Workers putting finishing touches on UGA’s championship celebration, fans excited

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Tickets go fast for Saturday’s Georgia football national championship celebration

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Georgia offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer (69) lowers the championship trophy to his teammates on Monday night in Indianapolis.

Georgia football fans aren’t nearly done reveling in the Bulldogs national championship.

Here’s a strong indication: about 34,000 tickets were made available Thursday at 4 p.m. to the general public for UGA’s celebration Saturday in Sanford Stadium.

They were snatched up by 5 p.m., according to ticket manager Tim Cearley, meaning a capacity crowd of more than 92,000 is expected. Tickets, which were first available for season ticket holders and students, were free.

“We need to fill Sanford on Saturday to celebrate this special team !!” coach Kirby Smart tweeted after tickets were gone. “If you are not using your tickets, pass them on to someone that can !!”

Gates at Sanford Stadium open at 12 p.m. and the ceremony to recognize the program’s first national title since 1980 is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.

A parade will begin at 12:30 p.m. at the corner of S. Lumpkin and Pinecrest Streets at the Butts-Mehre Building corner and go down S. Lumpkin to the Tate Center. A Dawgwalk from there through the Tate Center parking lot will go into the west end of the stadium. S. Lumpkin Street will be closed on that parade route from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m.

Gameday procedures will be in place with the campus opening to visitors Saturday at 7 a.m.

Emily Deitz, Alan Thomas and Matt Brachowski from Georgia athletics are overseeing the production and logistics for the event that should run about 45 minutes to an hour, athletic director Josh Brooks said.

“There’s a great deal of excitement around our championship,” Brooks said. “That’s why we had to be strategic about assigning tickets because if we just opened the gates and let anyone in, we could have had some fire marshal issues with 100,000 plus showing up. I know it’s frustrating we can’t open the gates and let anyone in but we have to be smart and know that we’re going to be at the capacity limit or we could have safety issues.”

The setup will be similar to a UGA commencement with a stage and seating on the field for players and their families.

Story continues

“We’ll still have room to paint the end zones,” Brooks said.

He said there won’t be any musical guests.

“This is focused on the team and coaches,” he said.

WSB-TV in Atlanta will broadcast the parade and ceremony and stream the parade portion. Georgiadogs.com, Facebook.com/georgiabulldogs and SEC Network+ will also be showing the festivities. WSB Radio and some Bulldog Sports Network stations will also air the event.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football fans grab general public tickets for celebration

Georgia Today: A UGA student journalist reflects on witnessing the Bulldogs’ win over Alabama

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Athens, Ga., is preparing for a parade this weekend to honor the University of Georgia Bulldogs. The team’s big win this week against Alabama’s Crimson Tide handed the Bulldogs their first national title since 1981. Hear how the Bulldogs made Georgia football history.

RELATED: Top Dogs: Georgia celebrates title, looks ahead to 2022

TRANSCRIPT

[News tape] Game announcer: Demons begone. And the drought is over: National champions at long last.

Steve Fennessy: This is Georgia Today. I’m Steve Fennessy. Today, the first national championship by the Georgia Bulldogs in 41 years. Even better, it was against Alabama.

[News tape] Kirby Smart: There’s going to be some property torn up in Indianapolis tonight, baby.

Steve Fennessy: My guest is Drew Hubbard. He’s sports editor for UGA’s student newspaper, The Red and Black. He covered Monday’s game in Indianapolis.

Before we get to the game, I wanted to talk a little bit about the mystique of Georgia football. You grew up in in Georgia, right? You’re from Gainesville?

Drew Hubbard: Yes, yes, yes. Gainesville, Georgia.

Steve Fennessy: What was your perception of Georgia football growing up?

Drew Hubbard: I grew up a humongous Falcons fan, and I always thought it was kind of weird that, you know, the college team is such a much bigger deal than the professional team, right? I mean, it’s the NFL, it’s the top dog. It’s the best football in the world, you know? When they kick off on Saturdays, why is this Georgia football team? Why are they the biggest deal? But that’s how it is. Gosh, if they play Florida and Jacksonville, the whole South just shuts down for that game. So growing up, you always knew that Georgia football was on top. That was the biggest thing that was going on.

Steve Fennessy: What is it that makes specifically, you think, UGA football so absolutely essential to the Georgia and — and, maybe, even the Southern experience?

Drew Hubbard: Athens, for those who aren’t really super familiar with the town, it is 100,000% just a college town. Without UGA. I’m not sure what Athens would be. There are multiple cities like that in the South, right? Auburn, Alabama. Auburn University football kind of runs the show there. Tuscaloosa, over at the University of Alabama? Not a whole lot going on there besides the University of Alabama. And I think that’s a very exclusive Southern theme that these cities are kind of revolved around. The University of Football in the South is its life. You go to these football games with your friends, you tailgate, you do the whole nine yards, you go out after a game if it’s a win, if it’s a loss. This very unique Athens, Southern experience, I think, has made people gravitate toward that a lot more than just going to another big city, spending a lot of money and going to a pro NFL game.

Steve Fennessy: Well, Drew, take us back to the beginning of this season.

Drew Hubbard: A cool thing about this Georgia season, right, started off Week 1 against Clemson with the pandemic. I mean, this was the first game in a while that — it was full capacity. It was in Charlotte that was the big game of the year. So I mean, if you’re a freshman and you were at the national championship game, you went from very limited capacity to one of the most historic seasons in Georgia football history in the span of two years.

Steve Fennessy: Going back to that Georgia-Clemson game, the season opener, where Georgia beat Clemson 10 - 3 and upset Clemson, at what point did you start to feel like, oh, you know, this could be something really special?

Drew Hubbard: Like you said, it was an upset for Georgia to do that. 10 to 3; neither team scored an offensive touchdown. Georgia, the only touchdown of the game was because Georgia intercepted the ball and ran it back for a touchdown. So from then on, I knew that Georgia’s defense was going to be phenomenal and continuing to see this team dominate other SEC teams.

