ATHENS — Kirby Smart has no drawback placing the warmth on his gamers, however Mother Nature can be taking good care of that on Saturday.
A warmth index of roughly 100 levels is forecasted for the three p.m. kickoff time of Georgia’s season-opening game in opposition to Tennessee State at Sanford Stadium.
“Our kids are ready to go play and excited to go play and enjoying the heat,” Smart stated on the SEC coaches teleconference on Wednesday.
“We’ve been in record temperatures and the last five to seven days have ben really hot. It looks like it’s gonna be that way Saturday, so we’re excited to see our fans turn out and get to play and compete in it.”
Elijah Griffin, a 305-pound sophomore defensive deal with anticipated to make his first begin, stated it’s a matter of preparation.
“It’s preparing yourself for hot conditions,” Griffin stated. “Obviously, you’ve got to hydrate, you’ve got to eat right, sleep right. There’s a lot of factors that go into it.
“I know this weekend’s supposed to be hot, so you know we’re ready for it. We scrimmaged in it during fall camp, so we’re ready for it.”
Georgia junior operating again Chauncey Bowens had a lion’s share of the carries in a lot of the scrimmage motion, and he, too, feels Georgia is ready for the hot situations.
(*5*) Bowens stated. “We do that on purpose, to be able to train our bodies to go out an play in what we’re going to play in this weekend.
“That’s why we just stay outside and try not to be in the indoor (football facility), especially when we know we have games like this coming.”
Smart didn’t say it, however the actuality is with Georgia being a 46.5-point favourite, if things go as analysts anticipate, the Bulldogs could have the posh of substituting freely to preserve gamers recent.
Or extra probably, Smart could make substitutions to give second- and third-team gamers the chance to achieve priceless game-day enjoying expertise.
Things to know for Saturday’s Tennessee State at Georgia Game
When: 3 p.m.
Where: Sanford Stadium, Athens, Ga.
Rankings and data: Georgia, No. 3 in AP Top 25 Poll. Georgia, No. 6 in Sagarin laptop rankings; Tennessee State No. 224 (of 266) in Sagarin laptop rankings.
TV/radio: SEC Network Plus dwell stream; Georgia Bulldogs Sports Network radio; Sirius XM 180 or 230.
Weather: Mostly sunny with a excessive of 97 and a warmth index of over 100 levels, probability of remoted showers or thunderstorms (20 to 24 p.c) after 2 p.m.
Series: First assembly.
Last outing: Georgia misplaced within the CFP Sugar Bowl quarterfinal to Ole Miss, 39-34, to conclude the 2025-26 season. Tennessee State opened this season on Saturday with a 26-24 loss to Jackson State at FirstFinancial institution Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
Betting line: Georgia is a 46.5-point favourite
Georgia 5 things to Know:
1. The Bulldogs open the season with one of the best report within the FBS ranks since 2021 at 65-7, a run that features back-to-back nationwide titles (2021-2022) and three SEC championships (2022, 2024, 2025). Ohio State, at 59-10, and the Buckeyes are the one different program to win 11 video games or extra every season courting again to 2021.
Kirby Smart is 25-11 in one-score video games and 40-17 in opposition to Top 25 groups and has a mean recruiting class rank of three.1.
2. Georgia returns seven starters on protection, however it’s value noting that among the new potential starters include sophomore DT Elijah Griffin (former 5-star), junior LB Justin Williams (former 5-star), Clemson switch DB Khalil Barnes (30 profession begins) and junior linebacker Chris Cole (former 5-star).
3. The Bulldogs have a number of returning game captains on the 2026 crew, together with Drew Bobo, Earnest Greene lll, KJ Bolden, Raylen Wilson, Gunner Stockton, Jordan Hall, Gabe Harris Jr., Quintavius Johnson, London Humphreys, and Lawson Luckie.
4. Georgia offensive deal with Earnest Greene lll has probably the most profession begins (32) on the crew, however the two Georgia gamers with the following most are each transfers, with Barnes beginning 30 at Clemson, and receiver Isiah Canion with 22 begins below his belt at Georgia Tech
5. Smart has appeared for this UGA crew to be extra explosive, so with that in thoughts, the longest landing run on Smart’s 10-year head teaching period was an 83-yard TD sprint by D’Andre Swift at then-No. 9 Kentucky in 2018, and the longest TD cross was a Stetson Bennett completion to Brock Bowers that went for 89 yards in Bennett’s first begin of the 2021 season in opposition to UAB.