ATHENS – It’s game week on the UGA Campus, but there’s a decidedly different feel than there has been the last couple of years.
It’s not about expectations. Those are through the roof again, as per usual. It’s more about anticipation.
Back-to-back defending national champion and preseason No. 1-ranked Georgia opens the season against Tennessee-Martin on Saturday (6 p.m., SEC Network Plus). This time two years ago, the Bulldogs were preparing to play a Top 5-ranked Clemson team in the Duke’s Mayo Kickoff. Last year, they were getting ready to face Pac-12 powerhouse Oregon, coached by former UGA defensive coordinator Dan Lanning and an old quarterback nemesis named Bo Nix.
This year, Georgia is readying an FCS team whose claim to fame is back-to-back Ohio Valley titles. Yeah, not quite the same buzz, but the Bulldogs are doing their best to convince themselves otherwise.
“It’s kind of like the same feel as last year,” two-time All-America tight end Brock Bowers said Monday. “We’re all excited to go hit somebody else, to play somebody else other than our defense. I’m sure the defense feels that way about our offense. We’re just excited to get our season going.”
No longer having to endure camp seems like a legitimate sentiment. Kirby Smart called the 2023 preseason “probably the toughest” of his eight as Georgia’s head coach. That was due mainly to the heat, which saw the Bulldogs often working out in temperatures over 100.
“The heat was so different the last three weeks,” Smart said. “You can’t avoid it. It’s been tough, but our guys pushed through it.”
Thanks to a midweek tropical storm that is supposed to sweep through the state, it’s not expected to be nearly as hot this Saturday. Forecasts are calling for a high of only 81 degrees.
But it could be 110 and probably wouldn’t affect the Bulldogs much. They’re expected to dress at least 100 players and probably will play them all. If the game follows script, few starters will play more than one half.
The matchup so stacks up in Georgia’s favor that most traditional sports books haven’t even assigned the game a line. VegasOdds.com lists the Bulldogs as a 44.5-point favorite and predicted a final score of 51-3, but the game is off the board at most places.
Predictably, Smart and the Bulldogs insist they’re approaching it like any other opener.
“You’re playing what would be considered … a lesser opponent. I certainly don’t look at it that way,” Smart said. “We don’t look at it that way, or don’t look it as a luxury to be able to do this or that. We want to go out, get a great rhythm and start fast and dominate and play well. We want to play our best each and every game and grow from that.”
There are a lot of intriguing storylines surrounding Georgia’s opener. Redshirt junior Carson Beck will be making his first career start at quarterback, the Bulldogs are having to overcome a rash of injuries in the offensive backfield and they’re having to break in two new offensive tackles. Defensively, Georgia mixed it up in the secondary where only junior cornerback Kamari Lassiter and sophomore safety Malaki Starks are expected to play the same positions as a year ago. There will be a new kicker, a new holder and likely new returners on special teams.
Sanford Stadium itself has undergone a myriad of changes. Most notably, the south side is in the middle of a $63.5 million, two-phase improvement project that will widen corridors and add restrooms and amenities but will also change access to Gillis Bridge and alter crowd flow. The “Silver Dawgs,” the group of retired alums who serve as game-day ambassadors and provide directions for spectators, are expected to be in for a long day.
But it should be relatively stress free for the Bulldogs. They’re the consensus No. 1 pick in the two primary preseason polls, The Associated Press (writers) and USA Today (coaches). Thanks to a schedule altered by SEC expansion, they also play Ball State and UAB in the month of September.
When it’s all said and done, Georgia is expected to be a double-digit favorite in every game until a trip to Knoxville to face Tennessee in the SEC season finale on Nov. 18. The Bulldogs could be then, too, depending on how things shake out.
Accordingly, Game 1 this year is more about unveiling than revealing. Asked what excites him most about the 2023 Bulldogs, Smart said, “the maturity level.”
“We had an offseason workout program and a spring practice, which I was very pleased with,” he said. “We had summer workouts, which I was very pleased with. … It wasn’t our very best camp, but we also had a lot tougher circumstances than we’ve ever had in camp. I can say that we’ve had better practices but we’ve never had 110 degree heat either. I’m very excited about every day you go to work with this group. They’re fun to be around because they actually listen to what you say and they try to do it like you say it. And that’s important. I mean, who you are intangibly is really important. They’ve done a great job with that. Now we have to transition to the field and to games.”
