Georgia's home football opener against South Carolina on Sept. 12 will be played under the lights.

Although the game time has not been officially announced by the SEC and its television partners, Georgia's "understanding" is that it'll be a night game, UGA spokesman Claude Felton said Friday. That means a 7 p.m. start on ESPN2, since ESPN is airing the USC-Ohio State game that night.

Because of the SEC's new television deals, Georgia anticipates an increase in night games this season.

UGA President Michael Adams and athletics director Damon Evans said recently the school prefers afternoon home games and hopes the increase in night starts will be felt mostly on the road.

Georgia's Sept. 5 season opener at Oklahoma State will start at 3:30 p.m. on ABC, the network announced earlier this month.

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Former Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Norman Arey died Oct. 11, 2025 at the age of 84. In addition to sports writing, Arey also co-wrote the popular "Peach Buzz" society column. (Courtesy of the Arey family)

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

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