# 2012 Georgia Bulldogs football team

The 2012 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the University of Georgia in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs were led by 12th-year head coach Mark Richt and played their home games at Sanford Stadium. They were a member of the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They finished the season 12–2 overall and 7–1 in SEC play, claiming the East Division championship. They represented the division in the SEC Championship Game, where they lost to Alabama. They were invited to the Capital One Bowl, where they defeated Nebraska. The season included a sweep of three of Georgia's biggest SEC rivals (Florida, Auburn, and Tennessee) for just the fourth time at that point (1980, 1981 and 2011).

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 12:20 p.m. | Buffalo* | No. 6 | Sanford StadiumAthens, GA | SECN | W 45–23 | 92,446 |
| September 8 | 7:45 p.m. | at Missouri | No. 7 | Faurot FieldColumbia, MO | ESPN2 | W 41–20 | 71,004 |
| September 15 | 7:30 p.m. | Florida Atlantic* | No. 7 | Sanford StadiumAthens, GA | CSS | W 56–20 | 92,746 |
| September 22 | 7:45 p.m. | Vanderbilt | No. 5 | Sanford StadiumAthens, GA (rivalry) | ESPN2 | W 48–3 | 92,746 |
| September 29 | 3:30 p.m. | Tennessee | No. 5 | Sanford StadiumAthens, GA (rivalry) | CBS | W 51–44 | 92,746 |
| October 6 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 6 South Carolina | No. 5 | Williams–Brice StadiumColumbia, SC (rivalry, College GameDay) | ESPN | L 7–35 | 85,199 |
| October 20 | 7:00 p.m. | at Kentucky | No. 13 | Commonwealth StadiumLexington, KY | SECRN | W 29–24 | 66,293 |
| October 27 | 3:30 p.m. | vs. No. 3 Florida | No. 12 | EverBank FieldJacksonville, FL (rivalry) | CBS | W 17–9 | 84,681 |
| November 3 | 3:30 p.m. | Ole Miss | No. 7 | Sanford StadiumAthens, GA | CBS | W 37–10 | 92,746 |
| November 10 | 7:00 p.m. | at Auburn | No. 6 | Jordan–Hare StadiumAuburn, AL (Deep South's Oldest Rivalry) | ESPN2 | W 38–0 | 86,764 |
| November 17 | 3:30 p.m. | Georgia Southern* | No. 5 | Sanford StadiumAthens, GA | FSN | W 45–14 | 92,746 |
| November 24 | 12:00 p.m. | Georgia Tech* | No. 3 | Sanford StadiumAthens, GA (Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate) | ESPN | W 42–10 | 92,746 |
| December 1 | 4:00 p.m. | vs. No. 2 Alabama | No. 3 | Georgia DomeAtlanta, GA (SEC Championship Game, rivalry, College GameDay) | CBS | L 28–32 | 75,824 |
| January 1, 2013 | 1:00 p.m. | vs. No. 23 Nebraska* | No. 6 | Florida Citrus BowlOrlando, FL (Capital One Bowl) | ABC | W 45–31 | 59,712 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Buffalo

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buffalo | 6 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 23 |
| • #6 Georgia | 14 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 45 |

### Missouri

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #7 Georgia | 0 | 9 | 15 | 17 | 41 |
| Missouri | 0 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 20 |

### Florida Atlantic

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Florida Atlantic | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 20 |
| • #7 Georgia | 14 | 14 | 21 | 7 | 56 |

### Vanderbilt

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Vanderbilt | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| • #5 Georgia | 13 | 14 | 21 | 0 | 48 |

### Tennessee

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tennessee | 10 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 44 |
| • #5 Georgia | 21 | 9 | 21 | 0 | 51 |

### South Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #5 Georgia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| • #6 South Carolina | 21 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 35 |

### Kentucky

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #13 Georgia | 7 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 29 |
| Kentucky | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 24 |

### Florida

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #3 Florida | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| • #10 Georgia | 7 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 17 |

### Ole Miss

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Ole Miss | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| • #6 Georgia | 0 | 14 | 16 | 7 | 37 |

### Auburn

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #5 Georgia | 14 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 38 |
| Auburn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Georgia Southern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Georgia Southern | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • #5 Georgia | 7 | 10 | 21 | 7 | 45 |

### Georgia Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Georgia Tech | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • #3 Georgia | 14 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 42 |

### Alabama

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #2 Alabama | 0 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 32 |
| #3 Georgia | 0 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 28 |

### Nebraska

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #6 Georgia | 16 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 45 |
| #23 Nebraska | 14 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 31 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 5т | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5т |
| Coaches | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 (1) | 3 (1) | 6 | 4 |
| Harris | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 11 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | Not released |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 11 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 7 | Not released |