In the recent history of Georgia football, is there a bigger what-if than this?
1. Alabama 32, Georgia 28 (2012): Good luck finding many better games anywhere. This back-and-forth classic between No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia determined a spot in the BCS championship game. There were future NFL stars ( Todd Gurley , Amari Cooper and Eddie Lacy ). There was controversy ( Quinton Dial ‘s hit to the head of Aaron Murray ridiculously didn’t draw a flag). And there was late-game drama. Murray’s tipped pass with 15 seconds left was caught by Chris Conley at the 5-yard line, but the clock expired. Mark Richt was 5 yards away from playing — and likely beating — Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the national championship. Instead, Richt got fired three years later. That’s life in the SEC.
I can’t think of one. Discuss.
Get The Picture 
too soon
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Beat me to it. I still can’t hear that stupid Hall of Fame song from pre game without getting a little nauseous.
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I still think that Bama player should have been arrested instead of just penalized, for that hit.
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IMHO, the better one is what if Terrance Edwards had caught that pass in Jacksonville. Depends on your definition of recent I guess.
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That one’s not as clear cut as 2012, as in ’02 there were two undefeated teams ahead of Georgia in the rankings all season.
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It would have been an undefeated season.
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Those don’t happen too often if you are a Georgia fan.
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And if UGA were still shut out of the title game, people would have still been complaining years later that Richt couldn’t win the big one.
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Bingo!
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I can count.
It still wouldn’t have been as clear cut a path to a national championship as a win in 2012 would have been, and Richt’s job status a decade earlier was entirely different.
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No doubt. Maybe I just am not as enamored about a game where we gave up what seemed like 800 yards of rushing and blew a 21-10 lead. That’s all.
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I saw a freshman RB run for 100 yards against one of the baddest defenses in the last 10 years. I know it’s the culture for some around here to shit on anything Richt just because it’s Richt, but that was one of the best games I’ve ever seen. To not even acknowledge what that would have meant for the program to play for the national title (win or lose against Notre Dame) is just being petty from some of those suffering from Richt Derangement Syndrome.
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No doubt. Never been more proud of the team. Went in the middle of the ring and threw haymakers with Bama right down to the last play.
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You are putting words in my mouth there don’t you think? Am I allowed to post my opinion without some asshat claiming I have a syndrome? Guess not….
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Jeez dude. Wasn’t trying to call you out specifically, just adding my two cents about the game. Mine was more directed at the general “shit on Richt no matter what” vibe from some of the commentariat around here. Mea culpa if it wasn’t clear that I wasn’t targeting you, but trying to add to your comment.
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My apologies as well. I guess that game still hurts to the point that it gets my dander up pretty easy.
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Fo sho – that game ranks up there with Game 4 of the 1996 World Series as singular crushing sporting moments in my lifetime.
Funny story about that years later…one of my best friends is born and raised in north New Jersey, so a huge Yankees fan with whom I’ve recounted my tale of woe (unsurprisingly, it’s one of his favorite sport moments). He went to some Yankees fan day a couple years ago at Yankee Stadium and lo and behold, Jim Leyritz is one of the former players on hand at this event. My buddy recounts the tale of his Atlanta friend having his heart crushed as a 12 year old by Leyritz. Leyritz grabs an 8×10 picture of him, personalizes it to me and quotes Joe Buck’s “at the track, at the wall” broadcast call. He then finishes it with a “My Bad” and signs it. Buddy frames that and ships it to me some weeks later. It is simultaneously the biggest ball-busting joke I’ve ever had played on me AND my favorite piece of sports memorabilia.
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No because you are one of the biggest asshats on here. As long as you have been posting here you have has nothing positive to say about the program.
For the sake of those around you in real life I hope you aren’t as miserable and negative as you come across on here
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You know where you can put your rocket there buddy.
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No chance we get in ahead of Miami or Ohio State in 02. If for no other reason than ESPN didn’t have billions invested in the SEC and didn’t seem to care much about it. Also, both of those teams were busting at the seems with NFL talent.
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On top of that, the opponent in the championship game was a lot weaker in 2012 than it would have been in 2002, assuming we even vaulted ahead of OSU or Miami in 2002.
