As much as Bobo’s playcalling may frustrate some Bulldog fans, he’s put his students in the NFL. That means a lot for discerning recruits.

Scouting Report

Nussmeier has the potential to develop into an elite college QB under this Georgia coaching staff. He has solid size (6’3.5, 195 pounds) and a big arm. Obviously Nussmeier comes from a football family, and has seen what it takes to succeed in the SEC. While he missed some time as a junior in 2025 with a knee injury, he has put plenty of high-level throws on tape and performed well in camp settings.

Nussmeier’s solid lower body mechanics and efficient release mean he shines in the short to intermediate passing game. He has the football IQ you’d expect from a coach’s kid, and a little of the gunslinger attitude Georgia fans may remember from watching his older brother at LSU. While he needs to work on being more consistent in his mechanics and needs to continue to develop physically, Nussmeier is certainly one of the top ten signal callers available in this class. While he may not have over-the-top athleticism, he’s a “high hit rate prospect”, the kind of player with a high floor coaches can sleep well at night having picked up.

Big Picture

With Nussmeier’s pledge (and with a rapid-fire series of five other commitments over the past week), Georgia now has 13 commitments in the Class of 2027. Landing a quarterback of Nussmeier’s pedigree should also help the Bulldogs attract additional offensive talent, as elite recruits tend to follow elite signal callers.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

I think that’s a no.

College football’s media rights framework is under immense pressure these days. With NIL payments to athletes driving up costs some lawmakers and sports reformers have floated a bold fix: pool all conferences’ TV rights into one centralized package, sell them together, and redistribute the proceeds across college sports.

The proposal envisions a centralized body taking charge of selling pooled media rights, generating more total value than the current conference-specific deals. What’s the selling point for big dollar-generating programs like Georgia? Well, ideally revenues distributed in a way that lets the biggest brands (like the SEC and Big Ten) keep a larger share while still lifting smaller conferences and funding women’s and Olympic sports, both of which have been imperiled by the decreased profitability of athletic departments as a whole.

The SEC and Big Ten, however, aren’t buying it. A study they jointly commissioned concluded that pooling media rights would actually generate less revenue than the current system, where each conference sells its own games independently.

There are some other related problems bound to arise as the details get ironed out on this kind of proposal. For one, giving up the media rights to a third party means schools would likely lose at least some degree of control over how their images and content are used down the line. While many schools (including Georgia) currently have digital content deals and licensing partnerships galore, this would add one more layer of bureaucracy to those agreements.

The grant of rights would also come with certain requirements designed to safeguard the value what the third party trust is buying. Put another way, it would be yet one more party in addition to the conferences and TV networks with its finger in the scheduling pie. Currently there aren’t a lot of things keeping a school like Georgia from scheduling Ohio State then replacing them with Tennessee Tech. Why give someone the power to suddenly veto that kind of change?

Ultimately it feels like we’re getting closer and closer to the SEC and Big Ten breaking away from the smaller/less football-centric conferences. It remains to be seen if a solution can be crafted prior to the ties that bind being completely severed. But the root problem remains that there are definite haves and have nots in the college sports landscape, and the haves now have less than they did before. The have nots are, in some cases, barely hanging on. Either college sports needs a bigger life boat or fewer passengers. And the ice berg isn’t getting farther away.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Kickoff times and television info for the Dawgs’ first three games of the 2026 season were announced today. My advice? Stock up on sunscreen and start hydrating now. It’s gonna be one hot September:

Admittedly when you open the season against Tennessee State and Western Kentucky you probably shouldn’t count on the television executives to hold the primetime slot open for you. When you get the season cranking with a TSU Tiger team that went 2-10 last year in an FCS Franken-conference known as the OVC-Big South Football Association you have to realize no one but Bulldog fans is really going to be tuning in. C’est la vie.

But however mad you may be about standing in the noon day sun of September Athens, rest assured that you’re probably not as perturbed as Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek, who took to social media to vent his frustrations at the tough hand the Razorbacks had been dealt in a quick turnaround from week 2 to their week 3 date with the Red and Black.

I understand why Yuracheck is whining. I just don’t have a lot of sympathy for him. For one, when you’ve been as bad as Arkansas has at football and you’re breaking in a new staff you have to realize you’re not going to bump FSU/Alabama or Michigan State/Notre Dame out of the prime TV slots. Yurachek can’t acknowledge his school’s placement in the SEC pecking order, so it’s up to me to do so; it’s the bottom quartile. Arkansas is in the bottom quartile of SEC football programs as a television draw.

It also occurred to me that the time for Yurachek and the Razorbacks brass to worry about this might have been before scheduling a road game in Salt Lake City. Utah is in the Mountain Time Zone, a fact well-known to 88% of Americans, none of whom apparently is Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek. When was he under the impression that the Utes play their home games? 9:00 a.m.? A 7:15 local time start for a game against a visiting Power 4 opponent isn’t exactly unprecedented.

Will Yurachek’s threat to get in the ears of the SEC office and ESPN bear fruit? Unlikely. Moving the Arkansas/Georgia game would require moving other games, and probably puts someone else playing an early kickoff time they’d rather not. But the Razorback faithful probably expect him to raise a little cane on behalf of his team, even if it’s going to be fruitless. So I guess good on him for making a nincompoop of himself for the home folks. I’ll make a point of congratulating him when I see him sweating his tusks off in September.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Some schools are football schools.

Some schools are basketball schools.

Vanderbilt is a bowling school, and good for them I guess.

But as this graphic making the rounds on Twitter makes clear, there are a vanishingly small group of athletic programs currently firing on all cylinders across the college sports landscape, and Georgia is one of them.

It’s also worth noting that if you include gymnastics (in which both the ‘Dawgs and Tide made the “Sweet Sixteen” group of regional finalists) the list would still be only those two schools. But if you include the NCAA men’s tennis tournament (in which Georgia made the round of 16) and women’s tournament (in which the Red and Black made the final four) the Classic City Canines stand alone in athletic excellence.

There’s another SEC athletic program that weirdly bills itself as the “Everything School” because they won a baseball championship that one time. I hope you’ll take this opportunity to laugh at them just as you have for every one of the 27 seasons that have passed since the last time they won a conference football championship.

But this is also a good time to say a hearty congratulations to Josh Brooks and the rest of the team in Butts-Mehre for the work they’ve done to build an elite athletic program. In this day and time when some league schools are even cutting non-revenue sports programs fielding nationally competitive teams across the spectrum is perhaps an even more amazing achievement.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

After losing several key contributors from the 2025-2026 team that made a second consecutive tournament run, Mike White isn’t backing off on scheduling for next season. Reports indicate that the Bulldogs have been tabbed to take on the Duke Blue Devils in the upcoming Jimmy V Classic in Madison Square Garden.

The Jimmy V Classic is of course named for former college coaching legend Jim Valvano, and has been played annually since 1995. The event raises money and awareness for the V Foundation, which supports cancer research and awareness.

It will be the Bulldogs’ first trip to the event, but Duke is no stranger to the Garden. The Blue Devils have won in the Jimmy V Classic four times, more than any other program in the nation.

The Jimmy V Classic takes place just before Christmas during the traditional “holiday tournament” season. By the time the Red and Black arrive in the Big Apple we should have a decent read on what kind of team Coach White has, and the matchup should provide a good gage of exactly how ready (or not) the Dawgs are for conference play. Until later…

Go ‘‘Dawgs!!!

An open letter from the fans who actually show up

The announcement hit like a bad snap on fourth and one: Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks has confirmed that he and Clemson AD Graham Neff “are in talks” to convert the scheduled 2029 and 2030 home-and-home series between the Bulldogs and the Tigers into neutral-site games, with Atlanta, Charlotte, and Dallas floated as possible venues. The reasoning, stripped of all its polished athletic department language, is straightforward: money. Revenue. NIL dollars. The cold arithmetic of maximizing every dime from a marquee non-conference matchup.

Here’s what the administrators in their Ritz-Carlton meeting rooms seem to have forgotten: the fans are the ones who make this rivalry worth anything in the first place. And from the perspective of anyone who has ever bled red and black in Athens or orange and purple in Clemson, this decision (if it goes through) would be yet another profound betrayal of what college football is supposed to be.

Death Valley Is Not a Rental Property

Let’s start in Clemson, South Carolina, because what is being casually bargained away there deserves to be said plainly: Memorial Stadium, “Death Valley” is one of the most sacred venues in all of American sport. Perched on the edge of a hill in a small university town, Clemson becomes something like the center of the college football universe on game days.

I am cynical about most college football stadiums. I’ve been to many of the cathedrals of the sport, and frankly I have found most of them wanting. Williams-Brice is a parking lot with turf in the middle. Jordan-Hare is barely fair, and the flight of the war eagle is the most overhyped 14 seconds in all of college football. Neyland Stadium is the best argument for high powered explosives and multi-millio. Dollar construction bond campaigns that was ever formulated. Starkville is Milledgeville without the charm or history.

But Clemson, and this pains me greatly to admit, is worth a visit. The tradition of running down the Hill, with players touching Howard’s Rock before sprinting into the roar of a capacity crowd, is a worthwhile experience. It is a living inheritance passed from one generation of Tiger fans to the next. When a team like Georgia comes to Death Valley, that tradition gains new weight. The visiting team runs down that hill into something. The home crowd is the game. Georgia has not played in Clemson since 2013 (a 38-35 Tiger victory). That is more than a decade of a rivalry between schools situated only about 70 miles apart. Conducting that reunion in impersonal NFL arenas that belong to neither school feels like a travesty.

Clemson fans deserve to host Georgia at Memorial Stadium. They deserve to give their children the experience of watching the Bulldogs walk into Death Valley as the crowd reaches a decibel level that the NFL has genuinely never matched. When you move that game to a corporate sponsor’s stadium in Dallas or Charlotte, you do not merely change the address. You remove the soul from the event entirely. Death Valley becomes just another stadium on the map rather than the most intimidating venue in college football.

They Paved the Hedges and Put Up a Parking Lot

In Athens, the argument is no less powerful. Sanford Stadium is a venue of such distinctive character that it has become synonymous with the Georgia Bulldogs themselves. The phrase “Between the Hedges” is not merely a slogan. It is a geographic and spiritual claim.

Clemson has not played a game in Athens since 2014. Apropos of nothing, it went great. But I digress. That means an entire generation of Georgia students has never watched Clemson come into Sanford Stadium and face what every visiting team faces: 92,000 of the most raucous fans college football has to offer. You cannot manufacture that in a neutral venue. You cannot pack the hedges into a shipping container and reassemble them at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. You cannot recreate the particular electricity of a crowd that is defending its home.

There is a reason that the home teams won both times the last home-and-home was played — Georgia at Sanford in 2014, Clemson at Memorial Stadium in 2013. Homefield advantage is real, earned, and meaningful. When you strip it from both teams by playing in a neutral city, you are not creating a fairer game. You are creating a lesser one.

The Hollow Logic of the “Better Atmosphere” Argument

Proponents of neutral-site games often argue that playing in a larger stadium, an NFL venue in a major metro area, create a better atmosphere and more excitement. This argument collapses immediately on examination.

Consider what actually happens at a neutral-site game. Each school receives a ticket allotment. Fans make travel plans and book hotels at inflated rates in cities like Dallas or Charlotte that have no organic connection whatsoever to either program.

The student sections are thin or absent entirely, and the students who make up the beating heart of any college football atmosphere simply cannot afford to travel. Corporate sponsors fill boxes. Season-ticket holders who live near campus , the retired alumni, the multi-generational families who have held those seats for decades, often find themselves priced out or geographically excluded. The local color that makes Athens and Clemson Athens and Clemson is completely gone.

What you get in exchange is a sanitized, premium-priced event that resembles a college football game the way a theme park resembles a real city. It looks sort of right. The scoreboard works. The concessions are fine, if uniformly overpriced. But something essential is missing, and every genuine fan knows it. The 2024 game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta drew attention and television ratings, but ask any fan who was there whether they would have rather been on campus, and the answer will tell you everything you need to know.

Fans Are Not ATM Machines

The financial argument deserves to be addressed directly, because it is the only argument the administrators are actually making. Neutral-site games generate more revenue. The site fees from a stadium operator, the added sponsorship opportunities, the larger footprint of a major-market game — it all adds up. Josh Brooks pointed to the financial success of the annual Florida game, played on a neutral site in Jacksonville, as a model.

But the Florida-Georgia game is a special and irreplaceable case, a game so embedded in regional culture that Jacksonville’s “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” has its own mythology stretching back nearly a century. It was never supposed to be a home-and-home. Clemson and Georgia, by contrast, agreed in what somehow feels like simpler times to play a home-and-home specifically because both fan bases were hungry to reclaim the on-campus experience.

But now your experience is a revenue stream, not a priority. The money will flow regardless. But the trust, once broken, is considerably harder to replace.

What Gets Lost Cannot Be Recovered

There is a generational dimension to this decision that rarely makes it into the athletic board meetings, but it is perhaps the most important one. College football rivalries are transmitted family to family, not broadcast to broadcast. A grandparent who took their child to Death Valley in the 1980s to watch Dooley’s Dawgs try to survive the Tiger roar is connected, through memory and story, to the grandson who should be sitting in that same stadium in 2029. That continuity is the living tissue of a rivalry. I just don’t know that you build those memories by traveling to Nashville or New Orleans to play in a bland NFL venue surrounded by a city that couldn’t care less what’s going on inside.

When you move those games to NFL venues in cities that don’t care about either school, you interrupt that transmission. You replace a chapter in a family story with a sponsored content moment. You tell the next generation that the place doesn’t matter, only the product does.

This is not a minor scheduling adjustment. It is a statement about what college football is for and about.

The Answer Is No

Georgia fans want Clemson on their turf, in their stadium, under their lights, with 93,033 Bulldog voices bearing down on the visiting team. Clemson fans want Georgia in Death Valley, running toward Howard’s Rock’s legacy and into the wall of sound that has made that stadium legendary. Both fan bases agreed to this. Both fan bases have been waiting for it.

The administrators should honor that. The game is not really theirs to sell. It belongs to the fans who have shown up, generation after generation, in the places where it was meant to be played.

Keep it Between the Hedges. Keep it in Death Valley. Keep the money out of it.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Good Friday morning, Dawg fans!! We have officially reached the Road to Omaha as the Georgia Diamond Dawgs and 63 other teams begin their quest for a National Championship, with Regional tournaments starting up today, including in Athens.

Game one of the Athens Regional will feature the Liberty Flames from Conference USA taking on the Boston College Eagles from the ACC. Let’s start with Liberty. The Flames have put together a very solid 2026 season so far, compiling a 41-19 record and falling just short of a Conference USA Tournament Championship against Jacksonville State.

