After a long offseason, Georgia returns to Sanford Stadium to begin the 2026-27 season against Tennessee State. While this matchup does not exactly turn a lot of heads, there’s simply no better feeling than walking through the tunnels of Sanford to your seats to watch the Bulldogs play. A game day in Athens never gets old. Get ready for another season of stadium hotdogs and souvenir cups as Georgia chases its third straight SEC title and the big enchilada. We’re excited to join y’all for our third football season with the Bulldawg Illustrated team.
Georgia starts the year at No. 3 in the AP Poll, which was not a huge surprise to us since we both had them ranked inside the top four of our preseason poll. Whether or not the team takes much time looking into these rankings, it’s good for Dawg fans to know that the media expects high achievement for this season.
After throwing for nearly 3,000 yards last year, Gunner Stockton is back for his senior year in Athens. His 24:5 touchdown-interception ratio was key, but his ability to run is what impressed us the most. While he might not get a lot of national media attention, which he and his teammates likely care nothing about, he’s exceeded expectations for the momentous situations he has faced thus far. Similar to Stetson Bennett IV’s offseason progression, we have no doubt that Stockton will take another leap toward being one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. Fans could even see a trip to New York (Heisman Trophy Finalist Ceremony) for the starting quarterback on the horizon if he leads this Georgia team to a near-perfect record.
Former Georgia Tech wide receiver Isiah Canion was Coach Smart’s biggest offensive snag from the transfer portal this offseason. Will watched Canion in Atlanta when the Yellow Jackets faced Pittsburgh and remembered thinking he would be a great offseason target for Georgia in the portal. While some Georgia fans were looking for a bigger splash, there’s no reason to believe that this wide receiver room will not be enough to get this team into the National Championship race. While it will be difficult to replace the production from players like Zachariah Branch and Colbie Young, this program’s depth and stellar development of players means there are playmakers on this roster that have been waiting for their chance to strike.
With a wide receiver room that needs to prove themselves, the running backs are poised for a huge season. Nate Frazier was 53 yards short of a 1,000-yard season on the ground and Chauncey Bowens rushed for over 500 yards last year. In addition, sophomore running back Bo Walker shared a glimpse of the future of the room last season with his three-touchdown game against Charlotte.
On the defensive side of the ball, plenty of last year’s production is coming back. Raylen Wilson is back for his senior year to lead the linebacker room alongside Chris Cole, who had a very productive sophomore year. The two players that we’re most excited about on defense are KJ Bolden and Ellis Robinson IV. These two studs should be special this year, and with the addition of Khalil Barnes from Clemson this offseason through the portal, SEC offenses could have a hard time moving the ball through the air against this defense.
Hot Take of the Week:
Instead of a hot take for the week, we figured it might be fun to release our hot take for the entire season. With that being said, we predict that Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens will rush for over 2,000 combined yards this season. We think Frazier can get up to around 1,400 yards, which has only happened four times in UGA history. The last to do so was Garrison Hearst during the 1992 season. Georgia consistently has a committee running back room, but we think this will be a standout year for the two junior backs.
