Fast start propels Bulldogs past Tigers, 48-21

ATHENS, Ga. — The first play from scrimmage resulted in an interception by the Georgia defense, and away the top-ranked Bulldogs went Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium. Georgia scored on its first five possessions, led No. 22 Missouri 31-0 midway through the second quarter, and rolled to a 48-21 win in front of a sellout crowd of 93,033.

Georgia (9-1, 7-1 SEC) jumped on the Tigers in all phases of the game. The offense piled up 468 yards, the defense held Missouri (6-4, 3-4) to 286, and special teams got two field goals from Peyton Woodring and a couple of big returns from Sacovie White-Helton.

Quarterback Gunner Stockton completed 18 of 24 passes for 252 yards and a touchdown, and he also ran for an 8-yard touchdown. Nate Frazier had three rushing touchdowns and led the Bulldogs with 72 yards on 14 carries, while Dwight Phillips Jr. added 66 yards on seven carries. Craig Dandridge Jr. had a career-high six receptions for 85 yards, plus a 22-yard run, to lead the wideouts.

Missouri quarterback Austin Simmons’ first pass of the game went right to linebacker Raylen Wilson, who grabbed the interception, the first of the senior’s career, and returned it 29 yards to the Tiger 7-yard line. Two plays later, Frazier took a pitch to the left from Stockton and ran the ball into the end zone for a 7-0 lead 61 seconds into the game.

Georgia’s defense forced a quick three-and-out on Mizzou’s next drive, and the Bulldog offense again wasted no time scoring. Frazier ran for 15 yards to the Tiger 45, followed by a 33-yard Stockton pass to wideout Isiah Canion. Two plays later, Stockton tucked the ball and ran it in from the 8 for a 14-0 lead with 10:33 to go in the opening quarter.

The Bulldogs’ next drive also ended in the end zone, this time with Frazier running the ball in from the 3 for a 21-0 lead with 2:03 to go in the first. The drive began with Stockton being sacked for a loss of 5 yards, and then the offense continued to click, with Stockton making plays through the air and Frazier and Phillips getting it done on the ground. Stockton was 4 of 5 for 51 yards on the 11-play drive.

Georgia added to its lead with 10:43 left in the half on Woodring’s 41-yard field goal, making it 24-0. After the Bulldogs’ next defensive stop, the Tigers had completed five drives, with the longest at four plays.

With 6:52 left in the half, Stockton found Canion in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown to push the lead to 31-0. Canion, a 6-foot-4 junior who missed multiple games with an injury before returning last week against Ole Miss, had three receptions all season coming into Saturday. The touchdown grab was his third of the game, and his first score as a Bulldog after two seasons at Georgia Tech.

Missouri, which finished 2 of 11 on third down, got on the scoreboard on its next possession, getting into the end zone on a 15-yard pass from Simmons to Naeshaun Montgomery with 3:05 to go in the half. The score was the first allowed by the Bulldogs in the first half in three games, after shutting out Florida and Ole Miss for three quarters in their previous two matchups.

At the half, Georgia led 31-7 and had a 264-115 advantage in total offense. The Bulldogs got the ball to start the second half, and they had excellent field position after White-Helton’s 58-yard kickoff return. White-Helton finished with 95 yards on three returns.

A 22-yard completion to tight end Jaden Reddell on third-and-7 moved the ball to the Tiger 16. Georgia couldn’t take full advantage of White-Helton’s long return, but Woodring made a 40-yard field goal with 10:42 left in the third for a 34-7 lead.

Frazier found the end zone again midway through the third, scoring on a 3-yard run one play after fighting through multiple Tiger defenders on a 17-yard rush. Earlier in the drive, Phillips took off up the left side for a 29-yard run, and that was followed by a 22-yarder by Dandridge. Frazier’s third TD of the game made it 41-7 with 6:15 to go in the third.

Missouri’s Donovan Olugbode caught an 11-yard Simmons touchdown pass to cut the Bulldog lead to 41-14 with 45 seconds to play in the third. Georgia answered with a six-play drive that included a 26-yard completion to Dandridge, a 29-yarder to a twisting and turning Talyn Taylor on the right sideline, and running back Chauncey Bowens, who missed the previous four games with an injury, scored on a 5-yard run to make it 48-14 with 12:53 to play.

The Tigers got a 2-yard touchdown on a fourth-down throw from Simmons to Kenric Lanier II with 5:15 remaining, making it 48-21. Linebacker Justin Williams led the Georgia defense with 10 tackles, and linebacker Rasean Dinkins added six.

The Bulldogs head to Columbia, S.C., next weekend to take on No. 17 South Carolina. Georgia is 55-19-2 all-time against the Gamecocks, including wins in eight of the past nine meetings.

