Jim McElwain reminisces about a certain shitty night in Sanford Stadium.
The last time Alabama invaded Sanford Stadium resulted in the worst first-half beating of the 15-year Richt era. The Crimson Tide spoiled Georgia’s third appearance in black jerseys, racing to a 31-0 lead after two quarters of the 2008 matchup and coasted to a 41-30 victory.
Crimson Tide quarterback John Parker Wilson completed 13 of 16 passes for 205 yards, and Julio Jones caught five for 94 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown.
“They had a ‘blackout’ that night or something, and I just remember JP having a really good game,” said current Florida coach Jim McElwain, who was Alabama’s offensive coordinator in 2008. “We got off to a fast start, and when we were walking out of the press box to go down at halftime, a couple of Georgia fans started throwing some stuff at me.
“I was like, ‘Wow, we must have done something right.’ It was a lot of fun.”
Man, I’m surprised anyone had it in ’em to react at halftime. Everybody around me was too shell-shocked to do anything more than sit in disbelief.
Get The Picture 
grrrrrrrr
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I remember that nightmare all too well! Was in town with a rental car tailgating with a bunch of college friends. We parked in the same spot where we’d been the past 6 years near the federal building along with a bunch of other cars. Went for a walk around downtown and came back to find our car towed (everyone’s car was gone) and yellow do not park tape had suddenly appeared. 1.5 hours before kickoff, towing lot 2 miles away and only 45 minutes until they close and thinking I’m screwed. Somehow managed to get the car out of impound and make it to the stadium with 10 minutes to spare before kickoff. I thought “Wow, it can’t get any worse than this” ….and then the game began.
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…..so it was your fault…..if that happens again, do everyone a favor, set the MF on fire, drop the mic, and don’t go to the game….
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LOL, tell me about it. I actually stayed until there were about 2 min. left in the game hoping they’d make a great comeback, but didn’t happen. I then had to walk 2 miles to where the car was left outside the impound lot, talk about insult to injury
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Well, we’ve got as good a chance to wash that taste out of our mouths forever this Saturday. I’m trying to be optimistic about it.
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Call me a bad fan, but was the only time I’ve ever left a game before halftime. Final straw for me was the Julio Jones TD. I can’t remember who the safety was on that play but I remember he showed the blitz way too early, leaving Bryan Evans in single coverage against Jones. You could clearly see JPW notice the blitz, look over at Jones, then audible. I’m screaming to back out of the blitz and told the person next to me “they’re gonna throw it in the corner to Jones and it’s gonna work because Evans is terrible in man coverage”. When that was exactly what happened, I yanked my seat cushion off the bench and just went back to our tailgate. Never been so pissed about a game in my life. And never hated anyone as much as I hated Martinez in that moment.
I’ll admit tho, there was a part of me as we fought back in the 2nd half that got a little worried that I was gonna miss an amazing comeback. I’ll never leave like that again, for sure.
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I also left at halftime and still regret doing so to this day.
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That was also after I had paid $200+ for my student ticket. Ugh.
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A phantom holding call on our center early in the 4th thwarted said comeback….if I recall correctly.
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Julio didn’t even catch that ball.
He didn’t have to.
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That game was really a game of two halves. The Tide thrashed the Dawgs in the first half. People forget that the Dawgs thrashed the Tide in the second half. The Tide scored enough in the second half (10 points) to secure the win.
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I also remember it well. My kids were young and we had gone to North Carolina to see Thomas the Tank Engine that weekend. That evening we were in the hotel room watching the game. When the score hit 31-0 my 4 yo son got so mad he went into the bathroom, locked the door and refused to come out. We finally had to get hotel security to unlock the door. My wife was pretty mad at him, but I said that I completely understood.
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LOL, yeah so reading your post and reading mine, basically I acted like a 4 year old. Not my finest moment. 😉
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It’s all good man. Those emotions are what makes CFB so unique and fun.
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You didn’t act like your moniker, either.
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Haha, my moniker is an inside joke amongst friends. I’m definitely not a man of the cloth.
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It wasn’t the first time that happened.
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20070927/NEWS/709270303
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That game means nothing to these players. The 2012 game is more representative as there are still a few players on both sides that were in that game. I think that bodes well for us. We played them nearly dead even, and I think we’re a better team now. We certainly have more quality depth across the board, and I like our defensive coaches much better now. Still not sure how much Bama has changed from then, but I get the feeling their QB isn’t as good, and (except for their TE) their receivers may not be as good.
I get that the fans have PTSD from 2008, but we shouldn’t reflect that on a team from 2015.
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I was blackout myself by halftime. Have absolutely no recollection of the 2nd half, which is disappointing because thats the only half we actually showed up to play some football.
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I thought the Dawgs were going to pull it off in the second half. You could see panic on Saban’s face when the Dawgs started scoring TD after TD, too. He was running all over the Tide sideline. The Dawgs just couldn’t quite get there. It would have been one of the greatest comebacks in history if they had done it.
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Sat in the alumni association box for the game. Had a great time. Glad we came back in the second half.
Had some friends in town from holland and was pretty sad to take them through north campus after the game since it was a wreck.
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Holland, Michigan? They grow a lot of tulips there and in upper Indiana. Cojo salmon ran up the streams there after hatchlings were released in Lake Michigan. a few years earlier.
I have info on Glendale also.
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You had a great time while we were getting our ass pounded? Exactly which alumni ass box were you sitting in?
What’s “Go pound sand.” in Flemish?
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Of course I had a good time. I was in Athens watching football.
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We moved to Alabama two weeks before this game and were invited to watch it at the house of a divided family. Wife had gone to undergrad at UGA, husband went to undergrad and law school at Alabama. Alabama fans there outnumbered Georgia fans by about 5 to 1. They watched it on the back porch and we were in the living room. Every time Alabama scored the former president of their alumni association in our city came and turned on this damn gorilla that played their fight song. Then a Bama fan friend texted to ask if we were wearing black because it was our own funeral.
I now only cheer for Alabama when they play Auburn and actively enjoy it when they lose. Damn fans.
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Bammers have no class. I have witnessed same first hand.
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We all have those kind of fans, I miss the old days and blame ESPN for much of the bad behavior.
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It’s good to see that you retained your PH.
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Drove all the where from Montgomery with my wife, The Bammer. Tried to leave after our second drive. The Gods were not with us that day. Hoping for a better outcome on Saturday.
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I would personally like to thank CJMcE for supplying us with that early, albeit fairly mild, bulletin board material for Jacksonville.
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I sat beside Vic Beasley at that game…….he was visiting UGA as a high school senior prospect. He was less than impressed. I did my best to sell him on the idea of us needing help.
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Yea cruised in the first half, to be sure. Man what a beatdown. But the Dawgs fought back in the second half and made a game of it.
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Left at Half. Last time I’ve been up there for a game. IF we win I may go back one day.
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