Category: UGA Football

Game & Broadcast Info

On Saturday, Georgia will make its second of at least three scheduled appearances on CBS this season. The network televised the Bulldogs’ 44-21 win over #14 Tennessee last weekend in Athens. The Bulldogs’ alltime record on CBS is 62-42-1. The Florida contest (Nov. 7, 3:30 p.m.) is also slated to be on the network.

No. 3 Georgia goes on the road to face No. 2 Alabama this Saturday at 8 p.m. ET in a matchup of the SEC division leaders. Under Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs are 9-4 in Top-10 showdowns. Georgia’s last win over a team ranked as high as No. 2 came in the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal when the Bulldogs defeated No. 2 Oklahoma 54-48 in overtime in the Rose Bowl Game.

Georgia has faced Alabama twice in the Smart era with the Crimson Tide rallying back both times. No. 4 Alabama won the 2018 CFP National Championship Game 26-23 over No. 3 Georgia in overtime. Then, No. 1 Alabama edged No. 4 Georgia 35-28 during the 2018 SEC Championship Game.

The Bulldogs went 3-1 versus Top-10 teams in 2019. Georgia beat No. 7 Notre Dame in Athens, No. 6 Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., and No. 7 Baylor in the Sugar Bowl. The lone loss came to then No. 2 LSU in the SEC Championship Game.

This Saturday, the Bulldogs will be facing their third Top-15 foe in a row. Georgia dominated No. 7 Auburn 27-6 in Athens on Oct. 3 and then beat No. 14 Tennessee 44-21 at home last weekend. The last time the Bulldogs faced three Top-25 teams in a row in three consecutive weeks came in 2018 when Georgia reeled off victories over No. 9 Florida, No. 9 Kentucky and No. 24 Auburn.

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The No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs continued preparation Wednesday, Oct. 14, for Saturday’s contest against No. 2 Alabama.

Georgia will kick off against the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Ala., at 8:00 p.m., ET, on CBS. Before practice, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart provided an update on the Bulldogs during the SEC Football Weekly Media Teleconference. Following practice, Kenny McIntosh and Kearis Jackson offered these comments on the upcoming games versus Alabama.

Selected comments from Smart and the student-athletes follow:

Head Coach Kirby Smart
Opening Statement
“We’ve had two good practices and getting ready for a third. The guys are excited. It’s certainly a lot easier, in terms of preparation, for your kids when you have a game of this magnitude. It doesn’t get down to motivation. There is a lot of motivation to play in big games. In the SEC, you are getting the opportunity to do that almost every week. Our kids are excited for the opportunity and to play a really good team. I have a lot of respect for Coach [Nick] Saban and their program and the job they have done.”

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Game & Broadcast Info

On Saturday, Georgia will make its second of at least three scheduled appearances on CBS this season. The network televised the Bulldogs’ 44-21 win over #14 Tennessee last weekend in Athens. The Bulldogs’ alltime record on CBS is 62-42-1. The Florida contest (Nov. 7, 3:30 p.m.) is also slated to be on the network.

No. 3 Georgia goes on the road to face No. 2 Alabama this Saturday at 8 p.m. ET in a matchup of the SEC division leaders. Under Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs are 9-4 in Top-10 showdowns. Georgia’s last win over a team ranked as high as No. 2 came in the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal when the Bulldogs defeated No. 2 Oklahoma 54-48 in overtime in the Rose Bowl Game.

Georgia has faced Alabama twice in the Smart era with the Crimson Tide rallying back both times. No. 4 Alabama won the 2018 CFP National Championship Game 26-23 over No. 3 Georgia in overtime. Then, No. 1 Alabama edged No. 4 Georgia 35-28 during the 2018 SEC Championship Game.

The Bulldogs went 3-1 versus Top-10 teams in 2019. Georgia beat No. 7 Notre Dame in Athens, No. 6 Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., and No. 7 Baylor in the Sugar Bowl. The lone loss came to then No. 2 LSU in the SEC Championship Game.

This Saturday, the Bulldogs will be facing their third Top-15 foe in a row. Georgia dominated No. 7 Auburn 27-6 in Athens on Oct. 3 and then beat No. 14 Tennessee 44-21 at home last weekend. The last time the Bulldogs faced three Top-25 teams in a row in three consecutive weeks came in 2018 when Georgia reeled off victories over No. 9 Florida, No. 9 Kentucky and No. 24 Auburn.

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By John Frierson
Staff Writer

It’s not hard to picture Georgia defensive lineman (and part-time goalline blocker) Jordan Davis, all 6-foot-6 and 330 pounds of him, becoming a big-screen action hero one day. He’s got the size and athleticism to pull it off, as well as the outsized personality and charm.