[News tape] Game announcer: The hype will begin to build for this team. They could move up to No. 2 right behind Alabama.

Drew Hubbard: You know, at the time, Arkansas was No. 8 in the country, a game that — didn’t really think that was going to be a big game in the start of the season. It was a good game, Georgia rolls over them, 37 to nothing. And then we get kind of a similar thing: Kentucky coming to Athens. I think Kentucky was No. 11. So No. 11 versus No. 1. Georgia steamrolls Kentucky. And I think that was the moment where I thought, OK, you might have a playoff run. And then when you’re in the playoffs, right, it’s just one loss and you’re done. So that was the kind of first moment that I thought we might be onto something special here.

Steve Fennessy: And we can’t talk about UGA’s miraculous season without talking about its quarterback.

[News tape] FOX News: Stetson Bennett. The Georgia quarterback epitomizes what we, as Americans should be fighting for every day —the little guy who has a dream and is willing to work hard to overcome difficulties, to persist and doesn’t give up.

Drew Hubbard: His journey has been very well documented. He grew up a huge Georgia fan. He’s from Blackshear, Ga. — South Georgia. His parents went to Georgia. He always had the dream as a kid, right? That I’m going to be the starting quarterback at the University of Georgia. I’m going to lead the Dawgs to a national championship. And then he comes to Georgia as a walk-on freshman and is on the scout team. Scout team quarterback is pretty much a guy that the defense can practice against to get ready for their opponents and say this Stetson Bennett is very similar to the opponent we’re going to face in our next game. He was the guy that you practiced against to get ready for the real competition in the Rose Bowl.

Steve Fennessy: And this is Stetson Bennett’s freshman year, which was the 2017 season.

Drew Hubbard: You know, the team constantly was talking about oh, this Stetson Bennett guy, like, he’s really good. And then Georgia goes on to beat Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl to advance to the national championship, which they later lost to Alabama. He wasn’t given the opportunity to play his next season, his sophomore season. So he said, Well, I’ll transfer to a Jones — a smaller junior college in Ellisville, Mississippi. I believe Jones College, really small junior college. He said. I’ll transfer there. So he goes to this junior college in Mississippi and tears it up. I mean, he’s setting records, he’s winning championships with them and then Georgia comes back down. Kirby Smart, Georgia head coach, comes back around and says, “Do you want to come back?” And he does and gets a starting job as a junior, and then he has a really good start. And then he has kind of a rough patch. Insert JT Daniels, who transferred from the University of Southern California. So JT Daniels steps on the scene, takes Stetson Bennett’s job and JT Daniels has a phenomenal stretch. He goes 4 and 0 to end last season.

Steve Fennessy: All right, so let’s recap Stetson Bennett’s — his kind of ping-pong collegiate career. He comes to UGA in 2017. He leaves UGA the next season. He comes back in 2018. He ends up winning the starting quarterback job, but then he loses it in the 2020 season to JT Daniels.

Drew Hubbard: Yeah, and then Daniels takes it. And then, you know, starting this season talking about Clemson. Daniels leads, obviously, at the end of the day Georgia beat Clemson and Daniels is the quarterback. You know, we’re in the top four. We’re looking pretty for the rest of the season. Daniels is our guy. And then Daniels goes down with an injury.

[News tape] Georgia Bulldogs: Sometimes, you know, in athletics, it feels like if you get hurt and you can stay hurt, and I don’t know if that’s going to be the case with JT, it doesn’t seem like it. Let me just get to what Kirby said. He said the oblique is fine. He’s been having a little bit of a lat issue, the lat is part of your back, kind of upper back. Smart told reporters it’s bothered him some last week, and it bothered him some this week, but he’s done a good job. He’s sharp. Watches all his game tape, gets his reps and he’s done a good job, so we’re hoping he can stay that way.

Drew Hubbard: So Kirby Smart says, OK, we’ll rest JT Daniels, gives him some time to heal. Well, Bennett goes in there and tears it up just like he did. You know he plays really well throughout the season. He has gotten loads and loads of questions. Are you the guy? Why is Kirby Smart playing you and things like that?

Steve Fennessy: So as the sports editor at the Red and Black, what — what are the answers that you’re hearing to these questions? Whether, you know, because that’s ultimately Kirby Smart’s call, right? He’s the coach. What did he have to say about why he continued with Stetson Bennett?

Drew Hubbard: Kirby Smart said, “We think Stetson Bennett gives us the best chance to win.” And for a while it was like, Are you serious? What do you mean, he gives us the best chance to win? We got a five-star sitting on the bench. You know, Kirby Smart was just consistent the whole time that, you know, he thinks Stetson Bennett is a better option. Stetson Bennett can do some things that JT Daniels can’t. Stetson Bennett can run much more than JT Daniels can, and that was just — the whole time Smart said, “Bennett gives us the best chance to win.”

[News tape] Kirby Smart: We got a lot of guys hurt and beat up, including the quarterback, and we hope he’s getting better. We feel like he’s getting better. But you know, Stetson played a hell of a game. Stetson made plays with his feet, with his athleticism, and that’s a dynamic that he brings. It forces them to defend us different ways. He played really well, too, last year. I don’t think people give him enough credit for that.

Steve Fennessy: Next, how quarterback Stetson Bennett defied the expectations of more than a few detractors and delivered Georgia its first championship since 1981.

[BREAK]

Steve Fennessy: You’re listening to Georgia Today. I’m Steve Fennessy. I’m joined by Red and Black sports editor Drew Hubbard. OK, Kirby Smart goes with Stetson Bennett for the bulk of the 2021 season as his starting quarterback. But then we reached the SEC Championship in early December. UGA is ranked No. 1 in the country, but they’re also facing the dreaded Alabama team, which the Bulldogs have not beaten since something like 2007. And sure enough, Georgia ends up losing.

