Georgia Bulldogs Mascot Uga Will Not Travel To Austin For Texas Longhorns Matchup

Lindsey Plotkin | Oct 18, 2024

Oct 12, 2024; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs mascot UGA XI shown on the field during the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

For anyone hoping for a redo of what happened the last time Uga met Bevo, they will be sorely disappointed. The last time the Texas Longhorns and Georgia Bulldogs faced off was in 2019 at the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and before the game, the mascots stole the show.

For one of the biggest matchups of the year, only one of the famous live mascots will be there to partake in all of the festivities, including ESPN's College Gameday with celebrity guest picker, world No. 1 golfer and Texas Ex Scottie Scheffler.

This year, due to UGA XI being just two years old, he will not be making the trip from his home in Savannah, Georgia to Austin. Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald first reported the news, stating that the trip is just too far for the young dog and his handler.

His handler and owner, Charles Seiler told Weiszer that the trip is not only difficult on the dog, but on Seiler as well. For Seiler to travel with UGA, he would have to first make the five-hour drive from Savannah to Athens to then fly with the Georgia Football team to Austin.

Seiler told Weiszer that all of this would just be too much. Now 64, Seiler also said that his wife is no longer as supportive of his long travel days with UGA, as due to his age, he tires faster. Flying commercial is not an option because UGA would have to fly in the cargo hold, something that could put the beloved bulldog at risk.

He would have no problem with UGA meeting Bevo, the famous Texas Longhorn, but does not want the travel to take a toll on himself or the young dog.

"My dog grew up on a cotton farm in Moultrie, Georgia, and they have Longhorn steers," Seiler said to Weiszer. "They have a big fence between the bulldogs and the steers and my breeder will get week old bread and dump it out along the fence line and the bulldogs run over and try to eat as much as they can and the cows are sitting eating as much as they want. My dogs are used to cows. So we had no problem."