The Georgia Bulldogs vs. The Auburn Tigers

Game & Broadcast Info

Due to the delayed start of the 2020 season because of the pandemic along with Georgia starting its season on the road, Saturday will mark the Bulldogs’ home opener. The Oct. 3 home opener will be the latest in Georgia history since the 1966 SEC champions made their Sanford Stadium season debut on Oct. 8. It was the fourth game of the year and the Bulldogs beat Ole Miss 9-3.

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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 … 

“I am excited to be here. We have a big game this week. This is one of the most traditional rivalries in all of college football. I think any time you talk about Georgia-Auburn, you talk about rivalry. They’ve got a lot of kids from our state. They recruit our state hard. There are a lot of ties between the two universities — always has been. It’s been a big game. I never remember it being game two, that’s for sure, so that is very unique in that we will be playing them pretty early. I have a lot of respect for their coordinators — Coach [Kevin] Steele, Chad [Morris] — both really good. I think what Chad has done for their offense really shows on tape. The ability to use their skill and get their skill players the ball from different locations. You can see it showing up already, and they’ve done a great job of that.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Gus [Malzahn] and the organization he has put together. They have recruited well, they have really good players, top-10 team in the country, so it should be a great ball game, great atmosphere. I certainly wish we could have 93,000 there, but we won’t be able to do that, so we will do the best we can with the crowd we’ve got, and we will need them to be loud. I thought that Arkansas’ group was good and loud last week, and the atmosphere will be really good for that this week as well. So, we are excited for that.

“I know you guys will want to ask the quarterback question, and you will want to ask it all week. All I can tell you is that we are going to continue to work with all the guys we’ve got to put the best guy in there to give us the best opportunity to win the football games. D’Wan [Mathis] did not play as bad as it seemed to some. I thought he did some good things watching the tape, and he had some unfortunate bad breaks that happened while he was in a quarterback. JT [Daniels] will be cleared, but I don’t know how much that changes the picture in terms of reps and development. We will be looking at everybody across the board. JT has got to be able to show us that he can function efficiently and do it with his knee being able to do it. We always thought he would be cleared by this time anyway, but those guys will all compete as well as Carson [Beck] will too and will continue to grow at the quarterback position. With that, I’ll open it up.”

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37

 UGA 1-0 , 1-0

10

AR 0-1 , 0-1

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Overcoming early offensive struggles and a halftime deficit, the fourth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (1-0, 1-0 SEC) opened the 2020 season with a 37-10 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks (0-1, 0-1 SEC) Saturday afternoon before 16,500 spectators at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium and an SEC Network audience.

With the victory, Georgia improved to 97-27-3 all-time in season openers, including a 5-0 mark under head coach Kirby Smart. Wearing throwback uniforms honoring the 1980 national championship team, the Bulldogs increased their series advantage over the Razorbacks to an 11-4 margin.

“We didn’t execute well early, and when we did, we had penalties,” said Smart. “I thought the defense played with a lot of heart, but we’re not going to beat many football teams playing like we played.”

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Slow Start For Offense, Then Bennett Leads Comeback:
Trailing 7-5 heading into the second half, Georgia exploded for 22 points in the 3rd quarter on its way to a 37-10 win. It was a combination of offense, defense and special teams that sparked the Bulldog comeback and improve Kirby Smart to 5-0 in season openers and Georgia all-time at 97-27-3 in openers. Georgia now leads the all-time series with Arkansas 11-4.

With four first-time starters on offense including redshirt freshman quarterback D’Wan Mathis, Georgia tallied three points on 177 yards in the first half. In the 2ndquarter, Georgia came through with a safety for its first points. It was the first safety since the 2016 season opener against UNC. Mathis returned midway in the 4thquarter.

With 10:07 left in the first half, junior Stetson Bennett came in at QB and finished the day 20-for-29 for 211 yards and 2 TDs, all career highs. Today marked the first time Georgia had a new starting signal-caller since 2016 as Jake Fromm had started the past 42 games. Fromm is now in the NFL with Buffalo.

In the second half, Bennett directed a six-play, 57-yard go-ahead TD drive, capped by a 19-yard touchdown pass to George Pickens (4-for-47 yards, 1 TD). It gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game. Then Bennett covered a two-point conversion, scampering in to make it 13-10. It was Bennett’s third career TD pass and Pickens ninth TD catch.  Zamir White’s six-yard run capped a 13-play, 81-yard drive for a 34-10 lead with 11:15 left. Kearis Jackson led the team in receiving with a career-high six catches for 62 yards and two punt returns for 34 yards.

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The Georgia Bulldogs vs. The Arkansas Razorbacks

Game & Broadcast Info

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By John Frierson
Staff Writer

We’re all eager to see the Georgia Bulldogs take the field again, which, at last, they will do Saturday at Arkansas when their season, delayed and altered by the coronavirus pandemic, kicks off against the Razorbacks.

It will be a regular season like none before it — a 10-game schedule against only SEC teams — and it will be a season with a lot of new: new safety protocols, a new offensive coordinator, a new quarterback, a lot of new offensive linemen, new lead running backs, and some new uniforms.

This season marks the 40th anniversary of the 1980 national championship, and to honor and celebrate that magical 12-0 run the Bulldogs will suit up Saturday in a throwback road uniform, with the red pants and white jerseys. It’s a modern take on what Georgia was wearing on the road 40 years ago, including in that season’s opener at Tennessee when a freshman, Herschel Walker, burst onto the scene.

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By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Jamaree Salyer, astronaut. That has a nice ring to it.

The 6-foot-4 and 325-pound Georgia offensive lineman said during a Quick Chat after practice Wednesday that he would love to go into space for a day, “just to see what’s out there.”

During our Chat, Salyer, a junior from Atlanta, also talked about opening the season Saturday at Arkansas, and facing former Georgia offensive line coach Sam Pittman, now the Razorbacks’ head coach. Other topics included video games and being a veteran on a Bulldog offense with a lot of new pieces this season.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

Frierson: To be this close to finally playing a game again, are you about as excited as you’ve ever been for a football game?

Salyer: Yeah, it’s really exciting. You know, the butterflies are there and you’ve got that first-game feeling, to get out there in a new environment, really. It’s really cool, I’ve never been to Arkansas before, never been to Fayetteville, so it’s going to be exciting.

Of course, this game has extra meaning for the offensive lineman, and it’s going to be fun.

Frierson: What’s it going to be like to see Coach Pittman again, only this time he’s the head coach of the other team?

Salyer: He poured a lot into me while I was here, I was one of the Sam Pittman guys, and I really enjoyed my time with him here. He was great to me, treated me with respect, pushed me hard and I got a lot better under his wing. I’m excited to compete against him — it’s kind of crazy.

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The Georgia Bulldogs vs. The Arkansas Razorbacks

Game & Broadcast Info

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