Yes, Georgia is a heavy favorite to beat Charlotte Saturday. This is not a Coach Dooley/Mighty Munson that the Bulldogs had better be ready, or the 49ers could pull off the upset. Though that could happen. A major sports television company has analytics data that gives the Bulldogs a 99%-plus chance to win.

Hey, don’t ever forget Nicholls State!

But clearly Georgia has more talent than Charlotte and this should be a – hopefully comfortable and stress free / injury free – victory for the Bulldogs. Ideally, we’d like that for Georgia every time out, but that isn’t realistic, especially in this day and age of college football in the brutally tough Southeastern Conference.

With what we all know is lurking the Friday after Thanksgiving, and the mega showdown with Texas – the eighth of eight straight SEC contests – in the rear view mirror, Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs can do some fine-tuning and then turn all attention to the Yellow Jackets.

But all the focus this week must be on Charlotte. Of course, the Bulldogs don’t want to be sloppy due to a lack of focus, and open the door to the 49ers. Nobody wants to do that any week. Importantly also, these Bulldogs, relentless warriors all season, don’t need any bad or sloppy habits to sneak in, especially with so much on the line in the home stretch of the unforgettable, pulse-pounding 2025 campaign.

Saturday will be Senior Day on Dooley Field and this outstanding group of Bulldogs will be honored before the game. The four year players have won the 2022 national championship, Southeastern Conference titles in 2022 and 2024, and were part of a 13-1 Orange Bowl Championship team in 2023 – one that was wrongly left out of the College Football Playoff. Their record against the arch-rivals is astounding – keeping in mind that the biggest rival of all looms – and what they have been such an integral part of during the remarkable Kirby Smart dynasty has contributed mightily to history, glory and lore of University of Georgia football.

These seniors, players like Brett Thorson, Micah Morris and Oscar Delp will take the field Between the Hedges for the final time – unless Georgia hosts a College Football Playoff game in December. They’ve helped leave a great legacy, all the while striving for any more glory and a dream run through the remainder of the 2025 campaign.

Outstanding veteran players who do things the right way on and off the field make the job of coaching easier. Those players show the way, and it becomes infectious in the locker room, the practice complex and the playing field.

When Georgia won the 1980 national championship, it was the greatest senior class in Bulldog football history. It was also then the best freshman class ever. Number 34 Herschel Walker had a lot to do with that. As did Terry Hoage, Freddie Gilbert, Tommy Thurson and a slew of standouts who helped comprise a four year stretch of greatness never before seen in Georgia football, and not lived again until the reign of Coach King Kirby Smart.

Vince Dooley’s Dawgs of 1983 won the Cotton Bowl and finished 10-1-1. It capped off a four-year stretch (and remember, Herschel left for the United States Football League following his junior Heisman Trophy winning season of 1982) from 1980-1983 highlighted by the 1980 national championship, three straight Southeastern Conference crowns (1980-1982), four consecutive top five national rankings and a cumulative record of 43-4-1.

Those seniors of 1983, a team that’s resiliency, toughness and tenacity, is reminiscent thus far to the Dawgs of 2025, were shown the way by the seniors of 1980.

Well this Georgia freshman class of 2025 is awfully good and the early signs are that they could be a big part of many special Saturdays and hopefully a bountiful number of postseason triumphs and championships for the rest of their years in Athens.

Apologies for any players and names that will be omitted. Perhaps that can serve as fuel for future greatness.

On offense, the true freshman duo of Juan Gaston and Dontrell Glover have been essential to Georgia’s offensive line play, and have the look of future anchors to the Bulldogs front. At a practice leading into the Florida game, Cathy and Kevin Butler brought their two grandsons Ethan and Dom – of course with their daughter Scarlett the ringleader – to watch. Kevin took six year old Ethan down on the field. The offensive linemen – very large men – came by in a drill, and I think the “House of Payne” might have experienced a small seismic shift. Little Ethan looked up at Juan Gaston, and then at “Butt-Butt” and said … “wooooah, he’s bigger than a transformer.” Juan Gaston-ous Prime.

Elyiss Williams is already a big time talent at tight end. Compare him to Darnell Washington and Leonard Pope, expect to see a lot more of No. 10 as Todd Hartley, the best tight ends coach in the country, continues to stack the roster. And don’t forget about Ethan Barbour, who was injured in the second game of the season.

In limited duty, Bo Walker looks good and runs hard at tailback. He was awfully impressive down the stretch in Starkville two weeks ago.

Elijah Griffin is already a stalwart on the defensive front, and the potential face of future Bulldog stop units. JJ Hanne is adding depth to the D-Line (as is redshirt freshman Nnamdi Ogboko, a redshirt freshman), and highly touted linebacker Zayden Walker is getting his feet wet.

With the (hopeful) length of the season now potentially reaching 15, 16, maybe even 17 games to arrive at the promised land, plus the four-game redshirt rule the NCAA wisely put in several years ago (you can play four games anytime on the schedule and still keep your redshirt), true freshmen are motivated to keep fighting for playing time, not just contributing – though it is hyper important – to the scout team.

Fresh troops, fresh legs.

Who knows, maybe one of those true freshmen who hasn’t played much, if at all, this season, gets a shot Saturday against Charlotte and does a great job. Maybe that earns him a spot on the travel squad for the next one and he makes a special teams play, and then is on the roster for what the Bulldogs hope is a College Football Playoff berth and run.

It’s a storyline to watch Saturday and (maybe) the final time for the Sons and Daughters of Georgia to watch our beloved Bulldogs play this season Between the Hedges.