POST-GAME NOTES

*Another Big SEC Win: Top-ranked Georgia (9-1, 7-1 SEC) registered its fourth SEC win by at least 25 points this year, the most since four in 2022, in tonight’s 48-21 win.

*The Bulldogs are now 126-22 in the Kirby Smart era including 61-6 at home. Georgia leads the Missouri series 13-1 including 9-0 under Smart.

*As the No. 1 ranked team under Smart, the Bulldogs are now 34-3.

*Since the Auburn loss, Georgia has outscored its opponents 117-36 in wins over #17 Florida in Atlanta, #10 Ole Miss in Oxford and #22 Missouri in Athens. Those teams were averaging 39.6, 37.1 and 30.2 points per game and lost 27-8, 42-7 and 48-21.

*Offensive Review: Georgia tallied 48 points, gaining 468 yards on 60 plays with 182 rushing yards and 286 passing. Georgia came in leading the SEC and ranked fifth nationally in Scoring Offense at 41.1 points per game.

*Fifth-year QB Gunner Stockton finished 18-for-24 for 252 yards, 1 TD passing, 1 TD rushing, playing a little more than three quarters. He left after the first play of the 4th quarter following a 26-yard completion to Craig Dandridge Jr.

*The Bulldogs scored on their first five possessions, posting four TDs, a field goal and then had their final two drives of the half end with punts.

*Georgia’s 21-point 1st Quarter was the most since the Western Kentucky game (21) and second to the 28 against TSU in the season opener.

*The Bulldogs are outscoring opponents 129-14 in the 1st Quarter this year and 261-64 at the half.

*Georgia tallied 21 points in the 1st quarter, 10 in the 2nd, 10 in the 3rd and 7 in the 4th. The Bulldogs have scored in 37 of 40 quarters this season.

*At halftime, Georgia led 31-7 with 264 yards of offense (92-rushing, 172-passing) on 37 plays.

*Georgia got the ball to start the 2nd half at the Mizz 46 following a career-long 58-yard KOR by Sacovie White-Helton. On a 3rd-and-7 at the MIZ38, Stockton hit tight end Jaden Reddell for a 22-yard completion. The drive ended with a 40-yard FG by Woodring and a 34-7 lead.

*Georgia made it 41-7 after going 85 yards on six plays capped by Nate Frazier’s three-yard TD, his third of the game and ninth this year.

*Georgia’s second TD drive today covered 60 yards on four plays in two minutes and featured a 33-yard catch by junior Isiah Canion and an eight-yard TD run by Stockton for a 14-0 lead with 10:33 left in the 1st quarter.

*Junior Nate Frazier made it 7-0 on a four-yard rush to cap a two play, seven-yard drive in 45 seconds following an INT by Raylen Wilson. Frazier added a three-yarder for his 8th TD of the season and a 21-0 lead in the 1st quarter to finish an 11 play, 87-yard drive in 5:58. Coming in today, the Tigers had surrendered only five rushing TDs on the year.

The Bulldogs made it 31-0 with a 61-yard march on five plays in 2:21, capped by a 12-yard catch by Canion with 6:52 leff in the 1st half.

*Defensive Highlights: Missouri’s first five drives today covered a total of 31 yards and ended with an interception and four punts.

*The #22 Tigers trailed 31-7 at the half with 115 yards of offense. Mizzou went 75 yards in eight plays to make it 31-7 with 3:05 left in the 1st half.

*On 4th-and-goal from the UGA 2 with 5:15 left in the game, the Tigers converted to make it 48-21, going 81 yards in 13 plays in 7:32.

*Senior Raylen Wilson notched his first career INT on the first play from scrimmage today. It set up a seven-yard TD drive and a 7-0 lead. Mizzou came in leading the SEC and 11th nationally with just six turnovers lost this year. Also, the Tigers had thrown just two INTs across 300 attempts, which led the SEC and was seventh nationally.

*The leading tacklers today were Justin Williams with a career-high 10 followed by Chris Cole and Rasean Dinkins with six each.

The Tigers became just the 2nd team this season to score more than 20 points on the Bulldogs, finishing with 286 yards of offense on 61 plays.

*Rushing Numbers: Georgia had 182 rushing yards on 34 attempts (5.4 avg) with 5 TDs. Coming in today, the Tigers had allowed just five rushing TDs this season and were holding opponents to just 95.8 rushing yards a game, which ranked third in the SEC and 14th nationally.

*Junior Nate Frazier had a team-best 72 yards on 14 carries and three TDs while Dwight Phillips Jr., had 66 yards on seven carries. Phillips had a 29-yard scamper in the 2nd half, the longest allowed by the Tigers this season.

*Junior TB Chauncey Bowens saw his first action since Oct. 3 (Vandy), and on his first carry today, he scored a five-yard TD to make it 48-14.

