I think I jinxed us with last week’s Feature Friday about the DawgNation team’s favorite football weather.
Did you look at the temperatures for this week, including for Georgia’s season opener Saturday? Yikes.
The predicted high for Saturday is 96 degrees — not exactly balmy or comfortable. Players, of course, have been practicing in the heat through fall camp, so it’s nothing new.
Even linebacker Justin Williams, a Texas native, admitted the heat here is no joke.
“I used to think Texas heat was a lot hotter, but now that I’ve been in Georgia for three years now, I lied,” Williams said Monday. “Georgia’s definitely hotter for sure, and it’s a different thing here. It’s a different thing.”
When Georgia coach Kirby Smart spoke with media Monday, he addressed the heat and issued a challenge of sorts for fans and media (by the way, I won’t be taking him up on this and probably wouldn’t fare too well out there):
“I’ll be interested to see as much about as our players as I do our fans. Let’s see if they can handle it. See if you guys can handle it,” Smart said. “You can get out of that air conditioning and be right here with us. See if y’all can handle 110 heat index and go up and down the field with 25 pounds of pads on. Think you’ll be all right? You wear all the equipment.
“I’ll give it to you. … You’ll be like these pro players coming back. Just slower. And older.”
Smart added that he won’t be adding anyone to the Georgia roster, as the Bulldogs are right at the 105-man roster limit.
He’s seen his team work through roughly 20 practices ahead of the 2026 season, in addition to the 15 Georgia had this spring.
“We measure all the outside ones against previous camps,” Smart said. “It stood out as probably the hottest camp we’ve had. I always worry about our players being acclimated to a game-type atmosphere in that heat because you don’t play games a lot of times in it. We practiced in it. We did get to scrimmage in it.”
If Smart’s players are to be believed, what they went through over the past month was more difficult than what awaits them on Saturday. Especially when factoring in the competition, as Tennessee State plays at the Football Championship Subdivision level.
“Conditioning here is rough,” running back Nate Frazier said. “It’s 100 degrees, it’s humid, you’re in 12 pounds of pads. One thing I can tell you about Georgia football practice, you would never be in shape for a Georgia football practice. Coach Smart and our coaches, they’re gonna find a way to make it difficult every single day. And you’re just gonna have to face it, but it helps you, it helps you in the long run. The practices we have here is 100 times harder than the game.”
The Tigers do have one advantage over Georgia in that they’ve already played a game this season. Tennessee State lost to Jackson State this past weekend, 26-24. That game was played in Nashville.
Smart lamented multiple times this offseason not having center Drew Bobo and edge defender Gabe Harris to end last season.
As for their status for Georgia’s season opener against Tennessee State on Saturday, Smart shared that the Bulldogs will be careful with how the team uses them.
“They’ve taken every single rep. They’re good to go,” Smart said.
Bobo suffered a foot injury that required surgery against Georgia Tech last season. He also suffered a finger injury during fall camp, but it was on his non-snapping hand.
Cortez Smith and Malachi Toliver have battled this fall for the backup job behind Bobo. Toliver started in place of Bobo to end last season.
Harris suffered a toe injury in Georgia’s SEC championship game win over Alabama. He had surgery on the injury and has been limited for most of the spring and fall.
“He brings a lot to the team. Gabe is just a guy that’s gonna go attack it,” Williams said of Harris. “He has that dog mentality every day. For instance, in our scrimmage, there was a play that got thrown out to the sideline, and Gabe was — he made a monster play and he was the first one to be out there. So that just tells you what type of guy Gabe is. It doesn’t matter how far the ball is away from him. He’s gonna be able to be the one to go make the play and go get to the ball.”
Georgia does have myriad options to turn to in the event Harris is limited. Joseph Jonah-Ajonye, JJ Hanne and Isaiah Gibson can all help with the defensive end spot for Georgia. Quintavius Johnson will also be an important piece on the defensive line for Georgia.
Georgia offensive lineman Drew Bobo (left) lines up against Kentucky at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Athens. (Tony Walsh/UGAAA)
Georgia center Drew Bobo and offensive lineman Micah Morris block quarterback Gunner Stockton during their game against Austin Peay at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, in Athens. (Jason Getz/AJC)
Georgia defensive back JaCorey Thomas (right) celebrates with linebacker Gabe Harris Jr. after sacking Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson for a 9-yard loss during their SEC championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)
Georgia linebacker Gabe Harris Jr. (right) pressures Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)
Georgia defense ready to show fans ‘what they’ve paid for’
The time has finally come for Williams to show what all that recruiting fuss was about.
Williams, at one time ranked the No. 1 linebacker in the nation — and No. 5 overall player in the 2024 class by the 247Sports composite — could be making his first career start when the Bulldogs take the field against Tennessee State on Saturday.
“I can say I’m very excited; I’ve been waiting a long time,” Williams, who played in all 14 games last season and 12 as a true freshman, said.
“But that comes with Coach Smart being able to trust in me. Without that trust, I wouldn’t be where I’m at. Hopefully I can prove to him he made the right decision.”
Those who aren’t close to the program might wonder what has taken so long for the 6-foot-2, 225-pound Williams to break into the starting rotation.
But Bulldogs fans know the names that lined up ahead of Williams, with three of those players now in the NFL (Smael Mondon, Jalon Walker and CJ Allen) along with current Georgia teammates Raylen Wilson and Chris Cole, a half-step ahead by position.
Williams is considered the heir apparent to Allen, a former teammate who grabbed a starting position late in his freshman season and fiercely defended it.
Smart has taken note of Williams’ efforts and shared as much at his opening-game week news conference Monday.
“Number one, he was an extremely high character kid from the first time we met him, (and) I remember he came to a Junior Day, and he was just all in,” Smart said. “He was in every competition we had. He was in the front line. He was smiling, laughing and meeting other recruits.
“Just felt like a ball of energy, and that’s carried over into his play. He plays really hard, with a lot of passion and energy. He leads that way.”
Freshman standouts Chris Cole (from left), Justin Williams and Joseph Jonah-Ajonye all made their college debut against the Clemson Tigers on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)
Tennessee wide receiver Mike Matthews (right) is tackled by Georgia linebacker Justin Williams (left) and defensive back Joenel Aguero at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. (Jason Getz/AJC)
Trivia time
With Smart at the helm, what is Georgia’s record in season openers?
This 5-star QB clearly defines his Georgia football commitment
Jayden Wade seems to have all the answers on the football field. The longtime 5-star Georgia football commitment threw for three touchdowns and ran for another 78-yard score on Saturday night.
He completed 75% of his 12 attempts for 192 yards. The IMG Academy star added 81 yards on the ground on just three carries.
That was just his first half.
That stat line stacked the scoreboard en route to a 59-10 runaway win against Cornerstone Christian. He did not play in the second half.
Wade, who’s rated as either the nation’s No. 1 or No. 2 prospect by the two major recruiting composites, made a silent commitment to UGA several months before he went public last November with a verbal commitment the day after he saw the Dawgs wallop Texas.
That said, given the unstable reality of 5-star QB recruiting — especially at UGA — there are a few questions surrounding Wade’s future in the red and black. Wade, much like his game performance this weekend, had all the answers on those matters, too.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pounder spoke at length exclusively with DawgNation on several topics, including the big ones like:
When is his next visit to UGA?
Does he have any other visits scheduled to rival schools?
Is he close to shutting down his recruitment?
What are his thoughts on reclassifying to the 2027 class and getting to Athens a year early?
