No. 2 Georgia hosts Oklahoma in the Sooners’ SEC opener on Saturday

Eight years ago, Oklahoma and Georgia clashed in a thrilling double-overtime Rose Bowl, one that sent the Bulldogs to face Alabama in the 2018 national championship.

The Sooners and Bulldogs haven’t met since. That changes Saturday, when a freshly unranked Oklahoma team heads to Athens to face No. 2 Georgia in what is now a Southeastern Conference matchup.

Oklahoma enters the outing with much to prove, having fallen 17-10 to Michigan in Week 2 and narrowly beaten New Mexico 14-6 the following week after entering the game as a 21.5-point favorite.

Georgia has yet to be challenged, with defensive line coach Tray Scott running drills during television timeouts against Arkansas as tangible proof. The Bulldogs have cruised to a 3-0 record and have a plus-138 scoring differential.

Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton boasts an 84.4 completion percentage this season, completing 38 of 45 pass attempts for 583 yards and nine touchdowns. He tied Georgia’s single-game record with five passing touchdowns against Western Kentucky in Week 2.

“Gunner Stockton, I love how he plays. This is another year that he’s started the year really, really well. He’s just a really good football player,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said Tuesday. “The guy’s been a winner his whole life — plays the game the right way.”

Stockton’s hot start has been complemented with lockdown defense. Georgia has yet to allow a first-quarter point this season, outscoring opponents 56-0 in the first 15 minutes and 105-12 in the first half. Backup quarterback Ryan Puglisi has played in all three games as a result, with Stockton calling it a day early after leading the team to a cushy lead.

Saturday’s matchup is Oklahoma’s SEC opener and the second of nine conference matchups for Georgia.

Oklahoma faces a daunting start to conference play, traveling to No. 2 Georgia before hosting No. 1 Texas two weeks later.

The Bulldogs kicked off SEC play last week with a 45-17 win over Arkansas and will face Vanderbilt, No. 8 Alabama and Auburn before an idle week leading up to “the world’s greatest cocktail party” against No. 21 Florida.

Georgia’s one remaining nonconference game is a rivalry week contest against in-state foe Georgia Tech.

Regardless of recent offensive woes, Oklahoma’s defense has held steady, allowing only two touchdowns over the past three games — both on the ground against Michigan.

The Sooners lead the SEC in passing defense (104.3 yards per game), scoring defense (7.7 points per game), third-down conversion defense (22.5%), tackles for loss (8.7) and red zone defense (57.1%). The unit ranks top 10 nationally in each category.

“It is fundamentally sound, aggressive and attacking. They are one of the top in the country every year in tackles for a loss and sacks, and I don’t think people give their coaches and their kids enough credit for how they play,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “They play with unbelievable pad level and an intensity that’s kind of unmatched in terms of the way they play.”

Owen Heinecke leads the Sooners with 24 tackles. Adepoju Adebawore has a team-high 2.5 sacks. Peyton Brown has recorded four pass breakups.

Oklahoma’s offense hasn’t played up to its standard, and it starts with the passing game. Quarterback John Mateer threw a critical late interception against Michigan to set up the Wolverines for a game-winning, 6-yard touchdown drive. He finished the Week 2 loss with a 52% completion rating.

Mateer was picked off twice more in the first half against New Mexico, prompting boos from Memorial Stadium. He has 652 passing yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions through three games and has not yet shown the same flashiness in the run game.

Oklahoma has little room for error after its loss to Michigan and an uninspiring Week 3 win that knocked the Sooners out of the AP Top 25.

With No. 2 Georgia and No. 1 Texas looming in the next three weeks, Oklahoma could quickly find itself needing to run the table to emerge in the College Football Playoff conversation. Another loss wouldn’t end the Sooners’ chances, but it would make their path much more difficult with plenty of tough conference competition ahead.

Oklahoma earned the No. 8 seed in the CFP last year and was knocked out by No. 9 Alabama with a 34–24 first-round loss.

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Georgia tight end Ethan Barbour (9) reacts with running back Nate Frazier, right, after scoring a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Western Kentucky, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, delivering prerecorded remarks from his office in Ramallah after the United States denied him and other top Palestinian officials visas to attend the gathering for the second year in a row.

“The Palestinian people face one of the most dangerous times in its history,” Abbas said, citing long-term military occupation in the West Bank and the war in Gaza. Israel, he said, “has targeted all of the basic necessities of life.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to speak in person early in the afternoon. As Abbas spoke, the Israeli delegations' seats in the General Assembly hall sat vacant.

In his speech, Abbas once again implored the international community to take more vigorous action and speak out more loudly against Israel.

“How much longer will some states continue to remain silent against Israel or supply it with the weapons it uses against our people? The world has witnessed the tremendous cost in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,” Abbas said. He added: “What is the international community waiting for in order to protect the Palestinian people?”

Though negotiations have not taken place for years, Abbas urged the international community to push for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu has said no Palestinian state will be established while he is Israel’s leader and has argued that the Palestinian Authority is not a partner for peace.

The international community has backed Trump’s plan for a group of apolitical administrators to govern Gaza under the Board of Peace. But Abbas said the territory could not remain politically separate from the West Bank and East Jerusalem for the long term.

He said the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the West Bank needed to be governed by “one state, one government, one law and one legitimate entity authorized to bear arms.”

Since 2005, the now-90-year-old Abbas has led the Palestinian Authority, which is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people. But his support among Palestinians has withered during years of corruption and the sometimes violent advance of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Under Abbas, Palestine has been recognized as a country by a majority of U.N. member states. But on the ground in the West Bank, the mostly symbolic moves have not affected Israel’s decades long military occupation. Throughout the war in Gaza, Abbas and the authority have been largely sidelined from negotiations over its future in favor of a transition process shepherded by President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace.

The Palestinian Authority was created under a series of peace agreements with Israel in the 1990s and administers semiautonomous areas of the West Bank, while relying heavily on foreign aid. It is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people.

It was ousted from Gaza after Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006 and violently seized control. Abbas was elected to what was supposed to be a four-year term in 2005. The authority has not held presidential or legislative elections since 2006.

Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 war, and the Palestinians want both as part of their future state. The Palestinians and much of the international community view the settlements as illegal and as an obstacle to creating a viable, contiguous Palestinian state.

Abbas recorded the video on Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Likud party New Year event in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Chairs for delegates from the state of Israel are unoccupied as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks via pre-recorded video during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks via pre-recorded video after being denied a visa to attend in person during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)