UGA adds South Alabama to football schedule for $900,000 payout
Georgia has added South Alabama to its 2014 home football schedule, UGA athletic director Greg McGarity confirmed Friday.
Georgia will pay the Mobile, Ala., school $900,000, McGarity said, to make the trip to Sanford Stadium for the Nov. 8, 2014, game.
South Alabama’s 2-year-old football program has lined up multiple games against SEC teams. In addition to Georgia in 2014, the Jaguars will play Mississippi State in 2012, 2014 and 2016, Tennessee in 2013, LSU in 2016 and Ole Miss in 2017.
South Alabama begins a two-year transition period to the NCAA’s FBS (formerly Division I-A) level in the 2011 season. Beginning in 2013, the Jaguars will be eligible for the Sun Belt Conference championship and a bowl berth.
The South Alabama game completes Georgia’s 2014 non-conference schedule, which also includes games against Clemson, Charleston Southern and Georgia Tech.
“Georgia has obviously built a great tradition throughout the years; they’ve won national championships and had hundreds of players play in the NFL,” South Alabama head coach Joey Jones said in a statement Friday. “It’s going to be a tremendous venue for us to go up and play in; we’re excited about that.”
The $900,000 payout is not the most Georgia has agreed to pay for a non-conference home game. Florida Atlantic will receive $1 million for a 2012 game in Sanford Stadium, while Buffalo and North Texas will be paid $975,000 apiece for games in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
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216 comments Add your comment
When GT fans rag on UGA about their schedule
March 19th, 2011
10:42 am
I am so amused when GT fans rag on UGA about some non conference opponent. GT acts like they ARE in the same compnay as UGA and all of their former SEC brethren, when they make such lame accusations.
GT IS one of the very schools that UGA or any SEC school has on their schedule at homecoming, like Vandy or Tulane or Rice or Furman or App State or Southern Alabama or Millsaps or Davidson.
Richt's Time Is Up
March 19th, 2011
10:44 am
If we’re going to play patsies, at least keep it in-state and play Ga. Southern or Ga. State. While this is more McGarity than CMR, CMR is rapidly becoming the Paul Hewitt of SEC football: the most overpaid (per result) coach in the league.
Delta Stewardess
March 19th, 2011
10:47 am
And you want me to pay how much for season tickets? I could careless if we lose, but damn lets play a team worth playing. The economy isn’t good and you want big bucks for this crapfest of home games? Sorry I will keep my money and watch more games on TV. We are not going to win a BCS Championship anytime soon so play good teams.
Fly Me
March 19th, 2011
10:55 am
Amen, sister. Playing nobodies impresses nobody. I’d rather be playing other good schools where the victory and even defeat actually mean something.
Fly Me
March 19th, 2011
10:58 am
Taking a day off, filling the RV with gas, steaks, ribs, and beer, and driving to Athens to see a scrimmage against SOUTH Alabama? Now you’re asking too much, McGarity and Richt. CMR is skating on thin ice, and scheduling patsies isn’t going to help him stay on top of it.
D Dog
March 19th, 2011
10:59 am
Georgia should win this one. Richt was 6-1 against unranled teams last year.
It’s the ranked teams that Richt loses to, 0-6 last season.
Ouch!
Delta Stewardess
March 19th, 2011
11:12 am
I heard the North Gwinnet coach say he would play the Dawgs for on $300K. They don’t have a big travel expense.
USAMobTown
March 19th, 2011
11:19 am
This game is four seasons away. Who’s knows what’s in store for either team. UGA could have a new coach and coming off of an SEC championship year; or coming off of a terrible year with Richt. South Alabama is an up and coming program and will be looking forward to the challenge of playing another SEC school for the experience. Or, this could be a totaly differnt Country and World and football is a distant memory.
USAMobTown
March 19th, 2011
11:23 am
One day an actual team named the Sisters of the Poor will show up to play somewhere against a Alabama or Georgia type team and beat them silly. Then everyone will say: “Who knew?”
