Morning, y’all! Happy Monday!

Who all was at the game Saturday? We got good weather, a perfectly coordinated stripe-out and another blowout Georgia win.

Really, Oklahoma’s defense posed the first big test for the Bulldogs this season, and they came away with a 41-13 victory. Plenty went right for Georgia, and we’ll get into that shortly.

In fairness, though, that was simply a rough showing from Oklahoma, with four turnovers more or less dooming the Sooners.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart wasn’t thrilled with the Bulldogs’ play at times: “The score doesn’t matter — you ever seen the scoreboard in a boxing match? They don’t have a scoreboard,” Smart said after the game. “The scoreboard should never matter; we’ve got to play to play to our standard all the time, and we didn’t at times, and I’m very proud of our guys, but we didn’t play the best game we could play.”

Let’s analyze Saturday’s game a little more, starting off with Connor Riley’s winners and losers:

Winner: Rasean Dinkins

Smart acknowledged that some of Oklahoma’s turnovers Saturday were gifts. The Chris Cole scoop-and-score was an obvious example.

But Dinkins’ forced fumble and recovery in the third quarter was a self-made play. It’s also why it was the most impressive of the four turnovers Georgia forced in Smart’s mind.

“Big-time play in the game is Dink’s punch-out,” Smart said. “There’s forced fumbles, and then there’s gifts. We like to say that the 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. They gifted us multiple turnovers that could have been touchdowns and the game would have been different. So opportunistic, a little luck.”

After giving up a touchdown to Oklahoma tight end Rocky Beers on the previous drive, Dinkins got his pound of flesh the next time he took the field.

As Beers came across the middle of the field, the second-year sophomore perfectly punched out the football and scooped it up.

The turnover set up Georgia’s only points of the third quarter.

Dinkins is not the starter some thought he would be following the conclusion of the 2025 season. Georgia still has strong safety play thanks to the trio of KJ Bolden, Khalil Barnes and Kyron Jones.

But Dinkins showed once again Saturday why he’s a contributing and important player for the Georgia defense.

Georgia safety Rasean Dinkins (left) recovers an Oklahoma fumble during the second half Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, at Sanford Stadium in Athens. Georgia won 41-13. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Georgia safety Rasean Dinkins (center) celebrates after recovering an Oklahoma fumble Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, at Sanford Stadium in Athens. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Loser: The third-quarter offense

The first half was nearly flawless for the Georgia offense. The third quarter was almost a complete disaster.

Quarterback Gunner Stockton’s first pass of the second half was intercepted. Running back Chauncey Bowens fumbled what would’ve been a third-down conversion.

Even when Dinkins gave the offense a short field, it gained just 1 yard. The Bulldogs had zero explosive plays in the quarter.

Oklahoma’s defense deserves some credit, and it could well be the best Georgia faces this season. But the Sooners weren’t slowly responsible for slowing down Georgia to start the second half.

“We definitely had a lull, and good teams don’t have lulls,” Smart said. “They don’t sleepwalk. Usually when we watch the tape, it’s something we did. In the first half, I went in and said, ‘Hey, they didn’t stop us. We stopped ourselves.’ That’s important. I think in the second half, they stopped us some. But in the first half, we did it.”

Georgia regained its footing in the fourth quarter, thanks to a 54-yard run by Dwight Phillips and a 41-yard reception by Talyn Taylor. Even in the first half, it’s not like the Bulldogs were rolling up yards all afternoon. They won by playing smart football and taking advantage of the opportunities Oklahoma presented them.

In a lot of ways, the first, second and fourth quarters were similar to Georgia’s win over Alabama in the SEC championship game. But the third-quarter showing was bad enough to raise some questions about what this offense can be. Even if it was missing key contributors in Nate Frazier and Isiah Canion.

Read Connor’s full list of winners and losers here.

Georgia running back Dwight Phillips Jr. celebrates as he scores a touchdown during the second half Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, at Sanford Stadium in Athens. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Georgia running back Dwight Phillips Jr. (center) runs for a touchdown during the second half against Oklahoma on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, at Sanford Stadium in Athens. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

SEC lines reflect Georgia opponents Alabama, Florida rolling

Smart takes it one game at a time, but a look at what’s left on the Georgia football schedule suggests plenty of challenges are ahead.

The Bulldogs are a 24½-point favorite over Vanderbilt at 12:45 p.m. Saturday in Sanford Stadium, but a look at the lines on the SEC games this week reveals just how far some opponents have come.

Georgia’s trip to Tuscaloosa on Oct. 10 looks as intimidating as ever, as the Crimson Tide has opened as a 5½-point favorite on the road against an undefeated Mississippi State team that just knocked off previously No. 19-ranked Missouri, 31-24.

Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell is making the most of his first season as a starter and gaining valuable experience fast, completing 21 of 27 passes for 365 yards and four touchdowns in the Tide’s 49-18 win over South Carolina.

