Philo set Georgia state records. Yet he may miss his chance against UGA again.
The ties between Florida quarterback Aaron Philo and Georgia run deep.
His offensive coordinator at Prince Avenue Christian School in Bogart was Jon Richt, son of former Georgia coach Mark Richt. The quarterbacks who preceded him — Brock Vandagriff — and followed him — Jake Bobo — went on to join the Georgia program.
Philo set state records as a high school quarterback, as he is the all-time leader in passing yards (13,922). He also won multiple state championships.
“Yeah, he broke all kinds of records,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “I mean, he was right here by us. Obviously, we had a great relationship with his coach. I’ve got a lot of respect for his toughness, the way he plays and how much better he’s gotten.”
Yet all those accomplishments and ties never netted him a scholarship offer from Georgia. He instead signed with rival Georgia Tech. Then, when offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner took the job at Florida, Philo followed.
If Philo couldn’t join the Bulldogs — who signed 4-star quarterback Ryan Puglisi in the same 2024 recruiting cycle — he might as well try and beat them.
Only Philo, who entered the year as Florida’s starting quarterback, may not get the chance to play against the school he’s grown to “hate,” in his own words. Philo missed Florida’s last game after suffering a shoulder injury in a loss against South Carolina. He’s listed as questionable on this week’s availability report for Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game against Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Complicating matters is that backup quarterback Tramell Jones engineered a comeback win for the Gators against Texas. Jones is also questionable entering Saturday’s game, with Sumrall making it clear he won’t tip his hand on the matter.
“The offense doesn’t change really with one or the other. I mean, Tramell, Philo both have similar skill sets,” Sumrall said. “One may do one thing a little better, one may do the other thing a little bit better. It’s not like they’re drastically different players where you’re playing with a true run-threat quarterback that can’t throw it, and then you have another guy that’s a pocket passer that can’t run. They’re both skill sets that have more similarities and differences.”
Philo is the better pure passer of the two quarterbacks. In six games this season he’s completed 70.5% of his passes while throwing for nine touchdowns to just three interceptions. He also has three rushing touchdowns this season, more than that of his Georgia counterpart, Gunner Stockton.
Florida did lose its two most recent games with Philo under center. In those games though, Florida gave up 45 and 38 points in defeat.
Regardless of who starts, Smart knows he’ll see a competent quarterback for Florida. Philo started in the Gators’ 52-28 romp over Ole Miss earlier this season.
“One beat Ole Miss handily. One beat Texas on the road,” Smart said. “They’re both completely capable, good players. Known about both of them for a long time. In terms of their ability, they’re both plenty capable, especially in Buster’s offense.”
This isn’t the first time the Georgia coach has had to wonder whether or not he’ll see Philo.
During the 2024 season, Philo played the majority of Georgia Tech’s win over N.C. State. Haynes King threw just three passes in the game that preceded Clean Old-Fashioned Hate that year. King also missed two other games during that season.
It seemed reasonable to expect to see Philo in some capacity. Georgia planned on it.
Yet that proved to be a waste of time, as Philo did not play in the 2024 game. The Yellow Jackets, with Faulkner was offensive coordinator, rode King through all eight overtimes before falling 44-42 to Georgia.
Philo did not play a snap, ultimately preserving a redshirt he now no longer needs because of a change in NCAA rules.
Philo did not see the field in the 2025 Georgia-Georgia Tech game, also won by the Bulldogs. The Yellow Jackets did not score a touchdown in the 16-9 defeat. It would be his final game with Georgia Tech, as he entered the transfer portal following the conclusion of the regular season.
When Philo met with Florida media in the spring, he made his thoughts on Georgia very clear.
“A lot,” Philo said when asked how much he hates Georgia.
“Real bad,” he responded when asked how much he wants to beat the Bulldogs.
In a way it seems almost cruel for Philo to be possibly denied yet another chance to play against Georgia.
Despite Faulkner’s best attempts to minimize the game for Philo, the former Georgia assistant understands the emotions Philo is working through.
“Don’t make it bigger than it is,” Faulkner said. “You’ve been playing the game for a long time. Since you’re little, it’s still the same game. Don’t forget it’s a game. Ignore all noise around you, right? That’s the things that you got to tell all quarterbacks these days, regardless of, you know, what people say, whatever it is.”
Only Sumrall at this point knows whether Philo will at last get a chance to take on Georgia and Stockton. Like Philo, Stockton etched his name into the Georgia record book.
Counting high school and college, it will be the fourth time that Stockton and Philo’s teams play one another. Yet none so far have featured both as the starting quarterback for their respective team.
Stockton is unquestionably Georgia’s guy, as he has always been dating back to his commitment in January 2021.
With Philo, the wait potentially continues.