Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Grantham and coach Mark Richt talk before a 2011 game at Sanford Stadium.ATHENS, Ga. – The Georgia Bulldogs are not making history this football season by opening with Clemson and South Carolina.
Georgia did the same thing in 2002, when the Bulldogs won their first Southeastern Conference championship in 20 years. What is different is that the Palmetto State pair combined for 22 wins last season and that South Carolina has opened at No. 7 and Clemson at No. 8 in the USA Today preseason poll.
In 2002, the Gamecocks and Tigers combined to go 12-13.
“These are the games we came to Georgia to play,” Bulldogs senior guard Chris Burnette said. “When you play in the SEC, you always look forward to playing against top-level competition, and when we can go outside the conference to play a big game to start the season off, it’s always exciting.”
The Bulldogs had difficult opening duos in 2005 and 2011, when they faced Boise State and South Carolina, and their ’09 schedule contained an inaugural six-pack of Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Arkansas, Arizona State, LSU and Tennessee. Georgia got a 3-3 split out of that.