Georgia adds Florida Atlantic to 2012 football schedule — at cost of $1 million
Georgia will pay Florida Atlantic $1 million to play a 2012 football game in Sanford Stadium – the most UGA has ever agreed to pay an opponent for coming to Athens.
The game will be played on Sept. 15, 2012, replacing an originally scheduled game at Louisville on that date. A two-game, home-and-home contract with Louisville was canceled as part of Georgia’s arrangement to play Boise State in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta.
Georgia and Florida Atlantic last week signed a memorandum of understanding on the 2012 game. The document was obtained Tuesday by the AJC under an open-records request.
Florida Atlantic is an FBS (formerly known as Division I-A) team and a member of the Sun Belt Conference. The Owls are 4-7 this season and are coached by 76-year-old Howard Schnellenberger, who was Miami’s coach when Mark Richt, now Georgia’s coach, played quarterback for the Hurricanes.
The $1 million payout has become about the going rate for non-conference FBS opponents who do not require a return visit to their stadium. The most Georgia had agreed to pay previously was $975,000 to Buffalo for a 2012 game and North Texas for a 2013 game.
The agreement between Georgia and Florida Atlantic calls for the Owls to receive 300 complimentary tickets and another 3,000 tickets to purchase and states that there will be a $1 million game cancellation fee.
Florida Atlantic’s non-conference games this season have included a 30-17 loss to Michigan State in Detroit and a 51-17 loss at Texas.
Georgia now has seven home games scheduled in 2012. The Bulldogs’ other non-conference opponents that season, all in Athens, are Buffalo, Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech.
Today’s other posts:
Richt tells callers he’s staying and wants ‘Dream Team’ recruits to join him.
Murray matches a Shockley record; Richt vs. O’Leary in Liberty Bowl?
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
223 comments Add your comment
BreakingNews
December 1st, 2010
11:30 am
BamaBill:
let’s not forget those tough ones you guys played against San Jose St. and Georgia St. this year! You freakin’ moron – every team in college football plays a couple of weak, OOC opponents every year.
This shouldn’t even be news – most of the idiots posting on this blog think that UGA is the only team in the NCAA scheduling a couple of “cupcake” games each season. Instead of wasting your time spewing your ignorance on the blog, you could visit a few D-1 college websites, look at their schedules, and see for yourselves
jarvis
December 1st, 2010
11:31 am
Didn’t we go 3-2 in the SEC East? Isn’t that about the same Tech did in the Atlantic or Coastal…like anyone can tell the difference between two lumps of turd.
Floyd
December 1st, 2010
11:38 am
Arguably the worst home schedule in Georgia history.
Thanks McGarrity. If you’re planning to bring anything else with you from Gainesville, might I suggest you start with the Florida defense?
San Francisco Dawg
December 1st, 2010
11:46 am
Weak! Why would I fly to Athens to see this? I would rather lose in a high profile game then win a game with a school that barely exists on anyone’s radar…Why not Notre Dame? BYU? Clemson? USC?
bamabillsadouche
December 1st, 2010
11:47 am
In the SEC you have to have some weak OOC opponents, since we don’t have the luxury of being in a cupcake conference like the AC”C”. I just hate paying them that much cabbage, when we get to stomp a joke like Tech for free.
Ed (The Original)
December 1st, 2010
11:50 am
embarassing…
jarvis
December 1st, 2010
11:52 am
Florida Atlantic, Buffalo, and Georgia Southern at roughly $45 a clip X 3 tickets for each….
Best $405 I’ll ever spend not including roughly the 43% of my donation that can be attributed to those games.
I think they hate me.
Go Dawgs!
December 1st, 2010
12:04 pm
Scheduling the extra cupcakes is a good thing. Again as several smart fans have mentioned this is what the championship teams do. Here’s why it works:
1. The SEC schedule by itself is more than enough to get you where you want to go. Look at Aub this year. They have played 4 top 25 teams this year (all on their SEC schedule) and technically 5 since they will play SC for the 2nd time. The rest of the top 10 have only played 1 except Mich St which played 2.
