No. 17 Florida heads to Atlanta on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m.
ET showdown with No. 3 Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and the Bulldogs bring plenty of game-wreckers to the table.
The name at the center of everything is senior quarterback Gunner Stockton. Georgia’s offense is built on balance, with plenty of backs, tight ends and receivers involved, but it all starts with Stockton.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound quarterback has completed 74.1% of his passes for 1,570 yards and 16 touchdowns, and he’s added 160 rushing yards and a score on the ground. He’s been efficient at every level, handled pressure well across seven games and has been sacked only eight times.
Even more impressive, he has not thrown an interception when pressured. Stockton has become the steady hand driving Georgia’s attack, and he can beat defenses with both his arm and his legs.
On the other side of the ball, junior linebacker Chris Cole is the kind of defender who can tilt a game in a hurry. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound linebacker has piled up 40 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries and three pass deflections this season.
Pro Football Focus has him as Georgia’s highest-rated defensive player and the 10th-ranked linebacker in the FBS. Cole can line up all over the formation - in the slot, on the defensive line or in the box - and he’s comfortable in coverage as well as as a blitzer.
Georgia leans on its linebacker room, and Cole sits at the front of that group.
Georgia also has a difference-maker on the back end in cornerback Ellis Robinson IV. The 6-foot, 180-pound defender was the 2025 freshman defensive player of the year after picking off four passes and breaking up seven more.
This season, he has one interception and five pass breakups while allowing just 147 yards on 25 targets. Opposing quarterbacks have completed 13 passes against him and posted a 66.6 passer rating, and the longest completion he’s given up is 24 yards.
Robinson IV has been a true ballhawk despite being undersized for the position, and he has missed only two tackles this season.
Freshman receiver Craig Dandridge has emerged as a major part of Georgia’s passing game, and his production has come in explosive chunks. He leads the Bulldogs with 310 receiving yards on only 17 catches, good for more than 18 yards per reception.
His role has grown over the last two weeks, when he combined for eight catches and 133 yards against Alabama and Auburn. Last week against Auburn, he posted a career-high 88 receiving yards.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound receiver has already produced three catches of at least 40 yards and four of at least 30 yards, and most of his damage has come on deep throws over the middle. Stockton has hit six of seven deep passes to Dandridge for 218 yards, making him Georgia’s most reliable deep threat.
There’s also one more Bulldog worth keeping an eye on: safety KJ Bolden. He’s questionable after missing last week’s game, and his availability could matter a lot on Saturday.
Bolden was a Freshman All-American in 2025 and later earned Second-Team All-American honors in 2026. At 6-foot, 195 pounds, he brings real value against the run and has the range to cover plenty of ground in the secondary.
Georgia missed him last week, and his status is one of the biggest injury questions entering the game.
In Other News...
Tim Tebow Calls Out What Had Florida Falling Apart Vs Georgia
Floridas trip to Jacksonville got away from it fast, and by halftime the problems were plain enough for Tim Tebow and Roman Harper to pick apart on the broadcast. The Gators were staring at a 24-0 deficit, and the story of the first half was less about one bad break than a steady unraveling built on turnovers, penalties and Georgia controlling the clock.
Two interceptions and a fumble returned for a touchdown by Chris Cole left Florida with little margin for error and even less momentum. Tebow and Harper pointed to the need for cleaner execution and suggested the offense might need more quarterback runs to change the rhythm in the second half, a reminder that the Gators were searching for answers as much as points. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Blew Another Georgia Shot Before The Game Even Started
Floridas latest meeting with Georgia brought another round of questions about the quarterback plan, and this time the answer came before the game had really settled in. Jon Sumrall opened with Aaron Philo under center, a choice that carried obvious risk given the concerns around his readiness, and the early offense never found much footing as the Gators struggled to protect the ball and get into any kind of rhythm.
After Philos second interception, Sumrall turned to Tramell Jones in an attempt to steady things, but by then Florida was already digging out of a hole it could not climb out of. The turnovers fed directly into a 31-8 loss, leaving the Gators to sort through not just another defeat to Georgia, but a decision at quarterback that shaped the game long before the final score did. [Read more 🡒]
Floridas Georgia Upset Hopes Suddenly Hinge On One Late Question
Florida heads to Atlanta with a familiar kind of pressure hanging over this rivalry game, and the latest wrinkle is the status of wide receiver Vernell Brown III. After being downgraded to questionable on the injury report, Brown has become one of the key variables in a matchup where Florida already needs things to break right on both sides of the ball. The Gators are trying to solve a Georgia defense that can make life difficult for any offense, and Browns availability matters because Florida will need as much reliable production as it can get.
On the other side, Floridas upset path also depends on whether its blitz-heavy approach can bother Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton enough to tilt the game. The Gators have spent plenty of time looking for ways to create disruption, but the margin for error against Georgia is thin, especially if Florida is shorthanded at receiver. With so much of the preview tied to one late injury question and one defensive gamble, the buildup to Atlanta has a very specific kind of tension to it. [Read more 🡒]