For better or worse, 2020 is a season of 'first time since' for Georgia football
Georgia football is doing a lot of things for the first time and the season hasn't even begun yet. Thanks to COVID-19, all of college football has needed to adjust. Some of these changes see the Georgia Bulldogs doing some things the program hasn't done in several decades.
First season without Uga since 1955
For 64 years, the Uga lineage has graced the sidelines of Sanford Stadium and select games away from home. But that tradition takes a hiatus in 2020 thanks to COVID-19 and a mandate by the NCAA and SEC banning live mascots from attending college football games.
Georgia's last season without an Uga (not counting the year's Russ spent as the mascot before becoming Uga IX) was the disappointing 1955 season. Georgia finished 4-6 overall and 2-5 in the SEC. The Bulldogs never won more than two games consecutively that year and ended the season on a three-game losing skid.
First Cocktail Party two weekends after Halloween since 1991
"The World's Largest Cocktail Party" and Halloween weekend. Two things that go together so well, it's hard to believe the game was ever played on a different weekend. Yet, the last Georgia/Florida game played away from Halloween weekend wasn't that long ago.
The 1991 edition of the Cocktail Party took place on November 9, two weekends after Halloween. The epic, neutral-site contest didn't become a Halloween tradition until 1992 when the SEC shook up the schedule following the addition of Arkansas and South Carolina to the conference.
First season without playing Georgia Tech since 1924
Georgia and Georgia Tech is called "Clean, Old Fashioned Hate" for a reason. No matter how bad or how good one team is for a prolonged period of time, talks of canceling the rivalry never go beyond the "water-cooler talk" level. The in-state rivals separated by just over an hour have to play each other. It's the way it's always been. Almost...
Georgia and Georgia Tech actually didn't play at all between 1917-and-1924. Georgia put its program on hiatus in 1917 and 1918 during World War I and didn't resume the rivalry until 1925. Tech won the first matchup in the resumed rivalry 3-0, but Georgia avenged the loss with a 14-13 win in 1926.
First Auburn game outside of November since 1930
Another rivalry that has been a constant longer than most Georgia fans today have been alive is the traditional date of the "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry." In a refreshing change of pace, this change has nothing to do with COVID-19. Instead, Auburn moves to the front-half of Georgia's schedule after protesting the SEC to add more weeks between the Tigers' games with Georgia and Alabama.
To find the last time Georgia and Auburn played a regular-season game outside of November, you'll have to go back to 1930. Back then, the rivalry was held in Columbus, Ga. and was the more important of Georgia's two neutral-site rivalries. The Bulldogs dominated the 1930 contest by winning 39-7, on route to a 7-2-1 final record.
First late-September start to a season since 1967
We all know the drill. Once college football seasons ends, we all look forward to late August/early September for the sports' triumphant return. But over 50 years ago, the wait for college football season was about a month longer.
In 1967, Georgia opened its season with a 30-0 win over Mississippi State on September 23. The Bulldogs ended the season 7-4, but the year is most known for being bookended by two SEC Championship years in 1966 and 1968.
Fans in Attendance
The University of Georgia announced they'd allow a max capacity of 20-25% of the stadium inside for games this season. Which variest from about 18,000 to 25,000 fans for home games this season. When Sanford Stadium was built in 1929 it had a maximum capacity of 30,000 fans, and to find a game in which they didn't pack the house is almost impossible.
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