Drew Hubbard: That was probably the first time, I think, this season that I really questioned Kirby Smart sticking with Stetson Bennett because the SEC Championship was on Dec. 4 and the next time Georgia would play was against Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinal on Dec. 31. Daniels and Bennett did not have a good game against Alabama. He threw two interceptions, one of which was rain back for a touchdown. That was probably his worst game of the season, and I think that was my moment where I said, “You have a five-star sitting on the bench, you have three weeks to get this guy ready for Michigan. Maybe now’s the time to do so.”

Steve Fennessy: Drew, how is it different covering UGA football from the perspective of a student journalist versus, say, for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution?

Drew Hubbard: I think one of the really awesome pieces of being a student journalist is that, especially covering a college football team, is that these are also student athletes. Student journalists, right, we kind of are that plug for people to see what life’s really like on campus? And from football perspective, I mean, that includes, you know, really just being on the same level with those guys. When we’re interviewing Stetson Bennett, he’s our classmate, in a lot of cases. You know, he’s just a normal guy that is our age, has the same problems we do. You know, he’s trying to play football, but also pass his classes or worry about his finals and things like that. So, I mean, being a student journalist we’re able to, you know, be those guys that are really just tapped into the campus that can kind of connect the outside public to what’s going on at UGA.

Steve Fennessy: What’s Stetson Bennett like to interview, for you?

Drew Hubbard: He’s awesome. I actually love interviewing Stetson Bennett. I think a part of him that has grown along with his play on the football field has just been his ability to just not really care when he’s getting interviewed, and he’s just this like, “I don’t really care what you think about me” attitude.

[News tape] Stetson Bennett: You know, I think I always had a pretty constant view about myself. I think I learned that life’s hard. You know, you gotta work for what you want. You know, you have to bet on yourself. Love the people who’s around you, they got to love you. And bet on yourself.

Drew Hubbard: He is known now for having a flip phone because he doesn’t want to be on social media. Like, he doesn’t care what we say about him. He’s going to be himself. He’s going to say whatever comes to his mind. He’s brutally honest. He’ll criticize himself. So, you know, praise himself when you need to praise his teammates. But I think he’s grown a lot in the whole media thing. And, you know, at some point, I think he just stopped caring about what people say about in the papers or everything because he’s heard it all. He’s been doubted so much.

[News tape] Game announcer: We’ve talked so much about Stetson Bennett. There’s a lot of heroes on the Georgia side. But you know, Bennett, as his story, has kind of a Southern gothic tone to it.

Steve Fennessy: Monday night’s game, I watched it at home like most most of us did, and I saw the first two possessions by Georgia where I think they gained all of one yard in those first two possessions and I’m thinking, “Uh oh, here we go again.” From your perspective, what did it feel like?

Drew Hubbard: It felt like we’ve seen this movie before, right? We’ve seen, “okay, Georgia’s good. They’re not Alabama good.” So when you’re seeing Georgia struggling to begin with, it’s like, holy crap, like, this is going to be even worse. This is this is going to be embarrassing. Seeing those first two drives was, “This is not going to go well.”

[News tape] Game announcer: In the back field they fake it to him. Bennett pressured on the rollout, and he’s going to be sacked immediately. Christian Harris got there and it’s a big loss.

Steve Fennessy: And so they’re trading field goals, by and large, for most of the first half, and then we get into the third quarter, and that’s when we finally see the very first touchdown of the game, which is by University of Georgia. But then we have this controversial call by the referees, which took a while for them to deliver. When Stetson Bennett was tackled and looked like, maybe he was throwing the ball, maybe it was a fumble. But the ref said it was a fumble and Alabama recovered, I think, on the 16-yard line of UGA. It’s like, “Oh, here we go again” again, right?

Drew Hubbard: Like you said, is Bennett passing? Is it a fumble? Does Alabama recover the ball inbounds? Is his foot on the line?

[News tape] Game announcers: I think I don’t know if that ball came out of his hand before his arm came forward, but the referee was right there discussing whether, perhaps, was a fumble. He threw the beanbag down.

[News tape] Referee: Ruling on the field is a fumble recovered by the defense. First down.

Drew Hubbard: This is a call we’re going to look at in a couple of years and say, “That’s what got us.”

Steve Fennessy: And Alabama ends up scoring, which I believe puts them ahead 18-13, right?

Drew Hubbard: Yes. Yeah, that was their first lead of the game.

Steve Fennessy: So we’re in the fourth quarter and this is when everything happened, Drew. I mean, this was incredible because we saw this really crucial turnover by Stetson Bennett, which is just giving ammunition to his detractors like, “Oh, see, this is what I’m talking about. This is why he can’t lead us to the football championship.” And then he has that incredible pass. Tell us about that and what it felt like to see the see the response that Stetson Bennett had on the next possession.

Drew Hubbard: Yeah, I think that whole drive, I mean, he’s in the national championship, the biggest stage. Like you said, he just had the weirdest turnover I’ve probably ever seen. Everything’s against him. And then he hits a 40-yard touchdown pass.

[News tape] Game announcer: Bennett launching. Mitchell caught it. Touchdown, Georgia! With a free play the Dawgs retake the lead.

Drew Hubbard: We haven’t seen Stetson Bennett make a 40-yard touchdown pass in the biggest game probably of his career, so that was a, you know, “oh, shoot!” moment. And I think that kind of got Georgia fans like, maybe we’ll actually win this.

[News tape] ESPN College Football: You said before the game, your team had a hunger to them. How did you see that play out on the field?

[News tape] ESPN College Football, Kirby Smart: I saw it at halftime. You know, there were people that said we weren’t conditioned enough and it pissed a lot of people off from our sideline and they went to work. And before we came today we burned the boats and we came up fighting. And I’m proud of these men.

