The Georgia Bulldogs have officially arrived in South Florida ahead of the Orange Bowl matchup with Michigan on Friday. With the Wolverines already in the area, both teams are ready to start their game week preparation.
“It’s awesome to be here,” said Georgia head coach Kirby Smart right after the team arrived. “I think our players are excited. We’ve got a lot of players from this area, we recruit this area heavily and I know our players are looking forward to this weather.”
Temperatures are expected to be in the high 70’s to low 80’s, which is quite the change from your typical late December ‘football weather,’ although it will probably be a much bigger culture change for Michigan than it will be for Georgia.
Following the SEC Championship loss to Alabama on Dec. 4, Georgia has been practicing in Athens. Bulldogs’ players have now put the loss behind them and have shifted their focus to the No. 2 Wolverines.
“We feel good,” said Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett. “We’ve practiced hard, watched a lot of film on Michigan. They’ve got a great team but we’re feeling good.”
Since the Bulldogs will be there all week it will not just be about football 24/7. Bennett said that the team has a dinner boat trip planned as well as a beach trip at some point during the week. And yes, Bennett made sure to mention that it would be safe with COVID surging.
Regardless, it seemed that Georgia knows the stage that it is on, only one win away from another appearance in the National Championship.
“It’s cool, you feel like the president, everytime you travel and there’s a motorcade leading you out,” Bennett said. “You don’t get to experience that many times, stepping off of a plane and there’s a million people there waiting on you. It’s special and the Orange Bowl does a great job.”
For Smart’s full comments: