The Georgia Bulldogs are going back to the Georgia Dome to renew an old rivalry.
Georgia will play North Carolina in the 2016 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, Gary Stokan, president and CEO of Peach Bowl Inc., confirmed for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday morning. The game is set for Sept. 3, a Saturday, but no kickoff time or television plans have been established.
Georgia last played in Atlanta’s annual college football kickoff event in 2011, when it lost to Boise State 34-21. It will be the first time in 45 years that the Bulldogs and Tar Heels have met in football.
Stokan said he and UGA Athletic Director Greg McGarity have talked for years about Georgia returning to the game but only recently agreed to terms. Stokan declined to disclose financial details, but Alabama and West Virginia split a $6.4 million payout last year, according to published reports. An official announcement is expected sometime today.
“As I’ve talked to Greg, he has always said ‘when can we play in this game?’” Stokan said. “It seems to make sense to him and (UGA coach) Mark Richt to play in it every four or five years. They’ve talked about it internally and decided it’s something they’d like to look into doing.”
As it turned out, Georgia had a vacancy at the beginning of its 2016 schedule. The Bulldogs already are slated to play Nicholls State (Sept. 10), Louisiana-LaFayette (Nov. 19) and Georgia Tech (Nov. 26) in non-conference play that season. Dates for the SEC schedule have yet to be finalized.
“It really worked out that both teams just had an opportunity,” Stokan said. “We feel like we’ll have one of the best games of the first week of the season.”
It had been reported that Stokan was trying to broker a game between the Bulldogs and Florida State for 2016. But the Seminoles agreed to play Ole Miss in the Citrus Bowl’s new kickoff game in Orlando, which will be played on Monday, Sept. 5, 2016.
“We never got to the point where we considered that an option,” Stokan said. “There are so many conversations you have to have with ADs and coaches and TV to put something like this together. So you just throw it out and say you have these openings in these years and just kind of start from there.”
The matchup will rekindle what was once one of the South’s great old rivalries. Georgia and North Carolina have played each other 30 times but not once since the 1971 Gator Bowl, which the Bulldogs won 7-3. UGA leads the overall series 16-12-2.
The Tar Heels are currently coached by Larry Fedora, who has established numerous offensive records since taking over in 2012. Fedora hired former Auburn head coach Gene Chizik as defensive coordinator earlier this year. North Carolina was 6-7 this past season and is 21-17 in three years under Fedora.
“With Coach Fedora and Gene Chizik, we think by ’16 they’re really going to be something special,” Stokan said. “And we know Georgia’s going to always be in the hunt for a New Year’s Six Game and being in the Top 10 and being a leader in the East.”
Georgia is coming off a 10-3 season — its ninth season of 10 or more wins in 14 under Richt — and was ranked No. 9 in the final polls.
Not only does the matchup bring the Bulldogs back to the Dome, it allows the Chick-fil-A to renew its ACC vs. SEC formula, which has been so successful in its postseason bowl game. Auburn and Louisville – another ACC-SEC matchup — will play in this year’s Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game on Sept. 5. Games for 2017 and beyond have not been set.
“Since we lost the ACC-SEC matchups to our college football playoff and ‘New Year’s Six’ game, we tried to move that rivalry up to the kickoff game,” Stokan said. “We’ve had so much success with that in the past and Atlanta is the home of both the ACC and SEC alumni bases. So we really like that aspect of it.”
It will also be North Carolina’s second appearance in the Kickoff Game. The Tar Heels lost to LSU 30-24 to open the 2010 season.
The Chick-fil-A hosted two games last year, with Alabama defeating West Virginia 33-23 and Ole Miss beating Boise State 35-13. Alabama has played in the game the most, winning in all four of its appearances.
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