2020 Georgia Bulldogs football team

The 2020 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the University of Georgia in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs played their home games at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia and were led by fifth-year head coach Kirby Smart. For the first time since 2016, the Bulldogs did not win the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), finishing second behind rival Florida.

2020 Georgia Bulldogs football
Peach Bowl champion
Peach Bowl, W 24–21 vs. Cincinnati
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Eastern Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 7
Record	8–2 (7–2 SEC)
Head coach	Kirby Smart (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Todd Monken (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro Spread
Defensive coordinator	Dan Lanning (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Glenn Schumann (2nd season)
Home stadium	Sanford Stadium (Capacity: 92,746)
Uniform
Seasons ← 2019 2021 →

2020 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 13 Florida x		8	–	2					8	–	4
No. 7 Georgia		7	–	2					8	–	2
Missouri		5	–	5					5	–	5
Kentucky		4	–	6					5	–	6
Tennessee		3	–	7					3	–	7
South Carolina		2	–	8					2	–	8
Vanderbilt		0	–	9					0	–	9
West Division
No. 1 Alabama x$#^		10	–	0					13	–	0
No. 4 Texas A&M		8	–	1					9	–	1
Auburn		6	–	4					6	–	5
LSU*		5	–	5					5	–	5
Ole Miss		4	–	5					5	–	5
Arkansas		3	–	7					3	–	7
Mississippi State		3	–	7					4	–	7
Championship: Alabama 52, Florida 46
# – College Football Playoff champion ^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions * – ineligible for postseason due to self imposed ban Note: Due to COVID-19, the SEC played a conference-only schedule. Rankings from AP Poll.

Preseason

SEC Media Days

In the preseason media poll, Georgia was predicted to finish in second in the East Division behind Florida. Georgia received the second-most votes (tied with LSU) to win the SEC Championship Game.^[1]

Recruiting

Georgia's 2020 college football recruiting class was rated as the best in the country by Rivals.com, 247Sports, and On3. Highly-rated recruits included cornerback Kelee Ringo, defensive tackle Jalen Carter, offensive tackle Broderick Jones and Tate Ratlege, linebacker Mekhail Sherman, and tight end Darnell Washington.

Schedule

Georgia announced its 2020 football schedule on August 7, 2019.

The Bulldogs had games scheduled against East Tennessee State, Georgia Tech, Louisiana–Monroe and Virginia, which were all canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2][3][4] This was the first season since 1924 that the Bulldogs did not play Georgia Tech.^[5]

Georgia played two additional SEC West opponents this season: Arkansas and Mississippi State.^[5] The game scheduled against SEC East opponent Vanderbilt was postponed and eventually canceled.^[6]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 26	4:00 p.m.	at Arkansas	No. 4	Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	SECN	W 37–10	16,500
October 3	7:30 p.m.	No. 7 Auburn	No. 4	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (College GameDay / Deep South's Oldest Rivalry)	ESPN	W 27–6	20,524
October 10	3:30 p.m.	No. 14 Tennessee	No. 3	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (rivalry)	CBS	W 44–21	20,524
October 17	8:00 p.m.	at No. 2 Alabama	No. 3	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (College GameDay / rivalry)	CBS	L 24–41	19,424
October 31	12:00 p.m.	at Kentucky	No. 5	Kroger Field Lexington, KY	SECN	W 14–3	12,000
November 7	3:30 p.m.	vs. No. 8 Florida	No. 5	TIAA Bank Field Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	CBS	L 28–44	19,210
November 21	7:30 p.m.	Mississippi State	No. 13	Sanford Stadium Athens, Georgia	SECN	W 31–24	20,524
November 28	7:30 p.m.	at South Carolina	No. 9	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (rivalry)	SECN	W 45–16	16,444
December 12	12:00 p.m.	at No. 25 Missouri	No. 9	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	SECN	W 49–14	10,830
January 1	12:00 p.m.	vs. No. 8 Cincinnati*	No. 9	Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta, GA (Peach Bowl)	ESPN	W 24–21	15,301
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 24) released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

Schedule Source:^[6]

