ATHENS, Ga. - The Georgia Bulldogs will play in one of the renowned college football cathedrals Saturday when they face LSU inside raucous Tiger Stadium.
"I can't wait," Bulldogs quarterback Jake Fromm said moments after last Saturday's 41-13 win over visiting Vanderbilt. "I've heard a lot of things about that stadium and how amazing it is."
This will be Georgia's first venture to Baton Rouge since 2008, and it likely will be the last time the Bulldogs play at LSU until 2030, should the Southeastern Conference renew its current 12-year schedule of cross-divisional games that expires after the 2025 season.
If one Georgia trip to Tiger Stadium in more than two decades seems a bit ridiculous, third-year Bulldogs coach and former LSU assistant Kirby Smart agrees and would love to experience more cross-divisional matchups that are limited by the SEC's eight-game league schedule.
"It's not just about traveling to a team on the West," Smart said. "It's just as much about the atmosphere of playing an SEC opponent. I think you're playing more teams comparable to your talent level, and I think that's important for college football.
"If college football attendance continues to drop, they're going to be looking to do this. I think it's important, and I think it would be good for the game."
Smart would like the SEC to adopt a nine-game league schedule, joining a club that includes Alabama's Nick Saban and Auburn'a Gus Malzahn. The infrequency of cross-divisional meetings increased in 2012, when Missouri and Texas A&M joined the conference but the SEC kept its eight-game format.
Georgia is not scheduled to play at Texas A&M until 2024.
"The leadership at the SEC office is as good as anywhere in the country, so they don't need me to lobby for that or come out for that," Smart said. "That's their decision, and they have a rhyme and reason for why they do it. They've thought about this, looked into it and analyzed it 8,000 different ways, I guarantee it, but I think it would be a good thing.
"We would have teams with more losses. Would it affect a team from making the playoff? I don't know, but I do know that you would have a lot more games to get up for and a lot more good rivalry games."
There have been three Georgia-LSU games at Tiger Stadium in the last 20 years, and all three delivered.
In 1998, freshman quarterback Quincy Carter completed his first 15 passes and finished 27-of-34 for 318 yards in leading the No. 12 Bulldogs to a 28-27 upset of the No. 6 Tigers. Georgia was not as fortunate in its 2003 visit to Baton Rouge, as Billy Bennett missed three field-goal tries for the No. 7 Bulldogs in a 17-10 loss to the No. 11 Tigers.
LSU won the 2003 showdown on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Matt Mauck to Skyler Green in the final 90 seconds.
"That was a tough game," said Saban, then the LSU coach. "Georgia had a really good team. It went right down to the wire, and Corey Webster made a great interception at the end of the game to take them out of their two-minute drive.
"I think that game really helped our team go on to win the SEC that year. We were able to finish our season the way that we really hoped that we could."
In the 2008 matchup, Georgia linebacker Darryl Gamble tied an NCAA record by returning two interceptions for touchdowns as the No. 9 Bulldogs defeated the No. 11 Tigers 52-38. Gamble's first return covered 40 yards, and it occurred on the first play from scrimmage.
Smart played on Georgia's 1998 team, coached LSU's secondary in 2004 and made four trips to Baton Rouge as Alabama's defensive coordinator, so he has experienced Tiger Stadium in a variety of ways.
"Every environment in the SEC is incredible, but this is one of the best in the country," Smart said. "It always is. Their fan base cares so much."
The 2018 Bulldogs will get to experience it as well before sharing their tales with future Georgia teams, most of which won't have the same opportunity.
"You always hear how the West is the stronger side in the SEC, and I think it's always good to mix stuff up and play different teams to mix up the schedule a little bit," Bulldogs defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter said. "We like to play different teams, and we like to play different teams across different conferences because a lot of schools have good football teams, and there are great players everywhere."
Said tight end Isaac Nauta: "I love playing teams from the West. I've got a lot of buddies who play in the West, and whenever I get a chance to see them on the field, it's always nice to link back up and try to rub a 'W' in their face."
Odds and ends
Smart said redshirt sophomore Solomon Kindley, who has started the first six games at left guard, suffered a mild MCL sprain against Vanderbilt and is questionable for Saturday. ... Monday's practice was closed to the media. ... Having established a school record by making 121 consecutive extra points, redshirt junior kicker Rodrigo Blankenship can now set his sights on Kevin Butler's 169 career touchbacks. Blankenship has 132.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.