Georgia hardly ever beats Alabama. Even though they beat the Tide the last time they met in the 2025 SEC Championship game, all week they were told how much they struggle against Alabama and why the Tide were going to beat them again. The Bulldogs however proved all of those people wrong by taking down Alabama 20-17 on the road Saturday night.
Georgia didn't play perfect by any means, but they did just enough to beat Alabama and keep themselves in position to accomplish all of their goals this season.
The winners from Georgia's victory over Alabama
RB Dwight Phillips
Georgia was without their top two running backs in Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens. This meant someone in Georgia's running back room needed to step up, and that's exactly what Dwight Phillips did.
He finished the night running for 120 yards on 17 carries. Bo Walker also had a strong 69 yards on 10 carries, but it was Phillips who stole the show out of the backfield when Georgia needed him most.
QB Gunner Stockton
Gunner Stockton just had the best performance of his career. He did throw one boneheaded interception and nearly tossed a second that luckily hit the ground, but other than those two throws he was on another level.
He finished the game completing 18 of 22 passes for 249 yards and a touchdown. He also added a rushing touchdown as well which was his first of the season.
Stockton was especially impressive on third downs. He completed nine of 10 passes on third down with six of those plays resulting in a first down. It doesn't get much better than that because those are the plays that keeps drives alive and end in eventual points for Georgia.
Stockton still has some things to work on because he did make those two poor throws, but he showed great command of the offense and connected on multiple deep balls down the field which was the biggest area of concern entering this season.
Recovering fumbles
Georgia put the ball on the ground four times during this game and they thankfully recovered all four fumbles. Alabama may have just needed one more mistake from Georgia to win this game, but UGA made sure to not let that happen.
Georgia was a bit lucky to recover some of these fumbles. Stockton fumbled once after a bad snap he couldn't hang onto and the ball thankfully bounced directly into his chest after hitting the ground. It's bounces like this that usually don't go in Georgia's favor against Alabama, but this time they did.
Georgia also recovered a fumble on defense to end Alabama's first drive of the game. The Tide were cruising after having the ball for over seven minutes to start the game, but after getting into Georgia territory Joseph Jonah-Ajonye had a strip sack that ended the drive.
If one of these five fumbles wasn't recovered by Georgia the Tide may have won this game, but the bounces thankfully went Georgia's way this time.
Kirby Smart
Kirby Smart deserves a lot of credit for this victory. Alabama is the one team he hasn't been able to overcome throughout his career, but now he has defeated the Tide two games in a row dating back to the 2025 SEC Championship game last year.
This victory also marks the first regular season win over Alabama for Smart as well.
Smart still only has a 3-7 record against Alabama in his career, but now that he's beat the Tide two times in a row he can officially say that he doesn't have an Alabama problem anymore.
The 2 losers from Georgia's win over Alabama
Playing disciplined football
Georgia did not play disciplined football, specifically when it comes to penalties. The Bulldogs racked up seven penalties for 57 yards which overall isn't horrible, but many of these penalties were silly mistakes instead of a result of just playing hard.
Georgia did get a bit lucky that pass interference wasn't called on the final Alabama drive as well, but refs miss calls all the time. There was a clear holding on an Alabama offensive lineman that resulted in a Crimson Tide touchdown, so the bad calls went both ways.
Georgia was able to overcome the poor discipline they showed at times though, and that's what makes a great football team.
RB Nick Peal
True freshman running back Nick Peal did not have a great game against Alabama. This was the first time in his career playing in a big game, and it showed that he was not ready.
Peal likely never would've played in this game, but thanks to the injuries at the top of the depth chart he came in and got two carries. He did record six yards, but he coughed up the ball once that Georgia thankfully recovered and had a false start penalty.
Peal has a lot of potential and playing in a game like this should help him improve going forward, but he is someone Georgia won't be able to rely on this year.
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