2016 Georgia Bulldogs football team

The 2016 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the University of Georgia in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs played their home games at Sanford Stadium. They were members of the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference. They were led by first-year head coach Kirby Smart. They finished the season 8–5, 4–4 in SEC play to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the Eastern Division. They were invited to the Liberty Bowl where they defeated TCU.

2016 Georgia Bulldogs football
Liberty Bowl champion
Liberty Bowl, W 31–23 vs. TCU
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEastern Division
2016 record8–5 (4–4 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJim Chaney (1st season)
Co-offensive coordinatorJames Coley (1st season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorMel Tucker (1st season)
Base defense3–4
CaptainNick Chubb
Brandon Kublanow
Sony Michel
Maurice Smith
Home stadiumSanford Stadium
(Capacity: 92,746)
2016 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
No. 14 Florida x  6 –2     9 –4  
No. 22 Tennessee  4 –4     9 –4  
Georgia  4 –4     8 –5  
Kentucky  4 –4     7 –6  
South Carolina  3 –5     6 –7  
Vanderbilt  3 –5     6 –7  
Missouri  2 –6     4 –8  
West Division
No. 2 Alabama x$^  8 –0     14 –1  
No. 24 Auburn  5 –3     8 –5  
No. 13 LSU  5 –3     8 –4  
Texas A&M  4 –4     8 –5  
Arkansas  3 –5     7 –6  
Mississippi State  3 –5     6 –7  
Ole Miss*  0 –6     0 –7  
Championship: Alabama 54, Florida 16
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • * Ole Miss vacated all wins due to NCAA violations.
Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The 2015 Georgia Bulldogs football team was the favorite to win the Eastern Division. The Bulldogs started off the season 4–0 with SEC wins over Vanderbilt 31–14 and South Carolina 52–20, where quarterback Greyson Lambert set an NCAA record for completion percentage in a game with 96% (24/25). On October 3, the #13 Alabama Crimson Tide came to Athens and defeated the Bulldogs 38–10. The next week the Dawgs traveled to Knoxville to face the Tennessee Volunteers. On Georgia's first offensive play of the game, Bulldog's running back Nick Chubb was tackled on the sideline and suffered a season-ending knee injury as Georgia loss their second game of the season. Three weeks later, the Bulldogs suffered their third loss of the season during the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida to the Florida Gators 27–3, where third-string quarterback Faton Bauta started. The Bulldogs finish the regular season on a four-game winning streak including road wins over the Auburn Tigers 20–13 and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 13–7. The day after the Georgia Tech game, head coach Mark Richt was fired after 15 seasons of head coach. Richt had a record of 145–51 as head coach of the Bulldogs. Georgia finished the season with a win over the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Taxslayer Bowl 24–17 under intermediate head coach Bryan McClendon in Jacksonville. The bowl win gave the Bulldogs a final 2015 season record of 10-3, which gave the senior class a total of 40 wins.

Coaching changes

After the 2015 regular season, Georgia's athletic director Greg McGarity fired head coach Mark Richt after 15 seasons with an overall 145–51 record. Richt was replaced with former Georgia football player Kirby Smart, who, at the time, was Alabama's defensive coordinator. Smart played for the Bulldogs from 1995 to 1998 for coaches Ray Goff and Jim Donnan and was defensive coordinator at Alabama from 2008 to 2015 under head coach Nick Saban. Jeremy Pruitt, who was defensive coordinator for Georgia from 2014 to 2015, accepted a position as the defensive coordinator for Alabama to replace Smart.

2016 recruiting class

National Signing Day was on February 3, 2016.

Schedule

Georgia announced its 2016 football schedule on October 29, 2015. The 2016 schedule consists of 6 home, 4 away, and 2 neutral site games in the regular season. The Bulldogs will host SEC foes Auburn, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt, and will travel to Kentucky, Missouri, Ole Miss, and South Carolina. Georgia will go against Florida in Jacksonville, Florida.[1]

