How Georgia’s Grit and Heart Turned a Flawed Team into National Title Contenders Against Ole Miss

Can a flawed team still wear the crown? This college football season has been a peculiar dance of parity, where no single squad dominates the landscape — Ohio State’s defense is a fortress, sure, but overall, 2025 feels like a grand chess match with multiple contenders in the mix. Enter Georgia: a team that’s anything but perfect but knows how to grind through adversity. Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs have stumbled and rallied, clawing back from double-digit deficits and showing resilience that screams “national title contender.” It’s not always pretty — it’s a scrappy, sweat-soaked battle — but the way they piece together victories, whether through a timely Gunner Stockton spark or a stonewall defensive stand, makes you wonder: is it sheer willpower that separates champions from pretenders? Let’s unpack what makes Georgia tick despite their flaws — a tale of balance, second-half magic, and unflinching discipline. LEARN MORE.

One of the themes of this college football season is that there doesn’t seem to be one or two dominant teams in the country. There are dominant units, sure — Ohio State’s defense tops the list — but 2025 has brought a sense of parity that we have not had in the sport before the last few years.

One of the top teams that is clearly flawed this season is Georgia. Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs are definitely hungry for more after losing in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals against Notre Dame in the first year of the expanded format, and they have put themselves in a very strong position to get back to the CFP this season.

That doesn’t mean it has been easy for Georgia. Smart and company had to overcome double-digit deficits to knock off both Tennessee and Auburn on the road. On Saturday, Georgia recovered from nine points down in the second half against No. 5 Ole Miss to get another win and improve to 6-1 on the season.

Georgia is flawed, but it still continues finding ways to win games. Against Tennessee and Ole Miss, it was Gunner Stockton and the offense that came up big. Against Auburn, it was the defense coming up with a big goal-line stand.

These wins aren’t always pretty, but they show exactly why this Georgia team is a national title contender. Let’s dive into the strengths of this Bulldogs squad.

Balance on offense

Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton (14) dives for a touchdown during the first half of a NCAA college football game against Kentucky — © Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This Georgia team won’t wow you with individual superstars like some in the past have, but Mike Bobo’s offense is capable of hurting you both on the ground and through the air. On Saturday, the Georgia offensive line leaned on the Ole Miss front to the tune of 221 rushing yards while also giving Stockton plenty of time to throw.

Georgia nearly hit the 200-yard mark earlier in the year against Tennessee, so it is clearly capable of hurting teams on the ground. However, in both of those games, Stockton had to make massive plays with his arm to come away with the win.

Stockton isn’t the best athlete, but he is a smart mover in the backfield and has hurt teams with his scrambling ability at times this year. That was no different against Ole Miss on Saturday, when he finished with 59 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Despite the lack of star power, Georgia has talent on the outside, certainly more than last year when it suffered from drops throughout the season. Bobo is still figuring out how to get all of his weapons, namely Zachariah Branch and Oscar Delp, involved more consistently, but things are coming together for them.

Georgia is a second-half team

The Bulldogs have struggled with slow starts all season long. That was no different against Ole Miss, just like it was against Tennessee and Auburn. Kirby Smart’s team could have lost all three of those games, but they adjusted at halftime and dominated on both sides of the ball in the second half of both games.

In the second half of those three games, two against top teams and two in hostile environments, Georgia has outscored its opponents 67-34. That shows that not only does Smart do a good job of helping his team adjust and reset at halftime, but that the veteran leadership on this Georgia team comes in handy in those situations.

Sure, there is a bit of luck that goes into that at times. Georgia had some calls go its way against Auburn and Tennessee completely imploded at the end of that game back in September, but the Bulldogs deserve credit for putting themselves in positions where the opponent is under pressure and feels their presence. That results in some of that good fortune.

Georgia is one of the most disciplined teams in the country

One of the things that makes Georgia so difficult to beat is that it doesn’t beat itself. Smart’s teams rarely make mental errors and this Georgia team is being penalized less than five times per game. With the way they run the ball and convert in short-yardage situations, the lack of negative plays due to penalty makes them very hard to stop.

Players like Stockton and Delp, as well as linebacker CJ Allen on defense, give Georgia a sense of leadership and essentially an extra coach on the field. Especially in high-pressure situations, Georgia is hard to beat because it will not break down before its opponent more times than not.

It will certainly take a big-time effort to knock Georgia off and whoever does it will have to play 60 strong minutes like Alabama did at the end of September.

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