Boy, did they.
I’ll post something more detailed tomorrow, but right now I’m still basking in the afterglow of one of the best games I’ve ever witnessed.
One thing I will say is that Richt’s opening gambit of letting the team draw the excessive celebration penalty was beyond brilliant. It set a tone that kept Florida off base the entire game. And the Dawgs never quit.
Never.
(photo courtesy AB-H/John Curry)
Oh, yeah. Hearing Danny Wuerffel whine on the Sunshine Network broadcast about the celebration being “classless” is rich, coming from a guy that started a game in Athens that his coach finished with the deliberate move to hang more points on Georgia in Sanford Stadium than any other opponent had. Speaking of class, I didn’t complain about what Spurrier did then, and Wuerffel ought to keep his mouth shut as well. His beloved Gators had the rest of the game to teach the Dawgs a lesson and failed miserably. And along the same line, advising Georgia “to act like it had been there” rings a bit hollow after you’ve devoted a fair amount of thought to how the Gators own the Dawgs.
One last thing. I hadn’t noticed until the end of the game after the Florida fan base had cleared out, but red and aqua blue ain’t a bad color combination…
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Again, congrats.
In regard to the “celebration incident” or whatever it will be known as, I’m sure it will become another point of note in our long history, right up there with Lindsay Scott and the “timeout” call.
It was one of those calls that if you win, it looks brilliant, but if you lose (and especially if a kickoff from the 7 yard line leads to that loss), people are calling for the coach’s head. I’m not sure it made any real difference – I think UGA wins that game regardless. It was a tad “Miami-ish”, but as you said, those who were once the fans of all things Spurrier can’t complain a whole lot.
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Mergz,
Thanks for owning the Spurrier thing. As Mergz pointed out in his blog, I have a losing record to Florida in my lifetime, but only by a razor thin margin: 20-21-1. However, since the years of Spurrier and all his classless antics, there is almost nothing that Georgia’s players or coaches could ever do that a Gator could ever show indignation without being supremely hypocritical.
The celebration worked. We won. The streak is now squarely at 2-2 in recent history. Or 1-0 in more recent history.
GO DAWGS!
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I personally don’t give a crap about “class”. I loved that Steve Spurrier was hated. Congrats to the Bulldogs, they deserve the win as the Gators exposed themselves for what they are, a team with a porous defense.
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Henry, exactly. As long as it’s gamesmanship and not outright cheating, to me it’s part and parcel of the game.
In both cases, if you don’t like what the opponent did, do something about it on the field.
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Couldn’t agree more. I never understood those people that get all upset about logo stomping. It’s not a flag for pete’s sake. This is all part of that fake bravado ala Kellen Winslow Jr. “I’m a soldier!”
Ridiculous.
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I bet a bunch of the same people bitching about this thought Bielema’s manipulation of the clock rule last year against Penn State was an act of genius.
Personally, I don’t see any difference.
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Congrats — nice win.
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I wrote a post about the ridiculous self-righteous indignation that college football fans love to wallow in.
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It’s what contributes to a great rivalry and there is nothing wrong with that!
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