Category: UGA Football

Game & Broadcast Info

On Saturday, Georgia will make its third appearance of the season on the SEC Network. The Bulldogs topped Arkansas and Kentucky on the road earlier this season on the network. While Georgia did not appear on the SECN at all in 2019, the team also played on the network three times in 2018 (Vanderbilt, Massachusetts, Georgia Tech).

Georgia (4-2) welcomes Mississippi State (2-4 ) on Saturday to Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium. Georgia leads the all-time series 18-6, including 11-2 in Athens. This will be MSU’s first visit to Sanford Stadium since 2017. That year, the host Bulldogs registered a 31-3 victory for their 11th win in the last 12 meetings in the series. Georgia has won the last 10 contests over MSU in Athens. MSU’s last victory over the Bulldogs here came in 1956 (19-7). MSU last beat Georgia in 2010 (24-12) and that game was in Starkville.

This season MSU opened with a 44-34 win over defending national champion LSU. MSU dropped their next four to Arkansas, Kentucky, No. 11 Texas A&M and No. 2 Alabama before beating Vanderbilt on Nov. 7.

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

Head Coach Kirby Smart

Opening statement … 

“I will open with we moved on last week and began to prep and work for our future opponents starting last week. We found out our game was postponed with Missouri and got kind of a jump start this weekend on Mississippi State in terms of preparing for them. We had actually looked at them a little bit the first off week. Coach [Mike] Leach has a very different style of offense than what we typically see week to week in the SEC — a lot of the same concepts, but different ways of going about it. It’s kind of a different type of defending to defend these guys, so we’ve got a lot of elements to our defense that we have to keep consistent and then other elements that you have to change. Then, defensively, they’ve got a really aggressive, big front — physical style of defense in terms of getting prepared for that. Those are the challenges for us right now, and we are focused on Mississippi State.”

On handling COVID-19 postponements … 

“Usually, you have a good indication when there is a possibility of cancellation in terms of a team is in a threshold, like last week. We knew that Missouri was teetering on the brink. Each test they got back was going to be crucial to whether or not they could make the numbers. So, you usually know when that could happen, but you have to prepare each practice as if you are playing the game. We certainly are confident that we are going to be able to play Mississippi State. We feel good about where we are. We feel good about where they are. That’s communicated, so we feel good about playing.”

On testing quarterback JT Daniels in a game situation … 

“You just try to make the best situation you can to give your team an opportunity to win. That’s what we try to do in all our decisions, regardless of quarterback or not. You know, the running backs don’t get tackled in practice either. They get hit, but they don’t get tackled, so you have to put the best guys out there that give you the best opportunity to win. That’s what we have always done.”

On Stetson Bennett’s progress with his injury and if he can reveal who the starter will be … 

“Stetson is bouncing back. He is still dinged up a little bit. He was out there at practice each day doing all he could. He has still been limited a little bit, but we haven’t done anything since Thursday. In terms of Friday, Saturday, Sunday treatment and recovery, getting himself back in a position that he can play and compete at a high level — that’s the hope for this week is for him to do the same. I don’t know exactly where he is until after practice today.”

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Georgia vs Kentucky Gameday Guide

Game & Broadcast Info

On Saturday, Georgia will make its second appearance of the season on the SEC Network. The Bulldogs traveled to Fayetteville, Ark., and took down Arkansas 37-10 during UGA’s first appearance on the SECN this season. While Georgia did not appear on the SECN at all in 2019, the team played on the network three times in 2018 (Vanderbilt, Massachusetts, Georgia Tech).

Also on SECN this week will be a re-air of the 1980 Georgia vs. South Carolina game as part of a year-long celebration of the 1980 National Championship. This game will air on Tuesday, October 27th beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET. The following week Georgia fans can watch the re-broadcast of the 1980 Georgia vs. Florida game and later in the season the 1980 Georgia vs. Notre Dame National Championship game will be shown. The SECN will be showing our 1980 S Carolina game on Tuesday, October 27 in the 10p-midnight window.

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How the Bulldogs in the NFL fared in Week 7:

    Rams 24, Bears 10
    Leonard Floyd, LB: Floyd had six tackles, including two sacks covering 19 yards, for the Rams.
    Natrez Patrick, LB: Patrick notched 20 special teams plays for Los Angeles, but he did not have any stats.
    John Jenkins, DL: Jenkins recorded one tackle for Chicago.
    Riley Ridley, WR: Ridley was on the Bears’ inactive list.
    Roquan Smith, LB: Smith had eight tackles, including one for loss, for the Bears. Smith is fourth in the league with 44 solo tackles and seventh with 60 total tackles.
    Javon Wims, WR: Wims caught an 8-yard pass for the Bears.

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By John Frierson
Staff Writer

When the Georgia football team is off this Saturday, outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari plans to head home to Marietta, Ga., for some family time and some relaxing hours spent watching the games on TV.

The 6-foot-3 and 240-pound junior leads the fourth-ranked Bulldogs with 6.0 tackles for loss, including 3.0 sacks. During a Quick Chat after practice Tuesday, Ojulari talked about putting last week’s loss at Alabama behind him, enjoying the Saturday off, Halloween and much more.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

Frierson: How quickly can you move on from the previous week’s game, whether it’s a win or a loss? Over the years have you developed a way to put it in the rearview mirror and move forward?