Tell the truth
March 19th, 2011
11:24 am
gotta love buying those W’s
USAMobTown
March 19th, 2011
11:30 am
@Fly Me: Playing a “Nobody” (although they are somebody to me) impresses sombody. It impresses the fans of that somebody. I will gas up my RV, feel it with steaks, ribs, and drive up to Athens to watch my Jaguars play in a great game against a great SEC team. And all of my fellow USA fans and Alum from around the Southeast and Nation will be there too.
Kelley
March 19th, 2011
11:41 am
That money is obscene.
Kids need money for education.
People all over the world and in this country are going hungry.
And UGA pours out millions for a game?
That’s a disgrace.
sandman053
March 19th, 2011
12:00 pm
Actually that game was only $900K.
I would much rather go back to an 11 game season and go to a true playoff system instead of this BCS crap
Paddy
March 19th, 2011
12:09 pm
Kelley …. the money is not obscene at all. It is what we all should do in this great country of ours. Live the capitalist dream! It is what this country was founded on and has made it strong. Give your own money to help but leave UGA out of it. Most of us are proud the way we live and still trust our founding faters for their great insight. Tell your congressman to feed the poor but leave the private sector alone, it works just fine!
IL Jacket
March 19th, 2011
12:15 pm
Sandman, your idea makes too much sense, so it will not be adopted. With 11 games leading to a playoff, you would free up the season, so University Presidents would not complain about the season being too long, you would stop rewarding mediocrity and instead reward excellence. Only the best teams should move forward. This BCS and 56 bowls is ruining what is fundamentally a great sport. Every coach I have ever heard says we learn more from defeat than a victory, so why do all of these teams schedule cupcakes-my own team included.
Bulldog Bob
March 19th, 2011
12:42 pm
Enter your comments here
ugadogsfan_365
March 19th, 2011
12:42 pm
will we ever see a day when people dont b^&ch and moan about everything. i havent read one article where some a@@hole didnt turn the entre article into something negative GROW UP people. Its amazing how everybody claim to know so much about college football yet you cry about something that happens at EVERY school every year. all of you so called “season ticket holders” if you dont want to go the game then sell your tickets and stop crying believe it or not the show will go on with or without you. thank God for paysites the ajc is for women and children.
Bulldog Bob
March 19th, 2011
12:48 pm
Hey Too Easy, get-a-brain. Other
SEC teams have schduled S. ASA. Where have you been camping–down at the 14th Street Trade School? GET A LIFE SMARTIE/DUMMY! I’m sure that GT is afraid to take-on SA!
Bulldog Bob
March 19th, 2011
12:57 pm
TO THE ‘DISGRACEFUL’ $900,TO A TEAM WHO WILL RECRUITE PLAYERS WHO NEED AND AN EDUCATION, LIKE ANY OTHER TEAM AND WHO WILL GIVE THEIR CHILDREN A GOOD LIFE AND A WINNING EDUCATION. ‘WAKE UP YOU’ALL AND SMELL THE DOGS! RAH! RAH! RAH! bumble bee!!!!!!
Stinger
March 19th, 2011
2:17 pm
Why don’t you play the real Alabama? Next thing you know it will be SE College of middle Alabama.
WIN WITH RICHT
March 19th, 2011
2:33 pm
I don’t consider playing 8 SEC teams and Tech every year to be a pansy schedule. Let’s face it, that is tough for everyone.
01HAWK
March 19th, 2011
2:48 pm
South Alabama will not be a push over game. They are used to winning. 17-0 since the program was started.
Joey Jones is getting alot of transfers such as Demetre Baker from UGA.
Telling story will be when they play at North Carolina State on 9-17-11.
UGA just maybe calling South Alabama to cancel this game for 2014. CMR may not be there by then
Delbert D.
March 19th, 2011
3:07 pm
These games are like a stimulus package for new football programs. I don’t see anything wrong with it.
Brian H.
March 19th, 2011
3:10 pm
As a Charleston Southern alum, I know I can say we all appreciate the opportunity to play the UGA Bulldogs. It will be an honor for our student athletes and coaches to go between the hedges to face the Bulldogs. It is a recruiting tool for our coaches. They can take our team and allow our student athletes to have the opportunity to face SEC talent even though many of them were not recruited on the SEC level. It will be a dream come true for many of them. As has been said, it is not the first time we have played an SEC team. We played Florida with Tebow. Last year we played Kentucky. We have also played at Hawaii twice and will play Florida State this year. We have a plan to upgrade our facilities and these games will help us make that plan a reality which will help us improve our program. Thank you, UGA!!!
