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Nicholas Rodriguez enters Athens with 98 tackles
Sanford Stadium betting line, ESPN projection and broadcast details
DraftKings lists Georgia as a 16.5-point favorite (-750 moneyline) against Missouri (+525 moneyline), with the game total at 47.5 points. ESPN's Matchup Predictor gives the Bulldogs an 88.8 percent win probability compared to 11.2 percent for the Tigers.
Scoring averages combine for 71.3 points per game (41.1 for Georgia, 30.2 for Missouri), while the two defenses allow 34.1 combined points (14.0 and 20.1).
ABC and Disney+ carry live national coverage starting at 3:30 p.m. ET (20:30 UTC) from the natural grass at Sanford Stadium. Stay right here with VAVEL for live score updates, touchdowns, Stockton and Simmons' passing splits, and drive-by-drive play-by-play.
Where the 16-team SEC race stands entering Saturday afternoon
ESPN's SEC table lists No. 1 Georgia atop the conference at 8-1 (6-1 SEC), holding a head-to-head tiebreaker over second-place Alabama (7-2, 5-2) courtesy of that 20-17 win in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 10.
Kentucky sits level with Alabama at 7-2 (5-2), followed by Texas (7-2, 4-2) and Tennessee (7-2, 4-2). Ole Miss and South Carolina sit at 6-3 (4-3), while LSU and Missouri share 6-3 records at 3-3 in league play.
One victory today clinches at least a share of seven SEC wins for Georgia and keeps Atlanta firmly in Smart's grasp. Upsetting No. 1 on the road lifts Missouri to 7-3 and flips the top of the College Football Playoff bracket upside down.
Three shared SEC opponents tell a clear story in Oxford
Georgia and Missouri share three completed SEC opponents on the 2026 calendar: Arkansas, Florida and Ole Miss.
Both won comfortably in Fayetteville (Georgia 45-17 on Sept. 19, Missouri 34-10 on Oct. 31) and both handled Florida by 19-plus points (Missouri 45-17 on Oct. 3, Georgia 27-8 on Oct. 31). Oxford provided the starkest separator: Missouri lost 31-3 at Ole Miss on Oct. 17, whereas Georgia walked onto that same Vaught-Hemingway turf three weeks later on Nov. 8 and won 42-7.
Missouri's road through nine games: unbeaten against unranked foes, tested at the top
Missouri opened 3-0 in September with wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff (54-14), Kansas in Lawrence (38-21) and Troy (27-17) before dropping its SEC opener 31-24 at Mississippi State on Sept. 26.
October brought emphatic home blowouts of Florida (45-17) and Texas A&M (27-6), sandwiched around a 31-3 road loss at Ole Miss on Oct. 17. After routing Arkansas 34-10 in Fayetteville on Oct. 31, the Tigers fell 34-20 at home to No. 6 Texas last Saturday.
All three Missouri losses came against SEC competition, two on the road and one against a top-six visitor.
How Georgia bounced back from Auburn to crush Florida and Ole Miss
One afternoon separates Georgia from an undefeated regular season so far: a 27-24 home defeat to Auburn on Oct. 17.
Before that stumble, the Bulldogs beat Tennessee State 63-3, Western Kentucky 70-20, Arkansas 45-17 in Fayetteville, Oklahoma 41-13, Vanderbilt 38-14 and Alabama 20-17 in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 10. Coming off an open week after Auburn, Smart's squad strangled Florida 27-8 on Oct. 31 and went into Oxford last weekend to dismantle Ole Miss 42-7.
Holding consecutive SEC opponents to eight and seven points vaulted Georgia straight to No. 1.
31 sacks and 14.0 points allowed: inside Georgia's defense
Georgia yields 14.0 points and 270.3 total yards per game, holding opposing offenses to 186.6 passing yards and 83.8 rushing yards.
