ATHENS — Georgia isn’t playing this Saturday, but the Bulldogs left their mark and will in the back of the minds of many college football fans.
The Georgia-Tennessee game drew an audience of 12.6 million last Saturday. It was the second most-watched game of the season (Texas-Ohio State, 16.6 million, Fox) and ABC’s fourth most-watched game over the past 10 years.
The Bulldogs’ stirring 44-41 overtime win over the Vols peaked at 15.9 million, giving the nation visual proof that Coach Kirby Smart’s 2025 team has maintained a competitive edge in the SEC.
The spotlight is nothing new to Georgia football, as the Bulldogs were the most-watched college team last season, averaging 8.6 million viewers per game during the 2024 season.
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Former Alabama tailback Mark Ingram remarked on ‘The Triple Option’ podcast that the SEC still runs through Athens, where Georgia will play host to Alabama at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday between the hedges in Sanford Stadium.
“They always say you have to beat them, right? So yeah, you have to beat the champs. It does run through Georgia,” Ingram said on the podcast this week. “I don’t think it runs through Tuscaloosa right now. Tuscaloosa has to go take it. Austin (Texas) has to go take it.”
Social media has been buzzing, as Georgia climbed to No. 1 in the College Sports Social Pulse rankings, which is a platform measuring social media impact run by the University of South Carolina’s Social Media Insights Lab.
Per the date, Georgia football generated more than 2 million social media engagements.
UGA quarterback Gunner Stockton was No. 4 in the social media engagements after his performance, with the struggles of Texas quarterback Arch Manning keeping that name No. 1 followed by Ohio State’s Caleb Downs and Miami’s Carson Beck.
Kirby Smart was second among the coaches in the social impact platform last week with Oregon’s Dan Lanning No. 1.
Smart has said many times over that he and his players don’t concern themselves with what others are saying, referring to it as “outside noise.”
But part of what makes college football so compelling is the passion interest and discussions that take place, and optimism had been guarded after two less-than-impressive opening performances the season.
Georgia was considered somewhat of a mystery team, as only 1.7 million viewed the Bulldogs’ 45-7, season-opening win over Marshall, and the 28-6 win over FCS Austin Peay was streamed — not shown on conventional cable television outlets.
The Bulldogs figure to get talked about more on Saturday, even though they are off, as it’s a relatively quiet schedule among playoff contenders.
Ohio State and Penn State, the Nos. 1- and 2-ranked teams, are idle, while No. 3 LSU is a massive home favorite over Southeastern Louisiana.
The No. 4-ranked Miami Hurricanes, led by Beck, play host to Floria at 7:30 p.m. game that will be televised by ESPN.
Other top games to take note of:
No. 17 Texas Tech at No. 16 Utah, Noon, Fox
Tulane at No. 13 Ole Miss, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
• No. 22 Auburn at No. 11 Oklahoma, 3:30 p.m. ABC
South Carolina at No. 23 Missouri, 7 p.m., ESPN
• No. 9 Illinois at No. 19 Indiana, 7:30 p.m. NBC
• No. 25 Michigan State at USC, 11 p.m. Fox