Bulldog Bob
March 19th, 2011
3:19 pm
gt bob gets it, he just wants to skip over the bb’s games that are push overss
WIN WITH RICHT
March 19th, 2011
3:26 pm
Would you rather see UGA play Ohio State the week before Florida or play USC the week before Auburn?
Bulldog Bob
March 19th, 2011
3:32 pm
Hey bees, Mercr U is beginning to play FB again. Maybe they will schedule you; if you and yours are up to it. Oh yes, Kennesaw State also. Good Luck!
Bulldog Bobi
March 19th, 2011
3:39 pm
gt bob, the big fat liar! but WE love him as long as he stays at the trade school, the one that can’t say anything good about Georgia Heck!
Bulldog Bobi
March 19th, 2011
3:45 pm
Whit,a nit whit and no wit at all!
Delta Stewardess
March 19th, 2011
3:54 pm
After last year I would think UGA would have to pay a lot more money to buy a few wins and keep Richt, Grantham, and Bobo’s jobs safe.
W.C.D.
March 19th, 2011
4:35 pm
I have read all of the negative comments about Georgia playing South Alabama, But yall must remember that USA will be ready and never scared of the of what Georgia has to bring. I’m a die hard SEC fan, but Georgia is not the king on the SEC hill. Be careful when they play South Alabama.
Clem and Son
March 19th, 2011
5:12 pm
This will cancel out the loss to the mighty Tigers.
Einsteindawg
March 19th, 2011
5:38 pm
Greg McGarity…is this $900,000 you’re paying the money saved by not including a return envelope with our season ticket checks? Two weeks late getting out the order forms and no envelope…sorry if I seem petty, but watching this scrimage will make up for it.
Money Talks
March 19th, 2011
5:51 pm
Ga buys another easy win over a creampuff for $900,000—great way to spend taxpayer money!
Paddy
March 19th, 2011
6:56 pm
Money Talks….UGA spending tax payers money??????????? What planet do you live on? Do a little reading of history and how this whole capitalism things work. You sir, are lost!
Ed (The Original)
March 19th, 2011
7:11 pm
We should drop Tech and replace them with Valdosta State. Why ever take a risk with a nonconference game again? That way after going 4-4 in the conference Richt can pat himself on the back for his 8-4 record and his supporters can brag that he has a higher winning percentage than Dooley, who to my knowledge only coached against 1-A teams.
Why do fans pay for this garbage?
MS Bully
March 19th, 2011
7:19 pm
This type of schedule will get you in the Top 50 in the Nation. Why don’t you schedule Georgia State? Cream puffs are us should sponser UGA football games.
DawgVoiceofReason
March 19th, 2011
7:39 pm
Pulp and Vance (one and the same?),
I never understood how anyone could obsess about something, admittedly bad, that happened at another school, over 25 years ago. Did you ever make it out of your “mommie’s” basement? What a pathetic loser you are! I mean, if I had to, I could look up all of the bad things that ever happened at your beloved institute, but that would be a complete waste of time. You obviously have NOTHING postive to talk about regarding your own situation or you would say it instead of reposting the same worn out tripe.
DawgVoiceofReason
March 19th, 2011
7:45 pm
Delta Stewardess,
With an attitude like you have, “We are not going to win a BCS Championship anytime soon” and I quote, please don’t come to any games at Sanford Stadium. Staying home is the right decision. You would just be wasting a perfectly good seat that a real fan could use. You don’t even understand how scheduling works and you think anyone would miss your ignorant voice?
Bama fan
March 19th, 2011
7:57 pm
Hey, all you tech fans, all I can say is you look like losers, to post something negative on this silly article shows how sad you all are.I am not a dawg fan, but look at all tech posts here and it kills me how jealous you are, south Alabama will likely be a better game than GT will be, what is richt like 11-0 against tech, do you have any wins vs Georgia the last decade. Get a life guys, and bb coach for that matter, thought you were a bb school? Guess not. Pathetic.
DawgVoiceofReason
March 19th, 2011
8:09 pm
Ed (The Original),
The garbage you refer to is just part of the formula for winning. No team can play every game against top flight opponents, as much as the fans might want to. And certainly, no national champion has at least in the last 20 years (if ever) played a complete schedule against even all top 25 opponents. But, referring to UGA, it was just two or three years ago that we played a schedule that included, I think, 8 games against teams with coaches who had won national championships. The trick is finding a balance between playing a challenging schedule but not one that is so difficult that you significantly reduce your chances of winning a championship by over doing it.
DawgVoiceofReason
March 19th, 2011
8:14 pm
Ed (the orginal),
And another thing, your comparison to Dooley was a bad one. As you know, he had more than one losing season and took 16 years to win his national championship. Did you not see the recruiting class that Mark Richt just brought in? He will win with these guys. And if he doesn’t eventually, nobody is going to be bragging about 8-4 seasons then. His record is excellent, despite the recent down turn and he has done it in the best conference in the nation.
Nachos the barn burner
March 19th, 2011
10:03 pm
I hope they use white helmets and red pants this game. So excited
Pope UGA XXIII
March 19th, 2011
10:34 pm
Let’s go ahead and put South Atlanta High on the schedule too !
Want to make sure that I get the best games possible on my season
ticket order.
Delta Stewardess
March 19th, 2011
11:21 pm
Bama Fan thanks for taking up for us, but I am guessing USA will give us a better game than Bama will. Not like Bama has done so well against the Dawgs in the last few game we have played the Toilet Paper and Wash Powder crowd.
Boobie Bowden
March 19th, 2011
11:54 pm
Now we will really need to coach them down. Dawgs remain the least of the east.
GR82BAG8R
March 20th, 2011
7:49 am
All major programs schedule cupcakes. Period. This is part of the business of college football. Given the rigor of the SEC (perennial winner of the BCS NC trophy) schedule, this is needed to provide a break in the competition. It is also a win-win for both the major program and the wannabe – - even if that wannabe is another locational Southern state (vice a directional Michigan).
The question for Georgia fans is: What is the minimum number of wins this year for you to be happy with Richt? You have perennial top-10 recruiting classes, yet Auburn won as many games last season as you totaled over the last two. If Richt only wins 8 this year, will you be happy?
Tennessee, LSU (twice), Florida (thrice), Alabama, and Auburn have all celebrated NCs since 1980. When will Georgia get its next one? Is Richt the coach to deliver it?
Excited
March 20th, 2011
9:24 am
I have a woody just thinking about this game. Looks like we are aiming for a national title for the 34th season in a row. Way to go guys, $1M bucks buys us a win but we loose further respect by not taking any risk.
Has everybody at UGA lost their mind these days? Looks like AJ Green lost his while at UGA…. the NFL evaluator called him a “Dumb receiver” ….
http://www.profootballweekly.com/2011/03/17/low-wonderlic-scores-ding-elite-nfl-prospects
D Dog
March 20th, 2011
9:32 am
ESPN saying Logan Gray to Colorado, his little borther is there already.
Jborodawg
March 20th, 2011
10:26 am
Yep, Pulwud and VanceD are obviously the same, pathetic “person”. Amen to DawgVoice.
Delta, FlyMe, Pope, and Ed …you just don’t seem to get it when it comes to scheduling. How many times do you have to read, “…ALL major programs do it…”?
Sandman…great idea, going back to an 11 game sked. But, Brian from Chas Southern also makes a good point: these “little” schools love scheduling these games. Money and recognition…not to mention competing against the best, maybe even trying to show the big boys that they were worthy of being recruited.
Let’s back up just a little. What if the headline had read, “UGA Adds Clemson to 2014 Schedule”? Then it’d be a whole different discussion. Actually, adding Clempsum should have been the headline. That’s a good ol’ rivalry. Nearly every game came down to a last minute field goal or TD. But we dropped em when the SEC mandated an eight game sked. I’m looking forward to that game.