The Bulldogs had hosted three of their four non–conference games, which were against Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the North Carolina Tar Heels both from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns from the Sun Belt Conference, and Nicholls State Colonels from the Southland Conference.[2]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 35:30 p.m.vs. No. 22 North Carolina*No. 18
ESPNW 33–2475,405
September 1012:00 p.m.Nicholls State*No. 9
SECNW 26–2492,746
September 177:30 p.m.at MissouriNo. 16
SECNW 28–2757,098
September 2412:00 p.m.at No. 23 Ole MissNo. 12
ESPNL 14–4565,483
October 13:30 p.m.No. 11 TennesseeNo. 25
  • Sanford Stadium
  • Athens, GA (rivalry)
CBSL 31–3492,746
October 9[a]2:30 p.m.[3]at South Carolina
SECNW 28–1477,221
October 1512:00 p.m.Vanderbilt
  • Sanford Stadium
  • Athens, GA (rivalry)
SECNL 16–1792,746
October 293:30 p.m.vs. No. 14 Florida
CBSL 10–2484,681
November 57:30 p.m.at Kentucky
SECNW 27–2462,507
November 123:30 p.m.No. 8 Auburn
CBSW 13–792,746
November 1912:00 p.m.Louisiana–Lafayette*
  • Sanford Stadium
  • Athens, GA
SECNW 35–2192,746
November 2612:00 p.m.Georgia Tech*
SECNL 27–2892,746
December 3012:00 p.m.vs. TCU*
ESPNW 31–2351,087
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game
  • All times are in Eastern time
^[a] The game between Georgia and South Carolina had been originally scheduled for October 8, 2016, but was postponed due to Hurricane Matthew and played on October 9, 2016.

Game summaries

vs North Carolina
1 2 3 4 Total
#22 Tar Heels 0 10 14 0 24
#18 Bulldogs 7 7 9 10 33
See also: 2016 North Carolina Tar Heels football team and Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game

Nicholls State
1 2 3 4 Total
Colonels 0 7 7 10 24
#9 Bulldogs 7 3 16 0 26
See also: 2016 Nicholls State Colonels football team

at Missouri
1 2 3 4 Total
#16 Bulldogs 7 14 0 7 28
Tigers 10 10 7 0 27
See also: 2016 Missouri Tigers football team

at Ole Miss
1 2 3 4 Total
#12 Bulldogs 0 0 7 7 14
#23 Rebels 17 14 14 0 45
See also: 2016 Ole Miss Rebels football team

Tennessee
1 2 3 4 Total
#11 Volunteers 0 7 7 20 34
#25 Bulldogs 7 10 7 7 31
See also: 2016 Tennessee Volunteers football team and Georgia–Tennessee football rivalry

at South Carolina
1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 7 7 0 14 28
Gamecocks 0 0 7 7 14
See also: 2016 South Carolina Gamecocks football team and Georgia–South Carolina football rivalry

Vanderbilt
1 2 3 4 Total
Commodores 7 0 3 7 17
Bulldogs 3 3 7 3 16
See also: 2016 Vanderbilt Commodores football team and Georgia–Vanderbilt football rivalry

vs Florida
1 2 3 4 Total
Gators 7 7 7 3 24
Bulldogs 7 3 0 0 10
See also: 2016 Florida Gators football team and Florida–Georgia football rivalry

at Kentucky
1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 7 6 3 11 27
Wildcats 7 7 7 3 24
See also: 2016 Kentucky Wildcats football team

Auburn
See also: 2016 Auburn Tigers football team and Deep South's Oldest Rivalry
Auburn Tigers (7–2) at Georgia Bulldogs (5–4)
1 2 34Total
Auburn 7 0 007
Georgia 0 0 7613

at Sanford Stadium • Athens, Georgia

  • Date: November 12
  • Game time: 3:30 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: Fair • 62 °F (17 °C) • Wind gusts 20 miles per hour (32 km/h; 17 kn)
  • Game attendance: 92,746
  • Referee: Ken Williamson
  • Box Score

Louisiana–Lafayette
1 2 3 4 Total
Ragin' Cajuns 0 7 0 14 21
Bulldogs 14 7 7 7 35
See also: 2016 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns football team

Georgia Tech
1 2 3 4 Total
Yellow Jackets 7 7 0 14 28
Bulldogs 7 7 13 0 27
See also: 2016 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team and Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate

TCU–Liberty Bowl
1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 7 7 7 10 31
Horned Frogs 9 7 7 0 23
See also: 2016 TCU Horned Frogs football team and 2016 Liberty Bowl (December)