[News tape] ESPN College Football: You worked under Nick Saban for 11 seasons. You lost this game against Alabama in 2017. How much sweeter does that make this win?

[News tape] ESPN College Football, Kirby Smart: Well, that one will be with me for a long time but this one will be with me for much longer.

[News tape] ESPN College Football: After 41 years the University of Georgia are national champions. How does that sound to you?

[News tape] ESPN College Football, Kirby Smart: I hope it doesn’t take that long again. Go Dawgs.

[News tape] ESPN College Football: Congratulations on the win, coach.

Drew Hubbard: You know, if you follow the script of Georgia-Alabama, that Stetson Bennett doing that is not a part of the script that people have expected.

Steve Fennessy: And I think that if there’s an image that’s going to stay with me from someone who is watching it on TV, it’s Kelee Ringo’s pick six, you know, in the last 90 seconds or so of the game.

[News tape] Game announcer: From the pocket, launching downfield — under-thrown! And intercepted! Kelee Ringo.

Steve Fennessy: And he’s pretty much right in front of Kirby Smart, who leaps into the air.

[News tape] Game announcer: All the way to the end zone.

Steve Fennessy: That seemed to be the moment when this was a reality. What was it like watching it from where you were watching it?

Drew Hubbard: It was a “oh, shoot, like, this might actually be happening” moment. And Alabama was down 8 at the time of the interception. So if that interception doesn’t happen, and Alabama scores a touchdown and gets a 2-point conversion, you know, that game is tied. So that was kind of Alabama’s drive to tie the game up. And when he catches the ball, it’s — you keep seeing him run. You look down the field and you’re like, there’s only two Alabama guys, and Georgia’s got like five blockers down there. Like, he might run this back. And you start to hear the Georgia fans kind of think the same thing. And then when he crosses the end zone, I think the whole stadium just erupted.

[News tape] Game announcer: And Georgia is going to conquer the Crimson Tide.

Drew Hubbard: Seeing people finally get what they’ve waited so long for, right, I mean it’s 40-something years. That’s what makes this championship so cool is that people have waited so long. They’ve come so close. And to finally see it at all is phenomenal. But to be in the stadium when it happened was a “holy crap” moment.

Steve Fennessy: When Kirby Smart invoked that famous call by Larry Munson from 1980 when UGA played Florida — tell us about, first of all, what that call was because the way he invoked that was really funny.

[News tape] Game announcer: OK, first, Kirby, I got to know. What does that trophy taste like?

[News tape] Kirby Smart: Well, I didn’t get a full taste, but I can tell you this: There’s going to be some property torn up in Indianapolis tonight, baby!

Drew Hubbard: Which is a reference to Larry Munson’s call in 1980, a historic Georgia broadcaster, when Georgia beat Florida in 1980.

[Archival tape] Larry Munson: Do you know what is going to happen here tonight? Man, is there going to be some property destroyed tonight.

Drew Hubbard: I think a lot of Georgia fans will agree that Florida is a team that they hate the most. They love beating Florida. And Larry Munson, when Georgia beat Florida in 1980, the last time Georgia won a national championship, Larry Munson famously said there’s going to be some property destroyed tonight. And Kirby Smart, knowing the last time he played at Georgia — he grew up in Bainbridge, Georgia, he’s grown up around Georgia football his whole life, played there in the ’90s. So he won a national championship at his alma mater and knowing the Georgia fan base, knowing how long they’ve waited for this, he said, “There’s going to be some property destroyed in Indianapolis tonight.” And that was such a cool nod to that 1980 team.

Steve Fennessy: Everybody who’s a Georgia fan probably got the reference.

Drew Hubbard: Absolutely. And Vince Dooley, the head coach of the 1980 team, he was there. So, you know, I mean, that was just a cool moment.

Steve Fennessy: Well, you can’t win a national championship without getting a parade. And Georgia will have its own and the streets of Athens this Saturday, Jan. 15.

[News tape] 11Alive: A huge crowd in Athens is expected for the celebration on Saturday. It begins with a parade at 12:30 p.m. on Lumpkin Street, heading into Sanford Stadium with the Dawg Walk at 1 p.m. as the players get off their buses and head into the stadium for a ceremony that starts at 2 p.m. Now the tickets are free. They will be first available to season ticket holders and students. Any remaining tickets will be offered to the general public starting on Thursday.

Steve Fennessy: Georgia Today is a production of Georgia Public Broadcasting. Jess Mador is our producer. Our engineers are Jesse Nighswonger and Jake Cook. You can keep up with Georgia Today by subscribing to the show at GPB.org or anywhere you get podcasts. Thanks for listening. We’ll be back next week. Go Dawgs.

Former Dog Bailey will go into College Football Hall of Fame

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A former Georgia Bulldog is named to the College Football Hall of Fame: Champ Bailey was a receiver and defensive back for the Dogs in the mid-1990s. He will be inducted into the Hall in Atlanta in a ceremony scheduled for December.

From Claude Felton, UGA Sports Communications…

Bailey becomes the 14th former Georgia player and 17th overall elected to the College Hall of Fame. He will be inducted at the annual NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 6, 2022.

Bailey earned a reputation as one of the best multiple threats in college football during his career at Georgia. He was considered the most versatile player at UGA since the era of two-platoon football.

Bailey was a consensus All-American playing offense, defense, and special teams. He played more than 1,000 plays during his junior season in 1998 including more than 100 plays in seven different games. Bailey finished the season with 52 tackles, three interceptions, 744 receiving yards, five touchdowns, 261 kickoff returns and 49 punt return yards. The All-Southeastern Conference selection was named winner of the 1998 Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation’s top defensive player and was a consensus All-America selection.

Bailey was also a member of the UGA Track and Field team and set a school indoor long jump record at the 1998 SEC Championships.

Bailey was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 1999 NFL draft and was a 12-time Pro Bowl selection from 2000-2013 as a member of the Redskins and the Denver Broncos. He retired in 2014. He was named a member of the Football Writers Association of America 75th Anniversary All-America first team in 2015. In 2018 he was inducted into the State of Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. In 2019, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. Also in 2019 he was named one of college football’s 150 greatest players in the ESPN film documentary “Football is Us: The College Player.”

Former Georgia players and coaches inducted into the College Hall of Fame: Charley Trippi, 1959; Vernon “Catfish” Smith, 1979; Bill Hartman, 1984; Fran Tarkenton, 1987; Coach Vince Dooley, 1994; Coach Wally Butts, 1997; Bill Stanfill, 1998; Herschel Walker, 1999; Terry Hoage, 2000; Kevin Butler, 2001; John Rauch, 2003; Coach Jim Donnan, 2009; Jake Scott, 2011; Scott Woerner, 2016; Matt Stinchcomb, 2018; David Pollack, 2020.

©2022 Cox Media Group

Georgia Returns To Stegeman To Host Vanderbilt

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Georgia Bulldogs Coach: Tom Crean 46-60 402-291 in 22nd season overall No. Name PPG RPG 3 Kario Oquendo 13.8 4.2 (6-4; 215; Soph.; Titusville, Fla.) 10 Aaron Cook 10.3 2.8 ( 6-2; 185; Grad.; St. Louis, Mo. ) 11 Jaxon Etter 5.1 3.1 ( 6-4; 205; Jr.; Woodstock, Ga .) 20 Noah Baumann 8.7 3.4 ( 6-6; 210; Sr.; Phoenix, Ariz.) 23 Braelen Bridges 12.0 6.0 ( 6-11; 240; Sr.; Atlanta, Ga.) Vanderbilt Coach: Jerry Stackhouse 29-34 in 3rd season at VU 29-34 in 3rd season overall No. Name PPG RPG 2 Scotty Pippen Jr. 19.2 3.5 ( 6-3; 185; Jr.; Los Angeles, Calif. ) 4 Jordan Wright 11.9 5.6 ( 6-6; 215; Jr.; Baton Rouge, La.) 5 Shane DeZonie 3.4 2.4 ( 6-5; 215; Fr.; Tobyhanna, Pa. 10 Myles Stute 8.5 3.5 ( 6-7; 210; Soph.; Washington, D.C.) 42 Quentin Millora-Brown 5.1 5.9 ( 6-10; 235; Sr.; Lorton, Va. )

TEAM COMPARISON

2020-21 STATISTICS GEORGIA VANDERBILT Points Per Game 71.1 70.0 Opp. Point Per Game 75.2 63.5 Scoring Margin -4.1 +6.5 Field Goal Pct. .443 .409 Opp. Field Goal Pct. .461 .416 3-Point Pct. .319 .314 3-Pointers Per Game 6.7 8.2 Opp. 3-Point Pct. .340 .311 Free Throw Pct. .732 .722 Free Throws Per Game 15.4 14.9 Rebounds Per Game 34.9 35.4 Opp. Rebound Per Game 34.1 34.5 Rebound Margin +0.8 +0.9 Assists Per Game 13.9 10.9 Turnovers Per Game 13.8 12.7 Assist-to-Turnover Ratio 1.00 0.86 Turnover Margin -3.1 +3.7 Steals Per Game 5.2 7.8 Blocks Per Game 2.8 3.1

The Starting 5…

UGA has won four straight meetings with Vanderbilt…and seven of the last 10 matchups with the Commodores.

Kario Oquen-do and Scotty Pippen Jr. are the SEC’s top scorers in league play, both averaging 23.7 ppg.

Noah Baumann is tied for the SEC lead in 3-pointers per game in league play, averaging 3.7.

is tied for the SEC lead in 3-pointers per game in league play, averaging 3.7. Through games of 1/12, Aaron Cook ranked No. 9 nationally in both assist average (6.5) and total assists (97).

ranked No. 9 nationally in both assist average (6.5) and total assists (97). UGA’s seven first-year transfers combined to score 4,782 points at their previous schools.

The Opening Tip

Keeping An Eye On… Entering Today’s Game:

Series History With Vandy

Scouting The Dores

Last Time Out

Bulldogs Atop SEC Stats

Kario On A Tear

Their Mann is Our Mann’s Bro

Bulldogs Back In Athens

Bulldogs Battle Through

Bulldogs Switch Lineups

Kario Likes The Bright Lights

B.B. Is Consistent, Efficient

Cook Among Assist Leaders

Noah Continues Scoring Trend

Etter Accepting Charges

Baumann Hits the Boards

Dogs Look To Regroup…Again

Jabri’s Contributions Soar

Abdur-Rahim’s Increases Stat 1st 14 Next 3 Diff. Total Points 32 45 +13 Scoring Average 2.3 15.0 12.7 FGs Made 9 13 +4 FG Percentage .214 .650 +.436 3FGs Made 3 9 +6 3FG Percentage .125 .600 +.475

Crean Captures Win No. 400

Tom Crean

Wright Stellar In Upset

The SportsCenter “Top-Quen”

Cook Tops Millennium Mark

Dalen, Kario Draw Attention

Cook Among Most Experienced

D-I’s career GPs Leaders Rk. Player, School Games 1. Jordan Bohannon, Iowa 142 2. Chevez Goodwin, USC 138 3. Aaron Cook , Georgia 133 Garrison Brooks, Miss. St. 133 Jalen Coleman-Lands, Kansas 133 Justin Kier , Arizona 133

Experience Has Traveled

D-I transfer contributions Stat Team D-I Ts Pct. Minutes 3200 1782 55.7 Scoring 1137 686 60.3 Rebounds 504 293 58.1 Assists 222 151 68.0 Blocks 44 26 59.1 Steals 83 41 49.4

