ATHENS – It’s more than a century in the making – Georgia’s 2029 season will be the earliest kickoff for the program in 137 years.
That’s right, Georgia’s August 25th kickoff in a couple years is the earliest the program has started a season since Georgia’s 1892 slate began with a win over Mercer on January 30 that year. The Dawgs’ 50-0 win that day was the first game in UGA football history. Georgia played only two games that season.
The move comes after the NCAA changed the college football calendar to begin two Saturdays before Labor Day, and conclude the Saturday after Thanksgiving. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey told Dawg Post he is in favor of a uniform start to the college football calendar, which is possible due to the NCAA’s adjustment to the calendar.
“I’m not familiar with a professional league, amateur league or Little League down the road that has all kinds of different teams starting on different dates,” Sankey told Dawg Post. “It’s, Opening Day for a reason. We should have a common start date, and there should be a few exceptions.”
The Dawgs are set to take on the Akron Zips for the first time ever in the 2029 opener. FBSchedules.com first reported the UGA-Akron agreement. The Athens Banner-Herald further reported some of the details of the agreement, which includes 3,000 tickets the Zips can sell, and another 900 complementary tickets for the MAC program.
Georgia has two other out-of-conference games currently scheduled to be played in 2029. The Dawgs are slated to play at Georgia Tech and at Clemson that fall. But in May, UGA AD Josh Brooks indicated the Clemson game could be changed.
The Bulldogs have only played 11 games in August in school history, including a win over No. 14 Clemson to start the 2024 season, and a 45-7 win over Marshall last year.
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