Roster
2017 Georgia Bulldogs football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB 1 Sony Michel Jr
WR 2 Jayson Stanley So
QB 2 Sam Vaughn So
WR 4 Mecole Hardman Fr
WR 5 Terry Godwin So
WR 6 Javon Wims Jr
WR 8 Riley Ridley Fr
WR 9 Kenneth Towns Sr
QB 10 Jacob Eason Fr
QB 11 Greyson Lambert Sr
QB 12 Brice Ramsey Jr
RB 13 Elijah Holyfield Fr
QB 14 Parker McLeod Jr
WR 16 Isaiah McKenzie Jr
WR 17 Josh Moran Fr
TE 18 Isaac Nauta Fr
WR 19 Willie Erdman Fr
RB 22 Brendan Douglas Sr
RB 22 Avery McNeely Jr
WR 23 Shakenneth Williams Fr
RB 24 Prather Hudson Fr
WR 25 Steven Van Tiflin So
WR 26 Patrick Burke Fr
RB 27 Nick Chubb Jr
WR 28 Shaquery Wilson So
WR 29 Matt Price So
RB 30 Tae Crowder  Fr
RB 33 Ian Donald-McIntyre Fr
RB 35 Brian Herrien Fr
RB 37 Shavoyae Brown Fr
FB 43 Nick Moore So
TE 44 Justin Hurston Fr
FB 46 Glenn Welch Jr
FB 47 Christian Payne Jr
FB 48 Kyle LeStrange Sr
FB 49 Turner Fortin  Fr
OL 53 Lamont Gaillard So
OL 54 Brandon Kublanow Sr
OL 55 Dyshon Sims Jr
OL 56 Billy Seward Jr
OL 57 Daniel Gothard Fr
OL 58 Pat Allen  Fr
OL 60 Murko Jurkovich Fr
OL 61 Chris Barnes Fr
OL 63 Sage Hardin Fr
OL 65 Kendall Baker So
OL 66 Solomon Kindley Fr
OL 67 Sam Madden Fr
OL 68 Sean Fogarty So
OL 70 Aulden Bynum Jr
OL 72 Tyler Catalina Sr
OL 73 Greg Pyke Sr
OL 74 Ben Cleveland Fr
OL 75 Thomas Swilley Jr
OL 77 Isaiah Wynn Jr
WR 80 Charlie Hegedus Sr
WR 82 Michael Chigbu So
TE 83 Jeb Blazevich Jr
WR 84 Wyatt Payne  Fr
TE 85 Jordan Davis Jr
WR 86 Davis Kelly Fr
TE 86 Wix Patton Fr
TE 87 Miles McGinty So
WR 87 Tyler Simmons Fr
TE 88 Jackson Harris So
TE 89 Charlie Woerner Fr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DB 2 Maurice Smith Sr
LB 3 Roquan Smith So
DL 5 Julian Rochester Fr
LB 6 Natrez Patrick So
LB 7 Lorenzo Carter Jr
LB 8 Shaun McGee Fr
DB 9 Reggie Wilkerson Fr
DL 10 Malik Herring Fr
LB 11 Keyon Brown So
DB 12 Juwan Briscoe So
DL 13 Jonathan Ledbetter So
DB 14 Malkom Parrish Jr
LB 15 D'Andre Walker So
DB 16 Caleeb Roberson Fr
LB 17 Davin Bellamy Jr
DB 18 Deandre Baker Jr
DB 19 Jarvis Wilson So
DB 20 Quincy Mauger Sr
DB 20 J. R. Reed So
DB 24 Dominick Sanders Jr
LB 25 Jaleel Laguins Fr
DB 26 Tyrique McGhee Fr
DB 28 KJ Smith  Fr
DB 28 Otamere Enadeghe So
DB 29 Tim Hill Sr
DB 31 Shattle Fenteng Sr
LB 32 Ridge Underwood Sr
DB 33 Kirby Choates So
DB 35 Aaron Davis Jr
DB 36 Rico McGraw So
DB 37 Jordon McKinney Fr
LB 38 Ryne Rankin Sr
LB 39 Rashad Roundtree So
LB 41 Chuks Amaechi Sr
LB 43 Tommy Long Sr
LB 44 Juwan Taylor Jr
LB 45 Reggie Carter Jr
LB 46 Michael Keene  Fr
LB 47 Daniel Harper So
DB 48 Jonah Guinn Sr
DL 49 Koby Pyrz Fr
LB 50 Johnny O'Neal Sr
LB 51 David Marshall Fr
DL 52 Tyler Clark Fr
LB 55 Jacob Gross So
DL 57 Alex Essex So
DL 76 Michail Carter Fr
DL 78 Trenton Thompson So
LB 91 Chauncey Manac Fr
DL 92 Justin Young  Fr
DL 93 Carson Hall Sr
DL 94 Michael Barnett So
DL 96 DaQuan Hawkins-Muckle So
DL 97 John Atkins Jr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
LS 56 John Courson So
LS 59 Matthew Herzwurm Jr
LS 69 Trent Frix Jr
K 92 William Ham So
K 94 Thomas Pritchard Sr
P 95 Marshall Long Fr
LS 96 Hudson Reynolds Fr
P 97 Will Cowart  So
K 98 Rodrigo Blankenship  Fr
K 99 Mitchell Wasson Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 10/25/18

Rankings
Further information: 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final 
AP 18 9 16 12 25 RV RV NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 
Coaches 16 9 13 11 20 RV RV NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR RV 
CFP Not released NR NR NR NR NR NR Not released

References
  1. "Bulldogs' 2016 Football Schedule Announced" (Press release). University of Georgia Department of Athletics. October 29, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  2. "2016 Georgia Bulldogs Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  3. Georgiadogs.com
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