The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UGA schedule
a long distance en masse during a pandemic, the Razorbacks are sneaky dangerous on offense. Feleipe Franks, formerly of Florida, will be the quarterback. But the real threat is running back Rakeem Boyd (1,333 yards, 8 TDs in 2019) running behind four returning offensive linemen and a better-than-most-realize wide receiver corps. Then again, there’s a reason why Arkansas was 0-8 in the SEC last season. Pittman is the reason the SEC Network picked this game for its prime afternoon spot, but Georgia will be the team everybody is talking about afterward.
Oct. 3 vs. Auburn, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
This the home game most fans want to attend; just ask UGA’s ticket office. Interestingly, this will be the earliest the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry has been played since the Bulldogs and Auburn first teed it up in Piedmont Park on Feb. 20, 1892. Traditionally, it has been played as Georgia’s final SEC game most every year. The Bulldogs have won six of the past seven in the rivalry to go ahead 60-56-8 all-time. But the outcome of this game will determine what the rest of the season looks like for Georgia from a TV-exposure standpoint. Win, and the Bulldogs are set for more prime time. Lose, and some noon time slots may be in the offing.
Oct. 10 vs. Tennessee, TBD
The reason this game hasn’t been claimed is network executives want more time to survey the competitive arc of each team. The Volunteers are favored against South Carolina and Missouri, as Georgia will be in its first two games. If both teams arrive undefeated, then this contest will command national attention. Regardless, there are plenty of storylines, starting with the relationship of Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt and Georgia’s Kirby Smart and ending with the recent controversial transfer of former Bulldogs offensive lineman Cade Mays to Rocky Top. Meanwhile, Pruitt desperately needs to change the course of this series, which has seen Georgia win three in a row and eight of the past 10.
Oct. 17 at Alabama, 8 p.m., CBS
CBS wants these teams to arrive in Tuscaloosa undefeated, and the schedule is set up for that to be the case. But even if one or both trip up somewhere, there is plenty of combustible fodder. Chiefly, while the Bulldogs have risen to power in the East under Smart, they have not been able to vanquish the beast that is Alabama
under coach Nick Saban. The Bulldogs have lost five in a row to the Crimson Tide, the past two in excruciating fashion. Georgia blew leads in the 2017 season’s national championship game and in the 2018 SEC Championship game. Could this be where Smart steps up for all former Saban assistants and delivers a victory? It would be a monumental accomplishment.
Oct. 24 at Kentucky, TBD
Again, fates will determine whether this is a noon kickoff or a prime-time matchup of Eastern Division championship contenders. Every year since Mark Stoops has been at the helm for the Wildcats, it seems they’re expected to be the dark horse in the division. Yet Georgia has won 10 in a row and all but three the past two decades. Without question, though, Kentucky is better under Stoops, particularly on defense. And the Bulldogs’ past two trips to Kroger Field were competitive throughout. The Wildcats will have been through trips to Auburn and Tennessee and will have another game to go before their first open date. How well they’re able to hold up will determine how interested the networks are in the matchup.
Nov. 7 vs. Florida (Jacksonville), 3:30 p.m., CBS
It may be played a week later than is the Halloween weekend tradition, but that won’t take away from the magnitude of Georgia and Florida’s annual fistfight. As always, CBS stepped up to affix this contest to its coveted 3:30 p.m. slot, where it has been every year since the network picked up the SEC’s primary broadcasting rights. This season’s matchup promises to be another SEC East elimination playoff game. That’s what it was last year when the Bulldogs defeated No. 6 Florida 24-17 in a contest that really wasn’t that close. Georgia’s third win in a row in a series it leads 53-43-2 essentially punched its ticket to a third consecutive SEC Championship game appearance. The Gators are the fashionable pick to stop the Bulldogs’ run.
Nov. 14 at Missouri, TBD
It’s almost unfathomable to think that Georgia lost to Missouri for consecutive SEC East championships in 2013 and ’14, even after defeating the Tigers 34-0 in Columbia in 2014. But that’s how it went down, and the 2013 defeat at Sanford Stadium still stings Georgia fans. There’s not a lot of stirring plotlines in this particular season as Missouri rebuilds yet again, this time under former Appalachian State coach Eliah Drinkwitz. But this contest will be labeled “trap game” and “dangerous” because it comes the week after Georgia-Florida and at the end of five consecutive weeks of the Bulldogs playing away from Sanford Stadium.
Nov. 21 vs. Mississippi St., TBD
“The Pirate” comes to Athens. Most college football fans are familiar with Mike Leach’s selfmade identity as a swashbuckling coach who uses any means possible to rob opponents of their treasure. He explains the origins of that persona in his autobiography, “Swing Your Sword: Leading the Charge in Football and in Life.” So, everybody in the SEC is excited about getting a close-up look at Leach, whose specialty is lifting pedestrian programs (Texas Tech, Washington State) out of obscurity through colorful wit and an explosive “Air Raid” offense. By the time he gets to Athens, the Maroons would have been through LSU, Texas A&M, Alabama and Auburn, among others. Leach’s sense of humor should be razor sharp by then, or tapped out.
Nov. 28 at South Carolina, TBD
There are a lot of things that make this game intriguing, not the least of which is Georgia’s almost inexplicable home loss last year to a South Carolina team that finished 4-8. Beyond that, Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp has quietly made South Carolina into UGA East. Most recently he hired fellow UGA alum Mike Bobo to coordinate the offense, former Bulldogs quarterback Joe Cox to coach wide receivers and former Georgia defensive line coach Tracy Rocker to coach D-line. Meanwhile, his director of football operations is former UGA defensive back George Wynn. Smart countered by convincing Muschamp’s son, Jackson, to come to Georgia as an invited walk-on. So bragging rights will be on the line, not to mention a significant hurdle toward a fourth consecutive SEC Championship game appearance for the Bulldogs. However, that might not be enough to unseat Alabama-Auburn, LSU-Texas A&M or Mississippi State-Ole Miss for prime viewing.
Dec. 5 vs. Vanderbilt, TBD
There’s not a lot that’s exciting about a Georgia-Vanderbilt matchup, at least since James Franklin left. But there is a good chance the Bulldogs will need victory here to punch their ticket to a fourth consecutive SEC Championship game appearance. What type of Sanford Stadium atmosphere might await these teams on what sets up to be a cold December afternoon in Athens is anybody’s guess. But Smart always has the harrowing 17-16 home loss to the Commodores and coach Derek Mason in his first year as coach to use as motivation. Regardless, Florida at Tennessee and Texas A&M at Auburn probably will get the spotlight.