No. 10 Georgia may have to play without a key defensive starter as they compete for a College Football Playoff berth. In Week 12, Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs (8-2) defeated Tennessee in the top ten. They then went back to Athens to play the Massachusetts Minutemen (2-8), who put UGA to the test with a strong run game and took an early 7-0 lead.

After giving up 164 total running yards to Tennessee the previous week, the Bulldogs gave up 110 yards in the first quarter. In the second quarter, defensive tackle Christen Miller fell down clutching his right arm as Georgia searched for a solution. As trainers evaluated the injuries, Miller seemed to be in a lot of agony. Miller remained on the turf for a few minutes before being assisted to the locker room, his right arm deliberately raised to his chest.

Miller was declared out of the game due to a right shoulder injury, per the ESPN broadcast. Although it is currently unknown how serious Miller’s injury is, his absence casts concern on Georgia’s defensive line before the team’s matchup with Georgia Tech in the season finale. At Georgia, Miller, a redshirt sophomore, is having a stellar season. This season, the former four-star has amassed 21 tackles, four tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.

The Bulldogs have struggled with defensive line injuries, as evidenced by the absence of starters Warren Brinson and Mykel Williams early in the season. If Miller sustains a serious injury, Georgia might find itself in a similar situation in the future. Georgia’s defense put on an unexpected display, allowing Massachusetts to rush for 226 yards, but the Bulldogs pulled away well in the second half to win 59-21 at Sanford Stadium.

Next week, UGA will play Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate against rival Georgia Tech (7-4). The game will begin in Athens on Friday, November 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC).

The Georgia Bulldogs were upset and returned to the SEC Championship game.

Athens Suddenly, Georgia is back at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the SEC Championship game. The Bulldogs prevailed because of Alabama’s defeat by Oklahoma in Norman on Saturday, Ole Miss’s defeat by Florida in Gainesville, and Auburn’s victory over Texas A&M in quadruple overtime. For Georgia to succeed, all three outcomes were required. Interestingly, they all did.

Kickoff for the SEC championship game on ABC is set for 4 p.m. on December 7. Next Saturday at College Station, Texas, the No. 10-ranked Bulldogs (9-2, 6-2 SEC) will play the winner of the Texas-Texas A&M game.

However, Georgia will first play archrival Georgia Tech. Athens (ABC) will host the teams on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Bulldogs’ SEC aspirations will remain unaffected by the result. Following Saturday’s 59-21 victory against UMass, coach Kirby Smart was questioned about whether he knew Ole Miss had fallen to Florida earlier in the day and if he would be watching the remaining games on Saturday night in hopes that the Bulldogs would have a chance to return to the SEC Championship game.

“I’m focused on Georgia Tech; that’s all that’s on my mind,” Smart said. “I don’t care about anyone else right now—just my team and how we prepare for Georgia Tech in six days.”

On October 19, Georgia defeated Texas, the top-ranked team at the time, 30–15 in Austin. This season, the Bulldogs did not play Texas A&M (8-3, 5-2). The Aggies lost to Notre Dame at home in the season opener and to South Carolina in their other conference defeat. At Sanford Stadium, Georgia defeated then-No. 7-ranked Tennessee (9-2, 6-2) 31-17 on November 16 to wrap up conference play. The Bulldogs now have a tiebreaker over the Vols, the other two-loss team in the SEC, thanks to that victory.

For the fourth straight season, Georgia will be participating in the conference championship game. From 2017 to 2019, the Bulldogs participated in three consecutive SEC Championships. They were champions in 2022 and 2017. Since 1942, Georgia has won 14 SEC championships. In SEC Championship games, it is 4-7. It was the longest streak in college football history for the Crimson Tide (8-3, 4-3) to go 13 years without losing three SEC games in a season. Alabama failed not score a touchdown in a game for the first time since 2011.