ATHENS, Ga. — In an offense-heavy matchup of top-10 teams Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium, it was ninth-ranked Georgia’s defense that came through in the fourth quarter against No. 5 Ole Miss. The Rebels scored touchdowns on their first five possessions in the game, but the Bulldogs shut them down late and pulled out a 43-35 win.
Quarterback Gunner Stockton’s fourth touchdown pass of the game, and third to tight end Lawson Luckie, a 7-yarder with 7:29 remaining, gave Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) the lead for good. It came after the Bulldog defense got its first stop of the game, a three-and-out. Georgia later added a 42-yard Peyton Woodring field goal with 2:06 to play, and then stopped the Rebels (6-1, 3-1) for the third straight drive to seal the win.
Georgia came into Saturday’s game 7-0 in home games against top-10 teams under coach Kirby Smart, and that unblemished record looked very vulnerable for long stretches as the Rebels kept finding the end zone. But the Bulldog defense eventually got the stops they needed, while the offense had a huge day. Georgia out-gained the Rebels 510-351 and had a 15-minute advantage in time of possession: 37:39-22:21. Stockton finished 26 of 31 for 289 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, while the Bulldogs also rushed for 221 yards on 49 attempts.
The Bulldogs got the ball to start the game and opened with an 8-yard completion to wideout Zachariah Branch, a 6-yard Nate Frazier rush and a 36-yard completion from Stockton to receiver Colbie Young. The drive was stalled by an offensive pass interference penalty, forcing Georgia to settle for a 51-yard Woodring field goal and a 3-0 lead.
Ole Miss answered with a 14-play drive that ended with a 7-yard Trinidad Chambliss run for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead with 5:47 to play in the opening quarter. It was the beginning of an offense-heavy afternoon on Dooley Field.
Georgia followed that with its own touchdown drive, covering 75 yards in 13 plays. After making a great catch for 13 yards on a ball thrown behind him earlier in the drive, tight end Lawson Luckie caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Stockton on the first play of the second quarter, putting the Bulldogs back in front, 10-7.
The Rebels regained the lead, 14-10, with a 10-play drive that ended with Kewan Lacy’s 1-yard touchdown run with 10:53 to go in the half. The back-and-forth continued on the next drive, with Georgia making plays in the run and pass games. Two plays after connecting with Dillon Bell on a 21-yard completion, Stockton ran the ball in from the 22 for a touchdown, his longest rush of the season, and a 17-14 lead with 7:13 on the clock. It was Stockton’s team-high seventh rushing touchdown of the season.
Ole Miss took advantage of a pair of Georgia pass interference penalties in Bulldog territory, and regained the lead, 21-17, with 2:10 left in the half, on Lacy’s 1-yard rush for a touchdown. On the final play of the half, Woodring made a 35-yard field goal to cut the Rebel lead to 21-20 at the break. Georgia had a 25-1183 advantage in total offense at the half, with an average of 6.6 yards per play to Ole Miss’ 5.2.
The Rebels only needed two plays to find the end zone on the first possession of the second half, with Chambliss connecting with De’Zhaun Stribling on the left side and the receiver doing the rest on a 75-yard touchdown to push the Rebels’ lead to 28-21.
Georgia once again responded with its own scoring drive, this one ending with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Stockton to Luckie. The Bulldogs’ 2-point conversion attempt failed, allowing the Rebels to hold onto the lead, 28-26, with 10:02 remaining in the third quarter. Ole Miss extended its lead soon after, going up 35-26 with 4:12 left in the third, on Chambliss’ 2-yard touchdown run. Chambliss ran for 16 yards earlier in the drive on fourth-and-2 at the UGA 30-yard line. Chambliss’ rushing touchdown was the Rebels’ fourth of the game against a Georgia defense that had allowed just four all season before Saturday.
Georgia’s offense continued its very productive day, marching 75 yards in 12 plays and scoring on Stockton’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Frazier on the left side. That cut the Rebel lead to 35-33 with 12:56 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs had scored on every possession so far — four touchdowns and three field goals — but the UGA defense hadn’t yet kept the Rebels out of the end zone on any of their drives.
The Georgia defense got that first stop on Ole Miss’ next possession, forcing the game’s first punt. Linebacker CJ Allen pressured Chambliss on his third-down attempt and forced the incompletion. The Bulldogs made the most of the stop, marching 67 yards in nine plays and taking a 40-35 lead with 7:29 remaining on Stockton’s third touchdown pass to Luckie, this one covering 7 yards. Luckie had four receiving TDs in his career coming into the game.
Georgia’s defense forced a second straight three-and-out, and the offense drove into Rebel territory before having to settle for a 42-yard Woodring field goal, pushing the Bulldog lead to 43-35 with 2:06 remaining. The UGA defense got one more stop on Ole Miss’ final drive, getting regular pressure on Chambliss, to secure the win.
