The Rankings Were Printed Before Kickoff

Evening Edition — filed after the afternoon news cycle.

GEORGIA MONEYBALL — Saturday, September 26, 2026

Oklahoma came to Athens with one of the stingiest defenses in the country, and Georgia has spent the afternoon asking it to prove it.

ALBANY, GA — · By the RFA Sports Desk

As this goes to air, Georgia leads Oklahoma 28 to 6 with 9:07 left in the third quarter at Sanford Stadium, and I would like to say something wise about it. But it isn't over yet, and my mama taught me that you don't count the chickens while the fox is still in the county. What I can tell you is that the Sooners came to town with a reputation, and so far the reputation has had a rather trying day.

Here is the reputation. Last Word on College Football reported this week that Oklahoma ranked in the top five nationally in points allowed, yards per play allowed and opponents' third-down percentage. Kirby Smart told reporters the Sooners were violent and played hard, which is coach talk for please don't embarrass us. Well, Georgia has 28 on the board with a good bit of the third quarter still to play. Numbers printed before kickoff are a lot like weather forecasts. They're nice to have until somebody actually goes outside.

Numbers printed before kickoff are a lot like weather forecasts — nice to have until somebody actually goes outside.

The play count is the interesting part. Georgia has run 34 snaps, 14 of them runs and 20 of them passes, which works out to a run rate of 41.2 percent. ESPN's play-by-play gives us those counts, so treat them as a proxy and not as film. They still tell you something. Nate Frazier went into the week questionable with what Smart called a little ding, and Smart had also called his backs interchangeable parts. With the backfield unsettled, Georgia put the ball in the air, and so far the Sooners haven't made them pay for it.

On the other side, the worry all week was John Mateer's legs. Smart said his athleticism pops out at you, and that he's made explosives with his legs, and everybody in Athens nodded like they'd been told the stove was hot. Oklahoma came in at No. 123 in the country in rushing yards per game, and when you're that thin on the ground, the quarterback ends up doing all the running himself. Six points is what that has bought them so far. That's two field goals, or one touchdown with the extra point left in Oklahoma.

Georgia came in scoring 59.3 points a game against lesser company, and the question all week was what happens when that offense runs into a defense that gives up nothing. We're finding out, with a quarter and a half left to see whether Oklahoma has one more gear. I'm not calling it. I've watched too much football in this state to call anything before the band plays the fight song for the last time. But if I were an Oklahoma fan, I believe I'd go ahead and look up the traffic on the Atlanta Highway.

The Notebook

• HOOSIERS HOLD ON: No. 5 Indiana got past Northwestern 29 to 23 on Friday night. It wasn't pretty, but a win is still a win in Bloomington.
• STILL TALKING ABOUT KYLE FIELD: Unranked Kentucky's 31 to 21 upset at No. 9 Texas A&M last week is still the one people are arguing about. The Wildcats outgained the Aggies 196 to 20 in the third quarter, and the man who ran Kentucky's defense used to coach A&M's.
• UNDER THE LIGHTS: Tonight LSU gives 8 and a half to the Aggie Cadets, and Oregon lays 3 and a half against the Trojan Horsemen in what the desk calls a genuine coin-flip.

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.