Georgia Football is heading into the SEC opener in what most experts think will be a lopsided game in favor of Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs. Arkansas has not looked good in its first two games, but Georgia has been smothering opponents.
Still, No. 2 Georgia (2-0) has to travel to face the Arkansas Razorbacks (1-1) in Fayetteville at Razorback Stadium. The game is being broadcast to a national audience on ABC with a Noon kickoff.
Each week, we’ll give you three reasons why Georgia Football will win and three reasons why the Georgia Football will lose. We will give you reasons even if the odds seem insurmountable either way.
Why Georgia Football Will Win
GUNNER STOCKTON IS SOMETHING ELSE
One way to start a season is by being very efficient. Stockton has taken that to the next level with his play so far in 2026. Stockton has more touchdowns (8) than incompletions (4) this season. With SEC play beginning this week the senior quarterback won’t have those sorts of numbers moving forward.
Still, Stockton is one of the major reasons Georgia has won since the SEC Championship Game in 2024.
GEORGIA FOOTBALL’S ELITE DEFENSE
Georgia’s defenders have been on a tear of late. The Dawgs’ No. 1 unit has allowed one or fewer touchdowns in all but one of its last seven games. Only Ole Miss, with star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, has scored multiple touchdowns against Georgia’s first-string defense. In fact, only the Rebels and Western Kentucky have scored multiple touchdowns against Georgia in full games since the Dawgs knocked out No. 10 Texas 35-10 in Athens last November.
KIRBY SMART’S RECORD AGAINST UNRANKED FOES
Smart has been at this for a while now, and 11 years into it one thing has been clear about his teams – they very rarely lose when they aren’t supposed to. Georgia is a whopping 75-3 against unranked teams. The last time Georgia lost to an unranked foe it was last decade.
Smart’s teams at Georgia have also been exceptionally good early in the season. All-time Georgia is 36-3 in September under Smart.
Why Arkansas Will Win
THE WILD WILD WEST
Kirby Smart hasn’t had many things go against him while coaching at Georgia, but the old SEC West has been a thorn in his side. Road trips to LSU, Ole Miss (2), Alabama (2) and Auburn have produced losses at a higher volume per trip than going to Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky or even matchups with rivals Florida and Georgia Tech.
HOG WILD
Sometimes so much angst builds up in a program that it can bring teams together. Perhaps Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield can figure out a way for the Hogs to rally around one another and take on an us-against-the-world mindset going into this one.
No one thinks Arkansas will with this game, so that’s a legitimate talking point he can spew to his team and it be true.
TURNOVERS?
Arkansas won’t be able to line up and beat these Bulldogs – they will need a little help. The Hogs got plenty of that as a four-touchdown in 2020 as the Dawgs turned the ball over several times, but Arkansas returned the favor, and Georgia left Fayetteville with a 27-point win having not played well.
If the Hogs want any chance to win this game they will have to force or get turnovers and capitalize on them. They will also have to not just win, but dominate special teams play. It is a big ask.
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