A roller coaster year Where students stand on Georgia’s up and down season so far
Georgia football has had nothing short of an unpredictable season. From beating the formerly No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns in Austin, to a gut-wrenching loss at Ole Miss just weeks later, fans have had their fair share of emotional games this year.
The Bulldogs started the season hot, drilling previously No. 14 ranked Clemson into the ground with a 34-3 victory. Tennessee Tech rolled around the week after, and just like that, Georgia jumped out to a 2-0 start. Then the Bulldogs traveled to Kentucky, and the season took a turn for the worse. Despite pulling out a 13-12 win, Georgia struggled immensely with Carson Beck going 15 for 24 for just 160 yards and receivers dropping ball after ball — a trend that has carried throughout the season.
Struggling momentum carried into Alabama, as Georgia dropped its first game of the season to the Crimson Tide.
Jalen Milroe torched Georgia’s defense, finishing the night with 491 total yards and four touchdowns, while freshman sensation Ryan Williams notched six receptions for 177 yards and a score. Despite a furious comeback attempt, the Bulldogs’ self inflicted wounds were too much to overcome, ultimately falling 41-34.
“The loss to Alabama I feel like was a wake up call,” Harrison Hastings, a junior advertising major, said. “It was like wow we just got smacked in the face, what even happened? How are we supposed to win a national championship when we can’t even catch the ball?”
Georgia rebounded following its first loss though, securing a 31-13 homecoming win against Auburn after the
bye week in the “Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.” It wasn’t perfect, but the Bulldogs buckled down as Trevor Etienne finished with 16 touches for 88 yards and two scores to secure the win.
Mississippi State visited Athens the following Saturday for an unexpected offensive shootout between Beck and Michael Van Buren Jr. Georgia’s secondary struggled against the freshman quarterback, allowing over 300 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Despite the secondary struggling, Beck’s 459 yards and three scores was enough to lift Georgia over Mississippi State.
How are we supposed to win a national championship when we can’t even catch the ball?
HASTINGS | JUNIOR ADVERTISING STUDENT
HARRISON
Then-No. 1 Texas played host the following week, expecting to make a statement win in its first true SEC matchup. What ensued, though, was a clobbering led by the Georgia defense. Jalon Walker wreaked havoc on Texas’ quarterbacks all night with three sacks and a fumble recovery as
Georgia cruised to a 30-15 win, seemingly back on top of the SEC again.
“I think we are a national championship team and I’d be lying if I said we weren’t,” Diego Palko, a senior journalism major, said. “Our coaching staff and talent will take us far, no matter how poor we are playing as a team. [The offense] didn’t necessarily have a great game against Texas, but we still won by double digits, which I think speaks to how this team, and this defense, is able to find ways to win.” Being on top of the most competitive football conference doesn’t last long though, as Kirby Smart knows all too well.
After beating Florida 34-20 in a back and forth showdown following the second bye week, Georgia traveled to Oxford, Mississippi to take on the then-No. 16 Rebels. Ole Miss put a thrashing on the Bulldogs, holding the Georgia offense to just 10 points and forcing three turnovers en route to a 28-10 victory.
Finally, after 34 days away from Sanford Stadium and another loss, the Bulldogs returned home to a warm welcome from College Gameday and SEC Nation for a prime time matchup with Tennessee. Beck got back on track with 346 yards and three touchdowns as the Bulldogs pulled away in the second half to come away with a 31-17 win over the Volunteers.
Now, Georgia looks to win out the rest of its season in hopes of securing a spot among the final 12 teams selected for the College Football Playoffs.
“I think Beck finally played the way he should have been,” Sam Hardin, a senior communications major, said. “But recently, I think everyone needs to step up and I think we did that last night playing Tennessee.”
The
PHOTO/LANEY MARTIN
Andy Mathis
run onto the
Earnest
On the clock Bulldogs face Minutemen between the hedges
Ansley Gavlak
Georgia continues its home-game stretch with a matchup against the University of Massachusetts on Saturday.
Georgia’s grueling schedule has finally come to a halt after a 31-17 win over Tennessee at home last weekend. All that’s left of Georgia’s schedule are home games against UMass on Saturday and in-state rival Georgia Tech on Nov. 29.
Georgia enters Saturday’s game 8-2, fresh off one of its toughest games of the season, while UMass sits 2-8 on the season, coming off a heartbreaking 35-34 overtime loss against Liberty. UMass has yet to win against an SEC team in the program’s history.
The Bulldogs should not have any trouble blowing out the Minutemen — in fact, UMass should give Georgia a break after enduring one of the toughest schedules in college football. On the flip side, this will be UMass’ most challenging matchup all season.
Umass has played five away games this season, and it has yet to win any of them. To make matters even worse, its starting quarterback Taisun Phommachanh suffered a season-ending injury against Mississippi State on Nov. 2. In addition to throwing for 1,590 yards, Phommachanh was one of UMass’ top rushers, with 317 yards and three touchdowns. Without Phommachanh, both true freshmen AJ Hairston and Ahmad Haston filled in for the Minutemen against
Liberty. Hairston threw for 163 yards and no touchdowns, while Haston rushed for 62 yards and a touchdown. Neither Hairston nor Haston have much experience on a collegiate field and certainly not against a top-25 SEC team.
Though Carson Beck has struggled throughout the course of the year, this is a matchup that he should shine in after regaining his confidence in the win over Tennessee — where he passed for 347 yards and accounted for three touchdowns. A struggling Bulldog offensive line will also be given a break this weekend and should not have any issue protecting Beck, allowing him plenty of time to make plays.
Sophomore CJ Hester is likely to make a lot of plays on the ground for UMass, as he’s totaled 81 carries for 349 yards and two touchdowns this season.
Senior Jakobie Keeney-James has also been an asset for the Minutemen this season through the air with 36 receptions for 595 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 16.5 yards per touch, and will likely be Hairston’s go-to guy when the opportunity is there.
However, Hairston’s opportunities will likely be limited considering Georgia’s defense and UMass’ lack of ability to block to protect its quarterback. In total, UMass has taken 26 sacks this season for a loss of 145 yards.
Georgia ranks 13th in the nation in total defense, giving UMass a challenging run for its money. The only game this season that the Minutemen have played against this level of defense was against Missouri, where they lost 45-3 and were limited to 237 yards on offense.
Saturday’s matchup will be far from Georgia’s most exciting battle of the year, but it will be an opportunity to get back in the win column after two heartbreaking losses and one of its most turbulent seasons in a long time.
Score Prediction: Georgia 49, UMass 3
FAST FACTS
X The University of Massachusetts has yet to win against an SEC team in the program’s history
X In Georgia’s game against Tennessee, quarterback Carson Beck threw for 347 yards and accounted for three total touchdowns
X UMass has taken 26 sacks this season. Georgia has sacked a quarterback 26 times.
X The last time Georgia played UMass in 2018, the Bulldogs won 66-27.
Georgia football players Jared Wilson (55) and
Greene III (71)
field during the Aflac Kickoff Game between Georgia and Clemson at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. Georgia won 34-3. PHOTO/LANEY MARTIN
NUMBERS TO KNOW: Week 13
#1
Georgia running back Trevor Etienne
Although Etienne didn’t start against Tennessee, we might see him return to the field this Saturday against the Minutemen. The Bulldogs should take advantage of a UMass defense that’s allowing 193.3 rushing yards per game. Etienne has had flashes throughout the season, looking like a dominant lead back that Georgia is accustomed to having. Georgia should call his number frequently to help him get back on track and build some momentum before Georgia Tech.
UMass defensive end Kofi Asare
Asare has racked up four pressures, two sacks and two hurries over the past two games. The recipe for nixing Georgia’s passing game is not extensive or complex: pressure Carson Beck. In the three games that the Bulldog offensive line allowed 10 or more pressures, Beck threw seven interceptions and completed just 58.2% of his passes. The UMass edge rusher has recorded nine quarterback hurries, two sacks and a team-high 12 pressures on the year, so he may be the Minutemen’s best shot at affecting Beck’s composure.