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The Georgia Bulldogs conducted a two-hour practice Wednesday, Oct. 28, in preparation for Southeastern Conference opponent Kentucky, in Lexington, Ky.

Georgia travels to Kentucky to face the Wildcats on Saturday, Oct. 31. Kickoff is set for 12:00 p.m., ET on the SEC Network. Before practice, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart participated in the SEC Football Weekly Media Teleconference. Following practice, Tre’ McKitty and Trey Hill offered these comments on the contest with Kentucky.

Selected comments from Smart and the student-athletes follow:

Head Coach Kirby Smart
Opening Statement
“Our guys are practicing hard. I thought we’ve had a good couple of days getting ready and prepared for what’s often a physical game, like we play all year. These guys are really big up front and do a great job across both offensive and defensive lines, especially in the power running game and as they have been for a while—the quarterback run game. We’re getting ready for the Kentucky Wildcats, ready to go.”

On how he gets a defense ready and prepared to face different style programs…
“In terms of defense, we just try to improve on fundamentals. We took the off week and just really tried to work on block protection, tackling, a lot of circuit work. It’s not really scheme, it’s more being able to execute at a high level and tackle people. You don’t get a chance to do that very often so we try to work really hard on that. This week, we worked on all the different things they do. They create a lot of issues in their run game, and they’ve got really athletic quarterbacks that can hurt you when they break out of the pockets and things.”

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By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Not only did former Georgia baseball player Alex Wood help the Los Angeles Dodgers win the 2020 World Series on Tuesday night, pitching two perfect innings with three strikeouts, he also kept alive a streak every Bulldogs fan will love.

In February, former Georgia football receiver Mecole Hardman capped off an excellent rookie season in the NFL by helping the Kansas City Chiefs win Super Bowl LIV, beating San Francisco 31-20 in Miami. Hardman had three kickoff returns, a 2-yard reception and a rush in the Chiefs’ victory.

Earlier this month, from the NBA’s bubble at Disney World in Orlando, former Bulldog basketball standout Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 17 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA title-clinching victory, 106-93, over the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

When the Dodgers got the final out of their 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 6 of the World Series, playing in Arlington, Texas, that meant that a former Georgia Bulldog was one of the champions in each of the big three American team sports — no other school in the country had a former player on all three title winners in 2020.

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Game & Broadcast Info

On Saturday, Georgia will make its second appearance of the season on the SEC Network. The Bulldogs traveled to Fayetteville, Ark., and took down Arkansas 37-10 during UGA’s first appearance on the SECN this season. While Georgia did not appear on the SECN at all in 2019, the team played on the network three times in 2018 (Vanderbilt, Massachusetts, Georgia Tech).

Also on SECN this week will be a re-air of the 1980 Georgia vs. South Carolina game as part of a year-long celebration of the 1980 National Championship. This game will air on Tuesday, October 27th beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET. The following week Georgia fans can watch the re-broadcast of the 1980 Georgia vs. Florida game and later in the season the 1980 Georgia vs. Notre Dame National Championship game will be shown. The SECN will be showing our 1980 S Carolina game on Tuesday, October 27 in the 10p-midnight window.

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Included below are comments from head coach Kirby Smart and defensive linemen Travon Walker and Malik Herring following practice Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Head coach Kirby Smart (Full transcript)
On the progress of his offensive line this season and whether he plans to shuffle any players around…
“In spurts, we have played better. Certainly, the production has been better. I think they are a little more comfortable. I can’t really explain the Arkansas game other than we didn’t move guys and didn’t execute really well. It turned into a passing game it seemed like—we threw it a lot. There wasn’t a lot of run-game there in the second half. I thought they did some good things in each game. We have some guys that have played, between Trey [Hill], Ben [Cleveland] and Jamaree [Salyer]. They’ve played a lot of football, even [Justin] Shaffer has played a lot of football for us around here. They are playing at a better level, probably not what we need in terms of being elite, but they work hard each day. We shuffle guys in practice. We have to be prepared for an injury. The second five have all worked, and each one of those guys in the first five have doubled up at a second position as an emergency situation. Right now, it’s really about developing the younger guys and continuing to get them better and trying to get our first guys to execute at a higher level.”

On Stetson Bennett’s goal going into the bye week in regards to practice…
“The first goal was to do a better job of protecting the ball in terms of two hands while in the pocket, while also when running. If you have noticed he had the one against Alabama, and he scooped it up. He runs with the ball in one hand. We have made an assertive effort to improve that. Second was decision making on down-field throws and check-downs. The third thing was putting us in the right play and making good decisions. He has worked really hard on those things. Some of it is movement in the pocket—which is awareness. I thought that he could learn a lot from Jake [Fromm] in terms of pocket awareness. Where are the holes in the pockets? Where is the rush? Where can [he] step up? I think he has done well with that. It is hard to simulate that because we don’t have games. We try to do it with competitive third down and pass periods.”

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