2. When you play the cupcakes it gives you a chance to work on new plays and add wrinkles at true game speed, but most importantly it gives your starters a chance to rest while getting in some good work. The SEC rigors are brutal enough without getting the team beat up playing a big non-conference game. Also, having the ability to sit your starters by mid 3rd qtr gives your back ups and younger players valuable playing time so if an injury occurs they’re prepared. Also if you play 3 cupcakes and get backups and young players a chance to play a quarter and a half that’s a whole game’s worth of experience alone. Add a couple of down opponents within the conference and now you’ve gotten backups and young players almost 2 1/2 games worth of playing time over the course of a season, so next year when those players take over the learning curve is shorter.
Florida and Foley get it. If memory serves me correctly I’m not sure which championship run it was for them 06 or 08 but Florida only had to travel more than 60 miles for a game once that whole season. McGarity was at UF during their 96, 06, and 08 championship runs not to mention the other good seasons they have so I think the man knows more about what it takes than anyone on this blog.
Why is this so hard for some of you to grasp?
Go Dawgs!
December 1st, 2010
12:13 pm
San Francisco Dawg
December 1st, 2010
11:46 am
“.. I would rather LOSE in a high profile game then WIN a game with a school that barely exists on anyone’s radar”
If that’s truly the case then you’re stupid. Don’t beleive me ask a UF, Bama, Texas, or USC fan if they feel the same way. I doubt if they do.
Some of you crack me up. We have some SERIOUSLY bi-polar fans.
When we did have that kind of schedule everyone b*tched about it being too difficult or complained about the losses. Now the schedule isn’t hard enough. give me a break. The rigors of the SEC portion of the schedule are as tough if not tougher than any conference in America. You don’t NEED to schedule hard non-conf. BCS teams because year in and year out the SEC schedule by itself is more than enough to get you where you want to go. Wake up people.
Myron Bolitar
December 1st, 2010
12:26 pm
Go Dawgs!
December 1st, 2010
12:04 pm
Scheduling the extra cupcakes is a good thing. Again as several smart fans have mentioned this is what the championship teams do. Here’s why it works:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If this is what championship teams do, why is UGA doing it?
JACKET RACKET
December 1st, 2010
1:06 pm
Why didn’t uga call berry college? they had an opening and cheaper
JACKET RACKET
December 1st, 2010
1:12 pm
Enter your comments here
1 Million Doll Hairs
December 1st, 2010
1:22 pm
A Mil for a Guaranteed Win isn’t Bad is it?????????????
Old Coach
December 1st, 2010
1:27 pm
I Guess Richt will feel sorry for his old coach and spot him 21………that way FAU will beat the spread,Georgia will win and Gamblers will Lose!
Ga State AD.
December 1st, 2010
1:29 pm
Will You give us 1.5 Million$?Where do we sign up?
jack bull
December 1st, 2010
1:52 pm
lets just hope those Owls aren’t as tough as the ones from Kennesaw St…..Tech know how tough those Hoot Owls are, don’t they….
jack bull
December 1st, 2010
1:53 pm
knows*…sorry spelling police..
WarEagleJim
December 1st, 2010
1:54 pm
I think that adding Boise State and Buffalo is a tremendous upgrade to Georgia’s schedule. In Boise you get a team that is a kicker away from playing in the NC game and Buffalo may be 2-9 right now, but they will be better next year as Ryan Fitzpatrick and CJ Spiller deveope.
BreakingNews
December 1st, 2010
1:55 pm
JacketRacket:
See my last post above, and immediately add yourself to the idiot list
BreakingNews
December 1st, 2010
1:59 pm
Also to JacketRacket:
Seems you have forgotten Tech’s brutal matchups vs. South Carolina St. and Middle Tennessee St. this year.
As stated earlier – ALL NCAA TEAMS PLAY A FEW WEAK OOC GAMES – QUIT BEING MORONS
BreakingNews
December 1st, 2010
2:01 pm
WarEagleJim -
I find it quite humorous that you allude to UGA playing against players that make money for playing ball (Buffalo)….hilarious, coming from an Auburn fan.
Scam Eagle!
The Voice of Reason
December 1st, 2010
2:16 pm
Here are some interesting non-conference schedules:
1. Oregon: New Mexico, Tenn. & Portland State
2. Auburn: Arkansas St., Clemson, UL Monroe, UT- Chattanooga
3. Wisconsin: UNLV, San Jose State, Arizona State & Austin Peay
4. TCU: Oregon State, Tenn. Tech, Baylor & SMU
More than a couple of beat downs in that group.