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I can tell you without a shred of doubt we would have been left out just as Auburn was in 2004. The talking heads would never have allowed an OSU or Miami to be jumped by little ole Georgia back then.
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At the time of the Florida game, Ohio State was behind us in the BCS standings if I remember correctly.
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Interesting thing about this the passage of time but I thought I remembered that we there 3rd behind UM and OSU. You may be right, I do not know.
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We were ahead of Ohio State until after the Florida game. Hit the link.
Click to access bcs_2002.pdf
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Thanks, ee. Time can be the enemy of the mind.
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Thinking the same thing about 2002 in Jax because if Oh St could beat Mia with Craig Krenzel at QB….
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Was a good game, the only reason we lost was John Jenkins playing at some 80+lbs compared to his weight at the start of the season. Well that and the reluctance to rotate those gassed D lineman in the 4th.
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The thing is, CMR only made it to Atlanta twice in his last 10 years. Think about that for a moment. When you face superior competition from a superior division, there is no shame in going 0 and 2. The thing is, we needed more chances, more East titles, more “knocking at the door”, IMO, for CMR to reverse the regression and win a title. But two East titles in ten years? We couldn’t finish on the big stage when we (rarely) got there.
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OK Dude. He’s been fired. Didn’t you hear?
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Check out the history of the times we won the SEC titles before Richt. Georgia joined the SEC in ’32 and won it outright 6 times before Richt….an average of every 11.3 years. Richt did it twice in 15 years or every 7.5 years. My point is, maybe we ain’t as good as some think we should be…..we ain’t Bama, never will be. But boy, Saban sure is getting a lot of folks fired, hope Smart can change some history, in a good way (see link):
http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/active/g/georgia/conf_champs.php
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We’re Georgia, damn it… except when we’re not.
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I love UGA but you are right about the fact we aren’t as good as some people think we should be, the last National Championship was LUCK, got outplayed the whole game but got some very timely turnovers…..but hey a win is a win
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’14 was a huge let down. The Carolina game… just… man. Then the derp-fest with Tech. At least we got to RUTS Grantham.
’13, too, but when Keith et. al. went down in Knoxville, then we lost Murray on top of it all… ’13 was just snake-bit.
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Bama converted a 2 other conversion by running right up the middle. Too this day, I’ve still never seen that again.
We lost that game for a lot of reasons, but IMO it came down to playing while on self inflicted probation and Garner’s guys having terrible technique.
YMMV of course.
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Agreed. We had 69 scholarship players that day compared to their 85. We had nobody to spell Gurley (Marshall was useless with our inferior OL). We had little Rhett McGowan returning kicks. Would have been nice if Cordaralle Patterson doesn’t screw us on national signing day the prior Feb. Mike Gillard playing over Amarlo made no sense either.
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The decision to play Gilliard lost us the game. Bama ran right at him every play.
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Not as big but might be close: what if a Vandy FG try rolls over the cross bar against Tennessee in 2007?
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Even more so, how ’bout the whole debacle that was Kentucky’s OT against Tennessee that same season?
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2007 was a fun season. Seems like I remember several games where we could watch the end of the Tennessee game after our game. Then the chaos during the championship weekend. I was at the Georgia theatre watching a Michael Jackson coverband. I also had a $100 maybe 30-1 prop bet ticket from a trip to vegas earlier in the year.
So close.
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A Michael Jackson cover band? Damn, I don’t think I’d have said that.
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That 2007 season remains my favorite as a general CFB fan. It didn’t hurt that Georgia was a lot of fun for the second half of that season.
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The 2008 Sugar Bowl was one of the most dominating performances I have ever seen. I need to watch it again. Black Jerseys, Red helmets and a dump truck full of kick ass.
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Don’t forget the idiot from Fox crying about how mean Mark Richt was for scoring so much against his feel good Hawaii. I think it was Brennamen. It makes the re-watch somewhat annoying.
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I remember thinking at the time that overtime did a pretty good job of summing up Kentucky football. South Carolina had a real chance to beat Tennessee at the end of the year too. I think they missed a field goal right at the end of the game.
