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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Kirby Smart (left) and Georgia beat Brent Key and Georgia Tech 44-42 in eight overtimes last November in Athens. The Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets bring Clean Old-Fashioned Hate off campus for 2025, playing at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. (Hyosub Shin/AJC 2024)

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Atlanta art and antiques appraiser and auctioneer Allan Baitcher (right) takes bids during a 2020 auction. Baitcher and his company, Peachtree Antiques, are being sued by a Florida multimillionaire who says he paid them $20 million for fakes. (AJC 2020)

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