Liberty is led offensively by senior outfielder Nick Barone and junior infielder Tanner Marsh. Marsh leads the team in batting average and on-base percentage, hitting .333 with a .418 OBP while also swiping 22 bags. Barone provides the power in the lineup, blasting 12 home runs to go along with his .320 batting average, impressive 1.000 OPS, and 55 RBIs.

On the mound, Ben Blair stands out for the Flames. Blair leads the team in strikeouts with 106 in 15 appearances while posting a 3.61 ERA during that span.

The Boston College Eagles also put together a strong 2026 season, finishing with a 36-21 record and earning a top-four seed in the ACC Tournament before eventually falling to the Miami Hurricanes in the Finals. The Eagles are led offensively by graduate senior infielder Nick Wang and sophomore infielder Julio Solier.

Solier has hit an impressive .357 while posting a .436 OBP and stealing 28 bags, making him a major threat once he gets on base. Wang supplies the power for the Eagles lineup, leading the team with 16 home runs and 61 RBIs while batting .303.

On the mound, A.J. Colarusso has carried the bulk of the workload for Boston College with 15 starts. During that span, Colarusso has posted a 4.62 ERA while leading the team with 71 strikeouts.

Liberty vs. Boston College is set to begin today at 12:00 p.m. ET and can be viewed on ESPN+.

Now, moving on to our Georgia Diamond Dawgs. Georgia will begin its Road to Omaha in an opening matchup against the Sharks of Long Island University. The Sharks have compiled a 30-20 overall record in 2026 and are coming off a Northeast Conference Championship.

Offensively, the Sharks feature a quality lineup with six players batting over .300, although there is not a ton of power throughout the lineup. Nick Matson, Elijah Fairchild, and Ryan Rivera will lead the way offensively for Long Island, as all three are hitting over .350. However, it will be interesting to see how they match up against Georgia’s SEC-caliber arms.

As for the pitching staff, the Sharks are led by Nicholas Finarelli. Finarelli has made 14 starts for Long Island and has posted a 4.96 ERA with 91 strikeouts during that span. Finarelli and the rest of the Sharks’ pitching staff will certainly have their hands full against Georgia’s potent lineup.

As for Georgia, it has been an exciting last few days for Dawg Nation. The Dawgs are coming off their first SEC Tournament Championship in program history and earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament following an impressive 46-12 season. However, Georgia and the rest of Dawg Nation know that the job is NOT finished.

Georgia is led offensively by several standout players, but none stand out more than SEC Triple Crown winner Daniel Jackson. Jackson enters regionals boasting a stat line that includes a .391 batting average, .485 OBP, 78 RBIs, and 27 home runs. The rest of Georgia’s lineup will look to carry over the momentum from the SEC Tournament and continue producing at a high level throughout the NCAA Tournament. Honestly, I could list every player producing at the plate for Georgia, but that would require a completely separate article.

On the mound, the Dawgs will be led by Joey Volchko. Volchko has been Georgia’s number-one arm all season, posting a 4.18 ERA while recording 88 strikeouts and earning nine wins. While the ERA may seem a little high, Volchko possesses Major League-level stuff to go along with his Major League frame.

Alongside Volchko, Georgia’s bullpen has stepped up tremendously, especially Caden Aoki and Justin Byrd, both of whom had excellent SEC Tournaments. With such a dangerous lineup, Georgia will only go as far as its pitching allows, and hopefully, this staff is beginning to hit its stride at the perfect time to send the Dawgs to their first trip to Omaha since 2008.

Georgia vs. Long Island is slated to start at 5 p.m. ET and can be viewed on ESPN+.

Enjoy the rest of your Friday and have a great weekend. As always, GO DAWGS!!!

By the time you finish reading this, a Vanderbilt fan will have quietly switched to watching tennis.

Every great conference needs a floor. The SEC, even as the self-proclaimed pinnacle of college football, the home of championships, and first round draft picks is no exception. While Alabama hoards Lombardi Trophies and Georgia builds pipelines to the NFL, someone has to occupy the basement. Someone has to be the team that gets circled on the schedule as a guaranteed win. Someone has to make a 52-0 blowout feel like a mercy killing.

I’ve crunched the numbers. I’ve pored over the history. I’ve consulted the record books.

And it turns out that someone is Vanderbilt.

Over the past decade, no program in the Southeastern Conference has managed to be less consequential, less watched, less feared, and just less felt from a gravitational perspective than the Commodores of Nashville, Tennessee. This is not a takedown born of malice, dear readers. It’s a statistical, atmospheric, and vibes-based reckoning with a football program that has spent ten years being consistently, aggressively forgettable.

The Record Speaks For Itself (Quietly, From the Corner)

Let’s start with the numbers, because numbers don’t lie, even when the scoreboard is embarrassing. Vanderbilt has spent the better part of the last decade oscillating between 2-win and 5-win seasons like a metronome set to “mediocre.” Multiple years of bowl ineligibility. A 2022 campaign that produced a 2-10 record so bleak that opposing offensive coordinators reportedly used it for confidence-building.

The 2020 COVID season saw them go 0-9 which, yes, was shortened, but finishing 0-for-anything requires a special kind of commitment to losing. And as you may recall that season ended with a stifled whimper as the Commodores found the will and a way to duck out on playing Georgia for what would have been their tenth defeat of the year. I may forget a lot of things from the COVID-shortened season. I may forget Dwan Mathis overthrowing receivers, and proto-Stetson Bennett going feral on occasion. But I will never forget Vanderbilt pulling a Karen Smith from Mean Girls.

To be fair, 2025 brought a genuine surprise: a 10 win season under head coach Clark Lea that had Commodore fans cautiously celebrating as if they’d discovered electricity. It was relatively impressive. It was genuinely fun. And it was one season in a decade of darkness that doesn’t undo the pattern, any more than one good quarterly earnings report wipes out a decade of a company losing money.

And as a reminder, it was a relatively good season. The 10-3 record the Commodores were jubilant about last year put them squarely in 5th place in the final conference standings. 10-3 and ending the year with a loss to Iowa in the Reliaquest Bowl would put you on the hot seat at no fewer than six SEC schools under the right circumstances.

Conference Title Picture? They’re Not Even In The Frame.

In SEC title races over the past decade, Vanderbilt has played the role of a background extra who wanders into the shot only to later be edited out. Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Missouri, Florida, Texas, and even Ole Miss have shaped the conference landscape. Vanderbilt has shaped nothing. Their wins have not altered division standings in any meaningful way. Their losses have not stunned anyone. Vanderbilt football is, in the words of the old Blues Traveler song, “like a bad play, where the hero’s right and nobody thinks or expects too much.”

In a conference where a single upset can crater a national championship run, Vanderbilt is the team that other programs schedule mental rest on. Coaches don’t gameplan for Vanderbilt; they gameplan through it, already thinking about the following week. That’s not an insult. That’s just the reality of a program that has produced zero SEC Championship Game appearances and zero College Football Playoff consideration.

Bowls, Playoffs, and the Great Void

The Playoff? Don’t make the Commodores laugh. Bowl games have been a luxury item for Vanderbilt in the past fifteen years, earned sporadically, never celebrated beyond a polite press release. While programs like Mississippi State were at least making it to the Liberty Bowl or the Music City Bowl with some regularity, Vanderbilt spent several seasons not even qualifying for the sport’s lowest postseason rung. Six wins, in an era when you could schedule the Citadel or UL-Monroe with impunity, is not a mountain. It’s a mole hill. And Vanderbilt has rarely climbed it.

Mississippi State, it should be noted, is the honorable mention in this conversation and deserves a gentle ribbing of its own. The Bulldogs had one glorious moment in 2014, ascending to the No. 1 ranking in the very first College Football Playoff rankings behind genuine program icon Dak Prescott, and then proceeded to spend the next eight years reminding everyone that it was, in fact,um, a moment, not genuine momentum.

Hiring Mike Leach was exciting. Mike Leach’s tragic death mid-contract was not the closure anyone wanted. I miss that crazy son of a gun every day of the football season and half of the offseason. And perhaps the Bizarro Bulldogs wouldn’t come in for this pounding if he were still with us. But Mississippi State football is basically that friend who had a great story from ten years ago about meeting Sturgill Simpson at Bennigan’s or hitting a hole in one or singing with Trisha Yearwood* that they still bring up at every party.

South Carolina, meanwhile, has its own ignominious stretch, though the Gamecocks at least have the good grace and testicular fortitude to occasionally beat Clemson and act like they’ve won a Super Bowl. Their energy is less “irrelevant” and more “bless their hearts.”

The Ratings Problem

Television networks love the SEC. They love it so much they pay billions of dollars to broadcast its games. But even within that arrangement, someone has to get the 9:00 pm slot on the SEC Network, watched primarily by die-hards, insomniacs, and people who fell asleep on the couch with the remote out of reach.

That slot belongs, spiritually and often literally, to Vanderbilt. Last season the six most watched college football teams in America were all from the SEC. None was Vanderbilt.The Commodores did, in their most relevant season of college football in nearly a century, manage to crack the viewership top twenty. In doing so they barely beat out Auburn, whose fans had by and large given up on 2025 by the 4th of July. So I guess there’s that.

Ratings for Vanderbilt games are more often the SEC’s dirty little secret. The graphics department in Birmingham does not often get called upon to create social media eye candy about the record viewership for Commodore games against Missouri. Unless the opponent is Alabama or Georgia, teams whose fanbases would watch a tape-delay broadcast of a scrimmage, the Commodores do not move the needle. Advertisers are not fighting over these commercial breaks. When Vanderbilt’s matchup gets flexed to a worse time slot, no one calls the network to complain.

The Attendance Situation

Vanderbilt Stadium holds approximately 40,000 people. It is the smallest venue in the SEC by a significant margin. I can’t swear that Mississippi State doesn’t pack in more fans than that for a mid-week baseball game. And yet, for most of the past decade, they have struggles to fill it. Tarps cover the upper deck not as a temporary fix but as a permanent aesthetic feature, like a tarp that has simply become part of the architecture.

In a conference where Neyland Stadium fits over 100,000 and Death Valley shakes on autumn Saturdays, Vanderbilt’s game-day atmosphere is closer to a well-attended farmers market. Visiting fans frequently outnumber the home crowd. This is a fact that Vanderbilt fans dispute with the wounded dignity and versatile vocabulary of people who went to a very good school and know it.

The Vibes in Nashville: A country song played the right way ‘round.

Which brings us to the intangible category, and the one where Vanderbilt’s irrelevance achieves something almost poetic. The vibes are not bad. They’re not hostile or sad or angry. They are simply neutral in a conference defined by passion.

Nashville is of course not just the home of Vanderbilt University, it’s also the spiritual home of country music. There’s an old joke that asks ““What do you get when you play a country record backwards?” The punchline in response is that “You get your wife back, you get your truck back, you get your dog back, you get your job back…”.”Vanderbilt football exists under the type of perpetual black cloud that a forlorn country troubadour could have gotten some real mileage out of. It’s a program for whom the other shoe is always about to drop, and sometimes when it hits the ground it contains a live rattlesnake.

Vanderbilt is arguably the SEC’s premier research university. Its students are pre-med, pre-law, and pre-occupied with things that matter more than third-down conversions. The mascot, a Commodore, a naval designation nobody under 70 and/or not watching a Russell Crowe historical drama thinks about, has all the menace of a persnickety hall monitor.

There is no rival game that defines the season. There is no “we live for this moment” energy in Nashville in November. There is only the quiet, dignified acceptance of a football program that exists because the university is in the SEC and the SEC requires sixteen teams.

The 2025 season was a genuine and welcome disruption. Clark Lea may be building something real. But relevance, once lost for a decade, is not reclaimed in a single autumn. Vanderbilt has earned this crown in the most Vanderbilt way: gently, consistently, and without much fuss while focused on more important things.

The Commodores kick off the 2026 season on September 5th against Austin Peay. Tickets remain available. Seriously, just call up and make them an offer.

* Actually in this instance I’m that friend, and I never fail to bring it up. Always will.

Tre Phelps hit the go-ahead homer and was not around to see the end of Sunday night’s regional contest between Georgia and Liberty. Neither was Diamond Dawgs’ head coach Wes Johnson.

In the end, Georgia’s determination and a frenzied Foley Field crowd exceeding 3,600 was more than enough to douse the Flames as the Bulldogs won 6-1 to win the Athens Regional and advance to the Super Regionals for the second time in three years.

The Bulldogs were stymied early, their first ten batters being set down by Liberty starting pitcher Cooper Harrington after the Flames drew a first-inning run.

“For those first six innings, I thought their starter came out, threw the ball well. Kind of kept us off balance. I thought we got off some good swings and were just missing some balls,” Johnson said. “That’ll happen when you see a guy like that who’s kind of unique. He had a lower release height, was really commanding his pitches. He kept us off balance but really proud of our hitters. [I] thought we just kept grinding and didn’t give in and made it hard on them.”

That’s when everything changed on multiple fronts at Foley Field.

Phelps parked a Harrington pitch over the left field wall in the sixth inning, but the drama was only starting. Phelps was quickly ejected by game umpires who were also apparently auditioning for the fun police, and Georgia head coach Wes Johnson quickly got the same fate.

Georgia’s skipper had no regrets.

It’s also of note that seated behind the Liberty dugout that Phelps was gesturing toward were…Phelps’ parents.

“As far as the Tre (Phelps) situation, for the record, Tre’s family was sitting up in the stands. Tre was waving at his family. The umpires – whatever, you know I’m not an umpire – they thought he was talking to their dugout,” Johnson said. “Tre got ejected. Tre will miss game one of the super regional. I also was ejected. I have no further penalties. That’s the only statements that we can give and the NCAA will not be making a statement.”

As for what exactly Phelps said? That’s a big mystery.

But what is not a mystery is that the Bulldogs got a career night from starting pitcher Caden Aoki, who gave up a hit and struck out a career-high 11 hitters in six innings, getting out of a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth inning.

“You have to go out there every inning. It’s like a new game every inning, every pitch. You have to stay locked in,” Aoki said. “You’re at your best pitching when you’re not looking at the score. So, I knew the job I had to do, and I wanted to go out there and execute.”

What’s also not a question is that for the second night in a row, Georgia’s bats poured it on late, making it easy for Zach Brown to slam the door with three scoreless innings.

The Bulldogs wore down Liberty’s pitchers with four insurance runs in the eighth, and I began with a heavy dose of poetic justice. Michael O-Shaugnessy, who replaced Phelps after his ejection, slashed a solo homer over the scoreboard, and an RBI double by Rylan Lujo and two-run Ryan Wynn single capped off the big offensive inning.

Georgia now awaits the winner of the Starkville regional and will most likely host next weekend’s Super Regional. If the opponent is Mississippi State, it’ll be a team Georgia is 4-0 against this season.