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At the end of that 2007 UT-USC game, Tennessee missed a game-tying field goal that would have given South Carolina the win. But a Tennessee offensive lineman had barely moved, causing the refs to whistle the play dead and call offsides. Tennessee attempted another field goal from five yards back and made it. They went to overtime and Tennessee won. That game was on right after our victory over Florida. At the time, South Carolina seemed like the bigger threat to us winning the conference, so I was actually pulling for Tennessee. Boy, did that fail.
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What a horseshoe that TN pulled out their behind at the end of that game! Thanks for recalling that, I had forgotten.
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Very seldonm does a team get a turnover in OT and lose, but UK did that day.
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Don’t forget the USC/UT game. UT’s trying for a game-tying FG with 9 seconds left, misses it…but is called for a false start. Moves ’em back 5 yards, they make the second attempt, and end up winning in OT.
2007 UT had more Rube Goldberg BS than 2010 Auburn. Not that we didn’t help.
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There was also that wacky fumble that bounced mysteriously near the end when SC would have been able to put the game away. It wasn’t just this game, it was the breaks that went TN’s way in ALL three games. Just have to assume Old Lady Luck didn’t think we deserved that shot.
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What if we don’t throw it 44 times vs. the gamecocks and run 24 a bit more? That 2007 game against the gamecocks was an awful experience. Probably cost us a natty right there.
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I believe we dropped a TD pass that Stafford hit Moore or Wilson right in the hands. We ended up kicking a field goal if my memory serves.
You’re right. Knowshon was running wild in that game.
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Tony Wilson dropped a TD pass on 3rd & 15 with under 5 minutes to go when PAT would have tied it….forget the blowout in Knoxville this is what cost UGA the East & chance to play LSU for SEC/national titles….damn Spurrier!!
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Thanks – I couldn’t remember if it was Wilson or Michael Moore
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A day late and a dollar short. The story of UGA football.
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That’s a book title right there.
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Agree. That secc game is one of many missed opportunities I’d like to forget.
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What if ,after firing Damon Evans, we hired a real AD who would fully support the football program and focus on giving our team every available resource to succeed?
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Would that have kept us with a full roster?
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Might have saved some marijuana dismissals.
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BTW, if “Bama Privilege” could be summed up in one play, it would be that Dial hit.
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Amen. That still infuriates me.
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The two biggest things I remember about the game:
1) Aaron Murray played his ass off and was The Man on the final drive.
2) Saban’s post-game on-field interview.
He looked like a man who’s doctor had called him 90 minutes before and said, “Look, Saban. I’m not gonna beat around the bush. Your test results came back and it’s bad. Your body is riddled with cancer. You have 3-6 months to live…” and then two seconds before the interview the doctor had called back and said, “Whoops! My bad that was someone else’s test results. Yours are fine. No worries. My bad.”
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And NO ONE gave us as much love as he did after the game, Had we won, I hope he would have been as gracious. I’d love to have gotten to find that out. I’m a dreamer…
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That UGA team should’ve been rewarded with a Sugar Bowl trip. Instead, because of rules, a Florida team held together with duct tape and chewing gum got to get their asses kicked in NOLA in front of a half-full stadium.
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Yep … that sucked.
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How about 07, when UT was a play a way from losing several games, any of which would have put UGA in the title game that year. Vandy took almost beat them but ended up losing by 1 point. SC took them to overtime. kentucky took them to overtime. And if I remember right, Kentucky was in position to win the game at the end of regulation with a field goal but had a big loss on a penalty or sack and was put out of field goal range. If UT lost any 1 of those games and UGA likely wins the national title that year.
Then there’s the ’02 UF game. I get the 2 other teams. Still, that team would have gotten some praise.
But yea, ’12 hurt the most because everyone could see Bama and UGA were the two best teams that year. Play that game 10 times and it is likely that each team walks away with 5 wins.
And finally, if the voters would have been as likely to simply vote for the best team in 07, UGA would have played in the title game even though they didn’t play in the conference title game. Voters did that for Bama in in ’11. (I think it was ’11).
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2007 is a bit of revisionist history. Had UT lost, we still would have had to beat LSU in Atlanta, then beaten OSU. Not to say it couldn’t have happened. But there was still a lot of work to be done to get there.
