ATHENS - Kirby Smart’s No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs are kicking off the 2026 season Saturday afternoon Between the Hedges in Sanford Stadium against the Tennessee State Tigers. But before kickoff ESPN’s College Gameday crew talked about the Dawgs and SEC. “No one's really taking about Georgia right now,” former West Virginia punter Pat McAfee said of the Bulldogs. “It's eerily quiet.”Live Updates: Georgia Bulldogs vs Tennessee State ScoreThat could be because of the Dawgs’ underwhelming opponents to start the season. In previous years the Bulldogs have played marquee games to start the season against ranked teams. But back-to-back games against the Tigers and next weekend’s showdown with Western Kentucky doesn’t carry the same spotlight as LSU’s fight with Clemson this weekend or Texas-Ohio State and Michigan-Oklahoma over the next few weeks. The Bulldogs’ youth and experience from a season ago has been a talking point for pundits this off-season, and former Alabama coach Nick Saban was quick to point out UGA is a year older this fall. “They had a really young team last year,” Saban said - noting that fellow SEC contender Texas had the same challenges a season ago. McAfee was more to the point about the Bulldogs as the segment concluded.“They pound you in the face,” he said. “I love this UGA team.”The Bulldogs and Tigers are expected to fight extreme heat Saturday afternoon. Temperatures will be in the mid to upper 90s in Athens. Georgia has not started a game with temperatures over 92 degrees in the last 16 seasons. Smart said he was concerned about that factor. “It's been really one of the hottest camps we've measured in terms of practices. We practiced outside, and we practiced inside. We measure all the outside ones against previous camps, and it stood out to be probably the hottest camp we've had,” Smart said. “We practice in it, and we did get to scrimmage in it. So I'd be interested to see as much about our players as I do about our fans and see if they can handle it.”Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow