Gunner Stockton ties school record with 5 TD passes as No. 2 Georgia crushes Western Kentucky 70-20

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Gunner Stockton threw five touchdown passes, tying a school record, and No. 2 Georgia gained more momentum for its Southeastern Conference schedule by overwhelming Western Kentucky 70-20 on Saturday.

Wearing all-white uniforms for the first time in team history, Georgia (2-0) led 49-0 in the first half — matching the most productive half in school history — as it prepared for next week's SEC opener at Arkansas.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart warned that a road SEC game will be a significant test following two lopsided home wins over Tennessee State and Western Kentucky.

“It’s fun when you score on every possession but is it real?” Smart asked. “Do you think we’re going to do that in SEC play? ... It’s all rosy and dandy until you've got to go on the road and you have to play somebody of SEC caliber."

Stockton completed 13 of 16 passes for 234 yards while throwing touchdown passes to five different targets. Stockton has eight touchdown passes and no interceptions in two games. He left each game in the second quarter.

“It feels good,” Stockton said. “You always want to execute at the end of the day and just do your job.”

Tyriq Green had a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and recovered a fumble in the end zone for another score for the Bulldogs.

Stockton utilized one of Georgia's deepest positions — tight end — by throwing a 7-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Barbour about 1 minute into the game. Stockton also threw scoring passes to running back Chauncey Bowens and receivers London Humphreys, Sacovie White-Helton and Talyn Taylor. Nate Frazier ran for 55 yards and a touchdown.

Landon Roldan's 9-yard scoring run gave Georgia a 49-0 lead in the second quarter, tying the school record for most points in a half.

Backup quarterback Brock Glenn had scoring runs of 15 and 10 yards for the Hilltoppers (0-2). Glenn threw a 7-yard scoring pass to Coleson Arends with 1:17 remaining following a fumbled punt return by Roldan.

“Looking for positives coming out of this game, one thing our young men did was they kept competing,” Western Kentucky coach Tyson Helton said. “They kept straining. Obviously, it was not good a lot of times. A lot of things we have to get better at if we're going to be a good football team.”

Georgia debuted its all-white alternate uniform featuring white helmets, jerseys and pants.

One week after the temperature was 101 degrees for the start of the Bulldogs' 63-3 win over Tennessee State, weather again was a factor. There was light rain early in the game which became a downpour in the third quarter.

The wet field contributed to a combined four lost fumbles, two for each team.

Georgia scored 70 points for the first time since a 70-6 win over Northeast Louisiana in 1994.

This is the first time in more than 100 years Georgia has scored 60 or more points in back-to-back games. In 1915, Georgia beat Newberry 79-0 and Dahlonega 64-0.

Stockton is the third Georgia player with five touchdown passes in the first half, following Stetson Bennett (2021 against UAB) and Aaron Murray (2011 against New Mexico State). Stockton left with Georgia leading 42-0 and more than 7 minutes remaining in the first half.

Stockton’s five TD passes matched the school record shared by several players, most recently Carson Beck against Tennessee Tech and Georgia Tech in 2024.

Western Kentucky: After a 49-14 opening loss at Nevada last week, the Hilltoppers again suffered a lopsided defeat. Quarterback Rodney Tisdale Jr. threw an interception in the second quarter and then lost a fumble on the following possession. Glenn had 13 carries for 70 yards and the two touchdowns but also threw an interception after replacing Tisdale. Ajay Allen, who ran for 102 yards and two touchdowns against Nevada, was held to 19 yards on 11 carries.

Georgia: The Bulldogs showed impressive depth. Twelve players had receptions and 12 had carries. Each of Stockton's five scoring passes were to different targets. Four quarterbacks played for the second straight week. A lost fumble by backup quarterback Ryan Puglisi set up a Hilltoppers' touchdown. Puglisi bounced back with a 70-yard scoring run early in the second half.

Western Kentucky visits No. 5 Indiana on Saturday.

Georgia opens its SEC schedule at Arkansas on Saturday.

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Western Kentucky assistant coach David Metcalf, left, embraces Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, right, after an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Georgia wide receiver Talyn Taylor (1) gets tackled by Western Kentucky defensive back Lataj Wright, right, during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Georgia tight end Ethan Barbour (9) scores a touchdown against Western Kentucky defensive backs Jaylen Lewis, left, and Christian White, right, during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton (14) looks to throw during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Western Kentucky, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

It was a heart-pounding escape. As Houthi rebels backed by Iran swept south along Yemen's Red Sea coast this week, some residents had little time to flee.

“We set out in hysterical panic on a motorcycle, not knowing where we were heading,” Alaa Ali Salem said. “The roads suddenly became extremely congested, and while I was driving, the motorcycle overturned. My wife, my children and I were all injured.”

His family and thousands of others, in numbers leaping by the day, are now displaced as the Arab world's poorest country faces a potential return to a devastating civil war.

The Associated Press on Saturday visited some of the newly displaced in Aden, a city under the control of Yemen's internationally recognized government, as residents opened homes to them.

Children sprawled in crowded rooms of thin mattresses that were scattered with the few belongings grabbed in haste. A young girl clutched a smartphone. Crutches were propped against a wall. Worn-looking elders napped. A fan stirred the air on a day where temperatures reached into the 90s Fahrenheit (30s Celsius).

Those fleeing have seen the front line of what the United Nations warns could be a return to a humanitarian catastrophe.

The Houthis' advance to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea threatens a key global shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has attacked some vessels during more than six months of war.

But on the ground in Yemen, the rebels' offensive means something very different. It could bring the kind of upheaval that killed 150,000 people and caused near-famine before a 2022 ceasefire.