Interesting.
Richard Dawson
December 1st, 2010
2:19 pm
If fans would refuse to go to these high school games, UGA would lose money on them and stop scheduling them. Pipe dream. I will be staying at home. Bring on some real non-conference opponents (OK St and AZ St were fine, would love to see Ohio St, Texas, USC, Penn St., Notre Dame, etc.) and I will be there.
WarEagle Jim
December 1st, 2010
2:29 pm
Breaking News – Are you trying to take a slap a Cam??? He is COMPLETELY innocent. He just won the Heisman today. These accusations were a complete fabrication. Some Bama boosters paid Rogers to make up the whole story. I can hear all you Bammer fans gnashing your teeth. HA!HA!HA!
kral
December 1st, 2010
2:46 pm
Enter your comments here
kral
December 1st, 2010
3:05 pm
Want let me
eweeeeeeh
December 1st, 2010
3:05 pm
scary
Alabama Jack
December 1st, 2010
3:07 pm
I just became a big Florida Atlantic fan.
Les W. Moore
December 1st, 2010
3:34 pm
So the mutts are running from Louisville?
The Voice of Reason
December 1st, 2010
4:07 pm
A few more teams non-conf. schedules:
Texas: Rice, Wyoming, UCLA, FL Atlantic (geez, how bad was Texas this year???)
Ohio State: Marshall, Miami (Ohio, not the Dolphins), Eastern Michigan
Stanford: Sacramento State (really??), Wake Forest, Notre Dame
Arkansas: Tenn Tech, UL Monroe, Texas A& M, UTEP
Michigan State: Western Michigan,FL Atlantic, Notre Dame, Northern Colorado
I am beginning to think UL-Monroe had the toughest non-conf. schedule- Arkansas, Auburn, LSU. They must have one heck of an athletic department budget!!!!
Knowall Moreno
December 1st, 2010
4:08 pm
I would have liked to see Louisville, at least it would be a decent game, this Buffalo, Fla./Atlantic, Idaho St., La./Lafayette, is all bs. No one wants to see or PAY to watch this junk, as a Dawg fan I am disappointed with adding high school opponents which amounts to a glorified scrimmage, Greg Mc., please STOP with the scrubbeanies & play some quality teams!!!
Dontavius Supremo
December 1st, 2010
4:24 pm
Whoopee.
still@the bar
December 1st, 2010
4:56 pm
UGA will let the GAA pay #1 mill for about 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours of entertainment instead of using that money to lower student fees or help the Academic Scholarships. UGA a real Institution of Higher Learning for sure. AHHAHAHAHAHHAHA
Were #1. We have all the best Drunks and Bimbos.
gcs
December 1st, 2010
5:09 pm
Vandy, FAU, Buffalo, Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech all in the same season?!!!
HELP! QUICKLY! WHERE DO I GET TICKETS??!!
(I miss Damon Evans)
.
gcs
December 1st, 2010
5:23 pm
UGA plays at Ole Miss in 2011. That probably means Ole Miss will be playing in Athens in 2012.
Be careful on your way to the box office. I am sure there will be a mad rush for season tickets.
.
nsnstv
December 1st, 2010
5:43 pm
Way to go UGA. That’s why nobody respects your program.
independent
December 1st, 2010
5:46 pm
Chicken schedule for a chicken team. The funny part is the dogs will still go 6-6 or 5-7, they are that bad
No More Richt
December 1st, 2010
5:58 pm
“Chicken schedule for a chicken team. The funny part is the dogs will still go 6-6 or 5-7, they are that bad.”
And it will never improve until Mark Richt is dumped and replaced with a winning coach.
UGA 2010
December 1st, 2010
6:33 pm
lol Georgia needs to switch places with Boise St if the only competition they like are the easy teams
Les Miles
December 1st, 2010
6:33 pm
I open up with Oregon next year; go to West Virginia and play in the SEC West. No wonder no one respects UGA.
Saben
December 1st, 2010
6:37 pm
Good for the dream team.
You folks are a joke.
Imagine you will need to turn your red panties in for pink ones ladies.
Dogs Smell
December 1st, 2010
6:39 pm
Another way to insure a win. God only knows for Ga , this is typical.