Then there’s Florida, with first-year coach Jon Sumrall, suddenly a Top 10 team after checking in at No. 8 after taking down previously No. 4-ranked Ole Miss, 52-28.

It’s not easy to win on the road in the SEC, but the Gators are favored to do just that (4½ points) at Missouri on Saturday.

Florida tailback Jadan Baugh piled up 143 yards rushing and three touchdowns on the Rebels’ defense in tying former Alabama back Derrick Henry with five consecutive multitouchdown games, a mark Henry achieved during his 2015 Heisman Trophy campaign.

The Bulldogs’ Oct. 31 showdown with Florida at Mercedes-Benz Stadium is becoming bigger by the moment.

For a look at all of the lines involving SEC teams this week, read Mike Griffith’s story here.

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A little bit of a shameless plug, here — I wrote about linebacker Cole and Georgia’s defense after Saturday’s game:

Cole, Georgia defense use a little luck and a lot of skill to stymie OU

Cole’s standout athleticism is not lost on his teammates.

Especially after the junior linebacker’s performance against Oklahoma, a blowout win for Georgia thanks in part to costly mistakes by the Sooners.

One of those came in the second quarter, when Cole recovered a fumble by Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown.

“I call him daddy long legs, like a spider. …" said Bolden, who had an interception later in the second quarter. “You watch Chris run, Chris could really — say you’re running 5 yards, he could hit 5 yards in two steps. If you actually think about it, that’s crazy. … The guy’s a freak of nature, man. He could do anything: cover, rush, play the run.”

That play by Cole, who also tallied a sack on Mateer earlier that same drive, served as a turning point in the game. The circumstances switched from Oklahoma moving the ball and potentially narrowing it to a one-score game to Georgia taking a decisive 21-0 lead.

“Something that I always dreamed of, something that I definitely wrote down in my book that I wanted to do, and it was such a blessing,” Cole said of his scoop-and-score.

Later in the second quarter, Cole recovered another fumble by Mateer (this one forced by fellow linebacker Raylen Wilson), setting up a Chauncey Bowens touchdown run two plays later to make it 28-0 before halftime. All in all, Georgia scored 17 points off four Oklahoma turnovers, with the Sooners scoring 6 off two Bulldogs turnovers.

Georgia tallied three sacks and fives tackles for a loss.

Last season, Georgia’s defense tallied just 20 sacks, good for the fewest in the SEC and also the fewest in the Smart era. Through the first four games of the season, the Bulldogs have 11 sacks already, more than half their total from 2025. Granted, the level of competition for Georgia to start the season was low, particularly in blowout wins against Tennessee State and Western Kentucky.

Read more about Cole and the defense here.

Trivia time

Which player led the Bulldogs in tackles against Oklahoma? BONUS: How many did he tally?

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Georgia football ‘turned the tables’ with 5-star on visit

“Kill factor.”

“You’ve got to hit somebody in the mouth until they tap out.”

“They struck fear into them and that was the whole game.”

“After this visit, again, it was just hearing how they think and exactly what their thought process behind everything is very, very eye-opening in a good way. In a great way.”

Those were just some of the choice phrases 5-star edge Asher Ghioto pulled out to describe his UGA visit for the Oklahoma game. Ghioto, who plays at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, is the nation’s No. 1 edge and the No. 2 overall prospect for 2028 on the 247Sports Composite.

“I don’t even know if there’s really a word for it,” Ghioto said. “It was amazing, to say the least. It was everything that I was hoping for and more from this visit. It was very eye-opening.”

Ghioto left Athens on Sunday morning after a breakfast at UGA. The table included luminaries such as fellow 2028 5-star Kellan Hall and 2027 5-star RB commit Kemon Spell.

That included nearly all UGA staff, except Smart.

“It was breakfast with everyone,” Ghioto said. “It was pretty much everybody. It was awesome.”

How did he feel when he left Athens after that breakfast?

“It really turned the tables a lot,” Ghioto said. “Going into this, I wanted to see the violence. I wanted to see, like, that Georgia football. Like that old-school Georgia football. That ‘get after it and kill them.’ Outphysical them. Like, play after play run through somebody’s face until they can’t take it anymore and then they tap out.”

“That’s exactly what happened yesterday.”

Georgia had Mateer running for his health. They either had him in a straitjacket or his offensive coordinator wishing Mateer was wearing one and not turning the ball over.

Read Jeff Sentell’s full story here.

Five-star edge prospect Asher Ghioto, who grew up a huge UGA fan, attends the Georgia-Oklahoma game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, at Sanford Stadium in Athens. Ghioto is the nation's No. 1 edge and No. 5 overall prospect for his class, according to the 247Sports Composite. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)

Five-star edge prospect Asher Ghioto (second from left) attends the Georgia-Oklahoma game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, at Sanford Stadium in Athens. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)

Trivia answer

Linebacker Raylen Wilson with 11