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LSU was playing its backup QB in the SECCG. No offense to that 2007 LSU team (they were really good), but Georgia and USC were far better teams by the end of the season. Absolutely not beating South Carolina and Tennessee is fully on Georgia, but I think at that point in the season, they probably would have beat LSU by double digits in the Dome.
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I still think USC would have won the national championship in 06 & 07 had they played for it. Carroll’s USC teams were killer against out of conference opponents including blow out wins against eventual sec west champ Arkansas in 06 in Fayetteville to start the season. They also beat auburn pretty badly at auburn to start 2003 so i always chuckle when auburn fans think they would’ve hung with SC in 2004.
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Yeah, Auburn benefitted from not being in the 2004 BCS championship game because Auburn could claim it was the best team without having to prove it.
It could, and did, claim it would have beaten USC. Had Auburn gotten in the game it whined about missing it would have not done significantly better than Oklahoma did against USC. Wouldn’t have been able to sell “We’re number 3!!!!” tee shirts.
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LSU had a lot of injured players for the SECCG. They were limping into that game. Georgia, on the other hand, was the strongest they’d been all season.
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I may be mis-remembering, but LSU was pretty inept on offense in that game. I believe the only reason they won was because of a pick six off Eric Ainge. Seems like not much ever changed under Les Miles.
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The revisionist history is that there was some question as to whether UGA was the strongest SEC team by the end of the season in 2007. I was hoping that firing Richt would have ended the need for folks to discount the players’ accomplishments from the previous UGA teams, but dawggrading is alive and well.
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No doubt UGA was the best team in the East at end of 2007. Probably the entire conference. I’m just not automatically assuming anything beyond that.
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Since we are mired in the land of Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda that is Georgia football history, how bout Penn State in the Sugar Bowl? Missed two in a row by that much. Walker Lee Ashley…a name that lives forever in the mind of Scorpio Jones.
Is that as close to beating Bama in the SEC Championship as anybody has come?
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2 out of 3 – that was ’82
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So much pain here. So many memories.
On a more optimistic note, I’ve been a Cubs fan for 30 years of heartbreak and losing, and if even they can break through and win the big one, then there’s certainly hope for UGA. And I’ll tell you, there is an incredible sweetness to breaking a drought and finally winning it all that fans of perennial champs can’t really know. “Success is counted sweetest by those who ne’er succeed. To comprehend a nectar requires the sorest need.”
One day, fellow Dawgs. One day.
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Don’t mean to rain on your parade, but Theo Epstein > Greg McGarity.
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Theo Epstein’s pinky is greater than McGatory.
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Theo Epstein > anybody in any sport. What he’s done is indescribable.
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I’m a Royals fan. 2014 and especially 2015 were incredibly cathartic. However, I’m not certain Dayton Moore is that much better than Greg McGarity.
I’m saying there’s a chance.
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That’s true. And it was bad leadership that held the Cubs back for so many years before Theo. Here’s to UGA finding the right guy as AD (one of these days) and then adding some hardware to the trophy case.
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Was that stat about the 2008 SECCG being the first ever meeting of teams ranked #1 and #2? That just seems incredible to me. It also shows how truly loaded this conference has become this century where it has become commonplace to see 5-6 SEC teams ranked in the Top 10 at some point in the season. Seems that type of matchup happened regularly in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s when the Big 2 Little 8 conference, and ND, got all the ink. (Almost 90 combined conference titles between ohio and Michigan tells you all you need to know. One of the few positives I can give to the WWL was bringing other teams to national TV.) The SEC is definitely a difficult conference to win, and it was even before Saban arrived.
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read on Scout today that this year’s recruits is the best of all time in the history of Georgia and will have more top 300’s, but the 2nd best was that area, there was a lot of NFL talent on that field. But pales compared to the clash of the titans that could happen as soon as 2017 between these two giants. Can’t wait to see it happen.
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Mac, here’s the quote I was referring to from today’s Scout article:
Dean Legge/Dawg Post
Kirby’s Recruiting Tear Continues
DEAN LEGGE
Yesterday at 3:56 PM
ATHENS – Kirby Smart’s recruiting tear continues.