Georgia offensive tackle Earnest Greene III
#94
The man tasked with staying in between Asare and Beck will be Greene, the left tackle. Greene has fallen short of expectations this season, allowing a team-high 16 pressures, which ranks 13th-worst among SEC offensive linemen, and he especially stumbled against the elite defensive fronts of Texas and Ole Miss. Georgia will need him to keep Beck clean and unaffected to ensure a seamless, successful operation against UMass.
UMass wide receiver Jakobie Keeney-James Keeney-James has been a silver lining in the heart of an offense that is averaging just 14.7 points per game, the fourth-lowest in the FBS. The graduate transfer from Eastern Washington has 595 receiving yards this season — more than twice as much as the next closest receiver. If the Minutemen want any chance of reversing the “guarantee game” on Georgia, they will need a revolutionary showing from Keeney-James.
Georgia outside linebacker Chaz Chambliss
#32
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#11
Chaz Chambliss has quietly had an exceptional season. Although the Bulldogs don’t normally use him on traditional “pass rush downs” like third-and-long, his 3.5 sacks trail only Jalon Walker for the team lead, and he has already eclipsed his career high. His improved pass rush ability and UMass’ 14th-worst 3.4 sacks allowed per game could spell a pre-Thanksgiving feast for Chambliss in the opposing backfield.
UMass offensive guard Ethan Mottinger
Georgia’s defensive tackles are technical and talented enough to completely shut down an opponent’s inside run game. UMass can’t afford for that to happen, as it will likely need its entire playbook available in order to hang with the Bulldogs. It will be up to Mottinger and the Minutemen interior offensive line to hold its ground, fulfill its assignments and open up running lanes.
CORRECTIONS
By Owen McDaniel
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck runs in the end zone for a touchdown during the Georgia vs. Tennessee game at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. Georgia won 31-17. PHOTO/LANEY MARTIN
Dan the man
Former walk-on safety Dan Jackson leaving his mark at Georgia
Dan Jackson has been a Georgia Bulldog since the very beginning.
He grew up the son of a die-hard Bulldogs fan, and the family frequently made the drive from Gainesville, Georgia to Athens for home games. He and his brothers spent countless hours outside throwing a football and dreaming of one day suiting up in red and black. Now, against all odds, he’s living the dream.
Jackson arrived at Georgia in 2019 as a walk-on before redshirting his first year and spending his second season on the scout team. He took his lumps in the background for a few years, and his first taste of in-game action included an interception in the 2021 G-Day game. In fall 2021, he came out of nowhere.
The walk-on got his opportunity to be part of one of the greatest defenses in college football history and immediately proved that he belonged. Jackson blocked a punt for a touchdown in Georgia’s blowout win over Arkansas and followed that up by leading the team in tackles against Auburn.
Jackson was poised for a big 2022 season. He changed his jersey number from 47 to a sleeker 17 and recorded his first career interception against South Carolina. However, his season was cut short after seven games due to a foot injury. Jackson returned in 2023 to a more limited role. He re -
corded 20 tackles and an interception in 11 games. Before 2024, Jackson was granted an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic and returned for his fifth season. This year, he’s more than a “depth piece.” He’s one of the defense’s most important players.
So far in 2024, Jackson has recorded a career-high 47 tackles, two interceptions and three pass deflections. He’s come up big for Georgia in some of its most pivotal games, where other players on the defense have struggled. Jackson led the team in tackles against Alabama, recorded an interception against Ole Miss and blocked a field goal against Auburn. In a year where tackling has been an issue for Georgia at times, Jackson has been as dependable as they come.
“This is one of the greatest stories of college football that nobody talks about,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “I mean, the guy didn’t walk on until we called him. He got in school here and said, ‘Hey, coach, I would like to play football at Georgia.’ Like, we didn’t recruit him … This guy showed up at our doorstep, and as a starter, as a competitor, and [he’s] blocking field goals. He didn’t have to come back this year. He came back because he loves this place.”
