Georgia didn’t exactly play a clean game against Tennessee State, but the Bulldogs still overwhelmed the Tigers from start to finish in a 63-3 win that showed just how lopsided the matchup was.
The tone was set immediately. Georgia ripped off touchdowns on its first five possessions, with Nate Frazier doing the early damage.
He opened the scoring with a 45-yard touchdown run on the first drive, then later added a 14-yard untouched touchdown burst. Gunner Stockton handled the passing side of the explosion, throwing touchdown passes to Talyn Taylor, Elyiss Williams and Jaden Reddell.
Stockton looked sharp before giving way to Ryan Puglisi, finishing 15 of 16 for 202 yards and three touchdowns. Frazier was every bit as efficient, piling up 72 yards and three scores on just four carries, good for 18.0 yards per attempt behind an offensive line that looked as imposing as advertised.
Georgia’s defense was just as punishing early. Tennessee State did not get a first down until just under the 7:00 mark before halftime, and the Tigers were held to 0 total yards until that same point. Gabe Harris set the tone with a hit on quarterback Daylin Lee on the opening possession, and he looked strong in his return from toe surgery.
Then the game got messy. After Puglisi entered, the offense bogged down.
Peyton Woodring drilled a 38-yard field goal, but it was wiped out because Georgia lined up with two players wearing #51. After the five-yard penalty, the Bulldogs botched the snap and hold and came away with nothing.
The sloppiness didn’t stop there. As the defense began rotating, Tennessee State put together its first scoring drive of the day, starting with a hands to the face penalty on Joseph Jonah-Ajonye that helped the Tigers move the chains for the first time.
Georgia finished with 8 penalties for 85 yards, and while some of them - including a hands to the face call on Jaden Reddell for an exuberant stiff arm - were questionable, most were simply the product of poor execution. That’s the kind of thing that has to get cleaned up before the schedule gets serious later this month.
Even with the messiness, there were plenty of bright spots. Freshmen Kaiden Prothro and Jae Lamar both scored the first touchdowns of their Georgia careers, and receiver Jeremy Bell added his first Bulldog touchdown on a beautiful throw from third-string quarterback Ryan Montgomery. Montgomery, at least by eye, looked a little cleaner throwing the ball than Puglisi, though that battle will sort itself out over time.
The larger picture was easy to see: Georgia has a roster full of rare athletes, and the veterans at the top of the depth chart looked every bit like the group from its 2025 SEC Championship season. It’s hard to nitpick much when a team rolls up 661 yards of offense and gives up only 119. This didn’t answer every question about how Georgia measures up against Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas, but it did offer plenty for Bulldog fans to like.
Afterward, Nate Frazier summed it up simply: “there’s always room for improvement.” Still, it was a strong start for the 2026 Georgia Bulldogs.
In Other News...
Georgia Defense Gets A Boost Just In Time For Week 1
Georgias season opener comes with a cleaner injury picture than many teams get this time of year, and that matters for a defense trying to settle in quickly. The biggest concern on the report is the loss of transfer linebacker Amaris Williams to a torn ACL, along with transfer running back Dante Dowdell still working back from an ATV accident, but the overall list is short and the group around them appears to be in good shape.
The most encouraging update for Georgia is in the secondary, where starting safety Kyron Jones is back to full health and expected to start against Tennessee State. With starting center Drew Bobo also healthy and few other issues surfacing, the Bulldogs head into Week 1 with a chance to open the year closer to full strength than most programs can manage this early in the season. [Read more 🡒]
Kirby Smart Is Back In A Conversation Georgia Fans Know Well
Kirby Smart is already back in a familiar kind of conversation as the season approaches, this time with ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit putting him among four early names to watch for the 2026 Coach of the Year race. Herbstreits group also includes Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame, Clark Lea at Vanderbilt and Curt Cignetti at Indiana, a mix that reflects how much attention can shift quickly when programs start stacking results and raising expectations.
For Georgia, the interest is as much about the standard as the competition. Smart has spent years operating in the highest-pressure tier of the sport, where anything less than another strong run draws scrutiny, and the Bulldogs again enter a season opener that will help set the tone for how that coaching conversation develops. With Herbstreit already identifying the field, Smart is once more where Georgia fans are used to seeing him: right in the middle of a national debate about who is setting the pace. [Read more 🡒]
Justin Williams Finally Has A Real Chance To Break Through At Georgia
Justin Williams has spent enough time around Georgias defense to know how crowded the room can be, but this is the kind of opening he has been waiting for. With C.J. Allen gone, the Bulldogs are preparing for Williams to take on a much larger role in 2026, and the buzz around him has only grown after coaches and teammates kept pointing to his growth, athleticism and leadership.
Kirby Smart has already said Williams will get more opportunities this season, and that alone changes the conversation for a player who has been praised for his work against the run. The next step is proving that his practice reputation can carry over when the games start to matter, which is where Georgia will find out whether Williams is simply a trusted piece or something more important for the defenses future. [Read more 🡒]