“This renewed war should alarm us all,” the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, warned as the Houthis moved south.

In Aden, a woman was in tears Saturday over what the ensuing chaos meant for her fragile family.

“We saw soldiers shouting for a retreat as bullets flew all around, and we had no idea what was happening. One of my sons had a motorcycle, so I told him to take his children and flee,” said Durrah Ali Hassan, who took shelter in a relative’s house.

She said she was worried about the toll on her pregnant daughter, who already had been bleeding. “I was so worried that roads might get blocked and that my daughter would die.” She was now in a coma at a hospital, her mother said.

In just days' time, the International Organization for Migration has revised its number of displaced people by 30,000 more, saying at least 76,000 people now have fled since July as fighting escalated.

Iraq’s government confirmed that attacks that shut down a key Saudi oil pipeline on Thursday had originated from its territory. An umbrella group of Iran-backed militias in Iraq denied their involvement while praising the Houthis for their “ongoing battlefield victories against Saudi forces.”

Regional officials have told The Associated Press that the Houthis and the Iraqi militias recently coordinated attacks on Saudi oil facilities.

As the latest events threaten even higher global oil prices, U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran was “probably” responsible for the pipeline attack, but tried to calm concerns.

“The Houthis called us, and they don’t want to fight with us,” Trump said. “They would much prefer not having us involved, and they’re letting most ships go through.” He said his administration has had “discussions” with the Houthis, but the White House didn’t say when. His administration engaged in at least one round of talks in May 2025.

“We are not in war with Saudi Arabia, and the Houthis have their own problems,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told India Today TV on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in India.

The Houthis are putting further pressure on neighboring Saudi Arabia, which backs the Yemen government fighting the rebels. While the Houthis have said they are only targeting Saudi shipping, oil markets remain wary.

‎Late on Saturday, the Saudi civil defense said a projectile fell in Al-Tawwal governorate near the border with Yemen along the Red Sea, injuring two people and damaging a mosque and several other buildings. The statement blamed the Houthis. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

As global shipping becomes even more challenged, Iran said a regional meeting is planned Monday between the foreign ministers of Gulf countries about talks between Tehran and Oman — located on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz — on managing shipping there.

Commercial ship traffic remains low on what had been considered an international waterway before the war. Iran has expressed interest in having ships pay fees for transit. It has said traffic into the Persian Gulf would pass through Iranian waters, while the outbound route would pass partly through Iranian waters and partly through Oman’s.

But Iran has said reaching an agreement with Oman on the strait doesn’t mean it will open for shipping.

“The waterway would be opened up on the condition that the U.S. will terminate its blockade,” Iran's president told the Indian broadcaster. The U.S. military on Saturday said its forces had redirected 100 commercial vessels over the past 60 days.

Bahrain, however, said it will not attend any group meeting including Iran before the restoration of diplomatic relations between the countries.

Anna and Frankel reported from Jerusalem and Abdul-Zahra from Baghdad. Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Darlene Superville in Dublin and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

This photo provided by the Saudi Press Agency shows damage to a building after a projectile fell in Al-Tawwal, Jazan, Saudi Arabia, on the southern border with Yemen, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (Saudi Press Agency via AP)

A man reads a newspaper by the sea in government-controlled Aden, Yemen, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)

Displaced Yemenis rest at a temporary shelter in the Dar Saad district of Aden, Yemen, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, after fleeing Houthi attacks in the western coastal cities of al-Khokha and Mokha. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)

Displaced Yemenis rest at a temporary shelter in the Dar Saad district of Aden, Yemen, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, after fleeing Houthi attacks in the western coastal cities of al-Khokha and Mokha. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)

This image taken from undated video released by Al-Masirah TV, a channel owned by Yemen's Houthi rebels, on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, shows, according to the channel, Houthi fighters chanting atop a pickup truck in Khawkhah, Hodeida province, Yemen. (Al-Masirah TV via AP)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin/Pool Photo via AP)

Yemeni civilians celebrate while riding in the back of a pickup truck in the Bani Matar district, Yemen, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, as they follow a convoy carrying Houthi prisoners freed in Mokha on its way to Sanaa following the Houthi takeover of the southern Red Sea port city. (AP Photo/STR)

Houthi prisoners wave from vehicles as they travel through the Bani Matar district on their way to Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, after being freed in Mokha following the Houthi takeover of the southern Red Sea port city. (AP Photo/STR)

Houthi prisoners freed in Mokha wave as they arrive in the Bani Matar district on their way to Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, following the Houthi takeover of the southern Red Sea port city. (AP Photo/STR)

Houthi fighters escort a convoy carrying prisoners freed in Mokha through the Bani Matar district on its way to Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, following the Houthi takeover of the southern Red Sea port city. (AP Photo/STR)

This image taken from undated video released by the Houthi-run Al-Masirah television channel on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, shows damaged vehicles on a road between the Dhubab and Amri junctions in Yemen, according to the channel. (Al-Masirah TV via AP)

This image taken from undated video released by the Houthi-run Al-Masirah television channel on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, shows damaged vehicles on a road between the Dhubab and Amri junctions in Yemen, according to the channel. (Al-Masirah TV via AP)

This image taken from undated video released by the Houthi-run Al-Masirah television channel on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, shows Houthi fighters chanting and raising rifles atop a military vehicle in Dhubab district, Taiz province, Yemen, according to the channel. (Al-Masirah TV via AP)

Yemen's Houthi rebels chat as they check their weapons during a mobilization campaign in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo)

Yemen's Houthi rebels march during a mobilization campaign in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo)