ATHENS — Every play matters … every series, every quarter, every half and every game.

Former Georgia star Jake Fromm once put it best when he said “somebody’s gotta pay” for the hard work that goes into earning a spot on the Bulldogs’ football roster.

Georgia players will be playing for each other and for the esteemed “G” in the 4 p.m. matchup with unbeaten Florida State in the Orange Bowl on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

The team was scheduled to arrive Tuesday afternoon in Miami for on-site workouts, eager to represent a brand that has become synonymous with excellence.

Coach Kirby Smart put the team through a workout in Athens on Tuesday before half-dozen buses headed to the airport to board the chartered flights.

It will be a focused -- and noticeably smaller -- contingent of Georgia players than previous bowl trips, the past six in a row the Bulldogs have won.

The transfer portal has provided proof that Georgia is not for everyone. Twenty UGA players (at last count) opted to explore other options via a portal “window” that essentially ranslates to unrestricted free agency.

Smart, who has also landed four impact free agents to date, most notably explosive tailback Trevor Etienne, explained last week why the portal is a good thing.

“If you’ve been in a program for three years and you’re not playing, and you don’t feel like you’re going to play or you don’t feel like you’re being developed, it doesn’t look great, you might need to look somewhere else,” Smart said. “It’s an okay thing, okay?”

There are quicker, richer and easier paths to playing time at other FBS schools.

Sometimes, it’s just a numbers game at the position and a player (s) feels hopelessly buried on the depth chart.

Other times being sidelined by an injury can open the door for someone to take your job — and it will be a fight to get it back, with no guarantees.

Then, there are others who simply weren’t able to crack the starting lineup on a championship-level team but are good enough to start somewhere else.

As Smart once said, when it comes to promising playing time, “the plan is there is no plan.”

There have been a few transfers that have fallen outside those windows — Adonai Mitchell, Bear Alexander and Jermaine Burton come to mind.

But they are the exceptions, and as Smart quickly adjusts to these new rules and parameters, Georgia will be more proactive ensuring the retention of such game-changing players.

For now, bowl practices have and are providing opportunities for players to polish their skills and continue competing for playing time this week and into 2024.

Many will be “next up” for a 2024 team led by Carson Beck that’s expected to go into next season among national championship favorites once again.

There are plenty of questions about exactly how that Georgia football team will look.

There’s a very good chance many key players will wait until after the Orange Bowl game to make their announcements, staying or going.

To date, Georgia center Sedrick Van Pran and defensive tackle Zion Logue have indicated their intentions to turn pro by accepting all-star game invites, while team TD-leader and tailback Kendall Milton has also indicated he is turning pro.

It’s understandable fans have questions about other players who may or may not decide to return to Georgia, among them:

• Projected first-round OT Amarius Mims

• Projected first-round CB Kamari Lassiter

• Two-time All-American and projected first-round TE Brock Bowers

• Two-time CFP Defensive MVP Javon Bullard

• Starting defensive back Tykee Smith

• Team captain Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint

• All-SEC receiver Ladd McConkey

• Two-year starting OL Xavier Truss

• Two-year starting DL Nazir Stackhouse

• 2023 Leading rusher Daijun Edwards

• All-SEC offensive guard Tate Ratledge

Smart and players are likely to deflect when asked, but it’s possible some of the above listed players won’t be with the team when they arrive, providing clues to their future.

The ones who do step off that airplane will be focused on the mission at hand, a seventh-straight bowl win, a program-record 50 wins for the Senior Class and an opportunity to play the game they have dedicated their lives to at this moment.

It matters.