Welcoming A Slew Of Scoring

Top Scoring Influx’s In D-I hoops Rk. School Players Points 1. Georgia 7 4782 2. Duquesne 5 4695 3. Florida 5 4144 4. Arkansas 6 4125 5. Penn State 7 5183 6. Washington St. 4 3785 7. SMU 4 3733 8. Kentucky 4 3538 9. Utah 6 3175 10. Arizona St. 3 3132

On The Flip Side…

“B” Is For Basketball Player

Putting Up Points Under Crean

Top Scoring Averages In 2000s Rk. Season Points Games Avg. 1. 2002-03 2138 27 79.2 2. 2020-21 1944 25 77.8 3. 2001-02 2444 32 76.4 4. 2019-20 2428 32 75.9 5. 2006-07 2477 33 75.1

Georgia returns to Stegeman Coliseum to host Vanderbilt on Saturday evening following a two-game road swing to No. 13/16 Kentucky and Mississippi State.Despite some positive signs – the Bulldogs were ahead or were tied for 12:19 of the first half at Rupp Arena and led at the intermission in Starkville – Georgia lost both contests to fall to 5-11 overall and 0-3 in SEC play.Saturday’s game features the SEC’s co-leading scorers in league play.Georgia’sand Vanderbilt’s Scotty Pippen Jr. enter the weekend tied as the SEC best point producers in conference games at 23.7 ppg.Oquendo has been a very efficient shooter in his three SEC outings, ranking No. 4 in field goal percentage (.581) and No. 8 in free throw percentage (.818). He is riding a three-game streak of 20-point performances, the first Bulldog to top the 20-point plateau in a trio of consecutive games since Anthony Edwards did so in 2020.• 2 outings from 150 games played in his career• 14 steals from 200 for his careerThough Georgia has a four-game winning streak over Vanderbilt and has won seven of the last 10 matchups, the Commodores own a 91-56 lead in all-time meetings between UGA and VU.Last season in Athens, Georgia earned a 73-70 win over Vandy.Following eight ties and four lead changes in the first 15 minutes, Georgia used a 14-4 run over the final 3:31 of the first half to grab a 44-37 lead at the break.The Commodores tied the game five times in the second half, but the Bulldogs answered on each occasion.Scotty Pippen Jr.’s layup with 44 seconds remaining tied the score at 70-70, but a free throw at the 15-second mark but Georgia back on top. Pippen’s layup attempt with five ticks on the clock was blocked and gave possession back to the Bulldogswas fouled with 2.1 second left and converted on both free throws. Georgia then tipped away Vanderbilt’s attempted court-length inbounds pass, which caused time to expire before the Commodores could do anything other than wildly heave the ball toward their basket.Vanderbilt is currently 9-6 overall and 1-2 in SEC play to date.A pair of wins at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic headlined the Commodores’ non-conference slate. Vandy topped Hawai’i and BYU to reach the tourney’s championship game; however, that contest with Stanford was canceled due to COVID issues within the Cardinal roster.Vanderbilt opened SEC play with a 75-74 upset at Arkansas before dropping its last two outings at home to South Carolina and No. 17/18 Kentucky.Scotty Pippen Jr., the media’s pick as SEC Player of the Year, leads the Commodores in scoring (19.2 ppg), assists (2.9 apg) and steals (1.7 spg). Jordan Wright also is scoring at a double-figure pace of 11.9 ppg, while Quentin Millora-Brown is collecting a team-high 5.9 rpg.led Georgia with a career-high 28 points at Mississippi State on Wednesday; however, the Bulldogs still dropped an 88-72 decision in Starkville.andchipped in 15 and 13 points, respectively, for Georgia, whilesecured a game-high seven rebounds.The Bulldogs led 36-35 at halftime, largely due to Oquendo’s 15 first-half points. State took the lead for good on a layup with 17:06 left that made it 42-40.Three different Bulldogs lead the Southeastern Conference in individual statistics for conference games only.Most notably,is tied with Vanderbilt’s Scotty Pippen Jr. in scoring at 23.7 points per game.8-of-8 effort at the line is best in the league. Cook is one of three Bulldogs in the top-10 in FT percentage along with(No. 6 at .824) and(No. 8 at .818).Those efforts have helped make UGA the SEC’s top free-throw shooting team in conference play at .855 (53-of-62).is knotted with Matthew Murrell of Ole Miss for successful shots behind the 3-point arc, with both connecting on 3.7 per game.has produced 20-point performances in Georgia’s last three games – 21 vs. Texas A&M, 22 vs. No. 13/16 Kentucky and 28 at Mississippi State.The sophomore from Titusville, Fla., is the first Bulldog to do so since Anthony Edwards two seasons ago. Edwards put up 23 points at Missouri on Jan. 28, 29 against Texas A&M on Feb. 1 and 32 at Florida on Feb. 5.Vanderbilt sophomore Jamaine Mann is the younger brother of former Georgia standout Charles Mann.Charles moved into the Bulldogs’ starting five late in his freshman season in 2013 and got the nod for 98 of 100 games over his final three seasons. All told, he played in 132 games, second-most ever at UGA.An All-SEC performer, Mann is No. 15 among Georgia’s career scoring leaders with 1,411 points. He scored 43.8 percent of those at the free throw line. Mann is the Bulldogs’ career record holder in FT attempts (896) and makes (618) and is No. 2 in SEC history in trips to the charity stripe behind on “Pistol” Pete Maravich. Charles also is No. 6 in career assists by a Bulldog with 400.Following a two-game road swing, Georgia will return to Stegeman Coliseum for its 12th home game of the 2021-22 season.Prior to their Jan. 8 outing in Lexington, the Bulldogs went 46 days between games away from Athens. Georgia’s non-Stegeman contest before that was on Nov. 23 – the Tuesday before Thanksgiving – in the Roman Legends Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark. After that, the Bulldogs hosted an eight-game homestand.Georgia dressed only 10 players for its first two SEC outings and has done so three times this season.The Bulldogs’ 15-player roster was cut by two due to season-ending injuries toin the preseason andagainst Jacksonville on Dec. 7.All told, seven of 13 “currently active” Bulldogs have a combined 18 DNPs, and Georgia has had its full complement of players for six of 16 outings.From there, additional DNPs