Saben
December 1st, 2010
6:40 pm
Hopefully you folks get a female bull dog as a mascot.
Jborodawg
December 1st, 2010
6:41 pm
You whiners need to re-read a couple posts….
4th and Goal @ 4:58 pm
“…Every school has games against weak opponents…. Originally the opponent was Louisville and now they have to fill a regular season slot…that isn’t easily filled because most teams are already scheduled to play that day…” I guarantee you, no major program had an opening when we needed it.
And…
Go Dawgs! @ 5:04 pm
“…There is just no satisfying some Dawg fans. Seriously I truly think some of you simply aren’t happy if you don’t have something to b*tch and complain about…”
And Dawg Fan ‘92 @ 517 pm
And Nick @ 526pm
All ya gotta do is check the schedules of each top-25 team. While you’re at it, check Flawduh’s and Texas’ and Penn State’s. Most other schools have at least three and sometimes four so-called “cake walks”. Remember, we gotta play eight SEC teams every year; including our every year teams…Awbun, Flawduh, Tenn, and S.C.; and our OOC Tech game.
Les Miles
December 1st, 2010
6:51 pm
play my schedule, beeotches!!!
hbcuclassics
December 1st, 2010
7:08 pm
Black Power Poll TM
Week 11 2010
1. Bethune (14)
2. S. Carolina St (12)
3. Albany St (5)
4. FAMU
5. Texas Southern
6. Grambling (23)
7. FVSU (22)
8. Tuskegee
9. Morehouse (23)
10. Shaw (25)
(#) – Top 25 Ranking Coaches Polls, FCS, AFCA
http://www.hbcuclassics.com
Hotdawgs
December 1st, 2010
7:47 pm
It’s about time we start playing these lesser teams. Thank God we have McCarity as AD and is following what FLA has been doing for years. FLA travels no where to play at another teams place unless it’s a SEC school. The last time FLA went off and played at another school was at syracuse 1996 i belive and LOST. FLA plays at least 8 games out of 12 in the state of FLA. They only go on the road to play 4 games a year and that is only because they are SEC games. GA needs to start doing the samething every year and play 8 games in the state of GA. GA also needs to have the bye week for now on before the FLA game just as they do. I can pretty much asure you we would have beat FLA this year if they didn’t have the bye week before playing us. Urban was very reeling BIG TIME after losing 3 in a row before our game. It was just GA bad luck playing them after there bye week where Urban could put in his changes of 3 QB plan. FLA fans knows and don’t care about the sechule they play each year because they all know they have a good chance to play for the NC game. That’s the way GA needs to strive for no matter what the tickets go for. GA fans would not be bitching about the price if GA could go ply for the NC Game period.
Fushino
December 1st, 2010
9:45 pm
The FAU Burrowing Owls are Division I-A for some of ya that don’t know any better. We are just in one of the weakest conferences (The Sun Belt). FAU will usually have one first half of fight in them, but then the big teams pull away big time in the second half. They have scared teams here and there like FAU losing to South Carolina 19-18 at half time last year before they let Spurrier pull away, or when they played (then number 6 in the country) South Florida, went to half time tied 21-21 and then lost the game in the final minutes). Bulldog fans and fans of other schools should not attack UGA for doing this. Every football program in the major BCS conferences does this. Texas paid FAU almost a million, South Carolina paid FAU almost a million, etc. I wish they didn’t do this though. I’m a huge FAU fan and FAU grad but grew up a Bulldog fan. Don’t forget FAU’s coach is legendary Coach Howard Schnellenberger who coached Richt when he was a QB in college at the U.
DWDY Dawg
December 1st, 2010
10:00 pm
Pitiful. Hey McGarity, want to buy my Buffalo and FAU tickets in 2012? How about a home and home with another SEC West or ACC team instead of one of those? Two high school games is enough… Nobody wants three!
Richie_Rich86
December 1st, 2010
10:32 pm
lol you people are retard to say the Dawgs have a weak schedule. Are yal really being serious or just really dumb? Georgia plays UF, UT, USC, and Auburn every year! Get the heck out out here. I really wish we could get contact information and everything of the bloggers on here. Some of yal just have no clue whatso ever. Why post something if you have no idea what your talking about?
Go Dawgs great scheduling there McGarity. GATA!!