UGA Football News

Bulldogs rally past Tigers, 20-10

The No.10-ranked Bulldogs clawed back from a 10-0 deficit to defeat Auburn, 20-10, Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

by
UGA Sports Communications
Oct 12, 2025

AUBURN, Ala. — It wasn’t easy — it seldom is against Auburn — but the No. 10-ranked Georgia football team scratched and clawed its way back from a 10-0 deficit to knock off the Tigers, 20-10, Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Quarterback Gunner Stockton’s 10-yard run for a touchdown with 1:53 to play sealed the Bulldogs’ ninth straight win over the Tigers in the 130th edition of the Deep South’s oldest rivalry.

The Bulldog defense held Auburn scoreless for nearly the final three quarters after forcing a touchdown-saving turnover late in the second quarter to keep Georgia close. The Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1 SEC) got a field goal late in the half to make it 10-3, and then dominated the final two quarters.

Auburn (3-3, 0-3) had a 237-78 advantage in total offense and a 21:48-8:12 advantage in time of possession at the half, and by the end, Georgia finished with 296 yards to Auburn’s 277, and a 30:19-29:41 advantage in time of possession. Stockton completed 24 of 37 passes for 217 yards and also led Georgia in rushing with nine carries for 26 yards. Wideout Zachariah Branch had several crucial catches down the stretch and finished with nine receptions for 57 yards.

Georgia’s defense held Auburn to 40 second-half yards, with three straight three-and-outs at one point. Linebacker CJ Allen led the defense with 10 tackles, including two for loss and an 8-yard sack.

Auburn got the ball to start the game and drove 75 yards in 14 plays, taking a 7-0 lead on quarterback Jackson Arnold’s 2-yard run. At the end of the first quarter, with the Tigers threatening to score again, Auburn had a 141-14 advantage in total offense. Georgia was able to hold Auburn to a 25-yard Alex McPherson field goal, pushing the Tiger lead to 10-0 with 13:41 left in the half.

With less than two minutes to play in the half, Arnold dove over the pile from the 1 for the potential touchdown. But Georgia linebacker Raylen Wilson punched the ball out and safety Kyron Jones recovered the fumble at the 2, earning the Bulldogs a huge stop with 1:32 left in the half.

Georgia got a lot of help from three Auburn penalties on the ensuing 12-play drive, including two 15-yarders, one for targeting and one for roughing the passer. Peyton Woodring got the Bulldogs on the scoreboard with a 29-yard field goal, cutting the Tiger lead to 10-3 with 11 seconds to play until halftime.

The Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs to start the second half, coming up empty on a fourth-and-5 pass attempt at the Tiger 46. Georgia’s defense then stopped Auburn on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 at the UGA 37.

Georgia’s offense began its next drive with a 21-yard Stockton completion to wideout Colbie Young. Later, Stockton hit receiver Noah Thomas down the middle for 30 yards to the 2. On the next play, running back Chauncey Bowens ran the ball in for Georgia’s first touchdown, tying the game 10-10 with 7:23 remaining in the third quarter.

On the ensuing drive, Allen sacked Arnold for a loss of 8 yards on third down to force an Auburn punt, and Georgia took over at its 40. After converting a fourth-and-1 at the Auburn 37 on a 4-yard Nate Frazier carry, the Bulldogs took a 13-10 lead on Woodring’s 53-yard field goal with 1:22 left in the quarter.

The Georgia defense forced a second straight three-and-out, and then Auburn’s Hudson Kaak’s punt went out of bounds after just 14 yards, giving the Bulldogs the ball at the Tiger 45. On third-and-7 at the 42, Stockton hit receiver Zachariah Branch for a 13-yard gain to the 29. Georgia ultimately came up empty on the drive when Woodring missed a 45-yard kick with 11:44 to play in the game.

After another Auburn three-and-out, Georgia got the ball back at its 22. On third-and-8 from the 24, Stockton hit wideout London Humphreys for 17 yards to the 41. Completions of 9 and 10 yards to Branch moved the ball into Auburn territory, and on fourth-and-3 at the 40, Stockton found Humphreys again, this time for 8 yards.

Later in the drive, Georgia converted a third-and-1 at the 23 when Stockton found Frazier for a 6-yard completion to the 17. Three plays later, Stockton ran it in from the 10 to make it 20-10 with 1:53 to play.

The Bulldogs are back at Sanford Stadium next Saturday, when they host No. 4 Ole Miss.

POST-GAME NOTES

*Milestone Win: With tonight’s 20-10 victory, Kirby Smart improves to 110-20, which is the Most FBS Wins by a coach in his first 10 Seasons in the modern era. The previous mark was Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops (109-24 from 1999-2008). The NCAA record for this 10-year mark belongs to George Woodruff, who went 124-15-2 for Penn from 1892-1901!

*Series History: With tonight’s win,Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC) has matched its longest winning streak in the Deep South’s oldest rivalry by winning nine straight, which is what the Bulldogs did from 1923-31. Georgia’s current nine-game streak gives the Bulldogs a 66-56-8 edge in the series and now the Bulldogs have won 20 of the past 27 contests since 2000. Coach Smart is 10-1 against the Tigers and 4-1 on the Plains.

*A Review Of The Offense: Tenth-ranked Georgia responded with 17 second-half points including a school-record-tying 8:45 TD drive for a 20-10 victory, finishing tonight with a total of 296 yards on 67 plays. In the first half, the Bulldogs were blanked until their final possession, going 88 yards on 12 plays for a 29-yard FG to trail 10-3.