Go Dawgs!

It is fitting that as legendary UGA Men’s Golf Coach Chris Haack hangs up his spikes that his charges, current and former, do what he did best: win.

Russell Henley has just emerged victorious in a playoff against mythical mini-tour champion Eric Cole in a PGA Tour playoff at Colonial Country Club, taking the trophy for the Charles Schwab Challenge.

And the current Men’s Golf program is now competing in the stroke play portion of the NCAA National Championship, the 24th time the Bulldogs qualified for Nationals under Coach Haack. If they do not make it to the top 8, that will end the season for the Bulldogs and unofficially be Coach Haack’s last meaningful task at the helm.

Henley now continues a run of 17 consecutive years a former Bulldog has won a PGA Tour event. He also moves to 2nd place (in my admittedly limited research) of ‘Dawgs in PGA Tour career wins with 6. Chris Kirk also has 6, and Bubba Watson remains at 10 (with 2 Masters titles included).

The Macon native (and I hear the current Macon resident) was hanging around the top of the leaderboad all week, opening in Fort Worth with consecutive rounds of 4 under par 66. As the weather warmed and the course firmed up, those low scores became scarce, but Henley still shot 69 Saturday to move within 3 of the lead.

That lead was held by Eric Cole, the 2023 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, after a blistering 3rd round 63 on the bouncy greens of Colonial. Cole began Sunday with a 1 stroke lead but a pack of chasers just behind. Playing 1 group ahead of Cole, Henley opened Sunday with a 20 foot eagle on the first and a birdie on the 2nd. Unfortunately he fell victim to the “Horrible Horseshoe”, and bogeyed holes 3, 4, & 5. Another bogey on 9, and Henley’s chances appeared doomed.

But the leaders never distanced themselves, and everyone carded a bogey or two as the play moved to the 2nd nine. And Henley took advantage: a birdie on 11, then closing out with clutch tweets on 16, 17, and a huge 15 footer on 18 to take the clubhouse lead.

Cole meanwhile played steady, and held serve with pars to close out an even par round of 70 and to tie Henley at 12 under par. A playoff ensued.

After a solid drive on 18 again, this time as a sudden death playoff, Russell hit a wedge to just inside 5 feet. Cole hit an admirable approach within 16 feet but couldn’t get the birdie to drop. So Russell did the admirable thing and drained the putt to cap his win, pick up $1.4 million, 500 FedEx Cup points, a restored and modified 1982 Jeep Scrambler, a ton of consideration for the President’s Cup team this fall, and great momentum heading into some big summer tournaments.

A tip of the cap to Coach Chris Haack, his many SEC accomplishments and two national championships for UGA, and for turning out the most productive school alumni in the most competitive golf tour in the world. Congrats to Russell, fingers crossed for the current Men’s team, happy retirement Haacker, and as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

Georgia’s road to the Super Regionals is now a lot smoother.

After beginning Saturday with the absurdity of having to complete the final three innings of a lopsided win against Long Island in a game suspended by the previous night’s weather, the Diamond Dawgs fended off a fiesty Liberty University team 6-2 on Saturday night at Foley Field.

Now, Georgia gets to sit back and rest in the Athens Regional. It’ll play the winner of Sunday’s early loser’s bracket game between Liberty and Boston College on Sunday night, needing just one win in two tries to advance to the Super Regionals. Sunday night’s game is scheduled to start at 5:06 p.m.

“We gave up three hits today, and we gave up two yesterday,” Georgia head coach Wes Johnson said. “Our offense is extremely, extremely good, but other offenses are good as well. I thought our pitching and defense was outstanding today.”

It was, needless to say, a long day at Foley Field on Saturday. It all began on Friday night, when, leading 15-1 against Long Island, play was suspended by weather. And since NCAA postseason rules do not permit a mercy rule, the game had to be resumed Saturday morning.

When “The 15 Hours of the Athens” resumed on Saturday, the Bulldogs put the closing touches on an 18-2 win in which a school record was tied with nine homers with Joey Volchko hurling six shutout innings.

The day of homers was just beginning for the Diamond Dawgs, who got all of their runs against the Flames via homers. The contest was one in which Georgia, despite being the No. 3 national seed, SEC champion, and regional host, had to play as the visitor per NCAA postseason rules. But that lack of earned advantage didn’t shake the Diamond Dawgs’ resolve, either when it came to clutch pitching or big offensive hits toward the trees of Foley Field.

Georgia went deep in the first on a two-run shot by Dan Jackson, and a pair of solo homers by Kenny Ishikawa and Ryan Wynn put the Dawgs in front 4-2 in the third.

“We’ve always known that Ryan [Wynn] can get it done and come up in big spots,” Georgia shortstop Kolby Branch said. “He’s a great player. His mindset when he’s not playing is wonderful. It’s one of the reasons I think that we’re a good ball club is because when you have guys like Ryan who gets in the game, plays well and then goes back to the plan.” 

Round-trippers by Rylan Lujo in the sixth and Brennan Hudson in the ninth padded the lead.

But this win was not one limited to outscoring an opponent. It was also one in which Georgia ended up leaning on its bullpen after starting pitcher Dylan Vigue was chased after just an inning and a third, having allowed two runs. The bullpen was up to the call, however. Matt Scott held the Flames to no runs and one hit through five innings before Justin Byrd fanned four of the nine batters he faced to close out the game. Byrd’s biggest moment was in the seventh when he inherited two runners aboard. After walking the first batter he faced, he retired the next two Flames to get out of the bases-loaded jam.

“I thought what Matt [Scott] did today was elite. It’s what big-time players do. Matt came in the game, things were a little sideways. There was some momentum leaving our side,” Johnson said. “Sometimes as a coach, you have to go out there and make a change. We did. Our team believes in Matt so much. We just do. He believes in himself. You want guys in the game when you need to stop momentum like Matt.”

Go Dawgs!

Under Kirby Smart the University of Georgia transformed from a sleeping giant into the winningest program in college football. The program produced back-to-back national championships, a dynasty-level run of NFL Draft talent, and a roster depth that most programs could only dream about. The question is a tantalizing one for any Bulldogs fan: if you could pluck one former Georgia player from the Smart era and drop him magically back onto the 2026 roster, who would have the biggest impact?

To be clear, this is not simply a question of who was the “best” player. Impact at the college level is shaped by position value, scheme fit, the current state of the team’s roster, and the degree to which a single player can elevate the players around him. With those factors in mind, here are the five strongest candidates — and a verdict on who wins the argument.

5. Roquan Smith, Linebacker (2016–2017)

Roquan Smith has became one of the most dominant linebackers in the NFL, a four-time Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro with the Baltimore Ravens. Before that however he was a two-year force in Athens who redefined the standard at the position for the Red and Black. Smith was the 2017 winner of the Butkus Award, given annually to the nation’s best linebacker, and his ability to apparate sideline to sideline was simply breathtaking.

At 6-foot, 236 pounds, Smith possessed an almost uncanny instinct for reading opposing offenses. He could stack and shed blockers, blow up screen passes before they developed, cover tight ends and slot receivers in man coverage, and still arrive like a sledgehammer as a pass rusher when needed. In college, he recorded 97 tackles and seven sacks across two seasons and was widely regarded as the best linebacker prospect in the country upon leaving for the 2018 NFL Draft.

Dropping him onto the 2026 Georgia defense would be a delightful luxury, but perhaps less transformative than the names above him on this list. The Bulldogs have consistently recruited and developed elite linebacker talent under Coach Smart. In 2026 veterans Chris Cole, Justin Williams, and Raylen Wilson all return inside along with promising sophomore Zayden Walker. Smith would be extraordinary, but the position is not one where Georgia is really lacking. His impact would be enormous, but it would represent an upgrade rather than a revelation.

4. Andrew Thomas, Offensive Tackle (2017–2019)

Perhaps the most underappreciated name on this list, Andrew Thomas was a dominant left tackle during his three years in Athens and became the fourth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. He has since developed into one of the premier offensive linemen in the entire league, earning Pro Bowl recognition with the New York Giants.

At 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds with exceptional length and footwork, Thomas was the kind of anchor that allows an entire offense to function at a higher level. Quarterbacks throw with more confidence. Running backs find cleaner lanes. Play-action develops more naturally. The ripple effect of an elite left tackle is enormous and often invisible until he’s gone.

The reason Thomas ranks fourth rather than higher comes down to Georgia’s current offensive line identity. The Bulldogs have consistently signed and developed NFL-caliber linemen. Earnest Greene’s return was surprisingly less of a splash than I would have figured, perhaps owing to some of his injury-I diced struggles in 2025. If Greene stays healthy in 2026 he has All-SEC potential. If he doesn’t, I would expect sophomore Juan Gaston to move over to that spot, and he could also play at a high level. Inserting Thomas would make Georgia’s offense significantly more explosive, but as with Roquan the marginal gain at a position of existing strength keeps him from the top tier of this exercise.

3. Stetson Bennett, Quarterback (2019–2022)

No player in Georgia’s dynasty era captured the program’s spirit quite like Stetson Bennett. A walk-on who left and came back, who was benched and returned, who climbed every mountain put in front of him, who simply refused to be denied. The Prince of Pierce ultimately became a two-time national champion and the most decorated quarterback in program history.

His numbers speak for themselves. In his final season in 2022, Bennett threw for 3,425 yards and 27 touchdowns, leading Georgia to a 65-7 destruction of TCU in the national championship game. He was composed under pressure, a natural leader in the huddle, and an expert at operating within Todd Monken’s system, controlling the game when needed and attacking when the opportunity arose.

The argument for Bennett is primarily emotional but also substantive. Quarterback is the most important position in football, and a veteran, battle-tested signal caller with national championship experience is worth its weight in gold at the college level. I love Gunner Stockton, he won a SEC title while playing some of his best football toward the end of the season, and he will almost certainly be a better player in 2026. But the Georgia quarterback room still feels like it has a void that a figure like Bennett would fill decisively. His competitive fire alone would be invaluable.

However, Bennett was never a transcendent physical talent. He succeeded through intelligence, toughness, and extraordinary preparation. Against elite competition, those traits matter enormously. Gunner Stockton’s seems to have them as well, and assuming he develops he would make Bennett unnecessary as well, hard as that may be to believe.

2. Honorable Mention: Brock Bowers, Tight End (2021–2023)

Brock Bowers was not merely the best tight end in Georgia history. Many who watched him play consider him the most dominant tight end in the history of college football, full stop. In three seasons in Athens Bowers caught 175 passes for 2,538 yards and 27 touchdowns. He is the only player ever to win back-to-back Mackey Awards, given to the nation’s best tight end, and he did so at ages 19 and 20.

What made Bowers historically unique was his combination of size, speed, hands, and run-after-catch ability. He was impossible to cover with a single defender. Safeties couldn’t keep up with him in space. Linebackers could not match his precise route-running. Cornerbacks could not handle his physicality after the catch. Defensive coordinators across the SEC and in two College Football Playoff runs were simply left without answers.

Bowers was the Las Vegas Raiders’ fourth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and he has continued his excellence at the professional level. Returning him to Georgia in 2026 would immediately make the Bulldogs’ passing offense a nightmare to defend.

Don’t get me wrong, Georgia’s current crop of tight ends including Lawson Luckie, Elyiss Williams, and Jaden Reddell (to say nothing of five star freshmen like Kaiden Prothro) are elite talents. But no one has ever played it at the college level the way Bowers did.

He misses the top spot by the thinnest of margins, and only for one reason.

1. Nick Chubb, Running Back (2014–2017)

Nick Chubb is the answer, no matter the question. In four seasons at Georgia, Chubb rushed for 4,769 yards on 758 carries and scored 48 touchdowns. He averaged 6.3 yards per carry across his career and was, by any metric, one of the best running backs in the history of college football. He did all of this while sharing a backfield first with Todd Gurley, then with Sony Michel and recovering from an injury that would have ended many players’ careers. He still managed to rank among the SEC’s elite ball-carriers in every healthy season he played.

What separates Chubb from Bowers in this exercise is position scarcity meeting historic ability. Running back is the position most responsible for controlling tempo, shortening games, and reducing the margin for error in close games. A back like Chubb, who gained yards after contact the way few players ever have, who broke tackles with a combination of power and burst that seemed physically impossible, would take enormous pressure off Gunner Stockton and a youngish receiver rotation.

Chubb’s 2017 season, in which he rushed for 1,345 yards and 15 touchdowns while sharing touches with Michel, came on a team with a first-year starting quarterback in Jake Fromm. The parallel to 2026 Georgia is striking. A dominant running back transforms a program’s identity, and Nick Chubb was the most dominant running back of the Kirby Smart era..

Brock Bowers would make Georgia’s passing offense elite. Nick Chubb would make Georgia’s offense simply unfair. While I like Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens, and have confidence in both to deliver in 2026, Chubb would be a substantial, even transformative, upgrade.

Final Verdict

Each of these five players would be extraordinary in their own right. Roquan Smith would anchor a great defense. Andrew Thomas would anchor a great offensive line. Stetson Bennett would stabilize the most critical position on the field. Brock Bowers would create a nightmare matchup at tight end that no coordinator in college football could solve.

But Nick Chubb, at full health and in his prime, playing behind a veteran Georgia offensive line in 2026, would be as close to an unstoppable force as college football allows. He is the answer, and it isn’t particularly close. Until later…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

A high national seed in hand, Georgia now knows more about the roadblocks in its way when it comes to a trip to Omaha and the College World Series.

As expected, the Diamond Dawgs were highly rewarded on Monday for sweeping the SEC regular season and tournament titles, being awarded a No. 3 overall national seed.

Liberty and Boston College will begin the Athens Regional on Friday afternoon prior to Georgia hosting Long Island in a 7 p.m. contest. The winner of the weekend’s double-elimination regionals will advance to face the winner of the Starkville Regional in a best-of-three super regional next weekend. What that means is simple for Georgia – that Foley Field will host both regionals and next weekend’s super regionals should the Dawgs advance.

If the Bizarro Dogs, seeded 14th nationally, win that regional,‘ it’d be the fifth matchup of the year between Georgia and MSU with the Dawgs winning all four times so far.

Of those teams, Liberty could have the argument of being the most dangerous to Georgia with the Flames being Conference USA runner-up and boasting an RPI of 32 that’s just below that of Miami and Tennessee…and two spots above the regional’s No. 2 seed, Boston College.

Liberty will be used to the spotlight, having lost two-of-three this season to national-seed West Virginia and has also played ACC teams such as Duke, Virginia Tech, Virginia and Wake Forest. Liberty has made eight NCAA regional appearances in its history, advancing to the regional final twice.

