Georgia football: Non-rivals that the Bulldogs have played the most
Former conference non-rivals
As many of you with knowledge of Georgia football history know, the SEC was not Georgia’s first conference. Georgia spent 26 years in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association and 12 years in the Southern Conference. Both leagues were much larger than the SEC has ever been.
The SIAA and SoCon were filled with almost every relevant college football program in the south. Some went on to be elite programs in the sport’s top sub-division. Other’s were eventually relegated to the FCS level and a few either cancelled football or are now in division III.
Furman Paladins – 23 Games
A common opponent to see Georgia play in the first half of the 20th century were the Furman Paladins. But they rarely put up any kind of fight. The Bulldogs lead the series 21-2 and outscore the Paladins 550-86. 13 of those wins were shutouts.
By 1950 it was clear that Furman was not improving and growing at Georgia’s rate. They joined Division 1-AA in 1978 where they are still a member of the SoCon. They’ve done well since the beginning of the FCS. They have 13 SoCon Championships and one National Championship.
Mercer Bears – 22 Games
Another common opponent were the Mercer Bears. But this series is even more lopsided than the one with Furman. Georgia won all 22 games by the combined score of 657-71. The Bulldogs shutout the Bears 14 times, including a 50-0 win in both team’s first game and a 81-0 win in mercer’s last year playing football in 1941. The Mercer football program is back, but they’ve yet to challenge Georgia.
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Sewanee Tigers – 13 Games
Despite being members of the SoCon, and for a little while the SEC, together, Georgia and Sewanee only met as members of the SIAA. They’re only the second team on this list that Georgia has a winning record against. We should probably fix that.
But we can’t actually. Sewanee actually left the SEC because a new administration didn’t want to award scholarships to student athletes. Therefore the program was relegated to Division III. Don’t let their current appearance fool you, Sewanee was a powerhouse in the early decades of southern college football.
They once played six games in a week and won each game by a shutout on route to an undefeated season. Georgia was a victim of one of those shutouts. In fact, Georgia was a victim of four shutouts and a six-game losing streak. Sewanee leads the series to this day 7-5-1.
The Citadel Bulldogs – 10 Games
As members of the SIAA, Georgia and the Citadel played each other regularly. The Citadel joined the league in 1908 and they played Georgia seven times before Georgia helped form the SoCon in 1921.
The first meeting was a scoreless tie, but only Georgia would score in conference play after that. They won the following six games by the combined score of 159-0. They’ve played each other three times since 1920, but they haven’t played since 1958. Georgia leads the series 9-0-1.