ATHENS, Ga. — Wally Butts did it reluctantly, because he had an athletic department to run. Seven decades ago, Georgia was scheduled to play Texas at home for the first time. The problem was the Longhorns expected a certain amount of money for making the trip, and back in 1957, the worry was not enough people would make the trip to Athens to fill up Sanford Stadium.
So Butts moved the game to Grant Field, Georgia Tech’s home stadium in Atlanta.
“We have a big guarantee for Texas, which might not have been met had not this game been transferred to the heavily populated area of Atlanta,” Butts told the Red and Black student newspaper.
And thus, Texas has still never played in Georgia’s home stadium — until Saturday, when they meet as top-10 teams. Perhaps worth the 68-year wait, according to Butts’ granddaughter, Allison Jones Yeomans.
“We’re both ranked in the top 10, they’ve never been to Sanford Stadium, and because of our College Football Playoff hopes — and because nobody wants Texas to join the SEC and win too much right off the bat,” Yeomans said. “Yes, I consider this Saturday’s game against Texas as one of the biggest of them all.”
Still, only one of the biggest.
Georgia has played in plenty of huge games since 2000. Many of them have been elsewhere: National championships, SEC championships, the Rose Bowl, the annual Cocktail Party in Jacksonville. But Sanford Stadium has hosted its share, too. So on the occasion of the Texas game, we asked a small, informal panel of longtime Georgia people for their list. The criteria were the most anticipated games, based on the magnitude of the game and/or the opponent.
Here were the dozen games most often mentioned:
Sept. 21, 2019No. 3 Georgia 23, No. 7 Notre Dame 17
Two years after Georgia made its first-ever trip to South Bend, the Fighting Irish made their first trip to Athens.
“One of the biggest ‘event’ games I can remember. The entire Classic City was crazy. Thousands who didn’t even have tickets streamed into Athens just to soak up the atmosphere. This Top 10 clash had the feel of an early-season playoff game.” — Bill King, publisher of the Junkyard Blawg
“This has to go on the list. It’s the biggest brand in the history of college football. The game was so big CBS took it instead of LSU-Alabama for its doubleheader night game.” — Paul Welch, director of student affairs, Georgia’s school of public & international affairs
“It was the first game when we had the new LED lights, and the first time Notre Dame had ever come to Sanford Stadium so both of those factors, plus the victory, make it a fond memory!” — Yeomans
Michael Bennett celebrates a touchdown against LSU in 2013. (Scott Cunningham / Getty Images)
Sept. 28, 2013No. 9 Georgia 44, No. 6 LSU 41
Georgia was coming off the 12-2 season in which it nearly won the SEC championship. LSU was in the heyday of the Les Miles era. And LSU’s starting quarterback was Zach Mettenberger, who had transferred from Georgia three years earlier and whose mother still worked in Georgia’s football office.
“The loudest and wildest I’ve ever seen Sanford.” — Tony Waller, assistant dean of Georgia law school, co-host of “Waitin’ Since Last Saturday” podcast
“There was a feeling that Georgia team might just be the one to break through given how 2012 had ended and because it was the end of a brutal early-season scheduling gantlet. Our office was particularly useless the last two days of the week, and the game matched the hype. I remember one colleague repeatedly telling me the following Monday that Saturday had been the best day of his life.” — Johnathan McGinty, Georgia alumnus
“The stadium was literally vibrating with an unreal decibel level. An emotional Mark Richt was in tears after the game.” — King
Nov. 5, 2022No. 1 Georgia 27, No. 2 Tennessee 13
Both teams actually claimed a No. 1 ranking: Georgia in the AP poll, Tennessee in the CFP ranking. Both were unbeaten late into the season, and in the four-team CFP era, the ramifications were huge.
“No. 1 vs. No. 1. This one felt pretty close to the Notre Dame game in the lead up. It felt like either the Vols had arrived or not (they had, in fact, not).” — Welch
“That was the year that Erik Ainge fired us up with his comment about Sanford Stadium not being a loud environment. I remember yelling more than I ever yell.” — Yeomans
Oct. 7, 2000No. 19 Georgia 21, No. 21 Tennessee 10
This saw what is still regarded as the only field storming in Sanford Stadium history, as the Bulldogs ended a nine-game losing streak to the Volunteers, in what would be coach Jim Donnan’s last season.
“I had a new baby (my son Jack) attending his first game in a baby carrier under my seat and somehow he slept through the whole thing. But I literally had to keep looking under the seat to see if he was crying or sleeping because it was so loud in the stadium.” — Yeomans
“The absolute most bonkers crowd I’ve ever been a part of. I was in the student section where people were standing on the bleachers and in between the bleachers and in the stairs for the entire game. While 2000 was already a disappointment due to the (South) Carolina loss, the feeling was we could break the losing streak versus Tennessee. That streak was such a big deal — it had put the Vols in the Gators category for a lot of people. — Welch
Georgia’s Blackout game against Alabama had a great atmosphere, but not the result fans wanted. (Doug Benc / Getty Images)
Sept. 27, 2008No. 8 Alabama 41, No. 3 Georgia 30
The Blackout game, as it became known, ruefully, around Georgia. Other than maybe Kirby Smart, the man calling Alabama’s defense that night. Georgia had national championship aspirations. Alabama would actually win its first under Nick Saban that year. The score of the game does not reflect how much of a beatdown it was.
“The final score in this one didn’t matter. What mattered was that Nick Saban had changed the equation in the SEC. After many years in the wilderness, Alabama was on top and going forward all SEC schools would have to adjust to what Saban was doing. We’re feeling the reverberations of that to this day.” — Jason Hasty, UGA athletics history specialist, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library
“That was the, oh, we are so far from being there game. Incredible atmosphere, at least until kickoff.” — Waller
Oct. 3, 2015No. 13 Alabama 38, No. 8 Georgia 10
Georgia came in unbeaten, Alabama had lost to Ole Miss, and the hope was Richt’s program was finally about to knock off and surpass Saban’s. Instead, the rain was as deflating as the home team’s performance.
“Easily 40K people in Athens who didn’t get into the game. Heralded the coming end of the Richt era.” — Waller
“2008 and 2015 Alabama: Unreal hype, but just otherworldly disappointments. 2008 we had (Matthew) Stafford and Knowshon (Moreno); 2015 we had (Nick) Chubb and (Sony) Michel … but the machine just rolls on.” — Welch
Sept. 27, 2025No. 17 Alabama 24, No. 5 Georgia 21
Kirby Smart, who was 1-6 against his former team, finally got the Crimson Tide at Sanford Stadium. It didn’t change the game’s result.
“I felt walking out of the stadium that Georgia was a young team that needed experience, especially in big moments. It was a disappointment, for sure, but I felt that the team would learn and grow from it, and they have.” — Hasty
Nov. 10, 2007No. 10 Georgia 45, No. 18 Auburn 20
This was the original Blackout game, which inspired the one a year later against Alabama that didn’t go as well. In this one, Georgia warmed up wearing red jerseys, then switched to black in the locker room. The players went nuts, as did fans when the team came out of the tunnel.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Sanford Stadium crowd as excited as when the Dawgs burst through that banner in those black jerseys. Still, the Tigers made it a game, taking a 20-17 lead before Georgia scored 28 unanswered points, and wound up dancing to ‘Soulja Boy.’” — King
“I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced a game day like that one. I was with a group of buddies — none of us had tickets — and we tailgated near Five Points on Milledge Avenue in someone’s front yard. It was just constant honking and screaming and shouting leading up to the game, and it was one of the few times that I distinctly remember hearing the roars from the stadium, and even Soulja Boy faintly in the distance. Given that Auburn had had the upper hand in the series for a few years and that Georgia was just coming off the win against Florida, it was just such a fun day to finally feel like the tide was turning.” — McGinty
Oct. 2, 2004No. 3 Georgia 45, No. 13 LSU 16
LSU was the defending champion, and Saban was in what would be his last season as its coach. Georgia was in its last year with QB David Greene and DE David Pollack.
“I passed up being the best man in a wedding to attend this game. Worth it.” — King
“We absolutely dominated them. Mark May said afterward, ‘Georgia can never play that well again,’ and we all hated him even more, then even more when we lost a stupid 19-14-type game to Tennessee the next week. — Welch
The Tigers had a young DBs coach and Georgia alum named Kirby Smart on staff. Not sure whatever happened to him. — Hasty
Georgia left no doubt against a then-undefeated Arkansas in 2021. (Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
Oct. 2, 2021No. 2 Georgia 37, No. 8 Arkansas 0
Arkansas, coached by former Georgia offensive line coach Sam Pittman, came in unbeaten. Georgia had beaten Clemson in Charlotte to open the season, but many saw this as a launching point to what would be a national title season.
“Beating a good Arkansas team the way we did was proof of concept of UGA dominance.” — Waller
Sept. 3, 2005No. 13 Georgia 48, No. 18 Boise State 13
This season opener against Boise State went much better than the 2011 season opener, which was in the Georgia Dome.
“Boise State was one of the hottest teams in the country coming into the 2005 season, having lost only three games over the previous three seasons. DJ Shockley was magnificent, leading the Dawgs to a 48-13 victory. I recall how shellshocked the Boise fans were when leaving the stadium.” — Hasty
Mark Richt celebrates after a 2014 win over Clemson. (Scott Cunningham / Getty Images)
Aug. 30, 2014No. 12 Georgia 45, No. 16 Clemson 16
Georgia had lost at Clemson the previous season. The Bulldogs debuted freshmen tailbacks Chubb and Michel.
“Todd Gurley gained 293 all-purpose yards, scoring four touchdowns, and Nick Chubb literally ran out of one of his shoes in his freshman debut, as the Dawgs beat Dabo Swinney’s Tigers, who in the second half were held to only one first down, 15 yards passing and no yards on the ground. Another extremely loud Sanford crowd.” — King
Sept. 23, 2017No. 11 Georgia 31, No. 17 Mississippi State 3
The Bulldogs came in ranked after a 30-point win over LSU, but Georgia piled up 404 yards on just 54 plays.
“Mississippi State was a popular pick to upset the Dawgs, but the game was never close. This game, even more than the Notre Dame game, was when I saw how special the 2017 team was and that it would be a title contender.” — Hasty