The Bulldogs are off next Saturday before heading to Jacksonville to take on Florida on Nov. 1 at EverBank Stadium.
POST-GAME NOTES
*Tough At Home And With College GameDay In Town/Series Update: With today’s win, the No. 9 Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 SEC) improve to 54-5 at home under Coach Smart including 8-0 against top 10 ranked opponents as No. 5 Ole Miss falls to 6-1, 3-1 SEC. Overall, Smart is 111-20 in this is 10th season. Georgia notched another win with ESPN College GameDay in town too. Georgia is 9-2 when the show is on campus including nine straight wins dating to 2013. The Bulldogs improve to 34-14-1 in the series with the Rebels including 20-4-1 in Athens. Overall, Georgia is 37-3 in its last 40 SEC regular season games.
*Another Second Half Rally: In four of five SEC games this year, Georgia trailed at the half and they are 3-1 now in those contests. The Bulldogs were behind 21-17 at No. 15 Tennessee and rallied for a 44-41 win in overtime. Georgia trailed 24-14 and lost to No. 17 Alabama 24-21. Georgia fell behind at Auburn 10-3 and won 20-10. Today, Georgia trailed 21-20 and were down 35-26 to start the 4th quarter and came back to win 43-35. Today marked the 18th victory in the Smart era when the Bulldogs were tied or trailing entering the 4th quarter. It was the second such win in 2025 (@ No. 15 Tennessee).
*A Review Of The Offense: Georgia finished with 43 points, gaining 510 yards of offense on 80 plays.
*Redshirt junior QB Gunner Stockton finished 26-of-31 for 289 yards and a career-high 4 TDs plus 59 yards rushing and one TD. In the 2nd half, he was 12-for-12 for 135 yards and 3 TDs!
*Up 40-35 with 6:32 left in the game, Georgia added a 42-yard field goal. The 66-yard drive in 4:27 featured a 36-yard completion to Dillon Bell,
*Down 35-33 with 12:37 left in the contest, Georgia went up 40-35 with a nine play, 67-yard drive. It featured a 17-yard reverse by Dillon Bell and capped with a 7-yard TD catch by Lawson Luckie, his third of the day, the most since Mohamed Massaquoi against Ga. Tech in 2008.
*Trailing 35-26 with 4:12 left in the 3rd quarter, Georgia cut it to 35-33 with a 75-yard TD drive in 12 plays. It featured a 4th-and-one conversion by Josh McCray for two yards at UGA 44 and then a 26-yard completion to Zachariah Branch and capped by a three-yard TD pass to Nate Frazier.
*Down 28-20 with 14:46 left in the 3rd quarter, the Bulldogs went 75 yards for a score on nine plays to cut it to 28-27 on a three-yard pass to Luckie, his second of the game. Then, they went for a two-point conversion that failed as Stockton was sacked.
*No. 9 Georgia went into halftime trailing 21-20 as the Bulldogs collected 251 yards on 38 plays.
*Georgia scored on all four of its first half possessions, getting two TDs and two field goals. The Bulldogs were 6-fo-8 on 3rd down.
*Georgia got the football first after Ole Miss won the toss and deferred the ball until the 2nd half. The Bulldogs opened with a scoring drive that ended with a 51-yard field goal by Peyton Woodring. It featured a 36-yard completion off a flea-flicker pass from Gunner Stockton to Colbie Young.
*Down 7-3, the Bulldogs responded with a 75-yard TD drive on 13 plays. It featured an 11-yard TD pass to Lawson Luckie on 3rd-and-8 for a 10-3 lead.
*Trailing 14-10 in the 2nd quarter, Georgia answered with a 75-yard TD drive capped by a caerer-long 22-yard scamper by Stockton, his seventh rushing TD this year.
*Down 21-17 with 2:10 left in the 1st half, Georgia went 58 yards on 12 plays when Woodring made a 35-yard field goal to end the half down 21-20.
*Junior Zachariah Branch had a team-leading eight catches for 71 yards while junior Lawson Luckie had five for 43 yards and a career-high 3TDs. *Senior Colbie Young had one catch for 36 yards on the opening drive and then missed the rest of the game due to an ankle injury.
*A Look At The Defense : The Rebels posted 351 yards of offense (88-rushing, 263-passing) on 60 plays and came in fifth in the FBS with 515 ypg. They scored on their first five possessions before being stopped on their final three drives.
*Ole Miss led 35-33 with 12:56 left in the game when the Bulldogs forced their first three-and-out and first punt by either team.
*Down 40-35 with 7:29 left in the game, Ole Miss was stopped with a three-and-out for the second straight possession of the contest.
