Georgia head coach Kirby Smart coaches against Georgia Tech in the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016, in Athens, Ga. Georgia Tech won 28-27. (AP Photo/Brett Davis)Georgia's 52nd bowl game will be against the same opponent as its first postseason appearance.
Kirby Smart's Bulldogs were selected Sunday to face Garry Patterson and Texas Christian University in the 58th Liberty Bowl, which is the seventh-oldest bowl. Georgia and TCU played in the Orange Bowl following the 1941 season, with the Bulldogs winning 40-26.
"We mentioned that to Coach Patterson, and he wanted to know who won," Liberty Bowl executive director Steve Ehrhart joked Sunday night.
The Bulldogs (7-5) and Horned Frogs (6-6) will meet Dec. 30, with the game set for a noon EST kickoff on ESPN. Georgia and TCU also met during the 1980 and 1988 regular seasons, with the Bulldogs rolling to easy wins in Athens.
Neither team will head to Memphis coming off a win, with Georgia losing its regular-season finale 28-27 to Georgia Tech on Nov. 26. TCU had impressive road routs of Baylor (62-22) and Texas (31-9) in November but fell 30-6 at home this past Saturday to Kansas State.
"It used to be that 6-6 might have been exciting, but we believe in winning championships and doing it just like the University of Georgia does," Patterson said. "That's what Kirby is trying to get to right now. That's why the University of Georgia brought him back, and he's put together a really good staff of guys that I've known.
"I'm looking forward to getting a chance to say hello to those guys. We don't cross over very much. Having an opportunity to be able to do that is one of the great things about playing a in bowl game."
The Horned Frogs are quarterbacked by Kenny Hill, who started at Texas A&M in 2014 before transferring.
This will be Georgia's first Big 12 opponent in a bowl since the Bulldogs defeated Texas A&M 44-20 in the 2009 Independence Bowl. TCU went up against a Southeastern Conference foe two years ago and throttled Ole Miss 42-3 in the Peach Bowl.
Smart said the Bulldogs will practice in Athens from around Dec. 14 to around Dec. 22, and the team will reconvene a welcoming party at the Memphis Pyramid on Dec. 26. Of the 15 bowl practices allotted by the NCAA, Smart believes the Bulldogs will use all but two or three of them.
"Historically, if you comb across college football, very few teams get 15 practices in," he said. "It's hard to do with the academic schedule these kids have, and it's really hard to do with the Christmas schedule. I've been very fortunate to win some national championships, and we didn't get 15 in one time.
"We'll get anywhere from 11 to 13 or 14 depending on weather and whether we do any two-a-day practices, but I doubt we get 15 in. We never have in my history."
Odds and ends
Georgia is 2-1 in Liberty Bowls, defeating N.C. State (14-7) after the 1967 season and Arkansas (20-17) after the 1987 season and losing to Central Florida (10-6) in 2010. The 52 bowl appearances by the Bulldogs rank fourth nationally, while their 29 wins rank third. Bulldogs fans can purchase Liberty Bowl tickets, which range from $85 to $95, by calling the UGA athletic association ticket office at 1-877-542-1231.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.