Ad Disclosure
Georgia mascot Uga, a 2-year-old English Bulldog, will reportedly not make the trip to Austin, Texas, this weekend for the Bulldogs’ matchup with top-ranked Texas.
The dog’s handler, Charles Seiler, told the AJC’s Chip Towers that Uga XI has not yet been on a plane or a team bus, and the trip is just too long of a drive to make. This will be the second game this season the dog, also known as Boom, has missed. He did not travel to the Kentucky game earlier this year either.
Seiler told the AJC that the decision to not bring Boom to the game is not related to the 2019 incident between Texas’s longhorn mascot, Bevo, and Boom’s father, Que. Prior to the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2019, Bevo charged at Que on the sideline before the game.
“He looks like a puppy, but he’s big,” Seiler told the AJC. “He’s a great dog and we love him, but he tends to be a bull in a china shop sometimes. Hopefully he’ll grow out of it.”
Georgia is hitting the road for a second top-5 matchup this season. The Bulldogs lost to Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 28, a loss to laid bare some harsh realities for Kirby Smart‘s 2024 group. Since, Georgia has gone 0-2 against the spread and is coming off an uncomfortably close 41-31 win over Mississippi State.
Texas will also be the first of 3 ranked opponents Georgia will play in its next 4 games. The Dawgs head to Oxford to face Ole Miss on Nov. 9 and follow that up a week later with a game against Tennessee.
The Longhorns are a 4.5-point favorite at ESPN Bet. Barring something unforeseen, Georgia’s streak of 49 consecutive games as a betting favorite will be snapped.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