Georgia will sign its deepest and perhaps most talented class in school history if current trend lines hold. The Bulldogs have 18 commitments – 15 of them are Scout 300 prospects, meaning they are considered one of the top 300 prospects in the nation. Although the Bulldogs’ recruiting class is still a work in progress, that’s the most Scout 300 players (15) due to sign in the .com era of recruiting, and the highest percentage (83%) of Scout 300 players to sign with Georgia.
While Georgia could still lose commitments, it will also likely gain not fewer than three and as many as seven more Scout 300 players – shattering former records. The addition of the No. 147 overall player Newton WR Jeremiah Holloman and the No. 217 overall player Mary Persons DL Malik Herring address areas of need in terms of depth and skill deficiencies for the Bulldogs.
Georgia used an effective, but very young defensive line in 2016. Georgia’s receivers have been inconsistent this season. They – like the defensive line – are rather young.
Globally, however, Kirby is on a tear the likes of which the school has never seen. He’s signed or gotten commitments from 41 prospects. One of them, 2019 North Murray OL Luke Griffin and his class hasn’t been ranked because he’s too young. So of the 40 players who have been ranked, 31 of them are considered Scout 300 players (78%). Georgia has never had that many Scout 300 players signed or committed to them at any one time.
In addition, the 29 Scout 300 players signed or committed in 2016 and 2017 represent the most productive two-year period of that type of prospect being committed of playing for UGA at any time records have been kept. The closest to that was the 2008-2009 group that went to the SEC Championship Game in 2011 and 2012. That group had 26 Scout 300 players in back-to-back recruiting classes. It included: Aaron Murray, Tavarres King, Cornelius Washington, DeAngelo Tyson, A. J. Green, Cordy Glenn, Brandon Boykin, Marlon Brown, Orson Charles, Abry Jones, Arthur Lynch, and Zach Mettenberger.
So you are right, a lot of talent there.
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Thanks Reynolds, we are definitely poised to land our best ever. Kirby has done a magnificent job in putting this together, really wish the early signing period was in place, would love to lock these guys in! Long time until February but the gurus feel he has more to come…just have to lock down what we have and add a few selected talents. Saw where we offered two JUCOs, one of which is a talented CB, we need that immediate help.
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Doesn’t Scout project Alabama’s and Ohio State’s classes as being even better than ours?
If the talent between us and Alabama in 2018 and 2019 is comparable then the SEC CG will be won by the coaching staff that develops the talent, game plans and game manages better than the other. The SEC CG winner will be in the same position with OSU in a playoff game.
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Probably what I remember most about the game was that the fellow who tipped the pass for Bama, was out of position. I remember Saban admitting it….talk about luck. Still think the right play was called (Bama on their heels), they just got lucky. But I guess you got to have some luck involved to get there….see ’80.
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I’m gonna get flamed for saying this but here goes.
talking about how we were 5 yards away is loser talk. It’s implicitly saying the best you can do is almost but you’re incapable of actually achieving said success
give credit to the coaches for Georgia giving Bama it’s best shot but the better team won. Ifogletree dodoesn’t run the field goal back fora touchdown Bama wins by double digits.
It’s not a given we would have beaten notre dame if we had upset bama. Yes i am intentionally using the word upset. Jenkins was out for the bowl game and every decent offense went through todd Grantham like shit through a goose. Then again Murray probably would’ve had a field day and todd Gurley would’ve abused mant’ei.
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Yeah, the automatic “we would’ve beaten ND” has always been comical to me too.
I think we would have, but we also lost to SC by 4 touchdowns that year and were tied with a meh Nebraska team going into the 4th quarter.
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All of which doesn’t change the fact that beating ‘Bama and playing in a BCS title game in and of themselves would have been huge deals.
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Wish some people could take the tunnel vision of making everything about Richt for a second to acknowledge that.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank goodness Richt didn’t coach the 1980 team to a 12-0 record. We still would be reading about how UGA was maybe the 5th best team in America, Alabama would have crushed us, Pitt would have destroyed us, FSU would have passed us silly, yada, yada, yada.
