With college football fully underway this weekend, Dawg Nation's collective attention will be on the one Between the Hedges when the Group of Five contender Marshall Thundering Herd come rumbling into town. This may be the school that former Georgia head coach Jim Donnan once led back in the day, however, Georgia competes in the SEC, while Marshall competes over in the Sun Belt.
Although Marshall is bringing an impressive seven-game winning streak into battle on Saturday afternoon, Georgia is not only riding a 31-home game winning streak, but it has also been over a decade since the Dawgs last lost in Week 1. That would be the first of a home-and-home with regional rival Clemson in Death Valley way back in 2013. Tahj Boyd led Clemson to a 38-35 victory.
Since falling to Clemson, Georgia has won 11 straight Week 1 games, including over thrice Clemson.
Georgia's Week 1 dominance is a fantastic sign vs. streaking Marshall
Dating back to 2014, here is every Georgia opponent has faced during Week 1 and the final score.
Year | Opponent | Final Score |
|---|---|---|
2014 | No. 16 Clemson Tigers | 45-21 |
2015 | Louisiana-Monroe WarHawks | 51-14 |
2016 | No. 22 North Carolina Tar Heels (Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA) | 33-24 |
2017 | Appalachian State Mountaineers | 31-10 |
2018 | Austin Peay Governors | 45-0 |
2019 | at Vanderbilt Commodores | 30-6 |
2020 | at Arkansas Razorbacks | 37-10 |
2021 | No. 3 Clemson Tigers (Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC) | 10-3 |
2022 | No. 11 Oregon Ducks (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA) | 49-3 |
2023 | UT Martin Skyhawks | 48-7 |
2024 | No. 14 Clemson Tigers (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA) | 34-3 |
Of the 11 opponents between now and 2013, five of which have been ranked at the time of Georgia's Week 1 meeting with them. While only two of them have been true road games, at Vanderbilt and at Arkansas in 2019-20, four have been neutral-site affairs. While three of them have been in Georgia's backyard in Atlanta, the Dawgs' closest call came in Charlotte vs. Clemson to start the 2021 season.
With unranked Marshall coming to town, it is not if, but by how much, will Georgia when the game.
How the Georgia Bulldogs can garner positive momentum from Week 1
This will be Kirby Smart's 10th season leading his alma mater. It will also be the first career home start for Gunner Stockton. The last quarterback to not win in Week 1 leading Georgia was Aaron Murray. Whether it was Hutson Mason, Greyson Lambert, Jacob Eason, Jake Fromm, D'Wan Mathis, JT Daniels, Stetson Bennett IV, or Carson Beck, they all won in Week 1 leading Georgia since Murray lost.
So this 11-game Week 1 winning streak is among the very best in college football. Only Ohio State's and Alabama's have been longer. Whenever a team is mentioned alongside the Buckeyes and Crimson Tide, that is usually only a good thing. It just goes to show the type of program Smart has built since taking over for Mark Richt a decade ago. It is so hard to replicate this kind of consistency.
To tie a bow on this, everything keeps coming up in Georgia's favor to come out of Week 1 with a victory. The Dawgs should start the season out at 2-0 easily with Austin Peay coming to town next week. After that it gets interesting. Georgia has had Tennessee's number of late, but that Week 3 matchup is in Knoxville. Georgia may get a Week 4 bye, but perpetual nemesis Alabama beckons.
Week 1 should be all about getting Stockton confident running this offense and the team around him.