News And Notes For UGA Football's Rivalry Game Against The Florida Gators

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ATHENS - Kirby Smart’s UGA Football team will enter the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party this weekend to take on the Florida Gators.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 43-35 win over No. 5 Ole Miss in Athens. The Gators survived Mississippi State 23-21 a day before firing Billy Napier.

Fast Facts On The Georgia-Florida Series
After an open date for both teams, fifth-ranked Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) now faces Florida (3-4, 2-2 SEC) Saturday in Jacksonville. The game will be at Everbank Stadium at 3:30 pm on ABC.

Georgia leads the series 57-44-2. The teams first met in 1904, a 52-0 win by the Bulldogs in Macon. The teams have squared off annually in Jacksonville since 1933 with the game moving on campus in 1994-95 due to stadium renovations. UF is the home team this year.

Georgia owns a four-game winning streak in the series and is 7-2 against the Gators under Kirby Smart. Florida’s last win came in 2020, and after that game, Georgia went on a school record 42-game regular season winning streak that ended in 2024.

Georgia is averaging 33.7 points a game while the Gators come in with a 22.4 average. The Bulldogs are allowing just 19.6 points a game while the Gators surrender only 20.0. Georgia has eight sacks and allowed nine this year. Florida has 13 sacks and allowed 14. The Bulldogs are -1 in Turnover Margin while the Gators are -3.

“Hard To Kill”
Georgia has trailed early and late in four of its SEC games this year. The Bulldogs have rallied to beat No. 15 Tennessee and Auburn on the road, and most recently, No. 5 Ole Miss in Athens.

Georgia blanked then No. 17 Alabama and Auburn in the second half while Kentucky’s lone second half score came on a 23-yard drive with 1:51 left in the contest and the Bulldogs up 35-7. Trailing 35-26, Georgia outscored No. 5 Ole Miss 17-0 in the 4th quarter in its 43-35 win. The only league contest where Georgia led wire-to-wire was a 35-14 win over Kentucky while the only comeback that fell short came to No. 17 Alabama 24-21 in Athens that ended what at the time was an FBS-leading 33-game home winning streak.

Georgia-Florida Moving Again In 2026-27

Due to stadium renovations in Jacksonville, the Georgia-Florida game will be played in Atlanta in 2026 and Tampa in 2027 before returning in Jacksonville in 2028. The game is under contract to be played in Jacksonville through 2031. This marks only the second time since 1933 that the teams will move the game for this reason. In 1994 (Gainesville) and 1995 (Athens), the teams met on campus when the Gator Bowl was being renovated for the NFL’s newest franchise, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Stockton Leads Powerful Bulldog Offense

Redshirt junior quarterback Gunner Stockton is in his first season as a starter, and he has accounted for 17 TDs (10 passing, 7 rushing). He leads the SEC and is 10th nationally in Completion Percentage (70.5). He had a streak of 157 consecutive passing attempts without an INT end in the UK game. Stockton helped Georgia pass its first SEC road start, leading the Bulldogs to a 44-41 win in overtime against No. 15 Tennessee in front of a crowd of 101,915. Georgia trailed five different times including in OT. At Auburn, he rallied the Bulldogs in the second half to a 20-10 victory. Most recently, he sparked Georgia’s comeback against No. 5 Ole Miss with a perfect second half, going 12-for-12 for 135 yards and 3 TDs in a 43-35 victory.

According to ESPN Research, Stockton is the first QB to go 12-for-12 or better in a half against an AP top-five opponent since California’s Aaron Rodgers did it versus then-No. 1 USC in 2004.

Run The Damn Ball

Georgia is averaging 190.6 rushing yards per game with 19 TDs. Redshirt freshman Chauncey Bowens made his first career start in the win over UK and provided 70 yards on a career-high 15 carries. He enjoyed a breakout performance against No. 17 UA, posting a career-best 119 yards on 12 carries (9.9 average) including a 43-yarder. He has a team-high 376 yards. Bowens is the only Bulldog to go over 100 rushing yards in a game this year.

Sophomore Nate Frazier (349 yards) has started six games including the first four contests. He had a team-best 72 rushing yards plus a three-yard TD catch in the win over No. 5 OM. Senior Cash Jones and redshirt senior Josh McCray provide various looks. The Bulldogs had 55 rushes for 198 yard in the win at No. 15 UT. Frazier had a team-long 21-yard burst on the first play in overtime to set up the game-winning score by McCray who notched a pair of scores in the triumph. Jones is known for breaking tackles, being a solid blocker and receiver with a 16-yard TD catch against UK.

Hauling It In

Georgia’s leading receivers have been junior Zachariah Branch (35-for-362 yards, 2 TDs), senior Colbie Young (23-for-336 yards, 1 TD), and junior London Humphreys (15-for-185 yards, 2 TDs). Branch has the longest reception of the season, a 47-yarder for a TD against Marshall. He had a career-high nine catches (57 yards) in the road win over AU.

Young caught a 36-yard pass on the opening drive against No. 5 OM but injured his ankle. He is now out.

Branch had a team-high eight catches for 71 yards in the win over No. 5 OM. He had five catches for 69 yards in win at No. 15 UT, including a 36-yard TD and the game-tying two-point conversion with 2:32 left in regulation.

Humphreys had THE catch of the season. Down 38-30 with 2:38 remaining in the game at No. 15 UT, it was 4th-and-6. He hauled in a 28-yard touchdown strike from Gunner Stockton. Senior Noah Thomas had three catches for 24 yards against the Govs. His next catch came four games later, a clutch 30-yarder at AU to set up the Bulldogs first TD as it trailed 10-3 late in the 3rd quarter.