They Ran Drills During the Commercials
Written by Jarvis Prime on September 21, 2026
GEORGIA MONEYBALL — Monday, September 21, 2026
Arkansas gave Georgia's defensive line so little to do Saturday that Tray Scott turned the TV timeouts into practice.
ALBANY, GA — · By the RFA Sports Desk
You do not often see a football team practicing during a football game, but there it was in Fayetteville on Saturday: fourth quarter, television timeout, and Georgia's defensive linemen off to one side running drills — actual practice drills, right there on the field, while the rest of America watched a truck commercial. Kirby Smart told reporters afterward that it was defensive line coach Tray Scott's idea, and that the man had his reasons.
The reason was Arkansas, which ran the ball 17 times for 20 yards and then, by all appearances, gave up on the enterprise altogether. Smart explained that the Razorbacks weren't running it or being physical enough to develop his linemen, so Scott decided development would proceed with or without an opponent. Smart added that his players need to be 'earning their NIL every day,' which may be the first time in recorded history that calisthenics were billed to a licensing deal.
It may be the first time in recorded history that calisthenics were billed to a licensing deal.
The fellow who did get honest work was Gunner Stockton, who threw it only 13 times — completing 10, for 147 yards and a touchdown — and still led Georgia in rushing with 97 yards, including a 62-yard third-down gallop that set up the third touchdown of a 45-17 afternoon. Arkansas did sack him three times, the first sacks Georgia has allowed all season, and Smart answered that the way he answers most things: 'We gotta run the ball better, we gotta pass the ball better, and we gotta rush the passer better.'
Elsewhere the league belonged to grudges and ghosts. Lane Kiffin took LSU back to Oxford, was booed from the moment he stepped off the bus, and lost, 32-24, when Jaylon Braxton intercepted Sam Leavitt in the end zone in the final minute. And Kentucky, a 17-point underdog, scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter and beat ninth-ranked Texas A&M, 31-21, in College Station — the Wildcats' first win there since 1952. Some droughts end with rain. That one ended with four Aggie turnovers.
As for Georgia, the arithmetic is getting silly. The folks at Saturday Down South did the sums: 63-3, 70-20 and 45-17 comes to 178 points, the program's biggest scoring start in 113 years. Western Kentucky comes to Athens next, and it would not be impolite to wonder whether Tray Scott ought to schedule the commercial-break drills in advance. The real company arrives September 26, when Oklahoma visits Sanford Stadium for the first time in that school's history, sputtering offense and all.
The Notebook
- MEANWHILE IN TUSCALOOSA: Alabama spotted Florida State a 15-point lead, sat through two lightning delays, and won 50-36 behind Keelon Russell's 320 passing yards and three touchdowns.
- OUT WEST: USC spent its whole Big Ten opener on upset alert at Rutgers before escaping, 42-35, with Jayden Maiava throwing for 277 yards.
- NEXT UP: Western Kentucky at Georgia, Saturday at 3:30 Eastern. The early line says Georgia by 14, which feels like it was set by a cautious man.
Written in the tradition of Lewis Grizzard, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1946–1994.
Hear the desk read tonights report on Radio Free Albany, WPFQ 96.7.
