Georgia football will now be playing Auburn earlier in the season, while it will take on Tennessee later in the season beginning in 2020, Georgia president Jere Morehead announced on Wednesday.
“As I understand it the conference has essentially flipped Auburn and Tennessee,” Morehead said. “They had their reasons for doing it… I really defer to coach (Kirby) Smart on those sorts of things.”
The Bulldogs have traditionally played Auburn in November, as Georgia has played the Tigers in November every season since 1937. In recent years, Georgia and Tennessee have usually met in late September/early October.
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Athletic director Greg McGarity, who was given a one-year contract extension on Wednesday, also said that he does not expect Georgia to add an extra home game with the Tigers. Georgia played back-to-back road games against Auburn in 2012-13, due to the expansion of the SEC.
Auburn has been vocal about moving the Georgia game due to the fact that it has traditionally played Alabama two weeks after Georgia. In even-numbered years, the Tigers have had to play at both Georgia and Alabama, while the Tigers get both teams at home in odd-numbered years.
Kirby Smart had previously voiced that he wanted Auburn to return the favor and give Georgia a second-consecutive home game against the Tigers.
“If we get a chance to fix that and return the favor that we paid to them,” Smart said at SEC Spring Meetings in Destin last year. “I hear about that a lot – obviously I wasn’t there – but about the two times there to travel back-to-back. I think if you can make it more consistent, it will balance things out, probably be helpful in the long run, but I got a feeling there’s more to than just us and them. It always affects so many other moving parts, but it would be nice to do that.”
Georgia visits Tennessee and Auburn in 2019. The Bulldogs beat both teams in 2018, as Auburn went 8-5 under Gus Malzahn, while Tennessee went 5-7 under first year coach Jeremy Pruitt. The Bulldogs open the 2019 season on Aug. 31 against Vanderbilt. Home games for the Bulldogs in 2019 include contests against Texas A&M and Notre Dame. Georgia also will play Florida in Jacksonville, Fla.
Related: Georgia football 2019 schedule
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