{"id":77960,"date":"2024-12-12T11:32:27","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T17:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/sec-experts-analyze-georgia-schedule-bulldogs-biggest-games\/"},"modified":"2024-12-12T11:32:27","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T17:32:27","slug":"sec-experts-analyze-georgia-schedule-bulldogs-biggest-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/sec-experts-analyze-georgia-schedule-bulldogs-biggest-games\/","title":{"rendered":"SEC experts analyze Georgia schedule, Bulldogs\u2019 biggest games"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATHENS, Ga. \u2014<\/strong> Once again, Georgia Football will be playing in some big games next fall. The Bulldogs\u2019 2025 schedule was announced on Wednesday night<\/a>, and UGA plays host to Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas. They go on the road to Tennessee and Auburn, but it\u2019s far from the gauntlet of games away from home that was the 2024 schedule. According to SEC experts, that could be a blessing and a curse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see it being a lot easier than last year. We knew before the season that Georgia had the most difficult road schedule. I mean, it was virtually impossible, and it turned out to really get them,\u201d Paul Finebaum said in assessing Georgia\u2019s 2025 slate. \u201cThat win at Texas probably was the savior because they lost to Alabama and Ole Miss, but having those games at home really make it a much more palatable season. Now, I realize going to Auburn, going to Tennessee, going to Georgia Tech, those are challenges, but by no means, are they as difficult. So I think Georgia starts off \u2013 they haven\u2019t even finished this season yet, but they\u2019re already in better shape for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of this give and take. It\u2019s kind of a gift and a curse when you think about it,\u201d Benjamin Watson countered Finebaum\u2019s point with. \u201cOn the one hand, when you make it through a gauntlet of a season the way Georgia did, playing Clemson and then playing on the road in those places, there\u2019s a certain character that\u2019s formed. If you can make it through. I think that\u2019s what we saw from Georgia.\u00a0The other side of it is, man, we need some rest, which is what Kirby Smart said. I think looking at the schedule, it\u2019s definitely more favorable. The question is, is it going to produce the same diamond that this season, past season, produced for Georgia because they went through the road?\u201d<\/p>\n

Watson wasn\u2019t the only one with that opinion. Roman Harper, another former SEC player now sharing analysis on the league, agreed that Georgia proved to be the team it is \u2013 the nation\u2019s No. 2-ranked squad headed into the College Football Playoffs and champions of the conference in 2024 \u2013 because of the challenges it had to overcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always say pressure of busts pipes or it creates diamonds, and that\u2019s what it is. Georgia benefited from this year\u2019s tough road schedule,\u201d Harper said. \u201cYou look at them, they were able to beat Texas in the SEC Championship because they were on the road so much, because they were so highly tested, because they were down six times or five times throughout the season at halftime and be able to battle back and find different ways to win, leaning on each and every individual on that team and in that roster.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if you do get a little bit more of a relaxed feeling and all of a sudden you come up for air just a little too much, that\u2019s when you get caught,\u201d he continued. That\u2019s when you go on the road and lose at Auburn for the first time in whenever because we start to think, \u2018Oh, we\u2019re good. We got this one. We got that one.\u2019\u00a0So I think it\u2019s like Ben said, it\u2019s a more manageable schedule because a lot more of your tougher games are at home instead of on the road, but, man, does that really make you a better team? And we also got to see who\u2019s actually going to be dressed out and playing for this team.\u201d<\/p>\n

FULL SCHEDULE<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

AUG 30 \u2013 Marshall (Home)
SEPT 6 \u2013 Austin Peay (Home)
SEPT 13 \u2013 Tennessee (Away)
SEPT 20 \u2013 Off Date
SEPT 27 \u2013 Alabama (Home)
OCT 4 \u2013 Kentucky (Home)
OCT 11 \u2013 Auburn (Away)
OCT 18 \u2013 Ole Miss (Home)
OCT 25 \u2013 Off Date
NOV 1 \u2013 Florida (Jacksonville, EverBank Stadium)
NOV 8 \u2013 Mississippi State (Away)
NOV 15 \u2013 Texas (Home)
NOV 22 \u2013 Charlotte (Home)
NOV 29 \u2013 Georgia Tech (Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz Stadium)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course those games against Alabama and Texas are being circled once again among the biggest in the SEC slate. Georgia enters 2025 with an ongoing 31-game home winning streak, chasing the all-time mark set by Clemson (40, 2016-22). The Bulldogs have won 26 straight night games between the hedges including a perfect 17-0 mark under Smart. Keeping those alive would require winning over the Crimson Tide and Longhorns, as well as five other home opponents (Marshall, Austin Peay, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Charlotte).<\/p>\n

When the Crimson Tide come to Athens, it\u2019ll be the first time its done so since Kirby Smart took over in 2016. UGA will be seeking just its second win over Alabama in eight meetings then. And then there\u2019s the first-ever trip to the Classic City for Texas after the two teams met twice \u2013 so far! \u2013 during the 2024 campaign. Could another be upcoming in the National Championship Game?! Whether that happens or not, the Longhorns will be looking for their own revenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s because of what happened in the matchup in 2024,\u201d Harper said after picking Georgia-Alabama as his biggest game. \u201cAlabama burst onto the scene with Kalen DeBoer, his first game against a big time SEC opponent, they go up 21-0, Georgia\u2019s rattled on the sidelines, nobody had seen anybody do that to a Georgia team and then all the sudden Georgia rallies back and takes the lead in the second half. And then all the sudden Ryan Williams, again, becomes who he is. So all these things happen and to be able to go into Athens and now Kalen DeBoer has to defend himself in Athens where you know the Dawgs want that game. Can Georgia beat Alabama? It\u2019s something they\u2019ve not been able to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the Rocky trilogy, or however many Rockys there are when it comes to Georgia and Texas,\u201d Watson followed Harper\u2019s answer up with his selection of a different game featuring the Dawgs. \u201cTexas going on the road to the University of Georgia, and the crazy thing is, by the time they play this game, they may have played three times. This may be the fourth time of them playing in two seasons. This is kind of a new rivalry. The most viewed game of 2024 was that Texas-Georgia game. This is the game I\u2019m circling. You can call me a homer if you want to, but everybody\u2019s going to be looking at this game. Even outside our conference, this game is going to have huge Playoff implications.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course the 2024 season isn\u2019t over the Dawgs, and revenge against Alabama or another matchup with Texas is the furthest thing from on their mind. Seeded second in the College Football Playoffs, Georgia earned a first-round bye and will play the winner of Notre Dame-Indiana in the Allstate Sugar Bowl and CFP quarterfinals New Year\u2019s Day in New Orleans (8:45 p.m. ET, ABC\/ESPN).<\/p>\n

For more Georgia athletics coverage, be sure to check out the\u00a0DawgsHQ YouTube channel<\/a>\u00a0where you can find press conferences, player interviews, podcasts and more!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post SEC experts analyze Georgia schedule, Bulldogs\u2019 biggest games<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ATHENS, Ga. \u2014 Once again, Georgia Football will be playing in some big games next…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77960\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}