University of Georgia Athletics
All The Bulldogs Made This SEC Title Happen
December 06, 2025 | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
With his brand-new SEC champions hat on his head, the third he's earned in his career, Georgia senior Cole Speer happily talked about his blocked punt in the first quarter of the Bulldogs' 28-7 thumping of Alabama in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
"I mean, it feels great," the reserve wide receiver and special teams contributor said. "You work every day at practice, and in the games you don't really get that many opportunities like that. And when you do, you got to make it count."
Third-ranked Georgia created its opportunities against its longtime rival and nemesis, and the Bulldogs made them count. There was Speer's block, there was cornerback Daylen Everette's interception later in the first quarter, there was the Tide's minus-3 yards rushing for the game — per the SEC, it's the 21st consecutive year that the winner out-rushed its opponent in the game — and there were the multitude of other plays Georgia made in all phases of the game to beat ninth-ranked Alabama for the first time since the 2021 National Championship Game.
This was a team performance, a team win, one that avenged the Bulldogs' 24-21 home loss to the Tide back on Sept. 27 — a loss that snapped Georgia's 33-game win streak at Sanford Stadium — and earned UGA its second straight SEC championship and third in the past four years.
"I don't know if any other team has won three SEC championships, any other class," Speer said. Long before he was born, the Bulldogs won three in a row from 1980-82, when Herschel Walker was dominating college football. This Georgia team doesn't have a superstar standout; instead, this squad is made up of a lot of really good players who keep proving that they can do anything if they do it together.
After Saturday's dominant performance, in which the Tide didn't top 100 yards of offense until the last play of the third quarter and didn't score until the fourth, Georgia will surely be a top-four seed in the College Football Playoff — maybe even the No. 2 seed given its nine-game win streak, it's three wins over teams ranked in the top 10 at the time (Ole Miss, Texas and Alabama), and Saturday's complete performance. The 12-team field and bracket will be announced Sunday on ESPN.
Asked how he feels going into the Playoff, linebacker Raylen Wilson offered a big smile before answering.
"I feel good," he said. "We're going to get a little break, get our bodies right, and get back to work."
Both defenses were tough for stretches Saturday, including to start the game. Georgia punted after its first two drives, as did Alabama. But Speer changed the game when, at the end of the Tide's second drive, he got around the left edge of Alabama's protection and blocked Blake Doud's punt. Georgia linebacker Justin Williams recovered it at the Bama 25 and returned it four yards to the 21.
"I feel like it was one of the biggest plays of the game," Wilson said.
"That was really just a game-plan adjustment," Speer said of the block. "We went out there and executed what the coach told me to do."
After Speer's block, Georgia had the ball at the Tide 21. Nate Frazier ran for 14 yards on first down, lost a yard on second down, wideout Dillon Bell ran for 7 on the next play, and then, on third-and-goal at the 1, quarterback Gunner Stockton hit reserve running back Roderick Robinson II on the right side for a wide-open score and a 7-0 lead with 4:36 left in the first quarter.
The big plays of the quarter weren't over. On Alabama's next drive, Everette picked off a Ty Simpson pass in the middle of the field, giving the ball back to the Bulldog offense at the UGA 43. Georgia then went 57 yards in 14 plays — the Bulldogs worked the clock all night, possessing the ball nearly 14 minutes longer than Bama — and took a 14-0 lead with 8:43 left in the half on Bell's 5-yard touchdown catch.
Both teams were forced to punt twice more before the half was over, with Georgia regularly pressuring Simpson and forcing him to make quick throws. Simpson finished the game 19 of 39 for 212 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Georgia also sacked him three times for minus-23 yards, helping the Bulldogs limit the Tide to minus-3 yards rushing on 16 attempts.
Georgia's offense, meanwhile, wasn't show-stopping, gaining 297 yards on 67 plays, but the Bulldogs were effective and they took care of the ball. Frazier and Stockton both ran the ball 13 times, and combined for 91 yards, and Georgia finished with 141 yards on the ground. Stockton, who was named the Most Valuable Player, was 20 of 26 passing for 153 yards and three touchdowns, with no turnovers.
With 10:47 to go in the third quarter, after a 9-yard sack by Georgia safety JaCorey Thomas had forced yet another Tide punt, Frazier ran the ball in from the 9 to make it 21-0. Given Georgia's history with the Tide — 0-4 against it in SEC Championship Games and 1-7 against it under head coach Kirby Smart — the game didn't feel at all in the bag at that point.
After Alabama finally scored, with 12:33 to go in the game, snapping a streak of seven-plus scoreless quarters against Georgia going back to their game in September, the Bulldogs didn't wilt. Georgia's defense kept battling, kept pressuring Simpson and the Tide offensive line, and kept getting stops.
Alabama went for it on fourth-and-2 at the Tide 12 with a little more than 8 minutes on the clock, and Simpson's pass fell incomplete. A few plays later, Stockton hit wide receiver Zachariah Branch for a 13-yard touchdown to make it 28-7. That was pretty much the ballgame, and it was a fitting finish to perhaps Georgia's most complete performance of the season, one in which so many Bulldogs made big plays when they needed to be made.
"That's just what we do," Speer said. "Like, it's not one person making a play that's going to change a game. You fight for four quarters, 60 minutes, or however long it takes you out there, and put your body on the line, and whoever the ball comes to, or whoever gets a chance to make that play, you just go make it."