Roster

2020 Georgia Bulldogs football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class TE 0 Darnell Washington Fr WR 1 George Pickens So RB 3 Zamir White   So RB 4 James Cook Jr WR 5 Matt Landers   Jr RB 6 Kenny McIntosh So WR 7 Jermaine Burton Fr WR 8 Dominick Blaylock So WR 10 Kearis Jackson   So WR 11 Arian Smith Fr WR 12 Tommy Bush   So QB 13 Stetson Bennett Jr WR 14 Trey Blount Jr QB 15 Carson Beck Fr WR 16 Demetris Robertson Sr WR 17 Justin Robinson Fr QB 18 JT Daniels   So TE 18 Brett Seither   Fr RB 20 Sevaughn Clark   Fr RB 22 Kendall Milton Fr WR 23 Jaylen Johnson   So QB 24 Nathan Priestley   Fr QB 26 Jackson Muschamp Fr QB 27 Austin Kirksey   Fr WR 31 Reid Tulowitzky Jr RB 33 Daijun Edwards Fr RB 36 Garrett Jones   So WR 37 Patrick Bond   So WR 38 Brady Tindall Jr RB 39 K. J. McCoy Jr TE 42 Mitchell Werntz Jr TE 43 Chase Harof Jr TE 44 Michael Hagerty   Fr RB 45 Kirk Knisely Fr WR 46 George Vining   Fr OL 50 Warren Ericson   So OL 51 Tate Ratledge Fr OL 52 Cameron Kinnie Fr OL 54 Justin Shaffer Sr OL 55 Trey Hill Jr OL 57 Daniel Gothard Sr OL 58 Austin Blaske Fr OL 59 Broderick Jones Fr OL 60 Clay Webb   Fr OL 61 Blake Watson   So OL 63 Sedrick Van Pran Fr OL 64 David Vann   Fr OL 66 Dalton Perry Fr OL 68 Chris Brown Fr OL 69 Jamaree Salyer Jr OL 70 Warren McClendon   Fr OL 73 Xaxier Truss   Fr OL 74 Ben Cleveland Sr OL 75 Owen Condon   So OL 76 Miles Johnson Fr OL 77 Devin Willock Fr OL 78 Chad Lindberg Fr OL 79 Weston Wallace Fr WR 81 Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint Fr WR 83 Kaustov Chakrabarti Fr WR 84 Ladd McConkey Fr WR 85 Cameron Moore Jr TE 86 John FitzPatrick   So TE 87 Tre' McKitty GS TE 88 Ryland Goede   Fr WR 89 Braxton Hicks Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 2 Richard LeCounte Sr DB 3 Tyson Campbell Jr LB 4 Nolan Smith So DB 5 Kelee Ringo Fr DB 6 Jalen Kimber Fr DB 7 Tyrique Stevenson So OLB 8 M. J. Sherman Fr DB 9 Ameer Speed Jr DL 10 Malik Herring Sr LB 11 Jermaine Johnson II Sr LB 12 Rian Davis   Fr OLB 13 Azeez Ojulari   So DB 14 D. J. Daniel Sr ILB 15 Trezmen Marshall So DB 16 Lewis Cine So LB 17 Nakobe Dean So LB 19 Adam Anderson Jr DB 20 Major Burns Fr ILB 22 Nate McBride Sr DB 23 Mark Webb Sr DB 24 Prather Hudson GS LB 25 Quay Walker Jr DB 26 Daran Branch Fr DB 27 Eric Stokes Jr DB 29 Christopher Smith Jr LB 30 Tae Crowder Sr DB 31 William Poole Jr ILB 32 Monty Rice Sr OLB 33 Robert Beal Jr. Jr DB 36 Latavious Brini Jr DB 38 Patrick Taylor Fr DB 39 Hugh Nelson   So ILB 41 Channing Tindall Jr LB 42 Matthew Brown   So DB 43 Jehlen Cannady Fr DL 44 Travon Walker So DL 45 Bill Norton   Fr DB 47 Dan Jackson   Fr DL 54 Cade Brock Fr DL 78 Nazir Stackhouse Fr OLB 84 Walter Grant Sr DL 88 Jalen Carter Fr DL 90 Tramel Walthour   So DL 91 Tymon Mitchell   Fr DL 92 Julian Rochester Sr DL 95 Devonte Wyatt Sr DL 96 Zion Logue   Fr DL 97 Warren Brinson Fr DL 99 Jordan Davis Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class LS 47 Payne Walker   So LS 56 William Mote   Fr K/P 90 Jake Camarda Jr P 93 Bill Rubright Jr P 95 Noah Chumley   Fr K 96 Jack Podlesny   So K 97 Brooks Buce Jr K 99 Jared Zirkel Fr	Head coach Kirby Smart Coordinators/assistant coaches Todd Monken – Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks Dan Lanning – Defensive coordinator/outside linebackers Glenn Schumann – Co-defensive coordinator/inside linebackers Scott Cochran – Special teams coordinator Dell McGee – Run game coordinator/running backs Cortez Hankton– Pass game coordinator/wide receivers Tray Scott – Defensive line Matt Luke – Offensive line/assistant head coach Todd Hartley – Tight ends Scott Sinclair – Director, strength and conditioning Rodney Prince – Assistant, strength and conditioning Maurice Sims – Assistant, strength and conditioning Ben Sowders – Assistant, strength and conditioning Tersoo Uhaa – Assistant, strength and conditioning Buster Faulkner – Quality control, offense Jacob Russell – Quality control, offense Duece Schwartz – Quality control, offense Montgomery VanGorder – Quality control, offense Luke Moore – Quality control, defense Roderick Ojong – Quality control, defense Dan O'Brien – Quality control, defense Matt Godwin – Player personnel coordinator Jay Chapman – Director of football management Anna Courson – Assistant, football operations Neyland Raper – Assistant, football operations Jonas Jennings – Director, player development Austin Chambers – Assistant director, player development Mike Cavan – Director of football administration Ann Hunt – Administrative associate to the head coach Christina Harris – Director, recruiting administration Katie Turner – Director, recruiting operations Angela Kirkpatrick – Assistant, recruiting Cameron Lemons – Assistant, recruiting Logen Reed – Assistant, recruiting Bryant Gantt – Director, player support and operations John Meshad – Director, player equipment Jake Stroot – Director, football technology Collier Madaleno – Director, football performance nutrition Meaghan Turcotte – Assistant director, football performance nutrition Greg Meyer – Special teams analyst Eric Black – Co-director, football creative design Chandler Eldridge – Co-director, football creative design Frank Martin – Co-director, football creative design Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt Roster Last update: 9/1/21

