No. 1 Georgia is back home and back in control of the SEC race, with another chance to keep its grip on the league when No. 22 Missouri visits Athens, Ga., on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs have already stacked up enough wins to sit atop the conference standings, and the path ahead now runs through a Missouri team that hasn’t beaten Georgia since 2013 and is trying to stop a 10-game skid in the series. It’s also the first time these former SEC East rivals have met in two years.
Georgia is coming off a stretch that has put it right back in the mix for a sixth straight trip to the SEC championship game. After the Oct. 17 upset loss at Auburn, the Bulldogs answered with a 27-8 win over then-No.
17 Florida and then blew past then-No. 10 Ole Miss 42-7 last Saturday in Oxford, Miss.
That leaves Georgia at 8-1 overall and 6-1 in the SEC.
Kirby Smart knows exactly what the conference title game has meant, even as its future changes. After official word came that the game will be played for the last time in December before the College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams in 2027, Smart called it “a great, historic game,” and added, “It’s great for the players, the programs, and the fans.
The location has been awesome for us. The venue is incredible.
All of those things are awesome, but times are changing. As they change, you have to adapt to it.”
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz took an even firmer stance on what comes next.
“My question is why are we associated with conferences anymore if we’re not playing for a conference championship?” Drinkwitz said.
For now, the Tigers are focused on the road in front of them, and it’s a brutal one. Missouri is 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the SEC, and Saturday will mark its fifth game against a ranked opponent in seven outings.
No. 11 Kentucky is still on deck next week.
Drinkwitz didn’t mince words about the challenge Georgia presents.
“I will say just when we talk about Georgia, there’s zero doubt that they’re the benchmark for the league right now,” Drinkwitz said. “The way that Coach Smart runs his program, the philosophical identity that he has in offense, defense and special teams, the way his team plays consistently down in and down out, it’s what everybody in our conference is chasing. He does it the right way and always has done it the right way.”
Smart returned the compliment, calling Drinkwitz “a tremendous job as a coach” and saying, “I think this is one of his better teams. He has an elite quarterback and he’s got talent surrounding him. He’s playing in a tough, brutal league just like we all are, and he has been in some really tight ballgames. ...
“It will be a great challenge for us. I hope that our fans will turn out and create the same environments we’ve been seeing on the road. We need that same environment when people come to play here.”
Georgia’s offense has been led by Gunner Stockton, who tops the SEC with 20 passing touchdowns. Against Ole Miss, the senior completed only nine passes, but four of them went for scores.
Missouri has its own firepower. Austin Simmons has thrown for 2,204 yards and 18 touchdowns with just two interceptions, while Jamal Roberts leads the SEC in rushing with 1,071 yards and Cayden Lee leads the league in receiving with 835.
Lee left last week’s 34-20 loss to then-No. 7 Texas with an injury, but Drinkwitz offered an encouraging update on Monday.
“Cayden Lee has no structural damage to the knee,” Drinkwitz said. “We’ll monitor that situation as it goes.
He was out at practice (on Monday), and he is as tough a competitor as I’ve been around. So nothing would shock me more than if he wasn’t playing.”
In Other News...
Notre Dame's Playoff Path Just Got A Lot More Favorable
The latest College Football Playoff rankings reshuffled the top of the bracket in a way that matters well beyond the usual weekly debate. Georgia moved to No. 1, Alabama and UCLA climbed as well, and Notre Dames jump from No. 11 to No. 5 after a key win gave the Irish a much cleaner path into the field. Even the ripple effects reached Indiana, which slid from a first-round bye to a lower seed and lost the chance to host a playoff game.
There was movement elsewhere, too, with the Big 12 getting a modest boost in positioning as BYU held onto a ranking spot despite a loss. Still, the conference has yet to land an at-large CFP team in the current format, which keeps the focus on how much the bracket can still change from here. For Georgia, the top-line takeaway is simple: the Bulldogs are sitting at No. 1, but the seeding picture around them is shifting fast. [Read more 🡒]
Georgias First SEC Availability Report Leaves Key Questions For Missouri
The first SEC availability report for Georgias matchup with Missouri offered an early look at how Kirby Smarts defense and depth chart are shaping up heading into the week. Defensive lineman Joshua Horton was listed as questionable, while outside linebacker Amaris Williams was ruled out, and several other Georgia players, including Ellis Robinson and Craig Dandridge, were not listed because of injuries. Smart also provided updates on Chauncey Bowens and Tyriq Green, adding another layer to a report that already hinted at some shuffling before kickoff.
Missouri has its own injury concern to monitor, with wide receiver Cayden Lee also not listed because of a knee injury. For Georgia, the report does not settle much beyond the fact that availability could remain fluid as the game approaches, especially along the defensive front and at key depth spots. The first report rarely tells the whole story, but it did make clear that both teams still have a few important questions to answer. [Read more 🡒]
Carson Beck Just Got The NFL Chance Georgia Fans Wanted
Gardner Minshews season-ending UCL tear in Week 9 has opened the door for a quarterback change in Arizona, and the Cardinals have moved quickly to make it official. Rookie Carson Beck will start against the Los Angeles Rams, giving the former Georgia standout his first regular-season opportunity after arriving as a third-round draft pick with the benefit of college starting experience.
For Georgia fans, it is the kind of development that always gets attention, especially when one of their former quarterbacks reaches a meaningful NFL moment this early. Beck now steps into a new level of pressure and visibility, with a division matchup providing the first real look at how his game translates when the games count for keeps. [Read more 🡒]