Georgia sure did that Saturday, and the Bulldogs are SEC champions once again.
Staff Writer
With his brand-new SEC champions hat on his head, the third he's earned in his career, Georgia senior Cole Speer happily talked about his blocked punt in the first quarter of the Bulldogs' 28-7 thumping of Alabama in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
"I mean, it feels great," the reserve wide receiver and special teams contributor said. "You work every day at practice, and in the games you don't really get that many opportunities like that. And when you do, you got to make it count."
Third-ranked Georgia created its opportunities against its longtime rival and nemesis, and the Bulldogs made them count. There was Speer's block, there was cornerback Daylen Everette's interception later in the first quarter, there was the Tide's minus-3 yards rushing for the game — per the SEC, it's the 21st consecutive year that the winner out-rushed its opponent in the game — and there were the multitude of other plays Georgia made in all phases of the game to beat ninth-ranked Alabama for the first time since the 2021 National Championship Game.
This was a team performance, a team win, one that avenged the Bulldogs' 24-21 home loss to the Tide back on Sept. 27 — a loss that snapped Georgia's 33-game win streak at Sanford Stadium — and earned UGA its second straight SEC championship and third in the past four years.
"I don't know if any other team has won three SEC championships, any other class," Speer said. Long before he was born, the Bulldogs won three in a row from 1980-82, when Herschel Walker was dominating college football. This Georgia team doesn't have a superstar standout; instead, this squad is made up of a lot of really good players who keep proving that they can do anything if they do it together.
After Saturday's dominant performance, in which the Tide didn't top 100 yards of offense until the last play of the third quarter and didn't score until the fourth, Georgia will surely be a top-four seed in the College Football Playoff — maybe even the No. 2 seed given its nine-game win streak, it's three wins over teams ranked in the top 10 at the time (Ole Miss, Texas and Alabama), and Saturday's complete performance. The 12-team field and bracket will be announced Sunday on ESPN.
Asked how he feels going into the Playoff, linebacker Raylen Wilson offered a big smile before answering.
"I feel good," he said. "We're going to get a little break, get our bodies right, and get back to work."
Both defenses were tough for stretches Saturday, including to start the game. Georgia punted after its first two drives, as did Alabama. But Speer changed the game when, at the end of the Tide's second drive, he got around the left edge of Alabama's protection and blocked Blake Doud's punt. Georgia linebacker Justin Williams recovered it at the Bama 25 and returned it four yards to the 21.
"I feel like it was one of the biggest plays of the game," Wilson said.
"That was really just a game-plan adjustment," Speer said of the block. "We went out there and executed what the coach told me to do."
After Speer's block, Georgia had the ball at the Tide 21. Nate Frazier ran for 14 yards on first down, lost a yard on second down, wideout Dillon Bell ran for 7 on the next play, and then, on third-and-goal at the 1, quarterback Gunner Stockton hit reserve running back Roderick Robinson II on the right side for a wide-open score and a 7-0 lead with 4:36 left in the first quarter.
The big plays of the quarter weren't over. On Alabama's next drive, Everette picked off a Ty Simpson pass in the middle of the field, giving the ball back to the Bulldog offense at the UGA 43. Georgia then went 57 yards in 14 plays — the Bulldogs worked the clock all night, possessing the ball nearly 14 minutes longer than Bama — and took a 14-0 lead with 8:43 left in the half on Bell's 5-yard touchdown catch.
Both teams were forced to punt twice more before the half was over, with Georgia regularly pressuring Simpson and forcing him to make quick throws. Simpson finished the game 19 of 39 for 212 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Georgia also sacked him three times for minus-23 yards, helping the Bulldogs limit the Tide to minus-3 yards rushing on 16 attempts.
Georgia's offense, meanwhile, wasn't show-stopping, gaining 297 yards on 67 plays, but the Bulldogs were effective and they took care of the ball. Frazier and Stockton both ran the ball 13 times, and combined for 91 yards, and Georgia finished with 141 yards on the ground. Stockton, who was named the Most Valuable Player, was 20 of 26 passing for 153 yards and three touchdowns, with no turnovers.
With 10:47 to go in the third quarter, after a 9-yard sack by Georgia safety JaCorey Thomas had forced yet another Tide punt, Frazier ran the ball in from the 9 to make it 21-0. Given Georgia's history with the Tide — 0-4 against it in SEC Championship Games and 1-7 against it under head coach Kirby Smart — the game didn't feel at all in the bag at that point.
After Alabama finally scored, with 12:33 to go in the game, snapping a streak of seven-plus scoreless quarters against Georgia going back to their game in September, the Bulldogs didn't wilt. Georgia's defense kept battling, kept pressuring Simpson and the Tide offensive line, and kept getting stops.
Alabama went for it on fourth-and-2 at the Tide 12 with a little more than 8 minutes on the clock, and Simpson's pass fell incomplete. A few plays later, Stockton hit wide receiver Zachariah Branch for a 13-yard touchdown to make it 28-7. That was pretty much the ballgame, and it was a fitting finish to perhaps Georgia's most complete performance of the season, one in which so many Bulldogs made big plays when they needed to be made.
"That's just what we do," Speer said. "Like, it's not one person making a play that's going to change a game. You fight for four quarters, 60 minutes, or however long it takes you out there, and put your body on the line, and whoever the ball comes to, or whoever gets a chance to make that play, you just go make it."
Georgia sure did that Saturday, and the Bulldogs are SEC champions once again.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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