The Georgia Bulldogs know how to turn heads both on and off the field. Fresh off their overtime win against Tennessee, Kirby Smart’s squad is undefeated in the league with an AP Poll rank of no. 5 after 4 weeks. Now comes Alabama this weekend. But before getting into the strategy of the game, Smart and a former Georgia HC join hands to try and raise an amount of $700k for medical conditions that impacts Americans across the country. So, for Georgia, it’s not just about the game but also about giving it back to the people.
Former HC March Richt has teamed up with Kirby Smart for a noble cause to kick off Alabama game week. They are promoting their annual Chick-fil-A Dawg Bowl fundraiser. It focuses on health conditions like Parkinson’s and Crohn’s disease. Even Richt’s 11-year-old granddaughter, Jadyn, joined in for this cause. She displayed the championship belts with Richt that the top finishers will get at the end of the event.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Now comes their major goal for this event: raising $700k. The first two of their Dawg Bowls raised a combined $1,479,293. And even the targets for the donors have increased this year, as last year 478 donors supported the cause, and this year the target is for 500 donors. March Richt was the man behind this vision and has every reason to start it. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2021.
But why did Crohn’s come in with Parkinson’s? It’s because it was Richt’s granddaughter who’s been battling it since she was a baby. Even Kirby Smart is not new to helping the needy ones. He has his “Kirby Smart Family Foundation,” which aims to support and give back to needy children and families that live in tough situations. So, it makes sense why both of them are hustling hard to make it a success.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Now, the Dawg Bowl will take place at Showtime Bowl, 555 Macon Hwy in Athens, where all Georgia’s current players, like Gunner Stockton and other guys, will trade their cleats for bowling shoes to raise money for UGA’s Isakson Center for Neurological Disease Research. They even have a website where their donors can make a payment of their wish: richtsdawgbowl.com.
Kirby Smart’s team gets their 3-fixed rivals
The SEC is going through a major change with their 9-game schedule rolling in from next year. Now every team in the SEC will have three rivalry games in their schedule, and the rest of the six games will be a rotation between the other opponents. This means every team will face each other once every two years. Kirby Smart’s 3 annual conference opponents are the Florida Gators, Auburn Tigers, and South Carolina Gamecocks.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Georgia has played against Gators and Tigers for decades and even holds long win streaks against both of them. But South Carolina came in as a wildcard. This structure ended their annual game against Tennessee and Kentucky, two programs that Kirby Smart’s team has played every year for 30 years. Even this season they had an overtime game against Tennessee and won it with a 44-41 record.