ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia will be without a third starting offensive lineman when it takes on No. 7 Baylor in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on January 1, 2020 (8:45 p.m. ET on ESPN). Fourth-year junior right guard Ben Cleveland will miss the bowl game due to academic issues per his father, Derek.

Cleveland struggled with a couple of classes during the fall semester per his father and was unable to earn credits for those, preventing him from being able to participate in the bowl game. He does, however, plan to return to school for his final season and he's less than a semester's worth of classes from graduating with the credits he earned from the fall semester.

Cleveland joins starting left tackle Andrew Thomas and starting right tackle Isaiah Wilson as players who won't be playing for the Bulldogs in the bowl game. Both Thomas and Wilson announced they will be making the early leap to the 2020 NFL Draft. Thomas announced that he won't be participating in the Sugar Bowl while Dawgs247 has confirmed since Wilson's announcement that he'll be sitting it out as well.

The 6-foot-6, 340-pound lineman has played in all 13 games this season with seven starts at right guard. He was named preseason All-SEC by league media prior to the start of the 2019 campaign.

As a sophomore, Cleveland appeared in eight of 14 games with four starts. He suffered a fractured fibula in Georgia's fourth game of the year that caused him to miss six games. When he returned to action, it was primarily in a special teams capacity where he played on the punt protection shield.

His redshirt freshman season saw him appear in all 15 games, primarily on special teams for the first part of the year. He started the final five games of the that season, including the SEC Championship win over Auburn, the Rose Bowl win over Oklahoma, and the National Championship loss to Alabama. He redshirted during the 2016 season after signing with the Bulldogs in Kirby Smart's first class at UGA. He was ranked as the No. 90 overall prospect and the No. 10 offensive tackle in the nation per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. He was also the No. 12 player in Georgia.

Prior to signing with the Bulldogs, Cleveland had been committed to UGA for over a year.

Smart, who met with reporters on Wednesday to discuss the Allstate Sugar Bowl and the Early Signing Period, did not comment on the issue.

"We're still gathering information," Smart said when asked if any players would have to miss the bowl game. Smart was asked about Cleveland specifically and said that "nothing is final" and stated that he couldn't confirm that Cleveland will miss the game.

Left guard Solomon Kindley, center Trey Hill, and right guard Cade Mays are the only available starters from UGA's offensive line this season in the Sugar Bowl. Jamaree Salyer, who started one game at right tackle, will likely step in as well.