ATHENS — It’s fair to say the Georgia football season has been filled with surprises, many of the most pleasant variety.

The great success Gunner Stockton has been the most surprising.

Raise your hand if you had Stockton finishing in the Top 10 of the Heisman Trophy voting ahead of the likes of preseason favorites Arch Manning, DJ Lagway, LaNorris Sellers, Garrett Nussmeier and Cade Klubnik.

Here’s a look back at this author’s five fearless Georgia preseason predictions, and how they turned out.

1. Ryan Puglisi will play a key role

To this point? Not at all, and Georgia fans and likely Puglisi himself, the good teammate that he is, probably hopes this one stays wrong.

But if it doesn’t — if the unexpected happens and Stockton has to miss some action in this rough and tumble game that has seen former UGA starting quarterbacks Jacon Eason, D’Wan Mathis, Stetson Bennett, J.T. Daniels and Carson Beck all miss time — Puglisi has the talent to help UGA finish the job.

2. Zachariah Branch will have 1,000 receiving yards

Branch leads the SEC with 73 catches, but he’s at 744 yards — 266 short of the magic 1,000-yard number.

At the current clip of 57.2 yards per game, Branch wouldn’t make 1,000 even if UGA plays the maximum three games that could be remaining.

Branch would need to average 85.3 yards per game over the next three games to hit 1,000 — we’ll stick with the prediction for now.

3 Georgia will average 200-yards plus rushing per game

Looking back, this was a bit too much to expect with four new offensive linemen and a new lead back.

Missouri (234.1) was the only SEC team to average more than 200 yards rushing per game, and of the remaining CFP teams, only Indiana (221.2) and Oregon (217.1) are averaging more than 200 yards per game.

Georgia is averaging 186.6 yards rushing per game — a major jump from the 124.4 yards per game averaged last year — but short of the preseason prediction.

This one came up wrong and seems unlikely to change with the level of competition still ahead.

4. Georgia’s home win streak will end

Yep, it happened against Alabama, 24-21, back on Sept. 27 when the Tide survived and snapped the Bulldogs’ 33-game home field win streak.

The prediction wasn’t so much about knowing Alabama would be the team to beat Georgia, so much as the sheer odds of such a feat continuing with capable teams like the Tide, Ole Miss and Texas all coming to Sanford Stadium.

5. Georgia will play in the SEC championship game

This one was spot on, and so was the logic ….

“Smart’s teams most often get better as the season progresses, and while one SEC loss seems more likely than not, the feeling here is the head coach will get whatever goes wrong fixed.

This Georgia team has stressed the sort of unity great teams possess and have likely realized they will need to band together to accomplish their goals….

The offense, while no longer possessing an NFL talent at quarterback, has more dynamic and consistent pass-catching weapons in addition to a deeper offensive backfield with tailback Nate Frazier ready to prove more reliable and certain with the ball in his hands.

It’s too early to predict Georgia will win the SEC Championship Game as injuries always seem to play a role.”

Injuries did play a role — but for both teams — and the Bulldogs handled those injuries and the playoff-related pressure than Alabama did.

A handful of Georgia Bulldogs football questions to test the knowledge of Dawg fans during the holiday season.

The Christmas season has arrived as families all over the world gather round to celebrate the holiday. And while there will not be any Georgia Football to watch until the new year, there is still plenty of time for Bulldog fans to brush up on their Dawgs trivia.

So, as many families enjoy time off for the holiday season, here are a handful of Bulldogs related question to test the knowledge of one of college football most passionate fanbases.

Georgia Bulldogs Christmas Day Trivia

Questions:

Editor’s Note**: Answers for this article will be made available at the bottom of this page.

Question 1: Kirby Smart has coached Georgia in three total Sugar Bowl matchups. What is his overall record in those games?

Question 2: Which Bulldog receiver currently leads the Bulldogs in receptions and receiving yards this season?

Question 3: Georgia won 11 games during the 2025 regular season. How many times have the Bulldogs accomplished this regular-season feat under Kirby Smart?

Question 4: Nate Frazier is less than 200 yards away from surpassing 1000 rushing yards this season. Who is the last Georgia running back to accomplish this feat?

Question 5: Ellis Robinson currently has four interceptions this season. Who is the last Georgia Bulldog to achieve this feat?

Question 6: How many total touchdowns has Gunner Stockton accounted for this season?

Answers:

Answer 1: Kirby Smart is 1-2 in Sugar Bowl matchups. The Dawgs’ last appearance was during the 2024 season against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Answer 2: Zachariach Branch currently leads the Bulldogs in both receptions and receiving yards. He is just four catches shy of breaking Georgia’s all-time single-season record

Answer 3: Georgia has won 11 or more regular-season games under Kirby Smart on six other occasions (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)

Answer 4: D’Andre Swift is the last running back to have surpassed 1,000 rushing yards. He did so during the 2019 season.

Answer 5: Tykee Smith is the last player to record four or more interceptions during a season (2023). No player has recorded more than four interceptions in a single season under Kirby Smart.

Answer 6: Gunner Stockton has accounted for 31 total touchdowns this season. With 23 through the air and eight on the ground.

The Bulldogs will be back in action on Thursday, January 1st, to take on the Ole Miss Rebels in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has said a “clerical error” in the state does not “erase valid, legal votes,” responding to renewed scrutiny of Georgia’s 2020 election results, which former President Donald Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed was “stolen” from him.

Earlier this month, Fulton County acknowledged before the Georgia State Election Board that more than 130 tabulator tapes from the 2020 election were not signed, a lapse officials said involved about 315,000 ballots and which brought renewed scrutiny and questioning of the results even though multiple audits, including a hand count, affirmed the results.

Newsweek has reached out to Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts for comment via email on Wednesday.

Why It Matters

Trump and his allies have consistently claimed, without evidence of widespread voter fraud, that the 2020 election was stolen and that former President Joe Biden did not win in Georgia and other states.

In early January 2021, ahead of Biden taking office, Trump infamously called Raffensperger, a Republican, asking him to help “find” enough votes to overturn the election. Biden won the 2020 election with 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232, and even if Georgia was flipped for Trump, Biden still would have won the election.

There have been multiple audits, recounts and investigations into Georgia’s 2020 election, including a statewide hand recount and audit that confirmed the original results, as well as reviews by state officials and election boards addressing procedural errors and fraud allegations.

What To Know

Earlier this month, Fulton County attorney Ann Brumbaugh told the Georgia State Election Board that the county “does not dispute that the tapes were not signed,” calling the missing signatures “a violation of the rule.”

Georgia state Rule 183-1-12-.12 states that after polls close, and in order to tabulate results, “the poll manager and the two witnesses shall cause each ballot scanner to print three tapes of the tabulated results and shall sign each tape indicating that it is a true and correct copy of the tape produced by the ballot scanner.” This was not properly done for more than 130 tapes, which accounts for around 315,000 votes.

However, the lack of signature does not negate the ballots, and they have been recounted multiple times to verify results.

In a Saturday X post, Raffensperger reiterated this, writing “all voters were verified with photo ID and lawfully cast their ballots.” He continued, “A clerical error at the end of the day does not erase valid, legal votes.”