include:• T. Baker vs. Virginia and Northwestern (illness);• N. Baumann vs. Northwestern (illness);• A. Cook vs. Memphis (illness);• J. Etter vs. Gardner-Webb (injury);• C. McDowell vs. Texas A&M and Kentucky (illness);• J. Ned vs. Virginia, Northwestern (illness) and George Mason, Western Carolina, ETSU, Gardner-Webb, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Mississippi State (injury);• D. Ridgnal vs. Texas A&M and Kentucky (illness).Georgia has mixed and matched eight player to create six different starting lineups this season.The Bulldogs have used the starting five ofandin their last five contests. That’s the most any quintet has been utilized by UGA.Only Bridges and Oquendo have gotten the nod for every contest, although Cook andhave started every game they’ve played. Cook missed the Memphis game due to an illness, and Ingram suffered a season-ending injury in the ninth contest versus Jacksonville.has a history of producing big games against the best opposition.Last season, he averaged 13.5 points while shooting 55.4 percent from the field for the Florida SouthWestern College.In Buccaneers’ four contests against ranked opponents, those stats jumped to 22.0 points and 63.6 percent.The trend of big nights continued this season. Against No. 19 Memphis and No. 13/16 Kentucky, Oquendo averaged in 23.0 ppg and shooting 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the floor.In six outings versus ranked foes as a collegiate basketball player, Oquendo is currently averaging 22.3 points and connecting on 62.2 (51-of-82) of his field goal attempts.is the Bulldogs’ most consistent point producer and among the nation’s most efficient.Bridges has posted double-digit scoring outputs in a team-best 11 of Georgia’s 16 games, and he has notched nine points in two of the other five outings.The graduate transfer senior Atlanta native is shooting a sizzling 62.4 percent from the field, connecting on 73 of his 117 field goal attempts.Bridges’ effort almost puts him in elite company in the SEC and nationally. To be ranked among statistical leaders in FG percentage, a player has to make a minimum of five shots per game.With 73 field goals made, Bridges falls seven shy of that standard…or he would rank No. 2 in the SEC and No. 12 nationally through games of Jan. 12.Through games played on Jan. 12,ranked No. 9 nationally in both assist average (6.5 apg) and total assists (97).Cook’s assist average is on pace to be the second-best ever by a Bulldog. The current No. 2 mark in Georgia history is 6.3 apg by Pertha Robinson in 1994-95.In five seasons of college basketball,has established a trend of scoring most of his points from behind the 3-point arc…and doing so efficiently.This season, 74.4 percent (32 of 43) of Baumann’s made field goals have been 3-pointers. Career-wise, 71.8 percent (178 of 248) of Baumann’s made FGs are 3-pointers, and he is converting on a considerably better clip from outside the arc (.437) than inside that stripe (.378).Defensively,is like Visa…as in “everywhere you want (him) to be.“UGA’s second-favorite walk-on student-athlete took three charges against Western Carolina, the second game this season he’s done so…the other outing being versus Ga. Tech.Etter now has a team-high 14 charges. The trend began last season when he drew eight in the final 11 games, giving him 22 in UGA’s last 27 contests.With injuries toandhas shifted to playing the traditional ‘4’ spot for Georgia.In his first outing doing so, Baumann grabbed 11 rebounds against Western Carolina. That was more than double his previous career-most of five in seven different outings including this year’s season opener against FIU.Joked: “I don’t know if he’s done that since grade school. Somewhere out West, he might have had 11 boards in a CYO game in the eighth grade.“Georgia lostto a knee injury during the Jacksonville game on Dec. 7. The “super senior” from Madison, Ga., and Morgan County High School was the Bulldogs’ leading rebounder (6.0 rpg) and third-leading scorer (10.7 ppg). Ingram went down in a non-contact situation while trying to save a ball along the baseline with 14:21 left in the contest.Following an MRI on Dec. 8,confirmed the prognosis on Dec. 9 with a Tweet stating: “Unfortunately,will have to have surgery to repair his ACL in his right knee. It’s heartbreaking because Jailyn has been emerging in so many areas and has been a model of consistency day in and day out. He’s an incredible young man… Jailyn has brought a spirit and seriousness to us. He is a guy that is in the gym most mornings before we would lift weights at 8:45 and was stabilizing for a young team. We plan to appeal for the waiver to get another year since he’s under the 30% games played. Pray for him.“Ingram’s injury was UGA’s second season-ending setback. On Oct. 20, Crean announced, one of just two Bulldogs to start every game last season, would miss the campaign.Tweeted Crean: “It’s with genuine sadness that I let you know thatwill miss this season after undergoing surgery on his right knee this past weekend. In practice, he bumped knees in a scrimmage, lost footing and went down awkwardly. This is such a major blow to us because P.J. was playing so well and showing great leadership as our leading returning player, but more so because he is such a great person and one of the finest people I’ve ever coached.