Georgia’s the highest seed among all SEC teams. As expected the selection committee again highly regarded the rigor of the SEC, as the Dawgs are one of five national seeds from the SEC. Those other teams are Auburn, Texas, Alabama, and Florida.

When it’s conference tournament-time in college baseball, the goals for teams with their postseason fate in good hands are complex. Sure, you want to play well in those few days and be in a good place going into regionals. But a conference tournament matters little in comparison to the weight held by regionals, super regionals, and the College World Series.

You want to play well, and anything else is gravy.

The Diamond Dawgs may as well be riding the gravy train.

For the first time in program history, Georgia has won an SEC Tournament title with Sunday afternoon’s 11-1 win by the fourth-ranked Dawgs over tenth-ranked Arkansas 11-1.

Georgia used a whole-staff approach to hold down the Razorbacks on Sunday, starting with Paul Farley’s four scoreless innings followed by work from Zach Brown, Caleb Jameson, and Jordan Stephens. At the plate, a four-run on five-hit outburst was led by Rylan Lujo, Brennan Hudson ripping RBI doubles and Jack Acrahome blasting a two-run homer.

Georgia made it to Sunday with a furious rally the day before, coming back from being down 6-0 to beat Florida 8-7. The Bulldogs pushed three runs across in the fourth, one in the fifth, and two more in the seventh and eighth to complete the comeback.

Georgia opened play in Hoover with a 5-3 win against Mississippi State on Thursday.

The Dawgs now await Monday’s NCAA Regionals announcement, following a weekend that should solidify their standing as a national seed. That should help Georgia’s draw going to a place where they have been snakebit in recent seasons.

No, this past weekend is no reason to make your reservation for a steak dinner at The Drover in Omaha yet, but it does not hurt any reason to dwell on that possibility even more.

Go Dawgs!

Coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi made a splash in recruiting this week with former Arkansas standout and Olympian Joscelyn Roberson’s Thursday announcement that she is transferring to Georgia.

Roberson picked the Red and Black over fellow finalists and college gymnastics heavyweights Florida and UCLA. The Bulldogs had been a favorite to land Roberson in part because the Texas native trained as a junior gymnast with Canqueteau-Landi at World Champions Centre in Spring, Texas, where Simone Biles also trained.

To say the new GymDog is a big time pickup would be an understatement. Roberson was a part of the gold medal winning U.S. team at the 2023 World Championships, then earned an alternate spot on the 2024 Paris Olympic team. She also was the bronze medalist in the vault at the 2025 World Championships.

Roberson spent the past two collegiate seasons at Arkansas, earning Second Team All-American honors last season on the floor and regular season First Team All-American on the beam. Roberson earned All-SEC nods on all four collegiate events. She scored a 9.850 on the vault at the SEC Championships, including completing the Mustafina, making her the first athlete to execute the technical vault maneuver in NCAA action.

Roberson never scored below 39.425 in her four all-around appearances for the Razorbacks in 2025-26, with a season high of 39.575. That consistency is something the Bulldogs need to reach the next level in cutthroat SEC Competition. Georgia is coming off a season that ended with a #6 national ranking, the highest for the squad in recent memory Adding an elite world-class gymnast like Roberson, who has two years of collegiate eligibility remaining, should help with taking that next step.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Good Thursday afternoon, Dawg fans!!

Before getting into the SEC Tournament, the Dawgs wrapped up the regular season on an impressive high note. Georgia swept the LSU Tigers and secured a series win over the Auburn Tigers, finishing that stretch with a dominant 5-1 record while outscoring opponents 51-39. The strong finish helped solidify Georgia’s place as one of the top teams in the country heading into postseason play.

This past week also brought plenty of individual recognition for the Bulldogs. Head coach Wes Johnson was named SEC Coach of the Year after leading Georgia to a 43-12 overall record and an outstanding 23-7 mark in SEC play. In just his third season at the helm, Johnson guided the Dawgs to the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament, continuing the rise of the Georgia baseball program under his leadership.

On the player side, Daniel Jackson was named SEC Player of the Year while also capturing the SEC Triple Crown following a monster regular season. Jackson finished the year batting .394 with 27 home runs, 77 RBIs, and a staggering 1.328 OPS, cementing himself as one of the most dangerous hitters in all of college baseball.

Now, let’s talk SEC Tournament baseball. The Georgia Bulldogs have officially advanced to their first SEC Tournament semifinal appearance since 2019 after defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs by a final score of 5-3 minutes ago. Georgia battled through a competitive matchup, but it was Brennan Hudson who delivered the game-changing moment. Hudson launched a three-run go-ahead home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, giving the Dawgs the momentum they needed to punch their ticket to the semifinals.

Georgia will now take on the winner of the Florida vs. Alabama matchup in the SEC Tournament Semifinal, setting up another huge test for the Dawgs as they continue their push for an SEC Tournament title and build momentum heading into the NCAA Tournament. I’ll also be making the trip down to Hoover tomorrow to cover the tournament this weekend and hopefully witness Georgia capture its first SEC Tournament Championship. Hope all of you have a great rest of your week and a safe Memorial Day weekend. As always, GO DAWGS!!!

There are a lot of elements that go into making the perfect football tailgate. Good friends are critical. Delicious food is a must. But underlying all of it, always there in the background, is the perfect tailgate soundtrack. The right songs serve as the perfect aural backdrop for good times with good friends. The wrong music marks you out as a weirdo, maybe even a closet Gator fan.

And the answer to the question “What is the right soundtrack?” is probably a resounding “it depends.” The late 30s alums listening to Olivia Tremor Control and the late 70s alums listening to Sam and Dave are both right in their own way, and

1. Orange Crush/Finest Worksong, R.E.M. My tailgate music is and always has been Athens-centric, and it doesn’t get more Athens than R.E.M. Plus, these songs are both anthemic in their own way. When I hear them I’m back in sophomore year tailgating at the fraternity house. As Eric Church put it, it’s funny how a melody sounds like a memory.
2. Driving Song, Widespread Panic. Athens-born? Check. Worthy of bobbing along to? Check. Awesome fiddle part that your drunken buddy can get down to? Checkity check check. An all-time classic from the band that shut down Athens and threw a party.
3. Right Hand On My Heart, The Whigs. An absolute banger from one of the quintessential Athens bands. I once advocated for this song, with its powerful opening drum line, to be played pregame in Sanford Stadium. I wasn’t successful in making that happen, but I also wasn’t wrong.
4. Jessica, The Allman Brothers Band. Not strictly Athens based, but certainly a Peach State Classic. The unbridled joy of the Allman Brothers instrumental opus sounds like a crisp fall in the Classic City feels.
5. Love Shack, the B-52s. If you’ve never shouted ““Tin roof!….Rusted.” I think you may have to turn in your Bulldog card.
6. Where the Devil Don’t Stay, Drive-By Truckers. It wouldn’t be an Athens tailgate without the Truckers. While I could go with any of a dozen songs in this spot, I’m landing on the blistering opening track from The Dirty South, no lower than my third favorite DbTs album. Other kickass rock n’ roll songs are available, and your mileage may vary, as they say.

So what’s playing over the speakers at your Bulldog tailgate?

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

We’re fast nearing the end of the 2025-26 academic year sports schedule, yet those who already matriculated the hallowed halls of Athens are earnestly plying their trades. And some former Bulldogs are heading to Philadelphia to earn a fair wage.

These aren’t a result of the NFL draft. These are members of the PGA Tour and they’re part of the 156 man field eligible to compete for the PGA Championship. Here’s a primer and what you want to know.

Tournament: 108th PGA Championship, May 14-17, 2026

Course: Aronomink Golf Club, par 70, 7,394 yards. Newton Square, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia on the northwest side.

Purse: $20,000,000 total, with $3,600,000 to the winner.

Defending Champ: Scottie Scheffler. With no Louisville PD to impede his march to victory, thee world’s #1 gradually built up a 5 shot lead over the first 3 days, until he didn’t. Scheffler played uninspired early Sunday, while Jon Rahm heated up. About 2.5 hours later, those roles reversed, Scottie returned to form, and Rahm folded like a LIV event in New Orleans.

Fun Fact: Jordan Spieth can win the career grand slam with a win, having already captured a British, US Open, and Masters. Gary Player won his first PGA Championship at Aronomink in 1962 – after Arnold Palmer won the Masters, then Jack Nicklaus won the US Open and Palmer captured the British Open. The Big 3 showed up that year.

TV Times: Extended coverage since it’s a major, but also a little different lineup. ESPN has Thursday’s coverage from noon ET through 7 pm, then it switches over to ESPN2 for another hour. Friday is straight ESPN mothership from noon – 8 pm ET. Saturday and Sunday are 10 am ET – 1 pm on ESPN, then 1-7 pm ET on CBS. There are some extended streaming options early in the week on ESPN+, and then some featured groups, etc. on ESPN+ during the main broadcast times.

‘Dawgs in the Field: 6. Brian Harman, Harris English, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Keith Mitchell, Sepp Straka.

In terms of players, remember that this is the championship put on by the PGA of America, not the PGA Tour. As the organization that credentials and supports club professionals, 20 of these working stiffs are in the field. That’s right, most of these 20 are guys running the pro shop and supervising the Tuesday Night Ladies League at your local course. And yes, Michael “Blockie” Block is one of them (google him – better than googling Cignetti).

Bryson DeChambeau will be there and probably petulant. Jon Rahm will be there looking for a fight (cut him some slack – his employer may be going out of business). Rory McIlroy will be as light and relaxed as possible, and his wife might show that she cares. Brooks Koepka will be having a good time but not look like it. The field will also include former PGA Champions and totally-not-forgotten players like Shaun Micheel, Martin Kaymer, YE Yang, Jason Dufner, and Jimmy Walker.

Aronomink is an old-school Donald Ross course. At just over 7,300 yards it is the shortest PGA in several years. Plus the fairways are fairly generous. Add in that this is golf in the Northeast where courses are still soft early in the golfing season, and we could see some low scores.

The main defense this track has are typical Donald Ross greens. The course went through a redesign a few years ago to restore the original Ross shapes and contours. And the greens have contours in spades. One of the best amateurs in golf history, Jay Sigel, played here regularly and purportedly said “don’t shoot at the pin – shoot at quadrants” in reference to putting your ball on a safe part of the green to reduce the risk of an impossible putt or short-siding yourself into a bogey.

We’ve got a traditional backdrop to a traditional major, played at a semi-traditional time of year. And like tradition, a bunch of former ‘Dawgs making up one of the best fields in the world of golf. Enjoy all the spoiled good walks, and as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

If you’re of a certain age, you may remember the SNL skit Taco Town, a satirical send up of American restaurants’ tendency to embiggen portion sizes until they challenge the very concept of human dignity. In the sketch’s most memorable line, a babyfaced Andy Samberg yells “Pizza! Now that’s what I call a taco!”

I yelled that same thing myself with the recent news that the NCAA basketball tournament is expanding to 76 teams starting next year. I’m not terribly sentimental about college basketball since I only watch it in the spring as tourney time nears, but this is a craven decision that no fan wants and that will only make the sport worse and less interesting. It signals, once again, a growth-at-all-costs mindset on the part of the sport’s leadership (meaning Greg Sankey and Tony Petitti) with no regard for the fans or the student-athletes (are we still calling them that?).

What concerns me more is that this probably means a 24-team football playoff is inevitable. 

Realistically, the 24-team format was probably a foregone conclusion as soon as the BCS shuffled off this mortal coil. I suppose we should count our blessings that it took more than a decade for the greedy vampire squids who run this sport to decide to woodchipper it beyond recognition. If you’re in favor of a bigger playoff, I won’t try to change your mind. But as I remain a disciple of Senator Blutarsky, here are my reasons for skepticism. 

The Regular Season Is Meaningless (for Some Teams)

On this week’s episode of Split Zone Duo, Bill Connelly said that a 24-team playoff means Ohio State will never play another meaningful regular season game again. The same is probably true for a dozen other major brands in the sport who are never going to be in danger of missing the playoff. Even as a fan of a team in that group, that’s bad!

The traditional narrative about college football is that it had the Most Important Regular Season of any sport because so few teams earned a title shot. For most of the sport’s history, a team had almost no margin for error if it wanted to fulfill its greatest ambitions. Now, with 24 spots, mulligans for the bluebloods will abound. Losing to a rival may sting, but it won’t derail a season like it once did. Of course, thanks to NIL and more player freedom, a dark horse may break through — Indiana is the reigning champion, after all — but more chances for established powers with better player development systems and better prep recruiting will likely serve to consolidate titles in the same hands. 

I’m not saying we have to stuff the genie all the way back in the bottle, but 12 playoff spots is enough. Sometimes we need a postseason without Ohio State, Alabama, and even GASP Georgia in it for the games to have stakes. 

It’s Not About Inclusion

I think most people are cynical enough about the motives of college football leadership to know that the expanded playoff isn’t designed to give the G6 more opportunities. But take a look at the final CFP rankings from last year. There are only three G6 teams on the list, with two of them ranked below an 8-4 Iowa team despite having fewer losses. Plus, the committee has already implemented rule changes to prevent two G6 teams from ever making the 12-team field again after the debacle with Duke winning and ACC and Notre Dame getting left out last year.

Sankey and Petitti aren’t going to advocate for a bigger playoff so they can see Navy or East Carolina vying for a championship. In a 24-team field, spots 18 through 24 are primarily going to an 8-4 Mizzou team. What you’re going to get is the Reliaquest Bowl rebranded as a playoff game.

The Expanded Playoff Won’t Solve Coach Firings/Buyouts

One of the reasons I’m most certain that expansion is coming is because coaches are consolidating around the idea. That’s probably because they believe a bigger playoff means better job security. Coaches can point to making the playoff field as evidence of success for their program to engender goodwill and keep themselves employed. 

Well, coaches, I have bad news for you. When you take this job, you’re holding a wolf by the ears. What the boosters want is a championship, not making the field, and they behave as responsibly with their money as a sailor on shore leave. Gone are the days where a Mark Richt-type will get a decade-plus to deliver a national title. 

Do you think I’m wrong about this? Well, let’s look at some recent trends. Gus Malzahn set a record with a buyout of just over $21 million when Auburn fired him at the end of the Covid season in 2020. That’s after he nearly won a national championship in his first year and almost made the playoff again in 2017 to say nothing of his work as OC there prior to his head coaching stint. Since then, Jimbo Fisher, Brian Kelly, James Franklin, and Mark Stoops have all eclipsed that total. Fisher has a national championship, Kelly is the winningest coach in the history of one of college football’s legacy programs, Franklin is the second-winningest coach in Penn State history, and Stoops is the winngest coach in Kentucky history. But none of them won a title at that current school, and that’s what mattered.

One team out of 138 can win a championship each year. Everybody else is in danger of the pink slip, and making the tournament as a 15 seed isn’t going to save you for long.

