The Georgia Bulldogs’ undefeated 2026 record ended Saturday night, as the Auburn Tigers pulled a 27-24 upset with a field goal in the final seconds of the game. After the Oct. 17 home loss, the Dawgs fell in the AP poll from No. 1 to No. 5.
Georgia now enters a bye week, which will give them an extra week to prepare before heading to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to face the Florida Gators.
UGA head coach Kirby Smart shared his thoughts on the recent loss and the upcoming bye week in a press conference on Monday afternoon. He described his players as having “a lot of goals” for the week off.
“If you said, ‘What’s the No. 1 thing that we can get out of a bye week?’ There are a bunch of things,” Smart said. “Because recovery, conditioning level, and getting healthy would be one answer.”
Smart explained that the coaching staff hopes to prioritize different goals for players throughout the week, since each has areas that need improvement.
“We’re really kind of prescribing this week for each player what they can get better at and what they can improve on,” Smart said. “Some of that’s conditioning, some of that’s health, some of that’s reps, and some of that’s situational football.
“We’ve got different guys out of our 100, however many players, in different spots, and they all need different things.”
The Dawgs’ loss to Auburn more notably sparked concern among fans, as Gunner Stockton threw two interceptions and fumbled in an attempt to run the ball with a minute left in the fourth quarter. The senior quarterback was briefly pulled in the first quarter after taking a hit on the first play.
Smart shared updates on Stockton’s status, noting he does not appear to have any concussion symptoms. He emphasized that he believes Stockton did “many good things” throughout the Auburn game, despite throwing two interceptions.
“He has not had any concussion symptoms, so I can only go off what medical people tell me. I can look him in the eye and talk to him, and there was no issue with any of that,” Smart said. “He did have a stinger in his shoulder, and that can affect you. That’s what a lot of players get, but you bounce back from those quickly; he played pretty well and had two interceptions. He still did some really good things in that game, and I don’t think making it about a head injury, when there are no symptoms of that, is realistic.”
Smart also shared details on recent defensive struggles and said he believes the red zone has frustrated the lineup overall. He noted that the Dawgs’ defense has missed more tackles this season than in the last few years.
“It’s not a schematic issue. It’s not anything like that. It’s just playing better and making more timely plays in the red area. But we have been more productive in the sacks,” Smart said. “One of the glaring things to us is we want to tackle better. We’re higher in missed tackles than we’ve been in years past, and that’s a big area for us to improve.
“We think missed tackles are up as a whole across college football. We’re not immune to that. We’re part of that problem.”