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Yup, no doubt.
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I remember total disbelief watching us lose to SC that year. Then I found out Murray had lost his father a day or two beforehand. Pretty sure some Georgia fans egged his house after and had to apologize once they found out
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No excuse for treating your own players like that.
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His father was diagnosed with cancer but did not die.
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even the dads get dawggraded.
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Considering the difference in the level of commitment of the two athletic departments, five yards away is a significant accomplishment. You’re right. It is sad.
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You and dudemankind should get together and talk about how bad UGA sucks. That seems to be your M.O.
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If there’s a silver lining, guess who the coach was that stopped us at the end of that game and recruited all those bluechip players? The man, the legend, Kirby Smart. Kirby’s had a bunch of great games and moments like that, guess that’s how you get a handful of rings.
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Nick Saban
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nick saban picked and stayed with Kirby Smart, I think his judgment is pretty good.
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Have you noticed a lag in Bama’s defense this season? Saban is producing the same product (if not better) without Kirby this year, in fact, he’s doing it with the guy who was at Georgia in 2015.
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Pruitt is using 100% Kirby Smart’s guys and trained guys. We’ll see how Pruitt does in 4 years with his own guys, assuming he’s still employed. No Saban employees have lasted as long as Kirby’s tenure, but you never know.
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Yeah, bc they all got hired away, not really a plus to stick around forever. Of course he was a great assistant, but that doesn’t guarantee success as a head coach.
Smart is using 100% of Pruitt’s secondary that was #1 in pass defense last year. What do you suppose happened there?
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We finally played a few teams that could throw the ball?
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NC, Mizzou, Ole Miss? Yeah.
Auburn, Tech, Vandy, SC, ULL, Tenn, UK, Nicholls, Florida. No.
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Compared to 2015, yeah. Pruitt played 2 teams in his time in Athens that were truly competent throwing the ball: 2014 USC and 2015 Bama. His secondary got exposed in both of those.
I’d almost add 2014 Arkansas in there too bc we saw what happened when they had to throw to get back in it.
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True, but those Soph that Kirby has now looked a lot better at FR under Pruitt. Perhaps competition is the root cause. Let’s hope so.
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Still. hurts.
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maybe this will help your pain Ginny, from Scout article today on Georgia’s current class of recruits, might be the best thing I’ve ever read on Georgia football:
“Georgia will sign its deepest and perhaps most talented class in school history if current trend lines hold. The Bulldogs have 18 commitments – 15 of them are Scout 300 prospects, meaning they are considered one of the top 300 prospects in the nation. Although the Bulldogs’ recruiting class is still a work in progress, that’s the most Scout 300 players (15) due to sign in the .com era of recruiting, and the highest percentage (83%) of Scout 300 players to sign with Georgia.
While Georgia could still lose commitments, it will also likely gain not fewer than three and as many as seven more Scout 300 players – shattering former records. The addition of the No. 147 overall player Newton WR Jeremiah Holloman and the No. 217 overall player Mary Persons DL Malik Herring address areas of need in terms of depth and skill deficiencies for the Bulldogs.”
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It’s funny, I was just talking about this game with some of my coworkers yesterday. I was at the game with a friend of mine (he’s a Bama fan, but he’s good people) and I can honestly say I’ll cherish that experience for the rest of my life.
And I agree that it’s probably the best example of a what if scenario, but I think another good example would be “what if our team didn’t suffer so many injuries at Tennessee in ’13?” A lot of the players from the 2012 squad were still on the team in 2013, and I think we end up back in the SECCG if not for all of the injuries, despite the fact that Grantham’s defense was really showing it’s flaws at that point. I loved that Aaron Murray came back for his senior year, but I hated how the season turned out, and then for him to get injured on top of that…jeez. If I’m Nick Chubb, I’d go to the NFL just so I wouldn’t have to play AT Tennessee again.
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’13 UGA played three top 10 teams in the first month of the season and won two of them. They had the inside track on South Carolina with the schedule opening up. The defense was still blech but the offense could pour on some points. If that team stays healthy then they roll to the SECCG.