Jackson’s experience and veteran leadership are needed now more than ever. The Bulldogs’ playoff hopes took a hit after a deflating loss to Ole Miss, but a win over Tennessee on Saturday put them back in the mix. These late-Novem-
I knew this was my best chance to play, and another thing for me is I wanted to learn from the best coaching staff that I possibly could. So that’s why I came here.
DAN JACKSON | SAFETY
ber games are when you need your “program guys” to step up and show the way for the rest of the team.
“I knew that this was the best opportunity for me because I didn’t have many other opportunities,” Jackson said. “I knew this was my best chance to play, and another thing for me is I wanted to learn from the best coaching staff that I possibly could. So that’s why I came here. So I think players need to look at that and look at the type of player they want to be developed by, and their end result, rather than playing time.”
Bo Underwood
Georgia safety Dan Jackson (17) tackles a player during the Georgia vs. Clemson game on Saturday,
Aug. 31, 2024 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia won 34-3.
PHOTO/LANEY MARTIN
Georgia safety Dan Jackson (17) runs the field during the Georgia vs. Auburn game on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. Georgia won 31-13.
PHOTO/SAMANTHA HURLEY
Olivia Sayer
Each year, college football’s elitists pay smaller schools a large sum of money to visit their stadiums. And each year, these smaller schools agree, despite often getting blown out by the more well-known team.
So, why do schools agree to participate in a glorified scrimmage for larger teams, and in turn, why do larger universities pay so much money for them to do so? The answer lies in the ever changing business side of collegiate athletics.
“Guarantee games” are matchups with no return date that involve a large school paying a small school to play it. On Saturday, Georgia will be paying the University of Massachusetts $1.9 million to face it at 12:45 p.m. in Sanford Stadium. This comes after the Bulldogs paid Tennessee Tech over a half a million dollars earlier in the season. Funding the department
The primary reason smaller schools engage in these transactions is simple — they need them in order to fund their athletic departments.
There will be over 60 guarantee games played between FBS teams in 2024, according to the Associated Press. These games will have a payout of roughly $75 million.
In Week 1 alone, Alabama, Michigan, Texas and South Carolina all participated in guarantee games, dishing out over $7 million to smaller schools. Western Kentucky, who earned almost $2 million with a 63-point loss to the Crimson Tide, generated just $15 million during the fiscal year 2023 before subsidies from the university.
“If we didn’t play this game, and our football budget had $1.9 million less, our program would look very different,” Western Kentucky athletic director Todd Stewart told Front Office Sports.
Although it is not the driving factor, playing in guarantee games also gives under-the-radar players a chance to be seen. UMass came to Sanford Stadium in 2018 as a part of a deal that gave it $1.5 million to play the Bulldogs. Despite leaving with a 66-27 loss, UMass wideout Andy Isabella set a record for catches by an opponent at Sanford Stadium with 15 for 219 yards and two touchdowns. The Arizona Cardinals later drafted him in the 2019 NFL Draft.
“It’s the reason he gets drafted in the second round,” UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford told The Boston Globe. “He burned three [defensive] backs who went in the first three rounds.”
Still making money
Despite cutting checks with multiple zeros on them, larger universities actually generate revenue from guarantee games. The matchup gives the schools another home game, which brings in money through alternative channels.
Beginning in 2025, the cost of a Georgia football season ticket will be $560, which evens out to $80 per game. This is on-top of a donation required to even earn the right to purchase season tickets.
Guarantee games allow bigger schools to earn additional
season ticket money, due to the added home game, along with profiting from parking, concessions and merchandising sales. It also allows the university to sell more advertisements or charge more for them due to the additional viewing time a home game creates. Hosting a guarantee game also gives teams a better chance at reaching the six-win threshold required for becoming bowl eligible. In the newly expanded 12-team playoff format, it gives most teams — with exceptions such as Notre Dame, who paid Northern Illinois $1.4 million to
it — an easy win. Georgia will begin its 2025 season with a guarantee game against Marshall, who replaced UCLA on its schedule after the expansion of multiple conferences. Georgia will pay Marshall $1.7 million, as the two FBS teams keep the business of college football alive.
