SEC Welcome Wagon: Red and black havoc greets Sooners in Athens shocker

By Don Stone, Football Atlanta

   One play turned a two score lead into a rout. It resulted in a possible 14 point swing.
   With just under nine minutes left in the second quarter, Oklahoma down 14-0 was about to shrink that lead as they faced a third and goal at the UGA 2 yard line. Quarterback John Mateer rolled to his left and pulled his arm back to throw a possible touchdown when he simply lost the handle. Georgia Linebacker Chris Cole (photo) scooped up the fumble and motored untouched in the other direction for an 85 yard scoop and score. Suddenly, the Dawgs had a commanding 21-0 lead. The game was never in doubt after that. But, there were many more to come.
 

    In the first-ever meeting between the two powerhouse programs between the hedges, the #2 ranked Georgia Bulldogs extended their flawless record to 4-0 by dismantling the Sooners 41-13 before a deafening, sold-out crowd of 93,033 at Sanford Stadium.

   House Call Highlights the Havoc – While the final yardage totals appeared deceptively thin—UGA outgaining Oklahoma by a mere 308 to 296 yards—the game was entirely dictated by an opportunistic, suffocating Kirby Smart defense. The Bulldogs forced four devastating turnovers that resulted in 17 points, turning a marquee SEC matchup into a classic Sanford Stadium ambush.

   Cole finished the half with two fumble recoveries, while K.J. Bolden chipped in by picking off a desperate Mateer pass to help cement a 28-0 halftime lead.

   Stockton Starts Hot – On the other side of the ball, Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton was a model of early precision. Stockton completed his first nine consecutive passes, including a beautifully lofted 35-yard touchdown strike to Talyn Taylor. Though Stockton would throw his first interception of the season later in the game, he finished a workmanlike 14-of-25 for 171 yards.

   “The Scoreboard Doesn’t Matter” – Despite the lopsided score, head coach Kirby Smart remained fixated on execution during his postgame remarks on DawgNation.

   “The score doesn’t matter — you ever seen the scoreboard in a boxing match? They don’t have a scoreboard,” Smart noted. “We’ve got to play to our standard all the time, and we didn’t at times. I’m proud of our guys, but we didn’t play the best game we could play.”

   “We like to have the saying ‘Dawgs don’t beat the Dawgs’. The Dawgs didn’t beat the Dawgs today. But the Sooners, in a lot of ways, beat the Sooners.” 

   With the win, Georgia remains safely entrenched near the peak of the national rankings as they prepare for the heart of the grueling SEC schedule.

   Next up, Vanderbilt comes to Athens for another early 12:45 pm kickoff on The SEC Network.