Georgia is back in the top three of the Coaches Poll after its bye week, climbing from No. 4 to No. 3 in the latest USA Today Week 9 rankings.
The Bulldogs sit behind Miami and Ohio State in the updated AFCA Football Coaches' Poll. Miami picked up 67 first-place votes, Ohio State got six, and UCLA received one.
Georgia’s move came as several other teams shifted around the poll, including BYU dropping five places to No. 9, Texas jumping seven spots to No.
11, Texas Tech sliding nine spots to No. 14, Tennessee falling to No. 17, and both Iowa and USC tumbling 10 spots to Nos. 24 and 25.
The rest of the top 25 has Georgia sandwiched among a packed upper tier: Indiana is No. 4, Utah No.
5, Notre Dame No. 6 and UCLA No. 7, with Kentucky, BYU and Alabama rounding out the top 10. Texas, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, LSU and Wake Forest follow in the next five spots.
Georgia enters the stretch run at 6-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play. The Bulldogs’ lone loss came in Week 7, when Auburn came into Sanford Stadium and left with a 27-24 win.
Georgia built a 14-0 first-quarter lead, but the game flipped fast. Auburn answered with 24 straight points and made the Bulldogs pay for three turnovers, ending a nine-game losing streak in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.
Even after falling behind 24-14 in the fourth quarter, Georgia gave itself a chance. Gunner Stockton found London Humphreys on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 2:58 left to pull the Bulldogs even at 24.
Georgia then got the defensive stop it needed and had a shot to win, but Stockton’s fumble with 58 seconds remaining handed Auburn the ball near midfield. A late roughing-the-passer penalty on Gabe Harris Jr. set up Alex McPherson’s 34-yard field goal as time expired.
Now Georgia turns to Florida. The Bulldogs will face the Gators in Atlanta on Oct. 31, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. and ABC carrying the game.
Kirby Smart said Tuesday that the bye week has to be handled with care, because different players need different things.
"I think every team is different when it comes to a bye week," Smart said. "If you said, what's the No. 1 thing we can get out of the bye week, there's as bunch of things.
It depends on who you're asking. Are you asking about which player?
Because recovery and conditioning level and getting healthy would be one answer, but getting better would be another answer. But those two don't necessarily co-exist well, so you have to be careful about who you're talking about.
Is it a fourth-year player? Is it a fifth-year player?
Is it a guy that has played a bunch, and he's beat up because he's played a bunch of snaps versus a guy that hasn't, and you're trying to gain those inches that we just talked about in those margins. We're really kinda prescribing this week for each player what they can get better at, what they can improve on.
Some of that's conditioning. Some of that's health.
Some of that's reps. Some of that's situational football.
But we've got different guys out of our, however many players in different spots, that they all need different things."
In Other News...
Georgia Fans Have A New Reason To Worry About Glenn Schumann
The opening at NC State has put an unwelcome new name on Georgia fans radar: Glenn Schumann. ESPN recently listed the Bulldogs defensive coordinator as a potential candidate for the Wolfpack job after Dave Doerens firing, a reminder that Schumanns profile keeps rising as he prepares for another Georgia season. He has been in Athens since 2016, moving from inside linebackers coach to defensive coordinator, and he has been part of six national championship teams along the way.
For Georgia, the appeal is obvious and so is the concern. Schumann has become one of the more respected defensive minds in the sport, and while he is still focused on the Bulldogs right now, the possibility of a head-coaching move is getting harder to ignore. Whether this particular job becomes a real threat or just another line on a growing list of opportunities, it is the kind of development that can have fans watching the staff carousel a little more closely than they would like. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Fans Just Got A Reassuring Sign About Elite QB Commit
Jayden Wades trip to Michigan over the weekend gave Georgia fans something to watch closely, even if the five-star quarterback remains committed to the Bulldogs in the 2028 class. Wade made the visit to see the Wolverines take on Indiana, and the setting offered a useful snapshot of a program trying to sell itself to one of the nations top young passers while Georgia continues to hold the early pledge.
Michigans recent quarterback play and broader team struggles have made the pitch a tougher one than it might have looked a year ago. The Wolverines have built a reputation for flipping recruits in the past, but this season could make that harder, and for Georgia the timing at least offers a reassuring backdrop as it tries to keep Wade in the fold. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia-Florida Suddenly Feels Bigger After What Happened At Auburn
The annual Georgia-Florida rivalry already had enough weight attached to it, but this years edition in Atlanta has taken on an even bigger feel after what unfolded at Auburn. Instead of the usual setting in Jacksonville, the game is being moved because of renovations at the stadium that has hosted the matchup since 1995, turning a familiar neutral-site date into something with a different backdrop and a little extra edge.
It still carries the same kickoff window, with a 3:30 p.m. EST start on ABC and streaming available through the ESPN app and Fubo TV, but the venue change gives the old rivalry a fresh look. Georgia enters as the clear favorite at 10.5 points on DraftKings Sportsbook, and ESPNs matchup predictor pegs the Bulldogs with an 82.1 percent chance to win, but this one feels like more than a routine November measuring stick. [Read more 🡒]