“It’s probably glossed over too much that this fall is the first timehas played extended minutes in nearly two years. He suffered a foot injury during his senior season at Blair Academy and only played in two games and only appeared in eight games last season at Virginia.Jabri, who was ranked as one of the nation’s top-40 prospects in the Class of 2020, showed signs of returning to form in three early-December outings.Abdur-Rahim exploded for a career-high 20 points against Wofford and followed that with a 15 and 10-point showings versus No. 18 Memphis and Jacksonville, respectively. Equally impressive as the totals was the efficiency in which he scored.In those three games, Abdur-Rahim scored more points, connected on more shots and upped his shooting percentages by massive amounts over his 14 previous career outings.secured his 400th career victory with Georgia’s upset of No. 18 Memphis on December 1.Prior to arriving in Athens, Crean compiled 366 W’s in his first 18 campaigns as a collegiate head coach. He earned the first 190 in nine seasons at Marquette from 1998-2008 and added 166 more at Indiana between 2008-17 before arriving in Athens and securing the final 44 of his 400.No. 1 – Nov. 20, 1999 – Marquette defeats Chicago State, 62-43, in’s first game as a collegiate head coach.No. 100 – March 6, 2004 – A three-point play with .8 of a second left lifts Marquette over No. 25 Louisville, 81-80.No. 200 – Dec. 8, 2009 – Indiana knocks off Pittsburgh, 74-64, in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.No. 250 – Nov. 20, 2012 – A day after beating Georgia, 66-53, in the first round, IU tops Georgetown, 82-72, to win the Progressive Legends Classic.No. 300 – Dec. 20, 2014 – Indiana tops No. 23 Butler, 82-73, as Yogi Ferrell became IU’s 48th 1,000-point scorer.No. 400 – Dec. 1, 2021 –24-point outburst paces UGA in an 82-79 upset of No. 18 Memphis.Freshmanstarted at point guard against No. 18 Memphis for, who was out of action due to an illness. That task was taller considering the Tigers entered the game forcing an average of 18.0 turnovers per game.While Wright’s career-high totals of 17 points, six boards and 38 minutes tallies drew significant attention, his turnover tally – a meager one TO – was the most significant digit in his linescore. And he did so logging the most PT of any Bulldog in any game this season to date.Also of note, Wright drew seven fouls, including two on the offensive end, and converted on 6-of-7 free throw attempts.has emphatically made his way in the top-10 plays on ESPN’s SportsCenter twice this season.On Nov. 16, Oquendo came in at No. 3 on SportsCenter’s top-10 plays after his third highlight reel effort against S.C. State. He stole the ball at midcourt and windmilled home an uncontested dunk.A posterized effort on Nov. 23 was tabbed No. 6. Oquendo, who’s 6-4, gathered a steal in Northwestern’s lane and drove the length of the floor before a thunderous dunk over a 6-9 Wildcat.If you want to rate Oquendo’s SportsCenter dunks, you can find the S.C. State slam at gado.gs/kariosctop1116 and the Northwestern effort at gado.gs/kariosc1123.blew past the 1,000-point career scoring mark on Nov. 16 against South Carolina State.The “super senior” was eight points shy of entering the game and inched past the milestone with 2:21 left in the first half. He finished with 22 points, three off his career high versus Indiana State on Jan. 24, 2018.Cook scored 845 points at Southern Illinois from 2016-20 and added 127 points during Gonzaga’s en route to their NCAA runner-up finish last season.Cook was presented the game ball from the S.C. State game in a ceremony prior to the George Mason game that featured his mother, Regina, and brother, Anthony.andare among the top JUCO transfers expected to make the biggest marks this season.On August 25, bustingbrackets.com ranked the top-25 junior college players moving to the “high-major” level. Ridgnal was tabbed No. 2 on that ledger, while Oquendo was ranked No. 23.On Nov. 1, college basketball guru Jon Rothstein tabbed his top-10 “JUCOs to watch,” an unranked list that also included Ridgnal.arrived in Athens having already participated in 133 games. Cook logged action in 103 contests in four seasons at Southern Illinois and played in 30 contests last season at Gonzaga.As a point of reference for Georgia’s record for career games played is 133 contests by Marcus Thornton from 2011-15. Thornton’s tally covers five seasons, including a redshirt season when he logged nine GPs.Cook’s was the third-most experienced player game wise in D-I entering this season.The phrase “defense travels” is a well-known in the sports world.The slogan “experience has traveled” may become a more appropriate for the 2021-22 Georgia Bulldogs.Georgia’s lineup is anchored by five D-I transfers, sixth-year “super seniors"and, graduate transfer seniorsandand sophomoreThat quintet has accounted more than 60 percent of Georgia’s points and assists and the majority of its production in every stat.Of the 10 newcomers on the Bulldogs’ roster seven are transfers – five D-I players (and) and a pair from the junior college ranks (and).Those players arrived in Athens having already scored 4,782 points at their previous schools, the largest addition of scoring by any D-I program this season as outlined below.In their previous stops, the D-I quintet of the group also logged 8813 minutes in 404 games played, while grabbing 1283 rebounds, dishing 643 assists, swatting 116 blocks and collecting 304 steals.While Georgia welcomed a huge influx of college scoring from its newcomers, the Bulldogs returned a minuscule portion of their scoring from last season.Minus, the four returning Bulldogs accounted for only 1110 of Georgia’s 2014 points a year ago, or 5.5 percent. Walk-onis the top returning point producer with 47 points.You may notice on Georgia’s roster that the Bulldogs have gone away from listing traditional positions – guard, forward and center. All 15 players are now simply listed as “B” for “Basketball Player.“is a proponent for “position-less basketball.““That’s what they are,” Crean said. “It’s not valid to call them centers and power forwards and things like that as much with the way that we’re trying to play. They’re being trained as basketball players, every day… in the sense of how we train with the ball handling, the driving, the shooting – all those type of things. That’s big to me.“Georgia has certainly been keeping scoreboard operators busy sincearrived in Athens in 2018.The Bulldogs reached the 90-point plateau 15 times in 90 games during Crean’s first three seasons. That’s a relatively healthy 16.7 percent of the team’s total contests.By comparison, Georgia scored 90 or more points just 15 times in 387 games before Crean’s arrival, or .038 percent of the outings in a span that dates back a dozen seasons to the 2006-07 campaign.The big numbers by the Bulldogs aren’t just a single-game thing.In three seasons under Crean, the Bulldogs have averaged two of their top-5 scoring outputs of the 2000s.