Linebacker Raylen Wilson paces the Bulldogs with 58 tackles (335 solo and 188 assisted stops as a team for 523 total tackles), while Chris Cole tops the pass rush with five sacks inside a unit that has piled up 31 team sacks for 207 lost yards, 78 stuffs and 34 pass breakups. On the other sideline, Missouri allows 20.1 points and 330.4 yards per game (234.7 passing, 95.8 rushing), led by linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez (98 total tackles inside a 622-tackle defense) and edge rusher Daeden Hopkins (seven sacks, best on either roster, for a unit with 22 sacks, 82 stuffs and 42 passes defended).
Explosive chunk plays have kept both offenses moving the chains: Georgia owns a 70-yard pass and a 70-yard run among its 197 first downs (89 rushing, 91 passing), while Missouri owns a 72-yard pass alongside Roberts' 80-yard run among its 190 first downs (67 rushing, 104 passing).
Turnover margins that defy belief: plus-16 for Georgia, plus-15 for Missouri
Check the giveaway ledger for both rosters and you almost have to read it twice: neither team has lost a single fumble in nine games.
Georgia has fumbled 14 times and recovered all 14, giving the ball away just four times all season (four interceptions) while taking it away 20 times (eight interceptions for 156 yards and a score, plus 12 fumble recoveries and two scoop-and-score touchdowns). Missouri is right beside them at plus-15, committing two giveaways all year (two interceptions on 300 pass attempts, 9-for-9 recovering its own fumbles) while forcing 17 takeaways (seven interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries).
Combined across 18 games, these two offenses have lost zero fumbles and thrown six interceptions.
Austin Simmons and 1,000-yard rusher Jamal Roberts lead Mizzou
Missouri puts 30.2 points and 414.8 yards per game on the board, leaning on 256.6 passing yards and 158.2 rushing yards per Saturday.
Tailback Jamal Roberts has already cleared the four-digit mark on the ground with 209 carries for 1,071 yards and nine touchdowns, including an 80-yard breakaway earlier this fall. Quarterback Austin Simmons has gone 175 of 283 for 2,204 yards, 18 touchdowns and only two interceptions across 283 throws. Wideout Cayden Lee is his primary target at 62 receptions, 835 yards and five scores.
Third-down efficiency is where Missouri trails Georgia.
The Tigers have converted 50 of 129 third downs (38.76 percent) and settled for 23 field-goal attempts, knocking through 15 with a long of 53 yards.
Gunner Stockton's 70.9 percent accuracy drives a balanced Georgia offense
Georgia averages 41.1 points and 454.2 total yards per game across nine weeks, posting 243.6 yards through the air and 210.7 on the ground.
Quarterback Gunner Stockton has been surgical in Smart's attack, completing 139 of 196 passes (70.9 percent) for 1,857 yards, 20 touchdowns and four interceptions. As a team the Bulldogs own 23 passing touchdowns and 22 rushing touchdowns while converting 52.43 percent on third down (54 of 103) and 66.67 percent on fourth down (4 of 6). Wide receiver Talyn Taylor averages 17.0 yards per grab with 25 catches, 426 yards and six touchdowns.
Dwight Phillips Jr. leads a deep backfield averaging 5.9 yards per rush as a unit (1,896 yards on 321 carries), ripping off 481 yards and two scores on 66 carries (7.3 yards per attempt).
No. 22 Missouri visits No. 1 Georgia between the hedges, 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC
Welcome to Athens and VAVEL's live coverage of No. 22 Missouri at No. 1 Georgia from Sanford Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, which is 2:30 p.m. CT in Columbia and 21:30 CET in Madrid.
Top spot in the SEC belongs to Athens entering Week 12.
Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs sit at 8-1 on the year and 6-1 in conference play, one game clear of every chaser in the 16-team league. Eliah Drinkwitz brings his Missouri Tigers into Sanford Stadium at 6-3 and 3-3 in SEC action. DraftKings sets Georgia as a 16.5-point home favorite with an over/under of 47.5 points, and we will track every snap, touchdown and turnover right here.
Missouri linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez sits two stops shy of 100 total tackles through nine games (98), 40 more than Georgia's team leader Raylen Wilson (58).