The Controversy Won’t Go Away 

After last season ended with a stupid, engineered controversy, I wrote about how further expansion wouldn’t solve the problem. There is no way to objectively determine a champion in a sport with this bizarre structure. That’s the whole point! If anything, expanding the playoff will just make the arguments worse and more annoying.

I don’t know what it will take to get me to stop watching college football, but I have a feeling I’m going to find out.

Good Thursday afternoon, Dawg fans! The Georgia Diamond Dawgs continue to assert themselves as one of the elite programs in the country, and with the end of the regular season rapidly approaching, the timing couldn’t be better. Sitting at 38-11 on the season with an 18-6 conference record, Georgia is currently riding a six-game winning streak, fueled by back-to-back conference series wins over the Ole Miss Rebels and Missouri Tigers, along with a midweek victory over Troy.

Over a seven-game stretch, the Dawgs’ offense has continued to be downright punishing, plating sixty-four runs while the pitching staff, which has been a story of growth all season, surrendered just twenty-six. That kind of run differential is a sign of a team that’s heating up at exactly the right time, and the arms finding their groove heading into the postseason is about as encouraging as it gets.

Offensively, the story remains the same, in the best possible way. Daniel Jackson and Tre Phelps continue to be the heartbeat of this lineup, and both are having seasons that deserve national recognition. Jackson has been ascending draft boards at a remarkable pace; where he might have been projected as a mid-to-late-teens round selection entering the year, he now has a legitimate shot at first-round consideration in this year’s MLB Draft. That kind of jump doesn’t happen without consistent, elite production.

The two are running nearly parallel stat lines, especially in terms of batting average, Phelps sitting at .372, Jackson at .373, and together they’ve combined for forty home runs on the season, with Jackson accounting for twenty-three of those and Phelps adding seventeen. That kind of power-and-average combination from two players in the same lineup is exceptional at any level, and Georgia fans should be savoring every at-bat remaining.

Georgia will now shift their focus toward closing out the regular season on a high note. The Dawgs open a crucial three-game home series against the LSU Tigers at Foley Field tomorrow night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET. LSU is never an easy out, making this series a meaningful measuring stick as Georgia tries to position itself for a deep postseason run.

After that, the Dawgs head to the Plains to take on Auburn in another three-game series, the final chapter of the regular season. From there, it’s postseason baseball. The SEC Tournament is set for May 19th-24th, and Georgia will have their sights locked on something historic: the program’s first SEC Tournament Championship.

Hope all of you have an incredible rest of your week and weekend. As always, GO DAWGS!!!

The PGA Tour heads to Miami this week, the first time playing at Doral since 2016. The reasons for not playing at a decidedly Tour-level venue are both varied and soaked in nuance, but we’ll skip those and just address the basics.

Tournament: Cadillac Championship, April 30-May 3, 2026.

Course: Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster Course; par 72; 7,739 yards. It used to be just the Blue course, but got renamed like everything else at the property (the name is justified – the course is a big track, and the 18th hole is a beast of a par 4, usually into the wind). Just outside downtown Miami, but practically across the street from Miami International Airport. You will both see and hear planes on the broadcast.

Purse: $20 million, with $4 million to the winner. Yes, another Signature Event aka cash grab for the rich.

Defending Champ: Adam Scott. The Boss clothing-sponsored and part-time supermodel won the WGC Cadillac Championship 10 years ago. Remember the WGC events? Man, I miss those simple times.

Fun Fact: Winners on this course are a Who’s Who of golf history. Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Lee Trevino, Nick Faldo, Tom Weiskopf, and many other hall of famers. It also boasts Craig Parry – another Aussie winner. Parry was a decent player 20 years ago, and won the tournament when he holed a fairway shot on the tough 18th. The best is that holier-than-thou broadcaster Johnny Miller had been bashing Parry’s swing all week on TV. And then ate some crow late Sunday.

TV Times: Thursday and Friday are on Golf Channel from 3-7 pm ET. Golf Channel also has the early coverage Saturday and Sunday from noon-3 pm, when CBS (okay, Paramount too) takes over from 3-7 pm ET.

‘Dawgs in the Field: It’s an 80 man limited field, but we have 5 former Bulldogs qualified and ready to tee it up. Russell Henley, Harris English, Brian Harman, Sepp Straka, and Keith Mitchell. A good finish by Mitchell will qualify him for the PGA Championship in 2 weeks.

We had the Masters 3 weeks ago, a Signature Event in Hilton Head right after, the fun but weird team event in NoLa last week, and another Signature Event in Charlotte next week. The PGA Championship is the week after that. Someone really needs to rework the PGA Tour calendar.

Because of the weird schedule, and possibly some personal beliefs, the #2 and #3 players in the world are skipping (Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick) as well as a few others in the top 30. But most of the top sticks are here, including Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, and a host of crowd favorites like Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth. But we know who you’re really rooting for.

So tune in to see if our boys can put some Red & Black on the Blue Monster. Enjoy, and as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

Good Friday morning, Dawg fans!!

The Georgia Bulldogs have wrapped up another demanding stretch of SEC play as the regular season begins to wind down, and the margin for error continues to shrink. With just 13 games remaining, every inning now carries postseason implications for a team with its sights set firmly on Omaha.

Over the past two weeks, the Diamond Dawgs faced a challenging slate that tested both their consistency and resilience. Georgia battled through two three-game SEC series against Florida and Arkansas, while also squeezing in midweek matchups against East Tennessee State and a high-profile, top-five showdown with in-state rival Georgia Tech. Across those eight contests, the Bulldogs posted a 4–4 record, a mark that reflects both their explosive potential and lingering inconsistencies.

At the plate, Georgia continues to prove why it is regarded as one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the country. The Bulldogs erupted for an eye-popping 64 runs during this stretch, highlighted by a dominant 26-run outburst in the series finale against Arkansas. Performances like that continue to showcase the lineup’s ability to overwhelm solid pitching staffs and flip a series on its head in a matter of innings.

However, the same cannot be said for the pitching staff, which remains the primary concern as postseason play approaches. Georgia surrendered 69 runs over those eight games, including 10 or more runs allowed in half of them. For a team with national championship aspirations, those numbers are difficult to ignore. While the offense has more than held its own, the inconsistency on the mound has created a dangerous imbalance that could prove costly against top-tier competition.

Despite the uneven stretch, Georgia still finds itself in an enviable position. The Bulldogs hold a strong 32–10 overall record, including an impressive 13–5 mark in SEC play. That resume has them sitting at No. 5 in the national rankings, firmly in the conversation as one of the top teams in college baseball heading into the final weeks of the regular season.

Individually, the Dawgs continue to be powered by standout performances from Daniel Jackson and Tre Phelps, who have emerged as two of the premier players in the country. Both are making compelling cases for the Golden Spikes Award, college baseball’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. Jackson has been electric, hitting .378 with 20 home runs, combining elite contact with game-changing power. Phelps has been just as impactful, batting .370 with 14 home runs while boasting an impressive .492 on-base percentage. His ability to reach base has been amplified by his toughness at the plate, as he has been hit by pitches 25 times this season, tied for the most in college baseball.

Looking ahead, the Diamond Dawgs now turn their attention to another critical SEC road test as they travel to Oxford, Mississippi, for a three-game series against Ole Miss. Game one is set for tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, and it presents another opportunity for Georgia to tighten up its pitching and build momentum heading into the final stretch.

As always, it’s a great time to be a Georgia Bulldog. Be sure to tune in not only to this weekend’s series, but also to rounds two and three of the NFL Draft tonight, where several former Dawgs are expected to hear their names called.

Have a great Friday and an even better weekend, GO DAWGS!!!

There was some doubt whether Georgia would even have a player taken in the first round of tonight’s NFL Draft. Monroe Freeling erased that doubt when he went #19 overall to the Carolina Panthers.

Freeling’s college career at Georgia was defined by both early responsibility and sustained consistency. Those two traits explain why he could have a solid NFL career.

Freeling was unexpectedly thrust into a big role as a true freshman in 2023, seeing action in eight games for the defending national champions. But he quickly proved he could handle elite SEC competition. That’s a true rarity for offensive linemen who typically require longer development timelines, even blue chip prospects like Freeling. His immediate impact in Athens was made possible by a combination of advanced technique and mental readiness, particularly in pass protection and assignment discipline. 

Across subsequent seasons, Freeling established himself as one of the most reliable pieces on the Bulldog offensive line. His combination of size (6’7, 318), strength, and technical refinement has made him a cornerstone player rather than a rotational contributor. Importantly, his consistency (not just peak performance) has elevated his draft profile, as NFL evaluators often prioritize linemen who minimize mistakes over those who flash intermittently. 

With limited roster spots scouts also prioritize guys who can play multiple positions, and that’s definitely Freeling. While his work in Athens was mainly at left tackle, he also cross-trained at both guard spots. His ability to realistically play at least three of the five OL spots is both a testament to his football IQ and a huge selling point.

Projecting forward, Freeling’s NFL potential appears significant. His early starting experience against top-tier competition mirrors the developmental path of many recent first-round offensive linemen. His polish and toughness as likely reduce the risk associated with high dollar first round offensive line prospects. While Freeling may not have the same ceiling as former Alabama tackle Kadyn Proctor, I’d argue he has a much higher floor because he doesn’t have the same conditioning and work ethic concerns scouts highlighted with Proctor. Freeling might not be a perennial Pro Bowler, but I’m confident he also won’t be a first round bust. Congrats, Monroe, and…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Few players in recent Georgia football history have been by turns as exhilarating and maddening to watch as Daylen Everette. I’m happy for Pittsburgh Steelers fans to witness first hand exactly what I mean now that the Norfolk, Virginia product is headed to the Steel City.

Everette projects as something of a developmental prospect, but with definite starting cornerback potential. He arrives with clear NFL-caliber tools, but some technical refinement still needed. At Georgia, Everette was a three year starter who appeared in 55 games (41 starts), compiling 150 tackles, 5 interceptions, and 21 pass deflections while earning First-Team All-SEC honors in 2025. His production reflects consistency more than elite ball-hawking volume, though he showed a knack for stepping up in big moments, including multiple SEC Championship interceptions. 

That’s to say nothing of the Daylen Everette-shaped indention Quinn Ewers still has in his torso.

Athletically, Everette checks all the key NFL boxes. He ran a 4.38-second 40 yard dash at the NFL Combine, along blasting off with a 37.5-inch vertical and 10-foot-4 broad jump. Those numbers confirm what Bulldog fans have seen on the field: his explosive speed and lower-body power. These traits translate to strong recovery ability and closing burst in coverage. His strengths lie in zone awareness, physicality in run support, and prototype CB1 size (6’1”, 195 lbs), allowing him to disrupt passing lanes and match up with bigger receivers. 

However, his weaknesses cap his immediate ceiling. Everette can struggle with hip fluidity and transitions in man coverage, making him vulnerable to sharp route runners and double moves. Everette’s technique can also be inconsistent and occasional lapses in coverage discipline contributed to uneven play (and a full 32% of my game day swearing) during his UGA career.

Overall, Everette’s NFL potential right now is likely that of a scheme-dependent CB2 with upside, particularly in a zone-heavy system. But his physical talent is next level, and his issue isn’t ability, it’s consistency. If he hones his craft Everett also could develop into not just a reliable starter but a potential lockdown corner in the City of Bridges. Until later…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Another Georgia Bulldog has found a new home in the 2026 NFL Draft. Wide receiver Colbie Young was taken in the fourth round by the Cincinnati Bengals. He is the third pass catcher from the Dawgs to be taken in this draft behind Zachariah Branch and Oscar Delp.

Young came to Athens in 2024 after a stint at the University of Miami. His 6’4 frame was intriguing for Mike Bobo and the Georgia offense. He quickly became a reliable target for quarterback Carson Beck in one-on-one situations, as he scored his first Bulldog touchdown in week one of the 2024 season against Clemson.

During his two seasons in Athens, Young caught 37 passes for 507 yards and three touchdowns. His numbers were limited due to a foot injury he suffered during the regular season game against Ole Miss in 2025 and a suspension in 2024 for charges that were eventually dropped.

Beyond his height, Young has shown flashes of explosiveness. At the NFL Combine, he ran a 4.49 40-yard dash. His physicality makes him difficult for defensive backs to bring down. He can also be a deep threat for quarterbacks, as he demonstrated often last season for the Bulldogs.

Young will be entering a crowded receiver room in Cincinnati, with guys like Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins already cemented as Joe Burrow’s top targets. With his tangibles, however, Young could carve out a role for himself with the Bengals as they look to return to the playoffs. We wish Colbie the best of luck as he begins his pro football career!

The New Orleans Saints became the latest NFL team to pilfer the Georgia tight end room in the third round of the NFL Draft on Friday night, selecting Oscar Delp with the 73rd overall pick.

With Delp’s selection, a Georgia tight end has been drafted for the seventh time in eight seasons.

Casual NFL fans may not have seen as much highlight-wise of Delp during his Georgia career, and sharing time at a position with Brock Bowers part of his time in Athens clearly had a bit to do with that. But in times when Georgia has leaned on the tight end the past few years is when Delp thrived as a blocker and receiver.

“I think it’s the most important thing you can do as a tight end is to be able to block and bring that to your game,” Delp told Nola.com “I love being able to dominate another man, and in a successful offense, you have to have a tight end that can dominate the perimeter and own the C gap.”

It’s also of note that Delp was not targeted more than 32 times in a single season at Georgia, so the thinking is may be what he showed in Athens could be magnified even more with additional passes thrown Delp’s way.

That, combined with an impressive pro day that included a 4.49 40-yard dash time makes Delp a nice pickup for New Orleans, a team seeking to beef up its offensive arsenal and build on quarterback Tyler Shough’s growth.

Someone with Delp’s measurables and capabilities plays right into that agenda for the Saints.

Go Dawgs!

Christen Miller steps into the New Orleans Saints facility carrying more than a duffel bag. He brings the hardened identity of the Georgia Bulldogs defensive front.

Perhaps no player in the past three seasons has epitomized the blue collar work ethic of that group quite like Miller. He waited his turn behind future first rounders Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt, and Jalen Carter. Like them, his college numbers didn’t scream superstardom: 64 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, and 4 sacks across four seasons. But they told a subtler story of control, discipline, and reliability in the trenches.

At his best, Miller is immovable. His excellent lower body strength allow him to anchor well against double teams, clog rushing lanes, and free linebackers to make plays. His hand placement is consistent, and his awareness against the run makes him a natural fit for early downs in the NFL.

But the league demands more than strength. Miller’s biggest question mark follows him from Athens to New Orleans: pass rushing. His burst off the line is good, but not super explosive for a defender of his size, and he can stall once initial contact is made. Too often, plays end with him holding ground rather than collapsing the pocket. For a defensive tackle hoping to elevate his role from a rotational player to a three down fixture, that matters.