Receiving Leaders: Ten different Bulldogs caught a pass. Freshman Craig Dandridge Jr., had a team-high six for 85 yards while junior Isiah Canion was next with four for 63 yards and one TD, his first as a Bulldog and fifth of his career. Talyn Taylor had three for 63 yards.

*Special Teams Summary: Senior PK Peyton Woodring had 12 points on six PATs and two FGs (40, 41) plus he took care of the kickoffs.

*Woodring now has 436 career points and that ranks second in UGA history, trailing only the 440 by Rodrigo Blankenship (2016-19).

*Woodring added to his record Career PAT total today and now has 226.

*Junior punter Drew Miller had three punts for a 43.3 yard-average including a 50-yarder and placed one inside the 20.

*Coming in today, Missouri had allowed only one punt return for 8 yards this season. Georgia finished with four for 45 yards (Sacovie White-Helton (2-for-37 including a 30-yarder) and Tyriq Green (2-for-8). White-Helton began the 2nd half with a career-long 58-yard KOR.

*Points Off Turnovers: Georgia got one turnover and turned it into 7 points. The Bulldogs are now +8 in Turnover Margin this season and have scored 93 points off 18 turnovers. Missouri recovered a muffed point at the UGA 24 with 2:01 left in the game, and it led to a 29-yard missed FG.

*Captains, Starters, Availability: Georgia’s captains were Nate Frazier, Earnest Greene III, Khalil Barnes and Elijah Griffin.

*Georgia won the coin toss and elected to defer the football until the 2nd half. After today’s win, Georgia is 6-0 when it wins the toss this year and 3-1 when it doesn’t. Every team that has won the toss this season in a Georgia game has elected to kick off.

*Sophomore center Cortez Smith II made his first career start. It marked the first time this season that the Bulldogs didn’t have the same starting five up front as fifth-year center Drew Bobo was ruled out due to injury.

*Up Next: Georgia (9-1, 7-1 SEC) faces #17 South Carolina (6-3, 4-3 SEC) in Columbia on Nov. 21 at 7:30 pm ET (ABC). The Gamecocks are at Arkansas tonight.

POST-GAME QUOTES

Head Coach Kirby Smart

On Nate Frazier’s physicality…
“He runs it. I thought he committed to some runs tonight and ran through; you know, got some tough yards after contact. The one touchdown run, he rushed the pile and the guys helped him, but he had a couple other runs; he stuck it up inside and did a nice job on them.”

On ingraining not missing tackles…
“A lot of guys want to go play. They get an opportunity to play, and they miss tackles or don’t execute. That hurts us, but there’s growth in that. They’ll learn from it, and they’ll get better from it.”

On playing away against South Carolina…
“It’s a hard place to play. We don’t have many guys on our team that have been there. It’s a night environment, they keep sending us on the road at night, so I embrace that.”

#14 Gunner Stockton | QB | 5th

On not having Drew Bobo…
“Not having (Drew) Bobo out there was tough, but Cortex (Smith) did great just stepping up and leading. With Drew, he’s one of our best leaders, so Cortex did a great job today. Missouri’s a really good football team, and they do a great job stopping the run, so that was a good part.”

On Isaiah Canion and Chauncey Bowens finding the endzone…
“It’s awesome seeing Isaiah (Canion) and Chauncey (Bowens) having fun out there and smiling. All the work that they’ve been putting in to get to where they are at is amazing.”

On Craig Dandridge’s impact on the team…
“Craig is a great player. You know there’s the receiver room, and Craig being so young, you wouldn’t think he’s as young as he is. Just the maturity, the way he attacks practice, meetings, everything, and on top of that, he’s a great player.”

#6 Isiah Canion | WR | Jr.

On how it feels to make a big play since being back from injury…
“It’s awesome. It’s a blessing. Sometimes we take for granted being able to play this game, especially on a stage like this. It’s just a blessing to be here, a blessing to be able to suit up and play. I feel great.”

On what it feels like as an in-state player to get your first ever touchdown in Sanford Stadium…
“It was a great feeling, I didn’t even know what to do. I kind of just blacked out, I was just excited, pure joy, genuine excitement.”

On the depth of the team being the 21st different player on Georgia to score a touchdown this season…
“We just have playmakers everywhere. It’s always good when you can get anybody the ball and they can make plays. It is a testament to our staff and how they put this team together and our players and the work we put in.”

#19 Justin Williams | ILB | Jr.

On what he sees the offense doing differently…
“I see a lot of talented guys. You know, a lot of unselfish guys, a lot of guys that are willing to go do whatever for the team, and I’m so happy that all those guys get touches, get carries, or anything. So thankful to have them as my teammates and everything.

On what the main focus is for starting so strong…
“Oh, this is really how we practice. I mean, every day we go out, the goal is to put as many points on the board as I can and to hold it to as many points as I can. That’s how we practice. I really just go practice what we do in practice.”