Georgia Crystal Ball: Predicting every game for the Bulldogs in 2025

Perspective is everything as Georgia enters the latter half of the 2020s.

If you had told any UGA fan entering the decade that the Dawgs would hit the midway point with 2 national titles and nothing but top-7 finishes, they would’ve barked at you and then perhaps squeezed you tighter than you’ve ever been squeezed. That would’ve been a best-case scenario entering the 2020s.

As the latter half of the decade approaches, though, Georgia fans are wondering if their team can get back to a Playoff semifinal game after missing consecutive years. A rare lack of discipline on defense was tough to stomach, and Year 2 of the Carson Beck experience was unpleasant. The Dawgs have a new quarterback and a ton of turnover on defense.

And yet, check out those national title odds. Where’s Georgia, you ask? Third at +700.

Life could be worse. So what will life look like in 2025?

For those who need a refresher of what the Crystal Ball Series is, here’s a rundown. Every day, we’ll go through the preseason outlook of 1 SEC team (in alphabetical order). I’ll predict how every game will play out with a final record prediction.

So far, here are the Crystal Balls we’ve done:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Auburn
• Florida

Let’s continue with Georgia:

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Can Gunner Stockton be Stetson Bennett V?

That’s right. We’ve seen Stetson Bennett IV, so what does Stetson Bennett V look like? It looks like a guy who drives a Ford F-150 from the 1980s that has hundreds of thousands of miles on it. It looks like a guy who can move past an up-and-down start to his career and become a clutch, reliable signal-caller.

Stockton’s 6-quarter sample size is extremely unique because of when (last year’s postseason) and who it happened against (2 of the top 3 pass defenses in the sport). You could look at some of the poise that Stockton showed and assume it means he’s destined to be the gritty quarterback that Kirby Smart always seems to gravitate to. Alternatively, you could look at some of his issues sensing pressure and wonder if he’ll last an entire season if he doesn’t improve his awareness.

Whatever the case, the task will be simple. Stockton has to lead from the front. This can’t be a quarterback controversy at any point if UGA wants to get back to the college football mountain top. Stockton has to show that he’s capable of running Mike Bobo’s offense with confidence. Of course, it would help if Georgia’s receivers held onto the football more than they did a year ago when they led the nation in drops.

You know, in case you didn’t hear.

That’s got a better chance of happening with the additions of Noah Thomas (Texas A&M) and Zachariah Branch (USC). That should move Dillon Bell back into a more versatile role like he was in during the 2023 season, and if former Miami transfer Colbie Young is able to be the red-zone threat that UGA hoped he could be before his suspension last year, that passing game should take a step forward.

That only happens if Stockton embraces being the guy.

Will Georgia’s defense figure out its odd run-stopping issues?

It was bizarre. One week, Georgia could make Texas‘s ground game look like it was an FCS team, and the next, it could make UMass look like it was 2010s Auburn. For whatever reason, Smart and Glenn Schumann couldn’t find the answers defending the run. As a result, Georgia had its worst run defense since 2018, and it allowed nearly as many 20-yard runs (16) than it allowed in the previous 3 seasons combined. UGA had 5 front-7 players selected in the NFL Draft, 2 of them being first-round edge rushers Mykel Williams and Jalon Walker.

So what’s next? That’s a fair question.

It’s also fair to point out that when you recruit top-3 classes and develop talent like Smart, there’s a bit of grace. It helps when you’ve got “next guys up” like Christen Miller and Jordan Hall, who should help plug holes up front that allow CJ Allen to play downhill in the middle of that defense. The “next guy up” could even be a freshman, Elijah Griffin, who has been one of the most popular topics of discussion in the offseason. Maybe he won’t be Jalen Carter 2.0 just yet, but there’s no shortage of talent up front.

Whether that translates into a more consistent unit than the one that we saw in 2024 remains to be seen.

Georgia’s Over/Under Win Total

Odds (via BetMGM):

• Over 9.5 wins: -190
• Under 9.5 wins: +160

Game-by-game predictions

Here’s how I see the 2025 regular season playing out for the Bulldogs:

Week 1: vs. Marshall (W)

Tony Gibson’s first game as an FBS head coach will be at Georgia, AKA the place where the home team hasn’t lost since 2019. That’s not ideal.

Week 2: vs. Austin Peay (W)

Ryan Puglisi should get plenty of run that’ll inevitably fuel tons of future projections about whether he can be Stockton’s successor. That should be the only interesting angle for this one.

Week 3: at Tennessee (W)

There’s certainly a world in which Stockton’s first career road start is a house of horrors against an elite Tennessee defensive front, and UGA will be staring at its first 0-1 start to SEC play since 2014. But I don’t think that world exists in 2025. Not with how well Smart’s defense has repeatedly handled Josh Heupel‘s offense. Even when disastrous starts ensue like the last 2 years, Georgia has found answers within games to bounce back. It wouldn’t surprise me if that played out again. Will Tennessee’s first quarterback to beat Georgia since 2016 really be … Joey Aguilar or Jake Merklinger? I can’t see that.

Week 4: Bye

The Bulldogs’ first bye of the season comes early, but it gives them time to prepare for Alabama.

Week 5: vs. Alabama (W)

Finally, Alabama comes to Athens. For the first time in a decade, the Tide will visit Sanford Stadium. As battle-tested as Kalen DeBoer is against elite competition, going into Georgia is a different beast. UGA hasn’t lost at home in a night game since 2009. That streak continues. Why? Georgia’s backfield duo of Nate Frazier and Illinois transfer Josh McCray do the heavy lifting. Ty Simpson is overwhelmed in ways that he wasn’t in the first part of the year. Ryan Williams isn’t quite able to capture the same magic that he had against Georgia last year, and Alabama’s late comeback attempt comes up short. Smart gets his second career win against Alabama.