Still, the Saints see something worth shaping. In flashes, Miller has shown he can push the pocket and disrupt timing, even if it doesn’t always translate into sacks. If he develops a deeper pass rush arsenal his impact could expand quickly.

For now, Miller projects as a dependable interior player who does the dirty work, absorbs contact, and quietly makes everyone around him look better.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

CJ Allen was one of the leaders of the Georgia Bulldogs’ defense last season. Now, he will be taking his talents to the Indianapolis Colts thanks to the announcement from former Colts’ punter, College Gameday host, part time WWE commentator/wrestler, and host of a weekly sports show with his namesake, Pat Mcafee. He will look to be the next great Georgia linebacker in the NFL.

Allen, a native of Barnesville, GA, burst onto the scene in 2023. The then-true freshman was thrown into the starting lineup against top 10-ranked Ole Miss after starting linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson suffered an injury the week prior. He proceeded to lead the team with nine tackles and a sack on his way to being named SEC Freshman of the Week.

He would only improve over the next two seasons. In 2025, he led the team with 88 tackles and eight tackles for loss. He also made one of the biggest plays of the season against Auburn, when he punched the football out of Jackson Arnold’s hands to force a fumble to prevent the Tigers from taking a 17-0 lead into halftime.

NFL.com’s scouting report wrote that he “plays with toughness and control, sorting through run fits with patience and leverage in pursuit. He has average trigger quickness and pursuit speed, which forces him to work harder to get to junction points when facing climbing blockers. He has adequate size and strength with good hand strikes to play off blocks. He doesn’t blow up blocks or disrupt on the other side of the line all that often, though. He’s an effective blitzer with average man-cover talent and is capable on all three downs. Allen is a dependable starting Mike ‘backer who raises the floor of a defense.”

Allen will look to help improve Indy’s defense, which ranked 23rd in total defense last season. His leadership abilities could be crucial for the Colts as they seek to return to a Super Bowl for the first time since 2010. Congratulations CJ and best wishes for a long and productive NFL career!

Losing is no fun.

If it’s to the North Avenue Trade School in any aspect of competition, it’s even worse.

In one respect, it was a let-down that two top-five teams faced off Tuesday night at Truist Park and that it was not able to be watched on TV.

On the other – perhaps it was for the best that Georgia fans did not have to see what looks to be the weakness of this team – the depth of the bullpen in a 14-4 loss.

It’s tough to swallow as fans of The University of Georgia, but at the end of it, games like this don’t really matter. It’s why in the past when Georgia and Tech had games impacted by weather, little effort was made to reschedule them.

What does matter? Big conference series’ that’ll decide whether or not Georgia can gain a national seed. Both Georgia and the Rebels are slotted in at least one recent projection to be regional hosts. I’m pretty sure that a series win helps a lot more than a pedestrian midweek series.

Per Baseball America, the Dawgs are currently in line as a regional host and No. 7 national seed. Five spots lower, though, and that national seed goes away as well as hosting a super regional.

Florida lost to Jacksonville this week for the second time this season, but odds are fairly good that if you stack them up weekend starters vs. weekend starters, UF prevails.

In the end, midweek games are a good chance to do things well and be in good shape for when it matters – weekend series in the nation’s toughest conference.

Go Dawgs!

Zachariah Branch enters the 2026 NFL Draft as one of the more polarizing wide receiver prospects on the board. A former five star recruit who starred at both Southern Cal and Georgia, Branch combines elite athletic traits with a somewhat unconventional (some would say uneven) production profile, making his evaluation highly dependent on projection and scheme fit.

College Production and Statistical Profile

Branch’s college career can be split pretty neatly into two phases: his early explosiveness at USC and a more refined, high-volume role at Georgia. Over three seasons, he totaled 159 receptions for 1,634 yards and 9 touchdowns across 37 games. 

That’s a pretty solid record of production against some of the best competition college football has to offer. At USC in 2024 Branch recorded 47 catches for 503 yards and 1 touchdown, averaging 10.7 yards per reception. While those numbers were solid, they represented a bit of a letdown for some from expectations after a standout freshman campaign in which he caught 31 passes for 322 yards and averaged over 22 yards of punt returns per game. His usage included screens, quick passes, and significant work in the return game, reflected in his 699 all-purpose yards that season. But still, USC fans were curiously

After transferring to Georgia for 2025, Branch saw a major uptick in both volume and responsibility. He led the ’‘Dawgs with 81 receptions for 811 yards and 6 touchdowns, establishing himself as a primary offensive weapon in the SEC. This production demonstrated his ability to handle a larger workload against elite competition, though his yards-per-catch figure remained modest, reinforcing his short-area usage profile.

Branch’s most defining traits are elite athleticism and playmaking ability in space. He possesses top-tier acceleration, change of direction, and speed, evidenced by a 4.35-second 40 yard dash at the NFL Combine. These traits translate directly to his effectiveness after the catch, where he can turn short throws into explosive gains.

Another major strength is his versatility. Branch has experience as both a receiver and return specialist, winning the Jet Award as a freshman and contributing in multiple phases of the game. His all-purpose skill set makes him attractive to NFL teams looking for a multi-faceted weapon rather than a traditional wide receiver.

In addition, Branch shows strong vision and instincts with the ball in his hands. Scouts consistently highlight his ability to navigate traffic, set up blocks, and maximize yardage on designed touches. This makes him particularly dangerous in modern offenses that emphasize screens, motion, and run-pass option concepts.

Despite his dynamic traits, Branch’s draft potential is limited by several concerns. The most obvious is his size. At an official 5’9″ and 177 pounds, he lacks the ideal physical profile of a typical outside receiver, which raises questions about durability and his ability to win in contested situations, especially downfield. It is worth noting that Branch’s size hasn’t been an issue in the run game, where he’s a tenacious blocker. But he will struggle one-on-one against bigger pro defensive backs.

His receiving skill set is also not pristine. Branch has a tendency to focus on yards after the catch before securing the ball. Drops and ball-tracking issues could limit his reliability at the next level.

Route running is another area of concern. At times in 2025 Mike Bobo used Branch in screen situations that manufactured touches rather than running a full route tree, and his production was heavily skewed toward short-area targets. This creates uncertainty about whether he can get separation consistently against NFL defensive backs on intermediate and deep routes.

Finally, Branch’s projected role is somewhat narrow. He’s like a slot receiver or a situational player, at least early in his career, rather than a true WR1 or even WR2 option. That limits his ceiling unless he significantly develops his technical skills, and the size concerns will always be there.

NFL Projection and Team Fits

Branch is likely a Day 2 pick, going in the second or third round, though opinions vary depending on how teams value his unique skill set. Some analysts rank him among the top wide receivers in the class based on production and pure athleticism, while others see him as a more specialized contributor.

The New York Giants are a logical fit due to their preference for smaller, explosive receivers and creative offensive schemes. Branch’s ability to operate in space aligns well with offenses that emphasize quick passing and yards after catch. However the Giants don’t currently have a 3rd round pick, and I do not see Branch as a 2nd round selection. The Big Blue would need to move into the 3rd to snatch him, but I wouldn’t rule it out.

Other potential fits include teams that prioritize offensive creativity and motion-heavy systems. The San Francisco 49ers could maximize his skill set, given their track records of utilizing versatile playmakers in space. Similarly, teams needing special teams impact alongside offensive upside may view him as a dual-threat contributor. The Kansas City Chiefs fall into this category, and it’s not hard to see Branch in the type of speedy role Tyreek Hill has ably filled, along with Mecole Hardman before him.

Overall Outlook

Branch’s draft outlook ultimately depends on how teams weigh his elite athleticism against his developmental needs. Yes, there is also that thing in Athens with the sidewalk and the smirking. I don’t think it will be a factor. The circumstances of that arrest are so preposterous that they could only happen in Athens, and Kirby Smart has been effusive in his praise of Branch’s work ethic and character since he arrived in the Classic City. That carries weight with a lot of folks in the League.

Branch’s ceiling is that of a dynamic offensive weapon capable of changing games with limited touches, similar to hybrid receivers who thrive in space-oriented systems. However, his floor is that of a situational player who struggles to expand beyond a gadget role.

If he lands with a creative offensive coordinator willing to design touches the way Georgia did in 2025 and gradually expand his route tree, Branch could outperform his draft position and become a high impact player. Conversely, in a more traditional system that demands polished route running and physicality, he may struggle to carve out a consistent role.

Zachariah Branch then represents the classic high-variance prospect: electrifying with the ball in his hands, but still a work in progress as a complete, every down receiver.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

The Georgia Bulldogs will wrap up spring practice 2026 this afternoon in the Classic City with the traditional G Day Game. The Red and the Black will square off in Sanford Stadium at 1:00 pm Athens time. While there’s no television coverage per se, the game will be streamed on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.

If you’re watching expecting to see a lot of familiar faces, you will be disappointed. The Bulldogs brought in roughly 37 new players from the high school ranks and transfer portal.

Seth already brought you a list of players to keep an eye on, LugnutDawg has the run down of what to look for on defense. And earlier today we went over what to look for on offense.

This thread will be the hub for updates and commentary throughout the afternoon. Y’all grab a beverage if your choice and pull up a chair.

Now let’s have a healthy, stress free, injury-free day in the Classic City.

Go ‘‘Dawgs!!!

It’s a warm, sunny morning in Athens, Georgia, just perfect for a little spring football between the hedges. Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs will square off against…, Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs, this afternoon in Athens. LugnutDawg already brought you a handful of things to keep an eye on defensively. Let’s take a look at some of the key points to keep an eye on on the offensive side of the football.

#1 Somebody’s got to play wide receiver. The Bulldogs are losing six out of their top seven pass catchers from 2025. London Humphreys is the only returning wideout with more than 10 receptions. And while the ‘Dawgs are loaded at tight end (more on that in a moment) Mike Bobo’s offense only really works if there’s someone to stretch the field vertically and horizontally. Today will be our chance to see young receivers like CJ Wiley, Craig Dandridge, and Thomas Blackshear in their most extensive action. Sophomore Talyn Taylor showed some flashes last year. Could today be a bit of a coming out party for him?

#2 Why couldn’t you play five tight ends at once? If there’s a way to build the whole offense out of tight ends I hope Todd Hartley figures it out. Lawson Luckie returns as an All-SEC candidate, and Elyiss Williams should be even more of a matchup nightmare than he was as a freshman. Jaden Reddell has drawn praise from the coaching staff, and freshman Kaiden Prothro has drawn favorable comparisons to none other than Brock Bowers. I expect we’ll see at least a handful of multiple tight end sets and some downfield passing to the big guys that make Bulldog fans salivate about this unit’s potential.

#3 The quarterback. No, the other one. No, the other, other one. It’s nice to go into spring with Gunner Stockton the clear starter. And if we’re honest, we’ve also got a pretty good bead on what Ryan Puglisi brings to the table as his backup. But I’m curious to see redshirt freshman Ryan Montgomery. Montgomery suffered a serious knee injury as a high school senior in 2024 and sat out G Day last year. But he’s impressed so far this spring with his live arm and maturity in the pocket. Could he show enough to create a real battle with Puglisi for the backup role?

#4 Playing for Peanuts. Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowen’s return as arguably the top Thunder & lightning running back tandem in the SEC. But Dwight “Peanut” Phillips has been an underrated contributor to the offense for each of the last two seasons. I’m curious to see his physical development entering year three, as well as how he might figure in the passing game.

#5 Let’s be upfront about what’s happening up front. Georgia has a new offensive line coach in Phil Rauscher, fortunately Rauscher has a lot of returning material to work with. While the left side of the line loses starters Monroe Freeling and Micah Morris, Drew Bobo returns at center, and a whole boatload of players with experience on the right side are back. This will be our first chance to see how Rauscher redistributes all that bulk. Dontrell Glover has practiced through injuries this spring and may get a break. But I’m curious to see if Juan Gaston is in shape, as well as where Earnest Greene fits into the rotation.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

The 2026 NFL Draft gets rolling this evening in Pittsburgh with the first round selections beginning some time after 5:00.

The odds of any Georgia Bulldogs getting picked this evening are up in the air. Some mock drafts have Monroe Freeling creeping up into the first round for a team looking for a guy who could cut his teeth at guard and eventually take over a tackle slot. Some draft analysts love CJ Allen and think a team with one of the first 32 picks will fall for him as well, while others are worried that his measurables will kick him to day two.

We’ll be here all evening to talk picks. Also head over to SB Nation’s NFL Draft feed. There’ll be news from across the network, and I’ll be chipping in comments and coverage of any Bulldogs whose names are called throughout the weekend.

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Just over three months ago, as I watched Trinidad Chambliss do his best Nightcrawler impression in the Superdome, I unleashed a torrent of profanity that would’ve turned Andrew Dice Clay the color of a firetruck and swore to Quetzalcoatl that 2026 is the year I finally kick my college football habit. Of course, now that we’re coming up on G Day, I’m scouring every source I can find for news about spring practice. 

This weekend, we’ll get our first look at the 2026 iteration of the Georgia Bulldogs. Kirby Smart and company will likely play things pretty close to the vest, of course, but we’ll start to get a sense of what the team will look like. At a minimum, we should be able to tell who’s likely to end up starting come Labor Day weekend based on who gets assigned to the Red squad versus the Black. 

During my time in the Classic City, I used the G Day game to run a scrimmage tailgate to work out the kinks in my process ahead of the fall. With that in mind, this is something of a scrimmage post, knocking the rust off the ol’ blog to gear up for the next season. Here are the five (plus one, kind of) players I’m most interested in seeing this weekend. For the purposes of this exercise, I’m only considering players who will be new to UGA this fall. 

1. Kaiden Prothro, Tight End

You guys remember Brock Bowers? On the off chance you don’t, meet Kaiden Prothro. He’s the highest-rated member of Georgia’s 2026 recruiting class. Like Bowers, he’s technically classified as a tight end, but he’s got a receiver’s skill set. At 6’6” and 230 pounds, he’s a big target for the quarterback, and he excels at making contested catches and breaking tackles with the ball in his hands. And despite his size, he’s deceptively fast once he gets going, which means we could see the welcome return of the Bowers-esque “dumpoff pass that turns into a 75-yard touchdown.” As a testament to his receiving prowess, Prothro finished his high school football career with 66 receiving touchdowns, a record for the state of Georgia. 

Prothro is going to be a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses. If it’s close to him, he’ll probably catch it. And if he catches it, the defense will need more than one guy to get him on the ground. I cannot wait to see him in the Red and Black. 

