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Georgia pushing to get win over Florida before World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party

The Georgia Bulldogs and Kirby Smart are hoping to pull a fast one on the Florida Gators well before the two teams meet on the field this season.
BySam Fariss|
Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart, center, prepares to lead the team onto the field before an NCAA football game Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.
Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart, center, prepares to lead the team onto the field before an NCAA football game Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023. | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

With 78 days until the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators kick off at The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, Kirby Smart is already looking to get a win over Billy Napier.

Four-star offensive tackle Tyler Chukuyem committed to the Gators in June. Now, Smart is trying to flip his commitment to the Bulldogs.

The Georgia native committed to Florida over the Dawgs and other programs like the Ole Miss Rebels, Minnesota Golden Gophers, and more. However, it isn't over until... well, really until a player heads to the NFL.

With National Letters of Intent being a thing of the past and the transfer portal seemingly always open, a player can commit and decommit over and over again until the day they head to the next level.

So, Smart is putting all of his eggs in Chukuyem's basket in an effort to land his commitment, poaching him from the Gators, nearly three months before Georgia and Florida clash in their annual rivalry matchup.

In an interview, Chukuyem shared that he would definitely be in attendance for a Bulldogs' game this season, without specifying which matchup, and said that would be his official visit with the program.

"The only school trying to get me to flip is Georgia, and I plan on going for a game; that will be my official visit," Chukuyem said. "It is an in-state school, and I know a lot of people who like Georgia, so it is a school I will take a look at."

So, that's that. It's down to a decision of flipping to the Dawgs or staying with the Gators. According to Chukuyem, the Bulldogs are the only team working to flip his commitment, and based on other players' recruitment processes, these days, flipping commitments is more common than not.

Smart and the Bulldogs host the Texas Longhorns (who they have defeated twice in the past year) just two weeks after The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, in what could be a conference-deciding matchup, and would be an ideal game to have a potential recruit on the sidelines.

Georgia also hosts the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Ole Miss Rebels in Athens this season, both big-time matchups between SEC rivals.

The Bulldogs and the Gators are scheduled to kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 1. The game will be broadcast on ABC. This year, it's taking place in Jacksonville, FL.

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