NEWS UPDATE: The Georgia Bulldogs’ schedule for…..

It’s been a little over two weeks since the 2023 college football season ended with Michigan beating Washington for the national championship. The attention for many turned to 2024 as soon as the clock hit all zeroes in Houston’s NRG Stadium, and it will remain there until toe meets leather for teams in late August.

The 2023 Georgia Bulldogs took care of business throughout the regular season to finish that part of the schedule 12-0, becoming college football’s first program to post three consecutive undefeated regular seasons since 1993-95 Nebraska. The Bulldogs came up just short in the SEC championship game by losing to then-No. 8 Alabama 27-24 but bounced back in a big way by trouncing No. 5 Florida State 63-3 in the Orange Bowl.

Georgia ended the 2023 season with a 13-1 record and finished No. 3 in the Coaches poll and No. 4 in the AP poll.

Georgia will open the 2024 season with a game against Clemson in Atlanta, which marks the second time in three seasons that the Bulldogs have opened the season with a neutral-site game in Atlanta. The Bulldogs then host Tennessee Tech before playing at Kentucky then having their first bye week of 2024.

The Bulldogs follow the bye week with a trip to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama followed by a home game against rival Auburn. Georgia hosts Mississippi State the following week before a historic trip to Texas, which will be the first meeting between the two teams as conference foes.

Georgia has a bye week following the game in Austin before traveling to Jacksonville for its annual game against Florida. The Bulldogs then play at Ole Miss, then host Tennessee in Georgia’s final conference game of the season. The Bulldogs close out the regular season with non-conference home games against UMass and Georgia Tech.

Let’s dive into the numbers to know when it comes to Georgia’s 2024 schedule:

This should come as no surprise, but the Bulldogs are playing a schedule featuring some teams that won big in 2023.

Georgia’s 12 regular-season opponents combined to go 90-63 in 2023 for an average record of 7-5. Georgia will face three teams that had at least 11 wins last season, including two teams — Texas and Alabama — that made the College Football Playoff.

Georgia is one of only four teams set to play multiple 2023 playoff teams next season. The Bulldogs are part of a group that includes Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, and Michigan.

In total, eight of Georgia’s 2024 opponents made a bowl game in 2023, with four of those teams ending the year with a victory. Only two of Georgia’s Power 5 opponents — Mississippi State and Florida — missed out on bowl eligibility.

For 32 seasons, the Georgia Bulldogs could count on playing fellow SEC East teams every year, and for the last 12 seasons that amounted to six of the team’s 12 regular-season games. That won’t be the case in 2024 with the elimination of divisions, which in turn ended a few long standing series for the Bulldogs.

Georgia will only play three teams in 2024 that called the SEC East home: Kentucky, Florida, and Tennessee. The schedule change will put a brief stop to a few historic series for the Bulldogs, as Georgia had played Vanderbilt every year but one dating back to 1968 and had faced South Carolina every year since 1992 in a series that goes all the way back to 1894.

The scheduling format changes will allow Georgia to face four teams that previously resided in the SEC West, which was not possible during the previous format.

Georgia faced three first-time head coaches in 2023, although Georgia Tech’s Brent Key had been in the interim the year before. It will be more of the same for the Bulldogs this fall, as there are three new head coaches who will lead their teams against the Bulldogs.

Tennessee Tech’s Bobby Wilder, Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, and Mississippi State’s Jeff Lebby will be in the middle of their first seasons with their respective programs when they square off with Kirby Smart and company. Wilder comes to Tennessee Tech four years after being the head coach at Old Dominion. DeBoer comes to Alabama after a successful two-year run at Washington that ended with the Huskies finishing runner-up in January’s national title game. Lebby is getting his first chance to be a head coach after a successful two years as Oklahoma offensive coordinator.

The Bulldogs went 3-0 against first-time head coaches in 2023 and will try to replicate that success this fall.

Most college football teams will look very different this year compared to 2023. That said, the Bulldogs will play several teams who were very productive on both sides of the ball.

Multiple teams that the Bulldogs will play this year were among the best statistically in several key categories. Five of the FBS teams that Georgia will face in 2024 finished in the top 50 nationally in scoring offense with Texas leading the way (35.8 points per game). Sticking with offense, six of Georgia’s FBS opponents finished in the top 50 in total offense with the Longhorns once again leading the way (477.5 yards per game).

On the other side of the ball, six of the FBS teams that the Bulldogs will play finished in the top 50 in scoring defense in 2023. Texas led the way at 18.9 ppg. As for total defense, seven of Georgia’s FBS opponents finished in the top 50 — Clemson led the way at 287.8 yards allowed per game.

Looking conference by conference, three of Georgia’s opponents finished in the top four of their conference in scoring offense and total offense (Texas, Ole Miss, and Georgia Tech). Four of the Bulldogs’ opponents finished in the top four of their conference in scoring defense and total defense (Clemson, Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee). The Longhorns were the only team that finished in the top four of their respective conference in all four categories.

As for Georgia’s FCS competition, Tennessee Tech finished 106th among FCS teams in scoring offense, 98th in total offense, 54th in scoring defense, and 13th in total defense.

It’s no secret that a college football roster in 2024 can be ravaged by both the NFL Draft and the transfer portal. While teams tend to look very different from one year to the next, several of the Bulldogs’ 2024 opponents will have multi-year starters they know they can count on.

I took a closer look at the rosters of all 12 of Georgia’s regular-season opponents and specifically looked to see which teams were bringing back their leading passer, leading rusher, leading receiver, and leading tackler from 2023. Only two teams — Auburn and Georgia Tech — return their 2023 leader in all four categories, while four teams — Clemson, Florida, Ole Miss, and UMass — bring back the leader in three of the four categories.

Alabama and Texas are the two teams that bring back only one statistical leader from 2023, with both being their leading passers. Mississippi State is the only SEC opponent that has lost its leading passer, leading rusher, leading receiver, and leading tackler from the 2023 season.

Just for comparison’s sake, Georgia will only bring back its leading passer (Carson Beck) after losing its leading rusher (Daijun Edwards), leading receiver (Brock Bowers), and leading tackler (Tykee Smith).