ATHENS – Georgia footballers hit the training ground on Monday, all in for what the 2020 season has in store amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Checked in. Locked in. Ready to ride. ‼ ️#ATD #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/BCCjpSJnZO
Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) August 17, 2020
The press release number 4-ranked Bulldogs will open the season on Sept. 26 with a familiar face across the field at the head of Arkansas and former UGA line coach Sam Pittman.
But first things first, the Georgia players need to make sure they get to the point where the season actually takes place.
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“To have a season for us, we need to continue with the protocols and security measures that are in place to stay safe,” said UGA senior All-American candidate Richard LeCounte.
“Guys have done a great job of wearing their masks, staying round, staying away from things that can not really help themselves or the team, and not having groups of people at their homes and things like that.”
The opening game will mark the first time Georgia and Arkansas have played in six years, when the Bulldogs won 45-32 in Little Rock on October 18, 2014. The most recent time Georgia played in Fayetteville was 2009, a UG 52- 41 victory.
The Bulldogs will learn the rest of the schedule at 7 a.m. Monday night on the SEC Network.
Some programs, most notably Vanderbilt and Florida, have featured or selected major players. The NCAA has allowed fall athletes to sit out the season while maintaining their scholarship and qualifying status.
However, Georgia has not selected any players at the time of this publication. The Bulldogs are, in fact, two scholarships, one the NCAA limit of 85 fellows.
“There is really no uncertainty here, we all feel confident in all this play, ”said Eric Stoke of junior junior, Georgia. ‘We feel safe here. It can be much more dangerous at home than being here. ”
Junior attacking lineman Jamaree Salyer said he agrees, and declaring his confidence in the program led him to decide to play this season.
“It was a pretty simple decision because I trust (Ron Courson and Director of Sports Medicine) Ron Courson and Coach Smart,” Salyer said. ‘They have both always been transparent with me. I try to control what I can; I wear my mask when I go outside. I try not to leave too many people in the house – things like that. “
Georgia’s first two practices were in helmets and shorts, and the team will add shoulder pads for practices three and four. The team can practice in full equipment and have contact in Practice 5.
The Bulldogs’, like other teams, will wear helmets with preventive shields to reduce the risk of communicable diseases.
“I can not control the fact that we wear that shield, it is for our safety,” Sal. It’s good for me. It’s good for everyone. It helps protect me as a player, so I try not to really take it as something I would go out of my way to make on a day to day basis or even on Saturday.
I just go out there and check what I can. I can make sure my fitness level is up to a point where I can master it and do it well with or without the mask. “
SEC Week one schedule
Alabama, Missouri
Kentucky in Auburn
Florida by Ole Miss
Georgia in Arkansas
Mississippi State by LSU
Tennessee in South Carolina
Vanderbilt by Texas A&M
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