Georgia adds UMass to 2018 football schedule

Vanderbilt running back Ralph Webb scored the winning touchdown in a 34-31 win over Massachusetts in 2014. UMass is opening the 2016 season at Floria and will play at Georgia in 2018.
Vanderbilt running back Ralph Webb scored the winning touchdown in a 34-31 win over Massachusetts in 2014. UMass is opening the 2016 season at Floria and will play at Georgia in 2018.

The University of Georgia announced Wednesday that the University of Massachusetts has been added to its 2018 football schedule.

UMass is the first known nonconference foe for the Bulldogs in '18 other than Georgia Tech, their annual season-ending opponent.

"It will be a great experience for members of our football program," UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford said in a statement, "and it will provide us increased visibility against an SEC opponent in an area of the country where Coach (Mark) Whipple and his staff are recruiting prospective student-athletes."

UMass played Vanderbilt from 2012 to '14, losing all three matchups to the Commodores, and will open the upcoming season at Florida. The Minutemen also host Mississippi State and travel to South Carolina later this year, and they have trips to Mississippi State and Tennessee scheduled for 2017.

Georgia's four nonconference opponents for the upcoming season are North Carolina, Nicholls State, Louisiana-Lafayette and Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs will open against the Tar Heels on Sept. 3 at the Chick-fil-A Classic in Atlanta, and they will host the other three schools.

The nonconference schedule for Georgia in 2017 includes home games against Appalachian State and Samford and road trips to Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. Notre Dame is scheduled to play at Sanford Stadium in 2019.

Georgia also has a two-year agreement with UCLA for the 2025 and '26 seasons, with the '25 matchup scheduled for Los Angeles.

Ludacris demands

A new law regarding open records that will give college athletic departments in the state of Georgia up to 90 business days to respond to requests does not take effect until July 1, and the existing three-day window was put to use this week when multiple outlets obtained information on Ludacris, who performed before Saturday's G-Day game.

The three-time Grammy Award rapper was paid $65,000 for his 13-minute performance inside Sanford Stadium and was not lacking for a list of hospitality demands - one loaf of whole grain bread, organic peanut butter, organic jelly, Snickers, M&Ms, Jolly Ranchers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Mint Listerine, six Hanes large white T-shirts, one rechargeable toothbrush, one box of Trojan Magnum Condoms and two bottles of Belvedere Vodka.

APR scores revealed

All 20 of the University of Georgia's men's and women's sports programs were safely above the 930 cutoff in the NCAA's latest Academic Progress Report scores announced Wednesday. The latest results were taken from the 2011-12 to the 2014-15 academic years.

The Bulldogs had an APR four-year score of 961 for a second straight year in football, which ranks ninth in the SEC. Vanderbilt (990) and Auburn (982) had the league's highest scores in football, followed by Alabama and Florida, which each registered a 979.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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