Just a few things have changed since the rainy November afternoon when Georgia last hosted a football game. The 2019 home season featured two marquee opponents and a new light display that was the talk of the nation and, to be honest, more compelling than most of the action on the field last year. In 2020, we’re just glad to have four home games with capacity limited to 20-25%. The homefield advantage that carried Georgia over Notre Dame won’t be nearly the same despite the addition of artificial noise and the best efforts of the 20,000 present. Typically a visit from ESPN’s College Gameday would have fans fighting for spaces before dawn. This year Gameday will be set up outside the recruiting lounge in Sanford Stadium with no live audience.

As I watched the first few weeks of high school and college games, it’s evident that any plan is only as good as compliance and enforcement. Both seem to be in short supply (on the sidelines as well as the stands.) Many fans feel free to flaunt or test the guidelines (especially after a few drinks), and officials don’t want to be confrontational. We’ll see how the compliance and enforcement go around Athens on Saturday, but if other games tell us anything, we should expect our share of tiresome screenshots shaming noncompliant fans.

Tailgating

We know that on-campus tailgating is limited. Tailgaters must have a ticket to the game and essentially follow the old-school definition of tailgating: a bucket of chicken at the car just before the game. It was confusing to read those rules while learning that Georgia has “banned tailgating” for the season. Deputy AD Josh Brooks provided some clarity:

“No tents, no tables, those big setups, anything that promotes a big gathering, we’re asking everyone to be responsible and stay in their (smaller) groups,” Brooks said. “We are trying to give people a little relief, because we know they don’t want to go straight to the stadium. It was our best attempt to offer a solution or compromise without promoting large social gatherings.”

So a few beers and some snacks at the car with your travel party – fine. Setting up Tent City with grills, TVs, and a DJ might draw some attention. The ban also serves to limit on-campus tailgating away from parking lots at places like Myers Quad.

It stands to reason that the campus tailgating ban will push most tailgating off-campus. That includes downtown bars, off-campus lots, and private residences and businesses. UGA fraternities have agreed to ban tailgating at their houses. That’s good (if enforced), but again it adds to the crowd downtown and at apartment complexes.

The likelihood of off-campus gatherings hasn’t escaped Athens officials. Current state guidelines limit gatherings to 50 people. In September the mayor of Athens asked the governor to amend the state’s order to allow for local exceptions including a 10-person gathering limit to aid in crowd control. There doesn’t seem to have been any movement on that front.

At the game

We know the basics: limited crowd, masks required, distanced seating, cashless concessions, and plentiful sanitizers. Attendance will be constrained to around 20-25% of capacity or around 20,000 fans. No tickets were sold to visiting fans, but tickets are plentiful on the secondary market.

Live mascots aren’t allowed this year. Charles Seiler has it exactly right: the issue with Uga is that he attracts a crowd. He’s a magnet for people, and that’s a situation schools are trying to avoid.

The Redcoat Band and Georgia cheerleaders will be present, but they’ll have reduced squads and will be confined to the stands.

Brooks indicated that there will be artificial noise to augment the Redcoats and fans. An ambient noise level of 70 decibels is allowed, and they can pump it up to 90 decibels after big plays. Again, it’s not likely that someone will be standing on the sideline with a decibel meter, so we’ll see how fast and loose schools are with those limits.

Enjoy!

Hopefully enough people will be mindful so that everyone is able to have a safe time before, during, and after the game. Everyone should know the drill by now, and everyone has agency to know in which situations they’ll be comfortable and to decide where they do and don’t go. Several Athens bars have posted notices that they do not consent to enforcement of local mask ordinances. That’s fine and within the law – they’re giving you the information you need to make informed decisions about your gameday activities. With campus all but shut down, expect downtown to be the epicenter of gatherings and a test of the local ability (and will) to control those gatherings.

I admit – it’s going to be tough to miss my first home game since 1990. I’m genuinely curious to see how both fans and the school pull it off and what impact 20,000 fans can have on a big game. More than anything, I hope those who do attend have a great time, cheer on the Dawgs to a win, and return home without contributing to the spread of a still-active pandemic.