Get Out the Brooms
And knock down the cobwebs and pick up the dust. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written here. I’m pretty sure there’s a couple of light bulbs that need changing too. 🙂 And after we (and by that I mean me), let’s talk some college football, shall we?
College football has pretty much started out the way everyone expected, Alabama and Clemson in the top 5, with an Ohio State or two thrown in there for good measure. But, this college football season has been anything but ordinary. Big 12 teams expected to do well, struggled against lowly cupcakes and even conference rivals (I’m looking at you Oklahoma and Baylor). Texas has a new coach, and while I like his coaching style; I know the change people are expecting will take time. SEC teams that typically do well are struggling. Kentucky almost beating Florida a few weeks ago and Florida not playing dominant football like they usually do. Ole Miss and Mississippi State. LSU not… actually I don’t even have any words for LSU. How do you lose to Troy, ON HOMECOMING?!
But more important than any of those teams is my team. The team I have loved since birth and will love until my last breath. THE University of Georgia Bulldogs. I’ll be completely transparent, I was far from a happy camper when UGA let Mark Richt go. I thought it was a bad decision, especially with the way that the program was ran and how Richt held every player and staff member accountable for their actions. It’s rare to get that in college athletics now (Louisville anyone?) and I thought that the only reason he was run out of town was because the amount of pressure to win the SEC and the ridiculous standard that Saban has set for college football.
I wasn’t a fan of the Kirby Smart hire. He had never been a head coach previously and I thought Georgia should’ve gone after someone who was already a head coach. If I remember correctly, I was of the thought that McGarity should go after Tom Herman. Who, if you didn’t know, ended up at Texas. You can ask my closest friends, I wasn’t happy with what Kirby was doing last year, ESPECIALLY after he batted .500 in conference play and didn’t even make it to Atlanta (And don’t get me started on the missed coverage that led to Tennessee’s “Dobb-nail Boot”).
I will admit though, I questioned if Smart’s second year was going to be any different than his first. To be honest, when this season started, I wanted us to stay healthy and get to Atlanta. Nothing wild right? But then App State happened, and Notre Dame (hello a thousand gray hairs), and Samford. We opened conference play against those other Bulldogs of the SEC and we flat out ran all over them.
And I was excited.
Chubb and Michel are healthy. We have a BOMB freshman quarterback, who plays more like a junior than a freshman. And the defense, me oh my, the way the defense had been playing was making my little heart so happy. We were playing reckless (in a good way), get after them and make them pay for it, defense. I was elated after the beat down we gave Mississippi State and I celebrated.
Then, this past Monday rolled around, and I remembered it was Tennessee week. And I got anxious. Nervous, even. Tennessee has never been an easy game for the Dawgs…like ever. It always happens to be one of the “trap games” and after the way the last two meetings happened; I was nervous it was going to happen again, and the potential of getting into the playoffs would diminish. Because let’s be honest, the committee is picky AF when it comes to deciding the teams in the playoffs.
Saturday got here, and thank goodness that I had to work the Texas volleyball game. I was able to keep my mind off the game because I had to be in the moment at volleyball and paying attention! Both Molly and I suffer from a little thing that Molly has dubbed #UGAptsd. Y’all it’s a real thing. Seriously. We’ve had teams start off this good before and then just choke. And if we’re being honest, I’m still waiting for that other football cleat to drop.
But let’s get to the game, shall we?
IT. WAS. AWESOME. Tennessee checkered Neyland out (one of my favorite traditions in college football by the way), you could hear the Georgia fans through the TV, and it felt like this was going to be a great game. Now let it be noted, that the boyfriend cheered for Georgia a few weeks ago when we played Notre Dame, but this week, we were on opposite sides, seeing that he went to Tennessee and all. Bless his heart. And yes, there was some trash talking done, but not a lot, I learned my lesson with that last year.
We got through the first half and the conversation that Molly, Alyssa, and I were having on twitter was pretty much indicative of how every Georgia fan was more than likely feeling. We had a great first half but Tennessee has and is a good 2nd half team, and we struggle more often than not in the 2nd half. Cue the #UGAptsd, we were nervous.
And of course, I couldn’t pass up the chance to give my boyfriend and good friend Sarah some grief a la The Blind Side, and reference those dead bodies underneath the stadium. 🙂
@iamsarahwebb @RealBDavis, y'all aren't going to revive those dead bodies under the field ….right? 😁 @MollyMWilkins @AlyssaPurser pic.twitter.com/fWtGaSVLC9
— Katie M (@kmas0407) September 30, 2017
And y’all the second half started and the Dawgs came out guns blazing. Our defense continued to shut down Tennessee. Fromm looked amazing, it was like he was touched by the UGA Holy Trinity and nothing could stop him and Tennessee couldn’t get out of their own way. The butt fumble, oh the butt fumble, I definitely laughed at that. I couldn’t help it. It happens so rarely in football, that when it does happen, all you can do is laugh.
With how dominant Georgia was over Tennessee this year, I couldn’t help but think maybe Tennessee left their team somewhere in Knoxvegas and had legit volunteers playing for them (pun intended). I mean, I’m not sure if y’all saw it, but the Tennessee fans who got into a fight in the stands showed more pizazz than the football team. But there’s nothing like kicking a team while they’re down, and the announcers did just that, when they called Tennessee, Mizzou. That’s just a big ol bless your heart moment right there.
But I think the best moment of the entire game was when there finally wasn’t any way for Tennessee to climb back into the game and make a prolific comeback to break the hearts of Georgia fans everywhere again….for the third year in a row. It was a wave of relief washing over Bulldog nation. Finally, we beat Tennessee and damn does it feel good.
I feel so much vindication for those last bullshit 4 seconds from last year
— Molly M. Wilkins (@MollyMWilkins) September 30, 2017
No other word, except vindication, accurately describes how Georgia fans felt. We should’ve beat Tennessee two years ago, we should’ve beat Tennessee last year and to go into Neyland and shut them out…..and in the process, handing them the worst loss in 100+ years, vindi-freaking-cation.
The defense, Chubb & Michel, Fromm, Lorenzo Carter, the GATA mentality. It’s absolutely exciting to watch this Georgia football team this year. I don’t want to get my hopes up too much, but I have a feeling that we’ll be in Atlanta playing Alabama for the SEC Championship come December. And that will be a rock ’em, sock ’em, hell of a game. And y’all, I. CAN’T. WAIT.
I will admit, I have changed my tune about Kirby Smart. I think he was a great choice for head coach and if the 2017 football team is indicative of the years to come, it will be an exciting time again in Georgia football!
And until next time y’all,
DAWGS ON TOP!
Katie