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I like the 2014 team, #3 offense, top 25 on special teams and defense, how we didn’t win a title then, oh yeah, Richt got fired, talent didn’t matter.
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I sometimes have mixed feelings about Hutson Mason. He took a lot of heat that season, some of it deservedly so, but he did set UGA’s single-season completion percentage record and he was smart with the football for the most part. The glaring exceptions would be the intentional grounding against SC (and a couple of other times throughout the season) and the interception that ended the Tech game.
If you had told me in 2014 that there would be times in 2015 where I said “man, I wish we still had Hutson Mason at QB”, I never would’ve believed you.
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Hutson was a winner. But the overall team was fantastic, offense was best ever, special teams, and defense were both top 25. Best team Richt had at Georgia.
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“Best team Richt had at Georgia” is a pretty bold statement. Not saying I agree or disagree, but it would make for one hell of a debate.
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Its not bold at all, it’s factual according to ESPN FPI team rankings, it’s Richt’s only top 5 team he ever coached.
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I agree on that last statement. Didn’t think it could get worse, but it sure did. I did have a sneaking suspicion that it might get worse once I realized Mason couldn’t throw the ball 40 yards yet was somehow still starting over Ramsey. That and Ramsey’s proclivity to throw immediate interceptions upon entering a game.
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What I loved about Hutson in 2014, was how he won 4 games against ranked teams in one season and finished in the top 10 in qbr rating, and accuracy, and only thew 4 picks. It had been a while since a QB did all three of those at Georgia. Perfect? No Qb is. Best ever at Georgia under Richt? Yes by those 4 criteria
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Greyson Lambert holds the all time national record for completion percentage in a game. It’s not hard to make a player sound good if you cherry pick stats. Todd Gurley completed the longest pass in 2014 for UGA. I cherry picked that stat.
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you’re just kidding, right? here’s the thing, Qb’s are measured by qbr, pass rating, accuracy, and on the downside, interceptions, and the great ones by wins against ranked teams. By any mark Hutson was the best ever at Georgia under Richt.
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Am I kidding? Are you saying that you would take Mason as the starter over every qb in the Richt era? If so, then delete your account and never return. Even if you think that don’t say bc nobody will ever respect you.
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’14 made Clemson, Auburn, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisville – five very good to great teams – look like total clowns.
But those two conference losses. Mercy. And of course giving Trek the game.
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Spurrier called a great game and barely beat us in 2014. And then the GT overtime loss, even in the loss to the Gators, Hutson threw for 300+ and no int’s. Hutson went 4-2 against ranked teams and finished with the best QBR ranking ever at Georgia (#7 in nation), he made his one season count.
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2014 was fools gold, but it finally got Bobo out of town so I was fine with it.
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If finishing with a 41 point average per game on offense, #1 all time at Georgia, doesn’t impress you, nothing will.
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The 2014 season was impressive. It just doesn’t overshadow the 7 previous years of mediocrity. In hindsight Georgia had three NFL caliber runningbacks to handoff to. Two of which were better than many NFL starters at the time IMO.
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Georgia yards per play national rank:
2014: 7th
2013: 13th
2012: 1st
Damn, I could sure use me some more of that mediocrity.
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yards per play, no there’s a stat everyone goes to when talking about great teams??? try something more conventional, say wins against ranked teams, 4-2 in 2014, can’t beat it with another Richt team.
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TFW you’re so busy trolling, you accidentally wind up arguing against both sides. LOL and adios.
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We disagree a lot, but if there is one thing I can respect it’s a 50 year old man who is up to date on internet slang and acronyms. I even have to google them sometimes and I’m 30. For that I thank you. I say that with zero snark.
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Heh. FWIW, I’m 60. 😉
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👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 impressive sir.
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If you want to cherry pick stats I can do that all day. I can name games every season where the offense didn’t show up under Bobo, but we’ve danced that dance haven’t we? Let’s go to the stats that matter, if Bobo was so good then how was it that Georgia was able to afford to pay him so little for so long? You already know the answer. It’s bc nobody came a calling with a better offer. People whose job it is to evaluate coaches didn’t think he was all that great.
