Glory, Glory to Ole Georgia!
It has now been a month since my beloved Georgia Bulldogs claimed the Football National Championship over the Alabama Crimson Tide. For the first time in over 40 years, Georgia fans rejoiced in FINALLY reaching the holy grail.
Now, that’s not to say that Georgia football has not had success since the glory days of Herschel Walker, Buck Belue and Lindsay Scott. The Dawgs have had multiple SEC Titles, many more winning seasons than losing ones, many bowl victories and countless Top 5 finishes. BUT, the National title always seemed to be elusive. Even in the fantastic 2017 season, the Title seemed to be in hand until the final minutes, when Alabama inserted Freshman Tua Tagovailoa into the game to throw the winning touchdown…breaking the collective hearts of thousands and thousands Bulldog faithful.
It was hard to believe that Coach Kirby Smart could continue to recruit Top 5 recruiting classes year after year and we couldn’t get over the hump. Finally, in this 2021 Season, the Dawgs went undefeated in the regular season, only to lose to the Evil Empire in the SEC championship. However, after vanquishing the upstart Michigan Wolverines in the Orange Bowl and Alabama beating Cincinnati in the other semi-final, the rematch was all set.
Most of the pundits said it couldn’t be done. The first half was a defensive struggle as Alabama took a 9-6 lead into the locker room. But the 2nd half was a different story. While the Georgia defense still reigned supreme, Georgia’s offense relied on the big plays…Cook’s 60+ yard run, a long pass from The Mailman to AD Mitchell, Freshman of the year, Brock Bowers touchdown. While it was touch and go for most of the fourth quarter the pick 6 heard throughout the land, by Keele Ringo capped the win!
Enough can’t be said about the Georgia Defense. Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker continuously hassling Bryce Young, a run defense that was impenetrable, the field goal block by Jalen Carter and ultimately the highest-graded defense against an Alabama team since 2014.
I can try to convince you that I was calm and collective throughout the game, but that would be a lie. I was yelling so much at the television, our dog ran in to the other room. When Ringo intercepted the ball, I ran the entire length of the field with him. Yes, I will admit, that tears of joy were streaming down my face.
The word fan is derived from the word fanatic. I am a proud University of Georgia Alumni, a lifelong fan and some might say, slightly fanatical about the Dawgs.
And the Journey continues….