*Georgia tied the game on its second drive of the 2nd half, going 63 yards on five plays in 1:47. It was capped by a two-yard run by Chauncey Bowens following a 30-yard reception by senior Noah Thomas, his first since the Austin Peay game when he had his only three of the year for 24 yards.

*In a 10-all game with 5:42 left in the 3rd quarter, Georgia started at the 40 and went 25 yards on nine play and included a 4th-and-1 conversion with the drive ending on a successful season-long 53-yard field goal by Peyton Woodring and a 13-10 lead with 1:22 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

*Up 13-10 in the 4th quarter, Georgia’s drive would end with a missed 45-yard FG by Woodring, his first miss of the year.

*Up 13-10 in the 4th quarter, Georgia took a 20-10 lead with a school-recording tying drive of 8:45. It converted a 3rd-and-8 from its own 24 completing a 17-yard pass to London Humphreys. A 3rd-and-4 at the UGA 47 was converted with a six-yard pass to Zachariah Branch. Georgia converted a 4th-and-3 from the AU 40 with an 8-yard catch to Humphreys. A 3rd-and-1 at the AU 23 went for a 3-yard completion to Nate Frazier. On 3rd-and-2 from the AU 10, Stockton ran it in for a touchdown to cap a 16-play, 78-yard drive in 8:45, tying a school record for longest TD-drive by time. In 1998 versus Tennessee, Georgia went 87 yards in 19 plays in 8:45.

*Redshirt junior QB Gunner Stockton was 24-for-37 for 217 yards plus 26 yards rushing including the game-clinching 10-yard TD scamper. It was the second time this year he finished as the leading rusher too, also against Marshall.

* Junior Zachariah Branch had 57 yards on a career-high nine catches. Senior Colbie Young had four receptions for 53 yards.

*Georgia began its first possession with 7:39 left in the 1st quarter and trailed 7-0. The Bulldogs gained 14 yards on six plays with a sack and punted.

*Georgia had four possessions in the first half and gained 78 yards (19-rushing, 59-passing) on 23 plays. The Bulldogs time of possession was only 8:05.

*Defense Sees Plenty Of Action: For the second time this year, the Bulldogs blanked a team in the 2nd half, also doing it against No. 17 Alabama.

*Georgia took a 13-10 lead in the 3rd quarter and blanked the Tigers in that quarter, forcing a pair of three-and-outs and turning it over on downs.

*The leading tacklers tonight were junior CJ Allen with 10 plus a sack on a 3rd down in the 2nd half while junior Raylen Wilson had six stops.

*At halftime, AU led 10-3, tallying 237 yards of offense (130-rush, 107-passing) on 44 plays with 21:55 time of possession.

*Georgia had a huge Red Zone stop late in the 2nd quarter, causing a fumble at the one yard line as junior CJ Allen forced a fumble, his second straight week with one. The Tigers were a perfect 16-for-16 in scoring in the Red Zone (11 TDs, 5 FGs) this year before the Bulldog stop and avoided a 17-0 deficit tonight. Instead, the Bulldogs turned the miscue into three points and trailed just 10-3 at the half.

*The Tigers took a 7-0 lead, driving 75 yards on 14 plays in 7:21, going 4-for-4 on 3rd Downs to start the game. They finished 9-for-11 in the 1st half.

*On their second possession, the Tigers drove to the seven and were stopped for the first time on 3rd down and settled for a 25-yard FG and a 10-0 edge.

*Checking In On Special Teams: Junior PK Peyton Woodring tallied 8 points on a 29-yard FG, a season-long 53-yard FG and two PATs plus took care of the kickoffs with five touchbacks. Woodring’s 53-yarder gave the Bulldogs a 13-10 lead. He is 4-for-7 from 50+ in his career. He missed a 45-yarder, his first of the season, ending a streak of 10 straight made dating to last season. This year, he’s 6-for-7 in field goal attempts on the year.

*All-America punter Brett Thorson had three punts for a 53.0 average including a long of 60 yards with one Tiger return for 13 yards.

*Junior Zachariah Branch had one kickoff return for 24 yards.

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

*Georgia won the toss and elected to defer the ball until the second half.

*With redshirt sophomore Bo Hughley starting at left tackle, Georgia started its sixth different offensive line of the season as junior left tackle Monroe Freeling saw his team-high starting streak of 10 games end. Freeling saw action at left tackle on the third possession tonight. He injured his ankle in the first quarter of last week’s win over Kentucky and did not return to action. He was a game-time decision.

*Senior WR Noah Thomas made his first start as a Bulldog and 26th overall in his career.

*The defense has featured the same 11 starters for the past three games with CJ Allen owning the longest streat at eight games dating to 2024.

*Another Second Half Rally: In three of four SEC games this year, Georgia trailed at the half and they are 2-1 now in those contests. The Bulldogs were behind 21-17 at No. 15 UT and rallied for a 44-41 win in overtime. Georgia trailed 24-14 and lost to No. 17 Alabama 24-21. Last week, Georgia led UK 21-7 at halftime and won 35-14. Tonight, Georgia fell behind AU 10-3 and won 20-10.

*Points Off Turnovers: Georgia scored three points off one Tiger fumble. The Bulldogs have 13 points off six turnovers this year.

*Georgia is -1 in Turnover Margin on the year.

*Up Next: Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC) plays host to No. 4 Ole Miss (6-0, 3-0 SEC) with kickoff at 3:30 pm ET on ABC. The Rebels beat Washington State 24-21 earlier today in Oxford.