Rankings

Further information: 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	4	4*	4	4	4	3	3 (1)	4	5	5	12	13	13	11	12	10	11	7
Coaches	4	4*	4	3T	4	3T	3	4	5	5	11	11	10	10	10	9	9	7
CFP	Not released												9	8	9	8	9	Not released

Game summaries

At Arkansas

See also: 2020 Arkansas Razorbacks football team

Game One – No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs (0–0) at Arkansas Razorbacks (0–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Bulldogs	0	5	22	10	37
Razorbacks	7	0	3	0	10

at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, Arkansas

• Date: Saturday, September 26, 2020
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. CDT
• Game weather: Clear • Temperature: 80 °F (27 °C) • Wind: S 11 mph
• Game attendance: 16,500
• TV announcers (SEC Network): Dave Neal (play-by-play), D. J. Shockley (analyist) and Tera Talmadge (sideline)
• Pregame line: Georgia −28 • Odds to win: Georgia 91.8%

Game information

First quarter (8:48) ARK – Treylon Burks 49 yard pass from Feleipe Franks, A.J. Reed kick (Drive: 7 plays, 91 yards, 2:17; Arkansas 7–0) Second quarter (14:30) UGA – Arkansas fumble through the back of the end zone, safety (Arkansas 7–2) (0:00) UGA – Jack Podlesny 38 yard field goal (Drive: 8 plays, 59 yards, 1:00; Arkansas 7–5) Third quarter (8:23) ARK – A.J. Reed 25 yard field goal (Drive: 11 plays, 43 yards, 4:15; Arkansas 10–5) (6:00) UGA – George Pickens 19 yard pass from Stetson Bennett, 2-point run good (Drive: 6 plays, 57 yards, 2:23; Georgia 13–10) (3:20) UGA – John FitzPatrick 7 yard pass from Stetson Bennett, Jack Podlesny kick (Drive: 4 plays, 24 yards, 1:11; Georgia 20–10) (2:53) UGA – Eric Stokes 30 yard interception return, Jack Podlesny kick (Georgia 27–10) Fourth quarter (11:15) UGA – Zamir White 6 yard rush, Jack Podlesny kick (Drive: 13 plays, 81 yards, 5:38; Georgia 34–10) (1:23) UGA – Jack Podlesny 38 yard field goal (Drive: 6 plays, 22 yards, 2:36; Georgia 37–10)

Statistics	UGA	ARK
First downs	19	15
Plays–yards	89–387	67–280
Rushes–yards	42–121	28–77
Passing yards	266	203
Passing: comp–att–int	28–47–1	20–39–3
Time of possession	35:46	24:14

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Georgia	Passing	Stetson Bennett	20/29, 211 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Zamir White	13 carries, 71 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Kearis Jackson	6 receptions, 62 yards
Arkansas	Passing	Feleipe Franks	19/36, 200 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Trelon Smith	6 carries, 38 yards
	Receiving	Treylon Burks	7 receptions, 102 yards, 1 TD

