The last time Georgia hosted an opponent at noon at Sanford Stadium, it was the infamous South Carolina double-overtime loss. Many fans have not been happy with the noon kickoff time slot, but Georgia’s players have not complained much ahead of the top-10 matchup with No. 8 Arkansas.
“It helps having one last weekend,” said Georgia punter Jake Camarda. “No matter what time we are playing at, pretty much all of us have played at just about any time, any time slot that we’ve been given. Having it last weekend was cool. Adjustments wise – it really doesn’t change too much for us. The only thing it changes is just that you have to wake up a little bit earlier, which isn’t really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Other than that, it’s really not that much different, just a little bit earlier in the day.”
As Camarda mentioned, the Bulldogs’ 62-0 rout of the Vanderbilt Commodores was also a noon kick, actually 11 a.m. local time in Nashville. The Bulldogs certainly did not miss a beat or come out of the gate slow last Saturday, scoring 35 points before the end of the first quarter.
Other veteran players had a similar stance to Camarda.
“I feel like us having back-to-back [noon] kickoffs, it’s going to be an advantage Saturday because we already had to wake up early last Saturday for Vanderbilt,” said senior offensive lineman Justin Shaffer. “So I feel like it’s not going to be a struggle and as hard as it was last week.”
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has challenged the fanbase to be “ELITE” and to show up early and loud for the game to create a true home-field advantage. Also having ESPN’s College Gameday in town should build up the excitement.
For more details on the Gameday set and where the guys will be:
It appears No. 2 Georgia’s players and fans will be ready to go come 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. The only thing left is for the team to execute the X’s and O’s as they look to remain undefeated and push for the top rank in the country.