Vol. I  ·  No. 1 Athens, Georgia  ·  Saturday, August 29, 2026 Newsletter  ·  2026 Guide

Athens Dawg Report

Independent Georgia Bulldogs Coverage  ·  athensdawgreport.com

Independent fan publication. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the University of Georgia or the UGA Athletic Association.

Tradition

The stories behind the things people yell

Georgia has more inherited ritual than almost any program in the country, and most of it has a real origin story. Here is where the hedges came from, who Uga is, and what to do after a win.

The phrase

Between the hedges

When Sanford Stadium was dedicated in 1929, athletic business manager Charlie Martin wanted a ring of roses around the field like the ones he had seen at the Rose Bowl. Roses would not survive a Georgia summer, so he planted English privet instead. The hedges were about a foot high that first year and protected by a wooden fence.

By the early 1930s a sportswriter — the credit usually goes to the legendary Grantland Rice — was writing that Georgia would have its opponent "between the hedges," and the phrase stuck for a century.

The hedges are functional as well as famous: a low chain-link fence runs through the branches for crowd control. It did not stop anybody in 2000, when fans tore through them storming the field after Georgia beat Tennessee for the first time since 1988. They have been dug up and replanted more than once, including a stint in secret storage during 2018 construction.

The stadium

Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium

Built into a natural ravine on the eastern edge of North Campus, which is why you enter at the top and look down at the field. It opened October 12, 1929 with about 30,000 seats and a 15–0 win over Yale — Yale donated half its share of the gate to help retire the construction loan.

Capacity is now 93,033 after a 2024 renovation, among the largest stadiums in the country. It is named for Steadman V. Sanford, who moved Georgia football to a central campus site in 1911 and later became university president. The playing surface is named for Vince Dooley, who coached the Bulldogs to the 1980 national title.

The mascot

Uga

One family, seventy years

In 1956 a Georgia law student named Frank "Sonny" Seiler was given a white English bulldog puppy as a wedding present. His wife Cecelia sewed the dog a small red shirt with a felt G on it, and they brought him to the season opener. He became Uga I.

The Seiler family of Savannah has raised and cared for every Uga since — all of them solid white English bulldogs, all of them family pets rather than campus residents, driven the roughly 250 miles to Athens for home games. Sonny Seiler died in 2023.

Uga XI · "Boom"

Collared at the G-Day spring game on April 15, 2023 at ten months old, and made his regular-season debut that September against UT Martin. He is the son of Uga X ("Que"), who retired as the winningest mascot in school history with two national titles before dying in January 2024.

Boom watches home games from an air-conditioned doghouse on the sideline in front of the student section — less pampering than practical, since English bulldogs handle Georgia heat poorly.

Game day

The rituals, in order

If you are going to a game for the first time, this is the sequence.

Before

The Dawg Walk

A couple of hours before kickoff the team buses arrive and the players walk through a corridor of fans into the stadium while the Redcoat Marching Band plays. Free, loud, and the best photo you will get all day. Arrive earlier than you think you need to.

Pregame

Calling the Dawgs

The long, rising "Gooooo Dawgs — sic 'em! Woof woof woof." You will hear it before kickoff, after big plays, and in restaurants downtown afterward. Just join in.

Pregame

Glory, Glory

Georgia's fight song, set to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and played by the Redcoats. It has been associated with Georgia since the late 1800s and arranged into its current form in the 1950s.

On the field

Silver Britches

The silver-grey pants under the red jersey were Wally Butts's idea when he took over as head coach in 1939. Dropped for years, brought back by Vince Dooley in 1980 — the year Georgia won the national championship. Fans have been superstitious about them ever since.

After a win

Ringing the Chapel bell

Walk up to the Chapel on North Campus and ring the bell. The tradition began with freshmen being required to ring it after victories; now anyone can, and by custom it rings until midnight. It is the single best thing to do in Athens after a win.

Anytime

The Junkyard Dawgs

The nickname defensive coordinator Erk Russell gave his undersized, overachieving 1975 defense. It is still what Georgia fans call a defense that plays angry.

The rivalries

Three games with their own names

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate

Georgia Tech. Two schools 70 miles apart in the same state, split across two conferences, playing since 1893. Under the new SEC scheduling format it is one of only three non-conference games Georgia plays all year, and it is permanent.

The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party

Florida, on a neutral field, traditionally in Jacksonville. The nickname is unofficial and both schools have spent decades trying to stop people using it. Nobody has stopped. In Atlanta this year.

The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry

Auburn, first played in 1892 and the oldest rivalry in the region. Record is irrelevant; it is always closer than it should be.