Vol. I  ·  No. 1 Athens, Georgia  ·  Friday, October 2, 2026 Newsletter  ·  2026 Guide

Athens Dawg Report

Independent Georgia Bulldogs Coverage  ·  athensdawgreport.com

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Next Up

Georgia vs. Vanderbilt  ·  Saturday, Oct. 3, 12:45 p.m. ET  ·  Sanford Stadium, Athens  ·  SEC Network

—d —h —m —s to kickoff

The 2026 Season · Preview

No. 2 in the country, and the only question that matters comes in January

Georgia has won back-to-back SEC championships and lost its first playoff game both times. Year eleven under Kirby Smart is not about getting there.

Sanford Stadium packed on a game day, the Redcoat Band in formation on the field and the hedges ringing the grass.
Between the hedges. The privet has ringed the field at Sanford Stadium since 1929. Photo: Godawgs80, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Bulldogs opened the season ranked third in both major polls, the ninth straight year they have started inside the AP top five, and moved up to No. 2 in both after the opener, behind only Ohio State. Nine SEC teams are in the AP poll and Georgia is the highest of them. None of that is the story.

The story is a 39–34 loss to Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl that ended a 75-game streak of winning when leading entering the fourth quarter, one year after a quarterfinal exit that looked much the same. Georgia returns quarterback Gunner Stockton, who finished seventh in the Heisman voting, a defense that should again be among the best in the country, and two questions that will decide the year: whether anybody rushes the passer, and who catches the football.

Read the full 2026 season guide →

New here? Start with this

Georgia Football,
A to Z

Thirty pages. Bios on all 26 projected starters and specialists, all eight coaches, the full two-deep, the schedule with stakes attached, a program history, and a glossary — so nobody has to explain "Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate" to you at a tailgate.

Read the guide Download PDF

The Athens Dawg Report presents

GEORGIA
FOOTBALL
A TO Z
2026 Season Guide · 30 pages

2026 Schedule

Seven home · Four away · One in Atlanta
DateOpponentSiteTime / TV
Sat, Sep 5Tennessee StateFirst meetingHomeW 63–3
Sat, Sep 12Western KentuckySecond meeting everHomeW 70–20
Sat, Sep 19at ArkansasFayettevilleAwayW 45–17
Sat, Sep 26OklahomaSecond meeting everHomeW 41–13
Sat, Oct 3VanderbiltHomecomingHome12:45 ET · SEC Network
Sat, Oct 107at AlabamaTuscaloosaAway7:30 ET · ABC
Sat, Oct 17AuburnDeep South's Oldest RivalryHomeAfternoon · ABC/ESPN
Sat, Oct 24Open date——
Sat, Oct 318FloridaMercedes-Benz Stadium, AtlantaNeutral3:30 ET · ABC
Sat, Nov 79at Ole MissOxfordAwayFlex · 3:30–8:00 ET
Sat, Nov 1425MissouriHomeFlex · 3:30–8:00 ET
Sat, Nov 21at South CarolinaColumbiaAwayFlex · 3:30–8:00 ET
Sat, Nov 28Georgia TechClean, Old-Fashioned HateHomeFlex · 3:30–8:00 ET

Rankings are from the AP poll of September 27. SEC Championship Game: Saturday, December 5, Mercedes-Benz Stadium — Georgia plays only if it finishes in the league's top two.

Tradition

Why it is called "between the hedges"
The cast-iron Arch at the entrance to the University of Georgia's North Campus, downtown Athens behind it.
The Arch. Cast in 1858 and the front door to North Campus. Tradition holds that freshmen do not walk under it. Photo: JJonahJackalope, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
The white wooden bell tower beside the Chapel on the University of Georgia's North Campus.
The Chapel bell. After a win, fans walk to North Campus and ring it. By custom it rings until midnight. Photo: Josh Hallett from Winter Haven, FL, USA, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Georgia players on the field at Sanford Stadium during the 2025 G-Day spring game, stands full behind them.
G-Day. The spring game every April. Free, open to anyone, and the closest a fan gets to the players without a credential. Photo: DividedFrame, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Artwork on this site is original illustration, drawn for the Athens Dawg Report. It is never presented as photography, and no image here is a photograph of a real person, game or building.

1929

The hedges

English privet, planted around the field at the suggestion of athletic business manager Charlie Martin, who wanted the roses he had seen at the Rose Bowl and settled on something that would survive a Georgia summer.

Since 1956

Uga XI

"Boom" is the eleventh solid-white English bulldog in a line the Seiler family of Savannah has raised since Uga I arrived as a wedding present. He has an air-conditioned doghouse on the sideline.

Before kickoff

The Dawg Walk

The team walks through a corridor of fans into the stadium while the Redcoat Band plays. Free to attend, open to anyone, and the best photograph you will get all day.

After a win

Ringing the Chapel bell

Walk to the Chapel on North Campus and ring the bell. It began with freshmen being required to ring it after victories. By custom it rings until midnight.

All traditions