As I learned during our Quick Chat on Monday, we also did one last season, the junior from Charlotte, N.C., loves the Marvel movies. particularly “Avengers: Infinity War.” I also discovered that Davis loves Swedish Fish candy and road trips.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

Frierson: Now that you’re three games into the season, how are you feeling? Does this feel like a normal season?

Davis: I would say it feels like a normal season. Definitely, it’s the SEC grind so the games are a lot more physical, going back-to-back-to-back. For me, at least, I feel pretty good. I don’t feel sore that much; usually the day after, and after I get in the hot tub and cold tub, I’m fine. I feel good.

Frierson: How did you feel all of your unexpected free time during the quarantine shutdown? Did you pick up any new hobbies?

Davis: I definitely talked with friends and reconnected with friends, and then I played video games. I haven’t played that many video games during the school year, but in quarantine I had a lot of time on my hands and I was able to do that.

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ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia senior linebacker Monty Rice has been named the Chuck Bednarik Award Player of the Week, according to an announcement from the Maxwell Football Club.

The Bednarik Award has been given to the nation’s top collegiate defensive player each year since 1995.  David Pollack earned the honor for the Bulldogs in 2004.  Current Chicago Bear Roquan Smith was Georgia’s last finalist for the accolade in 2017.

Rice, a native of Huntsville, Ala., led the Bulldogs in tackles for the second straight game and scored his first career touchdown during Georgia’s 44-21 rout of No. 14 Tennessee.  He tallied eight stops, including a pair of tackles for loss.  One of Rice’s TFL was a strip-sack that he recovered and returned 20 yards for the Bulldogs’ final touchdown.  Rice directed a defense that held the Vols to minus-1 yards rushing and without a point in the second half.

The No. 3 Bulldogs (3-0 SEC) travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to face No. 2 Alabama (3-0 SEC) on Saturday.  CBS will televise the matchup at 8 p.m. ET.

Below are comments from head coach Kirby Smart and Richard LeCounte following practice Tuesday, Oct. 13.

Head Coach Kirby Smart
On COVID-19 positive test results across SEC and his worries…
“There’s really no way to tell. The biggest thing is you’re one day away, one test away, one situation away from a possible situation like Florida’s. We’ve been very fortunate. I think Ron [Courson] and the medical staff has done a great job for us. Ron sends me an article or an NFL reference and we post for our players to see, but we feel like our players are doing a good job, but I’ll be honest with you—when they’re not here at the facility, I don’t always know what they’re doing. The biggest concern we have is post-game, Sunday, and then they’re back into a routine Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. But you’re one exposure, one outbreak away from losing some guys, so we’ve been very fortunate so far, but we don’t have our test results back even from this week.”

On the evolution of offense in the SEC and what he attributes that to…
“I don’t understand what advanced scouting has to do with it—defense is allowed to scout too. If they have advanced scouting, we have advanced scouting. I don’t know why that would equate to higher scoring, if I’m following you right. By advanced scouting more they should be more successful on offense. We have video tape as well. I think attributing to the scoring is poor tackling, poor fundamentals defensively, up tempo offenses creeping in our league. I will be honest with you— football gets really sloppy when you go really fast. It doesn’t mean it’s not successful. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t score points. I am not saying that. I have been torched by teams that go up tempo. I’m not disgracing that—it gets really sloppy. As things get sloppy, fundamentals go downhill. If fundamentals go downhill, statistics go up.”

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Game & Broadcast Info

On Saturday, Georgia will make its second of at least three scheduled appearances on CBS this season. The network televised the Bulldogs’ 44-21 win over #14 Tennessee last weekend in Athens. The Bulldogs’ alltime record on CBS is 62-42-1. The Florida contest (Nov. 7, 3:30 p.m.) is also slated to be on the network.

No. 3 Georgia goes on the road to face No. 2 Alabama this Saturday at 8 p.m. ET in a matchup of the SEC division leaders. Under Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs are 9-4 in Top-10 showdowns. Georgia’s last win over a team ranked as high as No. 2 came in the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal when the Bulldogs defeated No. 2 Oklahoma 54-48 in overtime in the Rose Bowl Game.

Georgia has faced Alabama twice in the Smart era with the Crimson Tide rallying back both times. No. 4 Alabama won the 2018 CFP National Championship Game 26-23 over No. 3 Georgia in overtime. Then, No. 1 Alabama edged No. 4 Georgia 35-28 during the 2018 SEC Championship Game.

The Bulldogs went 3-1 versus Top-10 teams in 2019. Georgia beat No. 7 Notre Dame in Athens, No. 6 Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., and No. 7 Baylor in the Sugar Bowl. The lone loss came to then No. 2 LSU in the SEC Championship Game.

This Saturday, the Bulldogs will be facing their third Top-15 foe in a row. Georgia dominated No. 7 Auburn 27-6 in Athens on Oct. 3 and then beat No. 14 Tennessee 44-21 at home last weekend. The last time the Bulldogs faced three Top-25 teams in a row in three consecutive weeks came in 2018 when Georgia reeled off victories over No. 9 Florida, No. 9 Kentucky and No. 24 Auburn.

