The Georgia Bulldogs were awarded their 51st postseason football opportunity Sunday when they were invited to play in the TaxSlayer Bowl against Penn State on Jan. 2 in Jacksonville, Fla.
It will be their first bowl with an interim head coach.
Receivers coach Bryan McClendon is temporarily heading the program, bridging a gap from last Sunday's firing of Mark Richt to the arrival of new head coach Kirby Smart, who will be introduced today at a news conference. Smart is already recruiting for the Bulldogs but will remain Alabama's defensive coordinator for as long as the Crimson Tide compete in the four-team College Football Playoff.
"It's been smooth, all things considered," McClendon said Sunday night. "The guys have had to put up and weed through a bunch of things that have been going on all season long, and this is another thing that has just drawn those guys together. Everybody has been supportive and sort of bought in, and they want to send these seniors out right.
"I think they just like having the opportunity to play another game, and that's what we've kind of been rallying around, but this is definitely uncharted waters for me."
Georgia (9-3) and Penn State (7-5) are meeting for just the second time, with this encounter paling to the first time around. The Bulldogs and Nittany Lions were ranked 1-2 after the 1982 season and met in the Sugar Bowl, with Penn State pulling out a 27-23 triumph in what would be Herschel Walker's college finale.
This year's Nittany Lions were 7-2 but dropped their final three games against Northwestern, 23-21, Michigan, 28-16, and Michigan State, 55-16.
"We're just so excited to be going to a historic bowl game against a historic program," Penn State coach James Franklin said. "Our guys are excited. It's two years in a row for us in a bowl, and I'll get to compete against one of the storied programs in college football."
Franklin is in his second year with the Nittany Lions after spending three seasons at Vanderbilt, where he led the Commodores to three straight bowls for the first time in program history. Vanderbilt went 6-7, 9-4 and 9-4 during Franklin's brief tenure, with his final year in 2013 including a 31-27 upset of Georgia.
Penn State will play in the TaxSlayer Bowl without offensive coordinator John Donovan, who was fired after the regular season. Quarterbacks coach Ricky Rahne will call the plays at EverBank Field, where the Bulldogs play their annual matchup with the Florida Gators.
McClendon said every assistant, including coordinators Brian Schottenheimer and Jeremy Pruitt, have the same responsibilities they've had all season. He added that his sole focus is the bowl and that he is not recruiting at the moment.
"It's about the players, and you want to do everything you can to make sure they're OK," McClendon said. "It's been different, but the bottom line is keeping the focus on the players."
This will be Georgia's fifth appearance in the game long known as the Gator Bowl. The Bulldogs tied Maryland 20-20 after the 1947 season, defeated North Carolina 7-3 after the 1971 season, defeated Michigan State 34-27 after the 1988 season and lost to Nebraska 24-19 after the 2013 season.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.