2. Isiah Canion, Wide Receiver

For my money, the biggest loss from last year’s team is Zach Branch, who’s off to the NFL draft. He had a strong rapport with Gunner Stockton, racking up more than twice as many receiving yards as anyone else on the roster. He combined track star speed with an actual ability to catch the damn ball, something the 2024 receiving corps often struggled with. Thankfully, Stockton offers continuity at the most important position, but someone is going to have to step up at receiver if the passing game is going to avoid taking a step back.

Perhaps that someone will be transfer wide receiver Isiah Canion, newly arrived from just down the road in Atlanta. In his sophomore season for the Engineers, he led the team with four receiving touchdowns. That may not seem like much until you remember Tech’s offense was mostly based around trying to void Haynes King’s warranty in increasingly baroque ways. At 6’4” and 215 pounds, he’s got the size and toolkit of a possession receiver, which makes him well-suited to attacking the middle of the field in the type of passing game Georgia likes to deploy. He doesn’t have Branch’s top-end speed, but he makes up for it in toughness. If Talyn Taylor can take a step forward this year as a deep threat, the two of them will be a formidable one-two punch for any defense. Add in Prothro, and the offense could be extremely explosive.

3. Khamari Brooks, OLB/EDGE

The most frustrating aspect of last year’s otherwise stout Dawgs squad was an inability to generate consistent pressure on the quarterback, most disastrously in the Sugar Bowl when Chambliss managed to escape no matter how many guys were in the backfield. The stats bear this out. In 2024, Georgia sacked the opposing quarterback 37 times. In 2025, that number dropped to 20. The good news is that Chris Cole and Raylen Wilson are both back, but losing CJ Allen and Christen Miller from the defensive front isn’t going to make things any easier.

The plan seemed to be to shore up the pass rush with Auburn transfer Amaris Williams. Unfortunately, he suffered a season-ending injury in spring practice. In his absence, freshman Khamari Brooks has an opportunity to make an immediate impact. As a testament to his athleticism, he played both wideout and linebacker at North Oconee High School, earning a four-star rating as a recruit. On the defensive side of the ball, he excelled as a pass rush specialist, tallying eight tackles, including 1.5 sacks in the 2024 state championship game. He’s listed at 6’3” and 245 pounds, so he’s going to be a problem to block, and his technique is already quite sharp for an incoming freshman. As he adds weight and sharpens his abilities, he’s only going to get more dangerous.

Last year, Ellis Robinson IV started the season with some growing pains, getting burned badly in coverage on a big stage. But the coaching staff stuck with him, and by season’s end, he was among the most valuable players on the defense. It’s entirely possible we see something similar with Brooks this year, and I’m very excited about getting a first look at him soon.

4. Khalil Barnes, Safety

With Daylen Everette off to the NFL and Joenel Aguero relocating to Oxford, the back end of the defense will need some help. Say hello to Khalil Barnes, who fled the sinking ship S.S. Clemson to join a functional team to boost his draft stock ahead of his senior year. He established himself as a ball hawky safety in his first two years there, notching seven interceptions across two seasons. He took a bit of a step back last year, but 2025 Clemson was so juiceless it’s hard to say whether that was on him or the team’s badly broken development program. 

We’ll find out when Barnes comes to Athens. He’s an aggressive playmaker over the middle who will make a receiver pay for hesitating on a ball. That aggressiveness means he gets burned sometimes (though what safety doesn’t?), but his speed means he can run down receivers and running backs who get behind him. That speed and his physicality also mean that you can bring him on a disguised blitz, which should provide some more options for generating QB pressure too. 

5. Wade Register, Punter

Maybe this is shades of Vince Dooley worrying about the long snapper (or snappah, if you prefer), but we’ve been spoiled with Brett Thorson handling punting duties. He was extremely reliable, which is vital for one of the most high-leverage moments in a game. Punting is like my lack of a real retirement plan: I don’t wanna think about it. Fortunately, incoming freshman Wade Register was the top-ranked punter in the state of Georgia by most rating services, and it’ll be good to get a look at his abilities in a semi-live-fire situation. 

Of course, now that I type it out, I realize “I’m excited about seeing the punting” is the kind of thing only an absolute degenerate would say. But it’s true!  

6. Bonus! Tie: Zach Lewis, Zykie Helton, Tyreek Jemison, Graham Houston, Ekene Ogboko

Another Achilles’ heel for the 2025 Dawgs was the inconsistent offensive line play. Whether due to injuries or personnel problems, Stacy Searels just couldn’t seem to figure out a regular combination up front. Two of the group’s better players, Monroe Freeling and Micah Morris, are gone too. Hopefully, these five new linemen can get some playing time and start getting up to speed.

What piques your interest this Saturday?

By no means is any G-Day scrimmage a be-all end-all of where things stand, but it is a good outward sign of how the fabric of any Georgia team is coming together as the summer draws near. 

The defensive side of the ball will be no exception as Saturday’s spectacle wraps up spring practice in Athens. 

Here are some key things to watch for on Saturday, either in person, watching at home, or in other ways that we cannot legally endorse.

On-field chemistry

Georgia’s defense was a ride last year, and a bit too adventurous early-on.

As headache-inducing as stretches of the Alabama and Tennessee game were, there were also the Ole Miss and Texas games, for instance. Finding footing early this fall will be key, so it’ll be of note to see how the back-and-forth communication on the field is and if there are many blown coverages or missed assignments or not. If we see a good number on Saturday, it’ll show how far off away from getting on the same page this group is. 

How much do we really want to see the starters?

We already know what the KJ Boldens and Raylen Wilson of this defense can do. If you are aiming to see what younger or newer faces can do, how much do you really need to see well-established players in what’s a part of multiple weeks of spring practice? 

Are injuries a silver-lining? 

Spring ball is about seeing what the up-and-coming part of the roster can do. Given that, could the injuries to Jordan Hall and Amaris Williams be a blessing in disguise? If you want to see what the second and third group of a rotation can do, that task is a lot easier now with a handful ofvplayers sidelined.

Bigger roles for Dawgs on the rise

All that leads to by far the most exciting part of G-Day. For those who either are new to the roster or played sparingly, they now get their chance for more of the spotlight. The list is here each year of players that were highly touted, and it’s settings like this where you hope to see how much of that promise will be realized soon.

Isaiah Gibson and Zayden Walker absolutely come to mind in the front seven, and it’s intriguing to see how this defensive staff will try to use Khamari Brooks from nearby North Oconee as well.

In the secondary, we all know what Ellis Robinson can do. But how will Clemson transfer Khalil Robinson look within this group at safety. The same goes for Braylon Coney and Gentry Williams are corner, opposite of Robinson. 

So set a nice table for Saturday. The spread of appetizers going into the summer look to be very tasty.

Go Dawgs!

The highest holy week of Georgia sports…not related to football, of course, is upon us.

No, it’s not laughing at Tennessee or Florida fans whose only path to contending for a national title is by pulling out old VHS tapes.

Nope, it’s the Tradition unlike any other – The Masters.

But one of the layers of the pageantry that will grace Augusta National this time of year is off the course in the annual Champions Dinner.

This year’s, served in honor of Rory McIlroy is highlighted by yellowfin tuna carpaccio.

And then there was last year’s version where at the request of Scottie Scheffler was basically…a Sunday night at Texas Roadhouse

Personally speaking, yours truly would have a menu of fried shrimp from O’Steen’s in St. Augustine as an appetizer, entrees being a pig sandwich from Fincher’s BBQ as well as some Chicken Parmesan with it all being finished off by an orange creamsicle cheesecake.

So, what would be on your Master’s menu? Weigh in below!

Within the span of a weekend, Georgia’s women’s basketball program saw one coach exit and found their replacement.

After Saturday morning’s announcement that the school had mutually agreed to a parting of ways with Katie Abramson-Henderson after a four-year Mark of 69-59 with two NCAA Tournament berths, Ayla Guzzardo was announced as the fourth full-time head coach in program history.

If it’s a coach on an upward trajectory that Georgia desires, it certainly has that in Guzzardo. She’s coming off a season in which she guided McNeese State to a school-record 29 wins. But there’s more to it than that for Guzzardo, as it also stood as the greatest single-season turnaround in the history of NCAA women’s basketball.

The Cowgirls were 10-21 the year before her arrival a season ago. Before that, Guzzardo guided Southeast Louisiana to a 47-9 record over her final three seasons there, a run that included an average of 22 wins and an NCAA Tournament berth.

Given her ties to Louisiana, it’s not a shock that one of her contemporaries is that of current LSU head coach Kim Mulkey.

Guzzardo isn’t exactly having to take on a massive rebuild for Georgia. Yes, it has some portal losses, as is the case in the current NIL landscape, but this team is coming off a season in which it went 22-10, its most wins since 20171-8. But the other sentiment is that just getting to the NCAAs should not be the ceiling.

For sure, there is portal work to do with Trinity Turner, Mia Woolfolk, Zhen Craft, and Angie Gonzalez having announced plans to transfer.

Even if players do not stay put as long, there are way too many good players in-state for a program to just be happy to be postseason-bound, and the last part of the quote from Georgia Athletic Director Josh Brooks on Saturday morning may be telling:

“We have an outstanding group of alumni and a dedicated fan base. Our search for a new head coach will focus on someone who will carry on this legacy and connect with our student-athletes, alumni and supporters in an impactful way.” 

Is Guzzardo the right person to elevate the level of this program to that?

Time will tell.

Go Dawgs!

The good news for fans of Georgia Bulldog golfers is that four of the six former or future ‘Dawgs in the Masters field will be playing the weekend. 

The bad news is that they are all playing for second place. 

Rory McIlroy turned in a 65 on Friday, including one of the most dominant back nines in recent Augusta history to take a commanding six stroke lead into the weekend. A pair of Georgia alums, Russell Henley, and Harris English, sit 12 strokes back at even par. That however, is only six strokes back from 2nd place, where Sam Burns and Patrick Reed sit at -6. There’s still plenty of time for either or both of them to play their way into a top ten finish and a handsome payday. 

Sepp Straka sits at +1, tied for 32nd. And Brian Harman shrugged off a rough Thursday to put up an impressive three under par 69 on Friday to make the cut at +4 (47th). Again, after carding a seven over 79 just playing their way into weekend is a real accomplishment.

The news wasn’t so good for Bubba Watson and Thomasville native Mason Howell. Bubba’s 73 on Friday wasn’t quite enough to make it to the weekend, as he was among the first cut of golfers to miss the weekend field at +5. Howell, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion and an 18 year old incoming freshman at UGA, went +5 then +4 in his first time in the Augusta field. That being said, he’ll absolutely be back and has a very bright future in the game. 

The story of Friday however was the diminutive Irishman looking for a second consecutive green jacket. McIlroy bogied no. 10, parred no. 11, then birdied six out of his final seven holes, a stretch of golf course that has been known under the right conditions to literally drive some of the best golfers in the world to tears. To paraphrase an old Chuck Norris joke, Amen Corner starts praying when Rory arrives. 

While there’s still time for a historic collapse (Paging Greg Norman to the courtesy phones…Mr. Norman to the courtesy phones…) that sort of thing isn’t really in McIlroy’s character. Instead I suspect we’ll be watching one of those historic Masters moments that’s impressive if not suspenseful. 

Go ‘Dawgs!!!

Good Thursday afternoon, Dawg fans!! The Georgia Diamond Dawgs are arguably the hottest team in college baseball right now, riding an impressive eight-game win streak that has quickly turned heads across the national landscape. During this stretch, Georgia has dominated SEC competition with back-to-back series sweeps over the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Mississippi State Bulldogs, while also picking up convincing midweek victories against the Georgia State Panthers and Presbyterian. As a result, the Dawgs now boast an outstanding 28-6 overall record, including a strong 10-2 mark in SEC play, positioning themselves firmly among the nation’s elite.

This recent surge has propelled Georgia to No. 4 in the national rankings, sitting just behind UCLA, Texas, and in-state rival Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. While the pitching staff has shown flashes of inconsistency at times, Georgia’s offense has more than made up for it, establishing itself as one of the most dangerous lineups in college baseball. The Dawgs have displayed explosive run production throughout the win streak, highlighted by a staggering 28-run performance against Presbyterian that showed just how potent this lineup can be when firing on all cylinders.

At the heart of Georgia’s offensive dominance are Daniel Jackson and Tre Phelps, who have emerged as the driving forces behind this Dawgs’ lineup. Both hitters are batting over .400, with Phelps leading the way at .413 and Jackson close behind at .408. After a disappointing redshirt sophomore campaign, Phelps has responded in a major way this season, reestablishing himself as a potential first-round pick in the upcoming MLB Draft. Jackson, on the other hand, has elevated his game to another level, solidifying his reputation as one of the premier power hitters in college baseball while also showcasing an impressive ability to hit for average. Together, the duo has combined for 30 home runs, 14 from Phelps and 16 from Jackson, accounting for a significant portion of Georgia’s nation-leading 98 home runs. To put that into perspective, Vanderbilt, the next closest team, sits well behind with 73, further emphasizing just how dominant Georgia’s offense has been.

What makes this team especially intriguing is the balance between its offensive firepower and the question marks surrounding its pitching staff. If Georgia can find more consistency on the mound, this team has all the tools necessary to make a deep postseason run and potentially secure a trip to Omaha. Even as it stands, the Dawgs’ ability to outscore opponents at such a high level makes them a serious contender every time they take the field.

Georgia will look to keep its momentum going this weekend as the Florida Gators travel to Athens for a key three-game SEC series at Foley Field. With first pitch for Game 1 scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Friday, the Dawgs will aim to extend their winning streak and continue making a strong statement as one of the top teams in the country.

Hope all of you have a great rest of your week and weekend. As always, GO DAWGS!!!

On the morrow, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, and an increasingly bitter South African will hit ceremonial tee shots and the 90th Masters Tournament will officially begin. If you have a badge, you’re probably debating if you’ll get to the grounds early enough to watch it in person, weighing that against a long day of walking hills in warm spring sunshine.

If you’re stuck at home or work, you will still be able to see and hear those traditional opening drives, because the Masters annually teaches a masterclass in sports coverage and availability. The concessions are simple and delicious. The grounds are natural and verdant. The parking is free. The golf never disappoints. But maybe the thing the Masters is best at is giving everyone access.

There’s the traditional over-the-air broadcast via CBS. (If you’re of a certain age, you waited all year to watch 6-7 hours of Masters TV coverage… in total.) But CBS now has one of the smaller content windows of all the broadcast partners, just Saturday and Sunday from 2-7 pm ET.

For the other times, it is an interesting mix. Thursday and Friday, there’s no “television” broadcast until 1:00 pm ET. And that will be on new media partner Amazon Prime Video. They have coverage until 3:30, when ESPN will start broadcasting until close of day.

