Bulldogs harness Herd in opening win

ATHENS, Ga. — The fifth-ranked Georgia football team opened its season Saturday afternoon with a 45-7 win over Marshall at Sanford Stadium, extending the nation’s longest home winning streak to 32 games. The sellout crowd of 93.033 saw quarterback Gunner Stockton run for a pair of touchdowns and throw for two more, while the Bulldog defense held the Thundering Herd to just seven first downs.

Georgia (1-0) outgained Marshall 488-207, with the Bulldogs rushing for 239 and throwing for 249; five different Bulldogs scored touchdowns. Defensively, Georgia held the Herd to less than 100 yards of offense through the first three quarters and finished with seven tackles for loss. Linebacker Raylen Wilson was the leading tackler with seven stops, including two for loss.

Saturday’s win was a little different from the only other meeting between the Bulldogs and Thundering Herd. When Marshall visited Georgia in 2004, the Bulldogs got behind 3-0 before winning 13-3. Georgia is now 102-27-3 in season-openers, including 10-0 under head coach Kirby Smart.

Marshall (0-1) got the ball to start the game and immediately ran into a stout Georgia defense. The Herd lost a yard over three plays and quickly punted. The Bulldog offense then went 70 yards in eight plays, taking a 7-0 lead on Dwight Phillips, Jr.’s 17-yard touchdown run with 9:22 left in the first quarter. Stockton found transfer wideout Zachariah Branch for a 25-yard gain on third-and-3 earlier in the drive, and then Stockton ran for 14 yards on fourth-and-2 at the Herd 31. Phillips scored on the next play.

Georgia’s defense held the Herd to just six yards over their first two drives, and the Bulldogs started their second drive at the UGA 28-yard line. And just like the opening drive, the Bulldogs ran the ball in for their second score. This time, it was Stockton with an effective fake handoff to Chauncey Bowens that gave the quarterback space to run the ball in from the 13 on fourth-and-1, making it 14-0 Georgia with 2:22 remaining in the first quarter. Stockton and Branch also connected for a big gain on third down on this drive, a 23-yarder on third-and-5.

The Bulldogs continued to shut the Herd down on the ensuing drives, and with 10:15 left in the first half, Georgia got its first big special teams play of the season, a blocked punt by KJ Bolden deep in Marshall territory. A couple of plays later, Stockton ran the ball in for an 11-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead with 9:07 on the clock.

Bulldog kicker Peyton Woodring connected on a 43-yard field goal attempt with 24 seconds remaining in the half, giving Georgia a 24-0 lead. At halftime, the Bulldogs had a 239-40 advantage in total offense, with 14 first downs to Marshall’s one.

Georgia’s offense got the ball to begin the third quarter and showed some explosiveness with a 47-yard touchdown pass from Stockton to wideout Zachariah Branch, who took the screen pass to the left and covered all 47 yards after the catch. Wideout Dillon Bell provided a key block near the 20-yard line to clear the path for Branch. Stockton’s third career touchdown pass made it 31-0 with 13:13 left in the quarter.

A Stockton pass to wideout London Humphreys in the back of the end zone on fourth down at the Marshall 2 made it 38-0 with 3:51 to play in the third quarter. Stockton’s day was done after that TD pass, and the redshirt junior finished his second career start 14 of 24 passing for 190 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing 10 times for 73 yards and two scores.

Stockton’s replacement, Ryan Puglisi, led the Bulldogs to another touchdown on his first drive, finding tight end Elyiss Williams for a 23-yard score and a 45-0 lead with 14:18 left in the game. It was the first career touchdown pass for Puglisi, and the first career catch (and score) for Williams.

Going against Georgia’s backup defenders in the fourth quarter, the Herd finally passed the 100-yard mark for total offense with about 13 minutes left in the game. Marshall got on the scoreboard with 10:27 on the clock, with Joshon Barbie scoring on a 1-yard run.

The Bulldogs return to Dooley Field next Saturday when they host Austin Peay. Georgia’s only previous meeting with the Governors came in 2018, a 45-0 victory.

POST-GAME NOTES

*The Bulldogs are now 102-27-3 in season openers including having won 12 straight. Under Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs are 10-0 in season openers and improve to 51-4 at home. Georgia is 2-0 all-time against Marshall.

*Summary Of The Offense: Georgia opened the season with 488 yards of total offense (239-rushing, 249-passing) on 76 plays.

*Redshirt junior QB Gunner Stockton accounted for four TDs in leading the Bulldogs to a season-opening win. He was 14-for-24, 190 yards, 2 TDs, 152.3 rating plus a team and career-high 73 rushing yards on 10 carries with 2 TDs. He was making his second career start including first in Athens. Today marked the first two rushing TDs of his career.

*Stockton became the first Bulldog QB to lead the team in rushing in a game with at least 70 yards since 2018 when Justin Fields registered 102 yards on seven carries with a TD plus was 5-for-8 for 121 yards and 2 TDs in a win over UMass.

In the first half, the Bulldogs tallied 239 yards of offense (122 rushing, 117 passing) on 41 plays to build a 24-0 half-time lead.

*Georgia went 70 yards on eight plays in 4:17 to take a 7-0 lead on its opening possession. The drive featured a 4th-and-2 conversion at the Marshall 31 as Stockton rushed for 14 yards. The drive was capped by a 17-yard scamper by Dwight Phillips, Jr., for his second career TD. Phillips finished the first half with 24 yards on two carries while sophomore Nate Frazier had 37 yards on nine carries.

