ATHENS, Ga. - Georgia's seniors will be vying for a 50th time Saturday afternoon when the Bulldogs host Kentucky in this year's Sanford Stadium finale.
That is normally a satisfactory sample size in which to determine a legacy, yet it's the handful of remaining contests that will define this year's class.
"We have so much ahead of us," senior defensive back Aaron Davis said. "We have to take care of business on the front end for those things to be possible for us, and as long as we continue to do the things we need to do and be able to regroup and not let one game define us, we should be able to continue to get better."
As many as 10 seniors could start Saturday for the No. 7 Bulldogs, who are 9-1 and have led the charge in Georgia winning its first Southeastern Conference Eastern Division championship since 2012. Before last weekend's 40-17 loss at Auburn, the Bulldogs had earned their first No. 1 standing in the College Football Playoff rankings, a spot they occupied for two weeks.
Wins against Kentucky and next week at Georgia Tech would keep Georgia in the national championship picture, and a triumph over the Alabama-Auburn winner inside Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Dec. 2 would represent the most significant victory for the program since the Herschel Walker era.
"This is a special group, and I think it's a special group because they have really good leadership," second-year Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart said. "They have an opportunity to win their 38th game, which could rank them right in the top 10 senior classes to ever play here. The big thing for me is that everybody else on the team acknowledges that it's their last home game and that you prepare and play as if it was yours.
"I know what that last home game in Sanford Stadium means. It's the one you remember the most. These guys have meant a lot to this program, meant a lot to me personally, meant a lot to the staff, and they've meant a lot to this university. I think we all owe it to them, as a fan base and as a coaching staff and as a team, to make sure that we give them our best effort."
Davis, nose tackle John Atkins and outside linebacker Davin Bellamy are among Georgia's notable seniors from the 2013 class who redshirted that year, but most of those being honored before Saturday's kickoff hail from the 2014 signing crop: tailbacks Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, tight end Jeb Blazevich, left tackle Isaiah Wynn, outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter, cornerback Malkom Parrish and safety Dominck Sanders.
Fifth-year senior snapper Trent Frix from Calhoun (Ga.) High School played in a handful of 2013 contests before redshirting in 2014, while receiver Javon Wims is nearing the close of his second season after transferring from junior college and punter Cameron Nizialek is near the end of his one year as a graduate transfer.
"There will be a lot of sentimental feelings," Blazevich said. "I'm just very grateful and blessed, and I thank God for all the experiences that I've had here. I'm excited to strap it on one more time."
Georgia's seniors were welcomed into college football with a big-time atmosphere, as the Bulldogs opened their 2014 season with a resounding 45-21 triumph over visiting Clemson. Chubb had a 47-yard touchdown run in his debut game, and Davis had an interception.
"I had never experienced anything like that," Davis said. "To play Clemson in a huge night game - the stadium was unbelievable. It felt like an earthquake with the ground shaking out there."
The Bulldogs got off to a 6-1 start in 2014 and were ranked No. 9 nationally heading to Jacksonville, where they suffered an inexplicable 38-20 loss to a Florida team that had struggled to run the ball yet pounded out a staggering 418 yards at EverBank Field. Georgia finished 10-3 that season and got back to No. 9, but a not-as-impressive 10-3 season in 2015 that included another lopsided loss to the Gators resulted in the end of the 15-year Mark Richt coaching era.
Smart went 8-5 in his debut season a year ago, but the foundation for a big 2017 occurred last December, when Chubb, Michel, Bellamy and Carter announced their plans to return rather than declare for the NFL draft.
"Those four guys showed their commitment, and I think that really set the tone for the rest of the team," Blazevich said. "They chose to invest another year in this, and when they came back it made it even easier to follow them, because you knew they were all in. That really caught on with the team.
"As a senior, you realize that this is all you have left, but the younger guys saw that this season could be special and didn't want to let it get away from us."
After trips to the Belk, TaxSlayer and Liberty bowls following their first three seasons, this year's seniors are assured of a more coveted destination. That locale may even be in the sport's four-team playoff, proving again that what's ahead will truly determine the legacy of this bunch.
"Everything we want to accomplish is still in front of us," Blazevich said. "We obviously have a lot of work to do, but one loss doesn't define our season. It's still out there for us, and we're still trying to write our legacy."
Said Wims: "There is just so much more football to be played."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.