Saturday and Sunday are a litle different. Only CBS (and Paramount+) will start at 2:00 pm ET.

That being said, CBS Digital, CBS Sports Network, Paramount+,Golf Channel, and ESPN+ will carry early day content pretty much every day. That might only be showing players on the range, or special shows they produce, but it is more content.

Of course there is ALWAYS content on Masters.com and the Masters app. Thursday and Friday early day will be a little fragmented, as they have a choice of Featured Groups, holes 4-6, Amen Corner, and holes 15-16. But starting early afternoon, the Masters media will also feature the typical full-field coverage you’re used to seeing on TV.

Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up: get the Masters App, or cast Masters.com to your big screen, and you’re fine. If you have access to all the CBS/Paramount stuff, get that loaded up in the meantime. And you can always catch “main feed” broadcasting early afternoon on ESPN the first 2 days and CBS on the weekend.

So that’s how. Now let’s talk about when.

Bubba Waston tees off Thursday at 8:08 am ET.
Russell Henley starts his tourney at 10:19 am.
Brian Harman puts peg to ground at 12:03 pm.
Sepp Straka follows a little later at 1:32 pm.
Harris English can sleep in, as his start is 1:56 pm.

And as bonus ‘Dawgs in the Masters content, I inadvertently left off a future Bulldog. Winner of the 2025 US Amateur, Thomasville native, and University of Georgia Men’s Golf commit Mason Howell gets to play with defending champ Rory McIlroy the first two days, and they start at 10:31 am ET. He’s the 3rd youngest winner of the US Am, and will be the youngest player (18) in the Masters field. And that grouping with the defending champ is a decades-old tradition at the Masters, in deference to tournament co-founder and greatest amateur ever Bobby Jones.

I feel like that TikTok pajama-clad DJ who inspires people to get out of bed and start their day. I’m as pumped as can be, and I want you to be as well. The Masters is now just hours away. I hope you’re not an accountant in public practice, or a urologist, because you’re going to be busy and you won’t get to devour all the Masters content like most of us. Either way, Happy Masters to all, and let’s root on another Bulldog to take the Green Jacket. And as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

We’ve made it to Masters Week! This is when Dawg Sports becomes Dawgs Golf. It is a nice table setter for the end of Spring Practice in Athens and the sadly not-televised G-Day game. So don whatever Masters logo gear you were able to snag (or had your father-in-law give you for your birthday), mix up a batch of Azaleas to sip on, and set right down for a preview of the former Bulldogs plying their trade at the most famous golf tournament in the world.

Only 5 ‘Dawgs are in the field, but that’s 5 more than Tigers in this year’s field. Scottie Scheffler is planning on playing, but he pulled out of another tournament ostensibly to attend his expecting wife. Collin Morikawa withdrew from The Players (and this past week) due to a back injury, but the rest of the world’s top 10 look to be in pretty good shape.

The course will be pretty much the same to the naked eye, but the 17^th hole was elongated to 450 yards, and other holes will have subtle contouring changes around the greens.

So here’s who you’re going to be rooting for come Thursday morning.

Harris English: T-12 in 2025, so that automatically gets you an invite back the next year. Has played 6 times before and made 5 cuts. He tied for 22^nd in 2024, tied for 43^rd in 2023, so he’s definitely trending up. He’s also had three top-3 finishes in majors in recent years, so he could be ready to break through.

Brian Harman: this will be the wee lefty’s 8^th Masters, yet he’s only made the cut 3 times. And only 6 rounds under par. He tied for 36^th last year (and a top 10 at the British Open). His best finish was T12 in 2021.

Russell Henley: the Maconite has competed in 9 previous Masters. Surprisingly he missed the cut here last year, arguably the best of his career. A T38 in 2024, T4 in 2023, T30 in 2022 having missed the previous 3 Masters, but a T15 in 2018, T11 in 2017, 21^st in 2015, and T31 in 2014.  His only missed cut in August was his inaugural appearance in 2013.

Sepp Straka: his 5^th trip to Washington Road, having made the cut 3 out of 4 tries. His best finish was T16 in 2024, T46 in 2023, and T30 in 2022. So his only year missing the weekend was last year – like Henley, arguably his best season in his fairly young professional career.

And then there is Bubba. Gerry Lester Watson Jr. is of course a Masters Champion; the first former Georgia Bulldog to win a major. But he liked his win in 2012 so much he did it again in 2014. He’s made it to Amen Corner 17 other times, making the cut in 14 of them. Augusta National is often referred to as a “second shot” golf course, and Bubba does like to take unconventional lines which ANGC offers in spades. He’s 47 years old now, having played the last several year on the LIV tour, and I honestly have zero assessment of his game. But he does love UGA, he married another Bulldog athlete, and he returns to Athens frequently.

We’ll be back with more coverage, specifically tee times and how to watch. Thanks for reading, and as always…

GO ‘DAWGS!!!

Tis the season to take a look back at the college football season that was. We could of course do a basic game by game recap of the Georgia Bulldogs’ 2025 football season. Just go over the stats and storylines from that point in the season. Talk about the things we thought we’d learned (that often turned out not to really be true). . But where’a the fun (or challenge) in that?

Instead, I’ve decided to once again recap every game played by the Red and Black last year in the style of a different literary great of the past. We begin by revisiting the opener against Marshall in the style of one of the most stylish writers of the 20th century, that chronicler of the idle rich of the British Isles, the great P.G Wodehouse.

The Bulldogs of Georgia, and Their Afternoon’s Work

It would be misleading to suggest that Georgia approached the matter of the Marshall Thundering Herd with anything resembling elaborate preparation. One does not, after all, bring out the good silver for Tuesday supper. The Bulldogs, sensible fellows to a man, simply attended to the fundamentals with the quiet competence of a well-trained but unsettlingly violent butler, and the result was precisely the sort of outcome that causes Athenian enthusiasts to press loved ones warmly by the hand and emit small but audible pips of satisfaction.

The offense, that sometimes temperamental engine, produced four hundred and eighty-eight yards of progress, which is the sort of figure that puts a spring in the step. More gratifying still was the democratic distribution of the spoils, two hundred and forty-nine yards through the airier regions, of Clarke County and two hundred and thirty-nine along the terrestrial firmament, a balance that would have brought a tear to the eye of a haughty gentleman’s gentleman who appreciates things being properly shared out.

One Dwight Phillips contributed sixty yards on a mere five carries, which represents a commendable rate of knot. It was the sort of economy of effort Bertram Wooster would admire, sparing of actual perspiration for ample reward. Some might call it sloth, but only because they lack the vision to recognize genius.

But it was the young Stockton (Gunner, as his intimates know him) who topped the red and black rushers with seventy-three yards merely upon ten attempts, and who further distinguished himself by becoming the first Georgia quarterback since the estimable Stetson Bennett, in that celebrated championship business of 2022, to motor across the goal line on multiple occasions in a single afternoon. One felt that Stockton, a young man who appears to have been assembled with an excess of energy, rather enjoyed himself.

Now, I should note that Coach Bobo — a man who, one gathers, has views on the proper deportment of a quarterback — may not have intended for the lad to do quite so much galloping about in the early exchanges. But the film, as they say, does not lie, and by the time the rougher fellows of the SEC come snorting onto the schedule, opposing coaches will have spent any number of sleepless nights attempting to devise counter-measures for this tiger from Tiger. This is the sort of reputation that takes years to shake.

The pass protection, one must confess, was not uniformly of the highest order. In truth it was more akin to the fare at a roadside pub than supper at the Savoy; sufficiently filling, but lacking in any panache. There were moments when the offensive line presented something of an open-door policy to the Marshall rush, and it fell to young Stockton to extricate himself by means of his legs, a resource his predecessor Carson Beck, (a perfectly decent chap in his way, acclaimed the Gussy Fink-Nottle of his generation) was rather less richly endowed with.

A portion of the blame for the sporadic hijinx at the front may be laid at the door of injuries to guards Morris and Gaston, and to the tackle Greene, which is the sort of personnel setback that tends to complicate matters. Morris, to his credit, dusted himself off and returned to the fray after taking his lumps. The coach, Smart by name and one assumes by nature, was heard to speak warmly of one Bo Hughley, who stepped in for Greene in a manner that gave general satisfaction. Gaston, however, was dispatched for what the medical profession terms an MRI, and may find himself resting on his laurels for some time to come. If the laurels are draped over a set of crutches that would be all the worse.

Defensively, the Bulldogs performed in more or less the fashion one would expect from a sound outfit confronting an opponent who had not previously been identified as a source of particular danger. The total yardage conceded was two hundred and seven, and the bulk of that accumulated only after the backups had been introduced, which is the sort of mitigating circumstance that any fair-minded observer would take into account. Georgia will shortly encounter opposition of a considerably more muscular stripe than a Marshall eleven still engaged in the philosophical question of who ought to be throwing the ball. But on this particular afternoon the gents did what was asked of them, which is all any reasonable employer can demand.

The matter of turnovers, it is true, remained untouched. No fumbles recovered, no interceptions plucked from the muggy, hazy Georgia sky. Yet the Herd was held to three successes from fifteen attempts on third down (a conversion rate of twenty percent) which is the sort of statistic that causes defensive coordinators to exhale through the nose with quiet approval. This is particularly worth noting given that the 2024 unit had displayed a certain, shall we say, reluctance to remove opposing offenses from the premises when requested. And the tackling — ah, the tackling! — while it could not be described as the work of artists, was by and large what one would call passable to good. Given that Coach Smart had spent no inconsiderable portion of the fall training camp period expressing certain anxieties on precisely this subject, ( and in his customary quiet, calm manner) one takes it as a promising portent.

The Classic City Canines, for so the cognoscenti style them, now prepare for another engagement, this time against the Austin Peay Governors who are not, one understands, expected to trouble the scorers unduly. There are limits, naturally, to what a thinking man can deduce about his team from such airy exercises. But Georgia, on this September day, showed encouraging signs of having squared up to certain of last season’s demons and given them a firm talking-to. As fresh starts go, one has seen worse.

Go ‘Dawgs!

Good Thursday afternoon, Dawg fans! The Georgia Diamond Dawgs began conference play last week and have turned in a decent performance overall in this opening stretch.

Georgia opened SEC play against the Tennessee Vols in a highly anticipated series. In game one, the Dawgs fell 7-4, with all four of their runs coming in the fifth inning. It ultimately wasn’t enough, as Tennessee chipped away throughout the game to secure the win.

Georgia quickly turned the page in game two, showing a more consistent offensive approach paired with improved pitching, taking down the Vols 4-2 to even the series.

Game three proved to be the most exciting of the weekend, with the outcome coming down to the very end. Tennessee appeared to be in control for much of the game, holding a 6-3 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh. That was until Georgia’s lineup erupted for five runs in the inning, highlighted by Bryce Calloway’s three-run blast over the right field fence, giving the Dawgs an 8-6 lead.

By the ninth inning, Georgia still held that lead, but Tennessee refused to go quietly. Blake Grimmer launched a solo home run to cut it to 8-7, and tension quickly built inside Foley Field. With the game on the line, Cole Johnson delivered a highlight-reel moment, robbing the Vols of a go-ahead two-run homer to seal the win and the series for Georgia. A play like that is always special, but doing it against Tennessee makes it even sweeter.

With the series win secured, Georgia returned home for a midweek matchup against The Citadel as they prepared for a road trip to face Texas A&M. The Dawgs came out sluggish, clearly still riding the high from the Tennessee series, and found themselves trailing 5-0 heading into the seventh inning.

That’s when things flipped. Georgia began to wake up offensively, scoring two runs in the seventh, three in the eighth, and three more in the ninth. The comeback was capped by Kolby Branch’s dramatic three-run walk-off home run, sealing an impressive and resilient victory.

Georgia then traveled to College Station to take on the Texas A&M Aggies. In game one, the Dawgs delivered a steady performance, putting up nine runs offensively while the pitching staff held strong against a talented Aggies lineup in a 9-4 win.

Game two saw an even sharper performance, particularly on the mound. Georgia limited Texas A&M to just two earned runs while continuing their consistency at the plate, scoring eight runs to secure both the game and the series with an 8-2 victory.

However, game three told a much different story. Georgia struggled significantly on the mound as the Aggies’ offense erupted for 18 runs through seven innings, handing the Dawgs a tough 18-5 loss.

Following their return to Athens, Georgia faced Kennesaw State in a midweek matchup. It was another uneven performance, as the Dawgs struggled offensively for much of the game before breaking through late. Georgia scored four runs in the seventh and added three more in the eighth to reach seven total runs. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, as continued pitching struggles allowed Kennesaw State to put up ten runs and secure the win.

Georgia now sits at 20-6 overall with a 4-2 record in conference play. The Dawgs will now turn their attention to hosting the South Carolina Gamecocks, who are currently struggling, particularly in SEC play. South Carolina is also in the midst of a coaching search, as head coach Paul Mainieri recently stepped down and announced his retirement.

Game one of the series is set for tomorrow night at 6 p.m. ET in Athens.

Hope all of you have a great rest of your week and weekend. As always, GO DAWGS!!!

Even though the football season has ended, the free agency period of the NFL has gotten off to a hot start. Several former Bulldogs have earned some massive paydays over the past few days. Some have joined new teams, and some received record-breaking contracts.

Over the past few seasons, we have often referred to the Philadelphia Eagles as the “Philly Dawgs” because of the large number of former Dawgs on the team. The Las Vegas Raiders saw this and decided to get in on the action as well. The Raiders signed multiple former Dawgs this month, most notably linebackers Nakobe Dean (three years, $36 million) and Quay Walker (three years, $40.5 million). They will unite with former tight end Brock Bowers and cornerback Eric Stokes.

Last season with Philadelphia, Dean recorded 55 tackles with seven tackles for loss and a career-high four sacks. He was limited to 10 games last season while he recovered from a torn patella tendon. Walker posted a career-high 128 tackles and eight tackles for loss with the Green Bay Packers last season. Both Walker and Dean, who were teammates on Georgia’s 2021 CFP National Championship winning team, will provide a boost to the Raiders’ linebacking core, which was a position of need for Las Vegas.

Speaking of former 2021 team members, Eagles’ defensive tackle Jordan Davis signed a new contract earlier this month. The North Carolina native signed a three-year, $78 million contract, which includes $65 million guaranteed. He is now the highest paid nose tackle in the NFL.

Davis has become a staple of the Eagles’ defensive line. He has been a key player in their multiple playoff trips and had a key sack in their Super Bowl LIX victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Oh, and he also did this last season:

Other former Dawgs signed with new teams, such as Azeez Ojulari and Channing Tindall returning to the red and black with the Atlanta Falcons. More players, such as Leonard Floyd and Nick Chubb, are still awaiting their new teams. Stay tuned for more free agent news from former Dawgs.