The Fall’s First Test

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Today, as I walked across the campus of the midwestern university where I’m currently employed, a slight chill was noticeable in the air. We are now well and truly in the thick of the 2026 college football season. Right on cue, here come the Oklahoma Sooners to give the Dawgs their first real test. Or will they?

If you were to ask me to name my favorite Georgia game, I would probably pick this one because I was in the student section at Sanford, and I’ve never heard a sound like the one that erupted when Zach Mettenberger missed his last target to clinch the win for the Dawgs.

But a close second, and easily the best game I’ve seen that I didn’t attend in person, would probably be the Rose Bowl against Oklahoma, an absolute masterclass in coaching from Kirby Smart. Falling to a 31-14 deficit just before halftime, the Dawgs were forced out of their defense-first, ball-control comfort zone and adjusted on the fly to chase a high-powered, wide-open Big 12 team with a Heisman winner under center. The whole team stayed dialed in, even when Sony Michel had a late fumble that looked like it would cost UGA the game. Arguably the most important play of the 2017 season was Rodrigo Blankenship’s field goal as the first half ended. (Davin Bellamy’s strip sack of Brandon Wimbush and Lorenzo Carter’s fumble recovery would be the other contender.)

Anyway, this year’s Oklahoma is…not that same vintage as the one we met in Pasadena. Under Brent Venables, the Sooners have developed a reputation for a stingy defense, but gone are the scoreboard-breaking offenses of the Bob Stoops/Lincoln Riley days. A casual observer might see UGA vs. Oklahoma and think of this, but it really does seem like Oklahoma’s current offense is broken.

Offensively, this year’s Oklahoma squad seems determined to make sportswriters and broadcasters look up synonyms for the word “moribund.” After a week one drubbing of UTEP, Oklahoma spit the bit badly in Ann Arbor and lost to a Michigan team that had spent the entire previous week as a punchline. Michigan’s defense is capable, but Oklahoma didn’t put up much of a fight in that game.

Last week, they only managed 14 points at home against New Mexico. This year’s Lobos are a good G6 team, and their coach Jason Eck is probably going to be a very wealthy man this time next year when he gets hired away. But a serious team should have been able to put up more than two touchdowns on them. The Oklahoma students agreed with me, as chants of “Fire Arbuckle” rained down on the field during the game.

The problem mainly seems to be that quarterback John Mateer has hit his ceiling. He’s a dynamic runner but has struggled mightily when asked to push the ball downfield. Complicating matters for the Sooners’ offense is that they’ll face the Dawgs without starting left tackle Michael Fasusi, who’s struggled with a shoulder injury all season. Fasusi has first-round draft pick talent, and his absence on the blind side isn’t going to do any favors to an already struggling passing game. 

Georgia’s first-string defense has looked fearsome against the three warmup opponents, and this would be a great time to take another step forward. Whatever his limitations as a passer, Mateer is elusive and strong as an ox, and running quarterbacks have traditionally been the hemlock to Smart’s defensive Socrates. Getting him on the ground fast and often is the priority. Especially given the quarterbacks we’ll face later this season, facing Mateer will give the defense some extremely valuable live game reps here. Also, for what it’s worth, the Georgia defensive front tends to bring pressure from the inside linebackers, but this might be a great time to experiment with a more traditional edge rushing attack since that’s the weak point on the Oklahoma line. 

My primary interest in this game, however, is on the other side of the ball. So far, Gunner Stockton has done everything you’d want to see from a second-year starter. He’s averaging three passing touchdowns and just a shade under 200 yards per game, tacking on 100 rushing yards. That’s pretty good considering he’s played about a half in each of these games. He and the other quarterbacks are distributing the ball well, with 19 different Dawgs tallying at least one reception. Likewise, the offense has been relatively balanced, piling up 760 yards on the ground and 857 through the air. The first three games have given the offense an opportunity to stretch its legs and start to establish an identity.

That experience is good because Oklahoma is likely the best defense the Dawgs will face this season. Even without starting DT David Stone, who seems like he’s going to be out after hurting his knee in practice this week, the Sooners’ pass rush is going to be a handful. But the upside is we’re finally going to get a real sense of how well this team will respond to adversity. It’s entirely possible that this game is close after a half or even three quarters. Yards and points may be tough to come by. The 2026 Bulldogs have shown an impressive ability to come out of the gate strong, playing with fire and focus from the jump. But this weekend may be the first 60-minute test they’ve faced yet.

I was bullish on the offensive line’s performance in the first two games, and it felt like Phil Rauscher’s group was much more cohesive than the 2025 edition. But then they gave up three sacks to an Arkansas team that already seems to be playing out the string. As GlimmerTwin pointed out, that’s far from an ideal performance.

The good news is, to my largely untrained eye, that looked like a product of Arkansas’ DC Ron Roberts employing some trickeration to confuse the group rather than just getting overpowered up front. As a general rule, you can fix scheme problems over the course of a season, but personnel problems are basically impossible to solve until the next year. So hopefully that three-sack morning in Fayetteville will serve as a wakeup call to play with more discipline up front. 

The easy part of the schedule is in the rearview mirror now. While I don’t think Oklahoma will win this game, they absolutely have the ability to. They’ve got a roster with a bunch of future pros, so they’re not going to be intimidated just to line up against UGA. And whatever the team’s shortcomings, they’re also staring down the barrel of playoff elimination with a loss this weekend, so motivation shouldn’t be an issue either.

For the first time this year, we’re going to see what the Dawgs are truly capable of. This is the fun part.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos