BREAKING: 2025 UGA Football Season Opener Kickoff Time Revealed

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ATHENS - Kirby Smart and UGA Football will kick off  the Dawgs’ season opener on Aug. 30 in Athens versus Marshall on Dooley Field in Sanford Stadium at 3:30 p.m. and televised by ESPN.

The Bulldogs won the only other game between the two schools - a 13-3 UGA win in Athens in 2004.. The game was one of five games with kickoff times announced by Disney and the SEC as college football is right around the corner. 

This matchup with the Thundering Herd replaces a previously scheduled game on that date that the Bulldogs had with UCLA in Pasadena, Calif.  The Georgia-UCLA game scheduled to be played in Athens in 2026 has also been canceled.

Georgia enters the 2025 season with high expectations once more. Kirby’s tenth season in Athens features seven home games - and neutral-site showdowns with two of the program’s major rivals. UGA football will face the Gators in Jacksonville once again, but add a Black Friday fight with Tech at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Both of those games are scheduled for 3:30 kickoffs on ABC. 

The Bulldogs have two massive home games in 2025. Georgia will host Alabama on September 27. The two programs have combined to win five national titles since Alabama last visited Athens in 2015. Texas makes its first appearance in Athens in program history. The two programs met in the 2024 SEC Championship Game in December. The Bulldogs beat Texas in overtime to win Georgia’s 15th SEC title - second most all time. 

Kirby’s Dawgs look get back to the College Football Playoff in 2025. The Bulldogs fell to Notre Dame in January at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The loss concluded the Dawgs’ 11-3 season in 2024. As of late May 2025, UGA is considered one of the favorites to win the national title according to BET MGM (Ohio State, +500 | Texas +500 | UGA +650 | Penn State +750 | Oregon +800).