No. 7 Auburn

See also: 2020 Auburn Tigers football team

Game Two – No. 7 Auburn Tigers (1–0) at No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs (1–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Tigers	0	3	3	0	6
No. 4 Bulldogs	10	14	3	0	27

at Sanford Stadium • Athens, Georgia

• Date: Saturday, October 3, 2020
• Game time: 6:38 p.m. CDT
• Game weather: Fair • Temperature: 64 °F (18 °C) • Wind: 5 mph E
• Game attendance: 20,524
• Referee: James Carter
• TV announcers (ESPN): Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Allison Williams (sideline reporter)
• Pregame line: Georgia −7.5 • Odds to win: Georgia 57.3%

Game information

First quarter (9:31) UGA – Zamir White 1 yd rush, Jack Podlesny kick (Drive: 10 plays, 43 yds, 2:56; Georgia 7–0) (4:00) UGA – Jack Podlesny 21 yd field goal (Drive: 11 plays, 59 yds, 3:56; Georgia 10–0) Second quarter (11:08) UGA – George Pickens 21 yd pass from Stetson Bennett, Jack Podlesny kick (Drive: 11 plays, 84 yds, 5:26; Georgia 17–0) (6:26) UGA – Zamir White 1 yd rush, Jack Podlesny kick (Drive: 6 plays, 72 yds, 3:27; Georgia 24–0) (1:38) AUB – Anders Carlson 20 yd field goal (Drive: 12 plays, 65 yds, 4:40; Georgia 24–3) Third quarter (10:09) AUB – Anders Carlson 45 yd field goal (Drive: 15 plays, 54 yds, 4:46; Georgia 24–6) (5:51) UGA – Jack Podlesny 25 yd field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 67 yds, 4:18; Georgia 27–6) Fourth quarter No scoring

Statistics	AUB	UGA
First downs	15	25
Plays–yards	63–216	73–442
Rushes–yards	22–39	45–202
Passing yards	177	240
Passing: comp–att–int	21–41–1	17–28–0
Time of possession	25:56	34:04

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Auburn	Passing	Bo Nix	21/41, 177 yds, 1 INT
	Rushing	Tank Bigsby	8 carries, 31 yds
	Receiving	Anthony Schwartz	8 receptions, 57 yds
Georgia	Passing	Stetson Bennett	17/28, 240 yds, 1 TD
	Rushing	Zamir White	19 carries, 88 yds, 2 TD
	Receiving	Kearis Jackson	9 receptions, 147 yds

Tennessee

See also: 2020 Tennessee Volunteers football team

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2021 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
1	29	Eric Stokes	CB	Green Bay Packers
2	33	Tyson Campbell	CB	Jacksonville Jaguars
2	50	Azeez Ojulari	OLB	New York Giants
3	92	Monty Rice	ILB	Tennessee Titans
3	94	Ben Cleveland	OG	Baltimore Ravens
3	97	Tre' McKitty	TE	Los Angeles Chargers
5	169	Richard LeCounte	S	Cleveland Browns
6	190	Trey Hill	C	Cincinnati Bengals

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Consecutive season at Georgia in current position
Kirby Smart	Head coach	5th
Todd Monken	Offensive coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach	1st
Matt Luke	Associate head coach / Offensive line coach	1st
Scott Cochran	Special teams coordinator	1st
Dan Lanning	Defensive coordinator/Outside linebackers coach	2nd
Glenn Schumann	Co-defensive coordinator/Inside linebackers coach	2nd
Cortez Hankton	Pass Game coordinator/Wide receivers coach	3rd
Dell McGee	Run Game coordinator/Running backs coach	2nd
Todd Hartley	Tight ends coach	2nd
Tray Scott	Defensive line coach	4th
Reference:^[7]

References

1. "Preseason SEC media poll, All-SEC Team announced". SECSports.com. Southeastern Conference. September 23, 2020.
2. Talty, John (July 30, 2020). "SEC moves to conference-only 2020 schedule, pushes back start of season". AL.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
3. Dellenger, Ross (July 30, 2020). "Sources: SEC Adopts Conference-Only Schedule With Sept. 26 Start". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
4. Kelley, Kevin (July 30, 2020). "All three Chick-fil-A Kickoff games canceled in 2020". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
5. Dellenger, Ross (August 7, 2020). "SEC's New Schedule: Winners, Losers and... Mizzou". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
6. "2020 Georgia Bulldogs Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
7. 2021 Georgia Bulldogs Football Media Guide, p. 2