One week into the 2025 college football season, and Dawg Nation cannot get enough of the Georgia Bulldogs' offense. While the 45 points it scored came against an incredibly depleted Marshall Thundering Herd team at home in Week 1, Georgia's offensive attack seemed to run much smoother with Gunner Stockton at the helm of Mike Bobo's unit that it ever was while Carson Beck was starting.
Of the many things that Stockton did well on Saturday, he did a fantastic job of distributing the ball to his weapons, both through the air and on the ground. While RB1 Nate Frazier looked as advertised in the backfield, Dwight Phillips Jr. was able to run all over the Thundering Herd's defense in his limited touches. He had 60 yards rushing on five carries for a game-high 12 yards per rush. Phillips was solid.
While Josh McCray tries to factor his way into the offense after transferring over from Illinois, Phillips did not skip a beat in his first game of his sophomore season. Ourlads may have his listed as RB3 on Bulldogs' depth chart, but he is already begging for even more carries in this multi-faceted Georgia offense. Chauncey Bowens may be listed ahead of him, but Phillips was far more productive Week 1.
This suggests that Georgia plans to keep the chains moving with the ground game all season long.
Dwight Phillips Jr.'s explosiveness to help overcome offensive line woes
What is important to understand is most of the teams Georgia will be going up against this season will not be as ravaged by the transfer portal to the degree Marshall was this past offseason. Tony Gibson could be in for a rough first year in Huntington with his predecessor Charles Huff up and leaving for Southern Miss, taking as many players as he possibly could with him to Hattiesburg earlier this year.
Admittedly, it will be hard to gauge how good this Georgia team really is until it goes up against SEC competition. In the next two-to-four weeks, those answers will be revealed. After Austin Peay this weekend, Georgia travels to Knoxville to face Tennessee before welcoming Alabama to Athens in Week 5 after the bye. Right now, the biggest concern for Georgia might be its offensive line's viability.
Surely, Bobo and Kirby Smart will find ways to work around this potential vulnerability for the team. Stockton's willingness to run should be huge in that department, as may be the case with Phillips' explosiveness in the backfield. Do not be shocked to see the Dawgs run some good, old-fashioned jet sweeps with Phillips, Zachariah Branch and company in the backfield to mess with other defenses.
For now, Phillips' ability to get to the second level of the defense has him firmly on everyone's radar.