Week 6: vs. Kentucky (W)

I’m gonna call it a revenge game for Georgia even though I realize that the Dawgs pulled it out in Lexington. Still, Smart will have his team convinced that it lost that game last year. That results in a lopsided battle. Branch delivers his first highlight reel play in a Georgia uniform, and instead of being stuck offensively like it was last year, Georgia gets a rare fast start to fuel a blowout win.

Week 7: at Auburn (W)

I feel like a broken record whenever I bring up how dominant Georgia has been in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry since that regular-season blowout loss at Jordan-Hare in 2017. In that 8-game winning streak, Auburn hit 15 points once and it scored no more than 20 points. Perhaps the Tigers have a better group of wideouts than they’ve had at any point in that stretch, but the idea of Jackson Arnold being the quarterback to stop the bleeding for Auburn feels … unlikely. Smart and Schumann dial up a masterclass of pressures and turnovers doom any notion of Jordan-Hare magic returning to this rivalry.

Week 8: vs. Ole Miss (W)

It’s rare that Smart can actually sell a “revenge” angle, especially for non-Alabama teams. There’ll definitely be revenge on the mind for the Dawgs, who got embarrassed in Oxford last year. This year in Athens, with major Playoff stakes again, that script flips enough to give Georgia the advantage. Stockton attacks the new-look Ole Miss secondary, and UGA shows perhaps its biggest sign of passing game improvement to date. Oscar Delp and Lawson Luckie both find the end zone to fuel a fast UGA start in a 31-17 victory.

Week 9: Bye

The Dawgs’ second bye comes in its usual spot ahead of the Cocktail Party.

Week 10: vs. Florida in Jacksonville (L)

At some point, the schedule was going to catch up to Georgia. It might have gotten away with a favorable slate of quarterbacks to kick things off, but on this day, DJ Lagway humbles an overmatched defense. Everything that the Gators do works. Three consecutive scoring drives to start the game puts Georgia in a rare multi-deficit hole in the first half. Unlike what we saw at times in 2024, Georgia can’t muster enough defensive answers to give itself a chance late. The Gators are finally capable of hanging with Georgia in the trenches, and it makes all the difference. Florida keeps its foot on the gas and hands UGA its first Cocktail Party loss since 2020.

Week 11: at Mississippi State (W)

This has “sleepy Georgia start” written all over it. The brutal Florida loss combined with the Texas matchup the following week is enough to picture a scenario in which fans are saying “uh, why is it 21-17 late in the 3rd quarter?” Ultimately, UGA gets to Blake Shapen and limits the downfield passing attack that led to a pair of early Mississippi State touchdown drives. But a 28-17 win in Starkville is anything but a picnic.

Week 12: vs. Texas (W)

If there’s anybody that can snap Georgia out of a funk, it’s apparently Texas. That might be a bit of recency bias after the way that last year’s matchups played out, but there’s something about Georgia’s defense that becomes the best version of itself when it sees Steve Sarkisian on the opposite sideline (just ignore the 2020 Georgia-Alabama game). The pre-snap window dressing doesn’t work against the Dawgs. A few years removed from Arch Manning picking Texas over Georgia, he gets a rude welcome in his return to Athens. Both defenses shine in a hard-fought 24-20 UGA victory that punches a ticket to the SEC Championship Game and all but locks up a Playoff berth.

Week 13: vs. Charlotte (W)

This isn’t called “Cupcake Week.” It’s called “don’t get hurt before a Playoff push” week. That’s the only thing worth following in a laugher.

Week 14: vs. Georgia Tech in Atlanta (W)

It’s weird to type “in Atlanta” when obviously, that game is in Atlanta every time it’s a home game for Georgia Tech, but it’s in Mercedes-Benz Stadium this year because money. There shouldn’t be any sort of sleeping on Brent Key’s squad after how competitive his team looked not just in last year’s matchup, but really the last 3 years. Haynes King is still capable of being a nightmare to defend for 60 minutes. There’ll be plenty of moments in which he gives Georgia fans painful flashbacks of last year’s marathon battle. But just like that showdown, Georgia shakes off a slow start and plays a much more disciplined second half. McCray scores 3 touchdowns to lift Georgia to a victory and perhaps of equal importance, to an inevitable top-4 seed.

2025 projection: 11-1 (7-1), T-1st in SEC

One would think that the Texas will win clinch a Playoff berth, but did it?

12-team Playoff berth? Yes

This is all that Georgia can ask for. It’s no longer about going undefeated. It’s all about getting into the Playoff and having an identity. I’m not sure Georgia had the latter last year. This year, I expect it to hang its hat on defense with an improved ground game that’s got more depth than it had in 2024.

A Playoff bye will be in play whether UGA wins the SEC or not. Remember, the changes to Playoff seeding mean that it’s no longer just the highest-ranked Power Conference champs who earn first-round byes. Despite what last year told us about getting a first-round bye, there’s still value in getting healthy at the right time of year.

Georgia has a schedule that can challenge its depth, but the good news is that the Dawgs might only have 1 stretch (at Auburn and vs. Ole Miss) with tough matchups on consecutive Saturdays. As long as this team doesn’t play with its food like last year’s team did, Georgia could go into the postseason feeling like it’s set up well.

Does that mean UGA will finally get back to the national championship for the first time since — wait for it — 2022?!? It doesn’t.

But the path is as favorable as any. Life could be a whole lot worse.