*Down 43-35 with 2:00 left, Ole Miss was stopped on 4th down after picking up 12 yards on five plays.
*To start the 2nd half, Ole Miss took a 28-20 lead after a 75-yard TD pass from Chambliss to De’Zhaun Striblin, the longest allowed by Georgia this year.
*The Rebels second possession of the 2nd half resulted in a 12 play, 75-yard TD drive and a 35-26 advantage.
*Coming in today, the Bulldogs had allowed just 10 points in the 3rd quarter, and the Rebels scored 14 today.
In the first half, the No. 5 Rebels led 21-20 points with 183 yards of total offense on 35 plays, scoring on all three possessions.
*The Rebels were 5-for-5 on 3rd Down in the first half and finished 0-for-4 in the 2nd half.
*Georgia’s leading tackler at the half was junior CJ Allen with 10 including eight solo stops. He came in second in the SEC in tackles per game at 7.7
*Checking In On Special Teams: Junior PK Peyton Woodring had 13 points on two field goals (35, 42 and 51 yards) and four PATs plus handled the kickoffs with a pair going out of bounds. Woodring is 2-for-2 from 50+ yards this year and 5-for-8 from that range in his career. Coming in today, Woodring had 117 career kickoffs with only two out of bounds. This season, Woodring is now 9-for-10 in field goal attempts. Today was the seventh time he’s made three field goals in a game.
*The Bulldogs did not punt today, marking the first time since the UMass game in 2024 that they didn’t have to punt.
*Captains, Coin Toss And For Starters: Georgia’s captains were Oscar Delp, London Humphries, Daylen Everette and Quintavius Johnson.
*Ole Miss won the toss and elected to defer the ball until the second half.
*For the first time this season, Georgia did not have a new starting group on the offensive line as Earnest Greene III returned at right tackle. Georgia’s front four was the same it used in week three in a road win over No. 15 Tennessee. The line featured Monroe Freeling (LT), Micah Morris (LG), Drew Bobo (C), Dontrell Glover (RG) and Greene III (RT).
*The defense saw its first lineup change in the past four games after redshirt sophomore safety Kyron Jones went down with a foot injury earlier this week in practice. Jones had started the first six games this year. Today, senior JacCorey Thomas got his first start this year and fourth of his career.
*Junior CJ Allen owns the longest streak at 10 games dating to 2024.
Up Next: Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) has an open date next Saturday. It will be back in action Nov. 1 versus Florida in Jacksonville with kickoff at 3:30 p.m on ABC. The Gators face Miss. State this afternoon.
POST-GAME QUOTES
Head Coach Kirby Smart
On resiliency among the Georgia Bulldogs…
“I credit this win to culture. I say it all the time, a culture win is as good as any win in your program. The culture of this team and the toughness and the physicality, it took over the game. We literally took over the game on offense with grind and conversion and methodical. And we then we got a little juice on defense and the crowd really got into it and I felt like we had two humungous stops. I’m proud of these guys. What a great game. The fans were awesome.”
On the performance of the backs and offensive line…
“I thought the backs ran really hard. I thought the offensive line played really hard. It was physical and our offensive line was tired. For the first time we were able to stay a little bit fresh- so we rolled a lineman. It gave us a little bit of juice. When you get like that and you stay healthy, you have a pretty good group that can be really physical.”
On the key to getting Ole Miss off the field late in the game…
“Huge. I thought the momentum we got by getting those stops on third down juiced up the offense. It got the crowd back into the game. We were hot and cold on defense. And when we’re hot, we’re hot and we’re not, we’re not. That’s frustrating and something we have to work on.”
#14 Gunner Stockton | QB | R-Jr.
On reading the defense…
“You always want to pick the defense apart. We were executing well today. It was a great game.”
On the overall offense…
“I feel like we played hard. We are never out of it. We had a lot of play makers involved. We did a good job of getting what we could get.”
On his connection with Lawson Luckie tonight…
“It was a great night. He works like crazy. I am glad it paid off for him.”
On his improvement this season…
“I have been able to cut it lose a bit. Not worrying about what could happen. Just playing quarterback and having fun.”
#3 CJ Allen | ILB | Jr.
On what changed after the first three quarters to win the game…
“I think it boils down to the coaching. It’s the coaching at the University of Georgia. We had to bow up whenever it was time…You had to dig deep. The game was on the line. Offense was doing their thing. I was playing complement football. It was back and forth. I knew we had to come and boil down.”
On if anything changed in the 4th quarter…
“I think it all boiled down to culture, the culture at UGA. We knew we had to bow our heads and boil down.”
On how you avoid getting frustrated in a game like this…
“I think that’s why it’s a team sport. You can’t get frustrated. I think offense did a good job just keeping us going. We knew that we just needed one stop.”