Gunner Stockton, Dawgs Explode on Marshall | UGA Football Defense Stonewalls Herd

LIMITED TIME: Get Dawg Post coverage for $1 until the Alabama game

ATHENS - Kirby Smart and UGA football kicked off the season against Marshall - and the Dawgs came to play.

*Winning Between The Hedges: Fifth-ranked Georgia (1-0) extended its home winning streak to 32 games today with a 45-7 victory over Marshall (0-1). That is the longest active streak in the FBS. The NCAA record belongs to Miami (58 from 1985-94) while Alabama has the SEC mark at 57 (1963-82).
*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+).