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ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia redshirt sophomore Azeez Ojulari has been named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Lineman of the Week, according to a league announcement.

This marks the first SEC weekly honor for Ojulari in his career.  This is also the Bulldogs’ third weekly honor this season (Sept. 28, P Jake Camarda – Special Teams; Oct. 5, OG Ben Cleveland, Offensive Lineman).

Ojulari, a native of Marietta, Ga., finished with five stops, including two sacks, two forced fumbles and one recovered fumble during the Bulldogs’ third straight win.  He had a strip-sack and recovery, which gave Tennessee its first turnover on the year, on the opening series of the second half that came with Georgia trailing 21-17.

Ojulari followed that up three series later with another sack that forced the Vols to punt.  Georgia scored on the ensuing series to distance themselves at 30-21.  Ojulari led the attack against Tennessee in the second half as the Vols were held to 71 yards on 39 plays and only 214 total yards on offense during the game.

The No. 3 Bulldogs (3-0 SEC) travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to face No. 2 Alabama (3-0 SEC) on Saturday.  CBS will televise the matchup at 8 p.m.

University of Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart and several Bulldog student-athletes offered the following comments on Monday.

Head Coach Kirby Smart

Opening statement … 

“We are moving forward and have been getting prepared for this game since really yesterday morning. We will have our first practice today. I’ve got a lot of respect for these guys, having worked there for a long time. They’ve got a really good program. They’ve got really good football players, physical at both the offensive and defensive lines, extremely physical and extremely big. They do a really good job in special teams. They are always well coached, play the best players on special teams, similar to the way we do. This is what college football is all about, so we are looking forward to the matchup.”

On the prolific offenses in college football and how Alabama has succeeded so well on offense … 

“What’s made them succeed well is players. They’ve got really good players. Sark [Steve Sarkisian] does a great job of implementing the system that the kids can execute. It’s based on really hard guys to cover outside. They’ve got one of, probably the best backs in the country if not one of the best backs in the country. Najee [Harris] runs the ball really hard, and they are massive upfront. So, offensively, they are not built like some of these teams that go tempo the whole time and go hurry-up the whole time. They can go up-tempo and they do tempo well, but they are really big, they can take shots down the field with explosive wideouts they have. They make you defend the entire field.

“I think college football as a whole is more offensive because the rules lend it to be that way in terms of allowing — you can have linemen a little further down field in college, so the RPO game gets to be big. You can do tempo in college football at a lot higher rate. Tempo hasn’t been successful in the NFL because you get your quarterback hit and, to be honest with you, a lot of those NFL teams their linemen aren’t built to go tempo. They are not built to go 70, I mean 100 plays a game, and go really fast. A lot of the teams that have the most success statistically are tempo teams in college football. I think that has a lot to do with the success and the numbers you are seeing. Alabama capitalizes on a great system with a really good scheme and really good players.”

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21

Tennessee 2-1 , 2-1

44

 Georgia 3-0 , 3-0

ATHENS, Ga. – The third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs defeated the 14th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers 44-21 Saturday at Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium in front of a crowd of 20,524 and a nationally-televised audience on CBS.

After trailing the Volunteers 21-17 at halftime, the Bulldogs came out in the second half and shutout Tennessee 27-0 in the second half of the game. It was the second year in a row that Georgia has shut Tennessee out in the second half.

“I certainly didn’t expect it to go that way. We didn’t start the way we needed to,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “We’ve got to show a lot of improvement in a lot of areas and just disappointed in our start to the game. Anytime you spot somebody seven [points], that’s not good. We gave up some explosive plays on defense. But the positives were we didn’t blink. We’ve got a very emotional team and I thought in the locker room, there were a lot of emotions shown. … We’ve got to improve our ability to execute and play with discipline and composure, and we didn’t do that at all times today.”

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By John Frierson
Staff Writer

The Georgia defense, which had allowed one touchdown and three field goals through two games this season, faced its first big dose of adversity on Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium. If the third-ranked Bulldogs were going to knock off No. 14 Tennessee, which was putting up a good fight, that vaunted Georgia defense had to tighten things up a bit in the second half.

It very, very much did.

Georgia linebacker Monty Rice, who forced a fourth-quarter fumble and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown, produced more points than the Volunteers did in the second half. Led by the defense’s second-half shutout, the Bulldogs won going away Saturday, 44-17.

“We might just have the best Defense in college football right now…” — Former Georgia receiver Tavarres King tweeted late in the first quarter Saturday.

And here’s what former offensive lineman George Foster tweeted: “Dude, this defense is primed to be the best that has come through the school. Straight up DAWGS on every level(.)”

It would be hard to argue with that through three games.

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