*On its second possession, Georgia culminated a scoring drive on a 4th-and-1 at the 13 as Stockton kept it for a TD. It covered 72 yards on 11 plays in 5:33. Last year, Georgia led the SEC and ranked 16th nationally in 4th Down Conversions at 67% (18-for-27).

*Junior Zachariah Branch (3 rec. 95 Yards, 1 TD) took a screen pass 47 yards for a TD to finish the first drive of the second half and make it 31-0.

*A two-yard TD pass to London Humphreys made it 38-0 with 3:51 left in the 3rd quarter. It capped an 8-play, 55-yard drive in 4:23.

*Redshirt freshman QB Ryan Puglisi (5-for-8, 59 Yards, 1 TD) made his Bulldog debut with 2:41 left in the 3rd quarter and finished the game. His first career TD pass covered 23 yards and was the first career reception for true freshman Elyiss Williams to make it 45-0. Williams is the first Bulldog to score on his first catch since Oscar Delp against South Carolina in 2022.

*Defensive Review: Marshall was held to one TD, tallying 207 yards of total offense (78-rush, 129-pass) on 52 plays.

*The Thundering Herd did not score in the first half, finishing with 40 yards of total offense (23-rushing, 17-passing) on 24 plays. Last season, Georgia posted three first-half shutouts, doing it against Clemson, Tennessee Tech and Texas (first meeting).

*Marshall got the football first after winning the toss. The Thundering Herd ran three plays for minus one yard.

*Marshall avoided a shutout with 10:27 left in the game, scoring a TD after going 84 yards on seven plays. The drive was keyed by a 44-yard reception to Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw from Zion Turner.

*Junior Raylen Wilson and junior Zion Branch led the team in tackles as each had a career-high seven.

*Special Teams Summary: Junior PK Peyton Woodring tallied nine points (43-yard FG, six PATs) plus took care of most of the kickoffs.

*With All-America punter Brett Thorson still recovering from knee surgery, sophomore Drew Miller handled the punting for the second time in his career after making his debut in the 2025 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. He had six punts for a 48.0 average, one touchback and a long of 54 yards, a career-high. He placed two inside the 20 and had two for 50+.

*Sophomore KJ Bolden blocked a punt that was recovered by Terrell Foster at the Marshall 20. It led to an 11-yard TD run by Stockton and a 21-0 lead with 9:07 left in the first half. It marked Georgia’s first blocked punt since 2023 when Joenel Aguero had one for a safety against Florida.

*Junior Zachariah Branch had three punt returns for 24 yards. Branch had a team-best 95 yards receiving on three catches.

*Captains, Coin Toss And For Starters: Georgia’s captains were CJ Allen, Christen Miller, Drew Bobo and Earnest Greene III.

*Marshalll won the toss and elected to receive.

*Juan Gaston (RG) and Ethan Barbour (TE) became the latest true freshmen to start a season opener. During the Kirby Smart era that began in 2016, there has been only one other OL (Andrew Thomas, ’17 at RT) and three TE (Charlie Woerner, ’16, Darnell Washington, ’20 and Brock Bowers, ’21) to do that. Overall, 13 true freshmen now have started a season opener under Smart.

*Redshirt sophomore Kyron Jones (FS) made his first career start after appearing in 16 games in his first two seasons as a Bulldog.

*Bulldog Salute: The Honorable William T. Moore, Jr., was recognized pregame as the latest recipient of the Hartman Award (highest honor given to a former student-athlete; he played football and baseball). The 2025 Circle of Honor Class (highest honor given to a former student-athlete or coach with extraordinary athletic and academic accomplishments) of Jeff Wallace (tennis player/coach), Manuel Diaz (tennis player/coach) and Herschel Walker (football) were celebrated during a timeout in the first quarter. Also, UGA football lettermen from six different decades were honored at halftime.

*Up Next: No. 5 Georgia plays host to Austin Peay Saturday, Sept. 6 at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+).

POST-GAME QUOTES

Head Coach Kirby Smart

On the environment and excitement of the first home game…
“I am happy for these kids. They work year-round. You only get so many games. I was really pleased with our guys coming out with a great attitude, great opening drive, converted some fourth downs. Really big drive to start the second half to kind of put it out of reach. I am proud of the way our team competed.”

On Gunner Stockton’s play…
“He’s a warrior. He’s tough. You see across the country right now, these quarterbacks that have legs and can do things and turn and run, and take off when they got a sack. It’s frustrating for a defensive coach to have a sack and then all of a sudden it turns into a first down or have a lost yardage play and all the sudden it turns in to a touchdown run by the quarterback. I thought he did a really nice job and executed well.”

On the defensive performance…
“They played hard and ran to the ball. I’ll wait to reserve judgement until we get to the film but I did think we ran to the ball hard. I thought guys competed. I still think if we’re going to be who we want to be we have to create more turnovers.”

#14 Gunner Stockton | QB | R-Jr.

On starting as quarterback for the first time in Sanford…
“It’s always a different feeling when you’re starting for sure. This was a dream come true and I enjoyed if for sure. We won a ball game, so we had fun, but we have to get better each week.”

On Georgia’s offensive control…
“I [think we had good control] for the most part. Marshall’s a good football team, and we started fast and we kept that pace, so we’ll get stronger.”

On his passing performance…
“I think everybody wants to complete every ball they throw. I think being able to throw the ball in any circumstance is a big thing.”

#5 Raylen Wilson | ILB | Jr.

On facing an opponent for the first time this season…
“It was really satisfying for everybody. We were really tired of hitting each other and ready to hit somebody with other colors on.”

On holding Marshall to minimal third downs…
“It shows that we care about every down. The biggest thing is just getting them a third down so we can turn, cut loose and put our rushers out there.”