ATHENS — Even if Georgia knows it has to treat every game the same, there is a different vibe around the team as they enter this week’s game against South Carolina.
That is because it is the first SEC game of the year for the Bulldogs.
“Whenever you play an SEC opponent it’s different,” linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson said. “The mindset is different, the practice is different, the grind is different. Especially for the older guys who have seen it already. Going into an SEC opponent matchup, it’s just different. Especially the first one, it’s kind of like a statement game right now. Sending everybody a message about what we’re about.”
Georgia obliterated the Gamecocks last year, winning 48-7 in Columbia, S.C. The win proved to set the tone for Georgia during SEC play, as the Bulldogs went unbeaten against SEC foes.
The Bulldogs won the SEC for the second time under Kirby Smart, beating LSU 50-30 in the SEC championship game. Georgia also picked up an iconic home win over Tennessee last season, winning 27-13 in Athens.
The crowd played a significant factor for Georgia that afternoon and Smart expects that to be the case again.
Especially after South Carolina’s Tonka Hemingway did not classify Sanford Stadium as one of the toughest road environments when speaking with reporters at SEC media days.
“What people want to question whether our fans are elite, we’ll find out Saturday, right? It sounds like Tonka called ‘em out,” Smart said “Maybe we need to use Tonka for motivation and let him be the one that spurns our group to come out there at 3:30 and be really loud and fired up. I certainly hope our fan base will be. They’ve answered the bell every single time. I don’t know why they wouldn’t now.”
Hemingway said Texas A&M’s Kyle Field and Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium were the two loudest stadiums he’s played in.
Georgia currently has the longest home winning streak in the country at 20 games. The Bulldogs obtained that record following Alabama’s home loss to Texas this past week.
The last team to beat Georgia at home however was the South Carolina Gamecocks. That came back during the 2019 season, when current Georgia coaches Will Muschamp and Bryan McClendon were all on staff for South Carolina.
Georgia is very much a different program since then, as the Bulldogs have won consecutive national championships since then.
If the Bulldogs are going to win a third, Smart knows his team will need to come out and take care of business against the rival Gamecocks.
And Georgia will need its fans to make an impact on the game in order to do so.
“As always, a really important game when it comes to playing a school that’s this close geographically to you,” Smart said. “I know both teams will be up for the game. It should be a great atmosphere, and I hope our fans can give us a home-field advantage for this game.
