Georgia mascot Uga staying home, so no rematch with Texas’ Bevo

There will be no sequel to the famed first meeting of iconic mascots Uga and Bevo at Saturday’s game between Georgia and Texas.

Georgia mascot Uga will not make the trip to Austin, his owner, Charles Seiler, told the Austin American Statesman. Seiler said travel logistics for the 2.5-year-old English bulldog made the trip difficult. Uga also skipped Georgia’s road game at Kentucky earlier this season.

“That’s a lot of wear and tear on the dog,” Seilee told the Statesman. “…Those games way out in the middle of the country are hard for us to get to. This dog that we have — well, he’s not new — but he’s only two-and-a-half, and we haven’t flown him yet, and he hasn’t been on a team bus yet.”

“The dog usually misses a few games a year, and the 17-hour drive did us in on this one,” Seiler told ESPN. “We’ll be watching on TV. It’s sure to be a good game.”

The previous Uga, Uga X, had a minor run-in with Texas’ longhorn steer mascot, Bevo, prior to the 2019 Sugar Bowl between Texas and Georgia. In a pregame photo op, Bevo knocked over a police barricade and appeared to charge at Uga.

Neither mascot was hurt in the situation and the two did take a photo together later that day.

Uga X, known as “Que,” died in January.