FWIW I never thought Bobo was terrible (well, he should have absolutely been fired in 2010, but other than that he was above average). I’ve just always felt Georgia could do better. I’d almost certainly take him over Schott and Chaney, but I also don’t think we would have done a damn thing on offense last season if he was still in Athens and Brice Ramsey was the starter.
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Three full seasons of national rankings is cherry picking? Ho-kay, then.
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You would have us think Georgia was the #1 offense in all the land under Bobo. 😂 It’s a joke bro, he was decent at best. I’m not going to waste my time digging through national archives to try and prove my point bc the proof is on the field. Give me any season under Bobo and I can give you at least two games where the offense didn’t show. In most season I can give you 4-5 examples.
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Ah, but I’m the one who’s cherry picking.
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If 4-5 games in a season is cherry picking then I’ll concede that point, and admit that I have no clue what the fair metric for cherry picking is. I assumed that if I was able to throw a dart blindfolded at a UGA schedule poster and have a high percentage chance of hitting a Bobo Fail Game (BFG) then I was not cherry picking. My apologies there.
Even if I was cherry picking you have to at least acknowledged that the door swings both ways on Bobo’s career. I’ve been offering up the Mike Bobo challenge for years, and I rarely get any takers.
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I was as critical of Bobo’s work as OC during his first years on the job as anyone. But I thought he was one of the best OCs in the country those last three years, and I’m far from alone in that sentiment, as most advanced stats guys had similar praise.
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Fair enough, I would disagree, but I’ll acknowledge that I’m no expert. I guess there were way too many bad withdrawals through 2010 for me to ever extend a line of credit again. My nightmare scenario is Smart failing and Georgia bringing back you know who.
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I looked at our 93 games on the 2007-2014 schedules and I counted no more than a total of 12 games that could be reasonably categorized as the offense not showing. That is far fewer than 32 that you claim.
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Wow, that is serious dedication. The offer is always on the table. Give me a year and I’ll prove it to you.
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2014 was impressive? Thought you said it was fool’s gold? Glad you converted.
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Greyson Lambert’s USC game was fools gold, but it was still impressive. Perhaps you don’t understand the term.
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I don’t think 204 was fool’s gold at all. That team played good D and killed teams with field position. Then they cashed in on short fields. Sony and Nick both fumbled against Tech, otherwise we probably go the Orange Bowl that season.
The one thing about season that should have been the canary in the coalmine was what the OL looked like once Boss got hurt against UG. That the fall off in depth from even 1 position was that catastrophic should have been viewed as a great cause for concern on what was in the pipeline on the OL.
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To be clear my fool’s gold comment was in reference to the 2014 offense. YMMV of course
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Yes, because we’ve been lighting up the scoreboard post-Bobo.
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He’s the one that left us w Brice Ramsey and Faton Bauta
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Very little debate objectively about Richt’s best teams by overall ESPN FPI rank
#1 2014 scored a top 5 ranking (only class)
#2 2012
#3 2005
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Thank God for McClendon the unsung hero who brought in Gurley, Michel, and Chubb.
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Someone here a while back was talking about apparently some horrific bad blood between Kirby and B-Mac. That’s too bad, bc I’d take him back on this staff in an instant.
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They recruited against each other and that can cause some hurt fifi’s.
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I had heard that. Kirby should have put whatever were his personal feelings aside and attempted to convince B-Mac that staying would be in his best interests. I don’t know if that did or didn’t happen, but I would hope he was smart enough to try. Of course, the world of recruiting is a rough-and-tumble business.
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You realize ESPN’S evaluation is a subjective evaluation, not an objective evaluation, don’t you?
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It’s kind of an interesting thought experiment. There would have been no pressure to let go of Grantham in ’13, presumably. Therefore, there would have been no Pruitt hire. That may not have mattered much in 2014, but 2015 would have looked a lot different with a typical Grantham defense. I think Richt would be the coach right now, and the seat would be warming up after three disappointing seasons since the title. I’m also thinking he’d be looking for at least a new defensive coordinator this offseason, and possibly an offensive coordinator.
The big unknown is how much of an impact a championship would have had on recruiting.
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Reading through the article made me think of another great what-if scenario.
At #16 on the list, LSU vs. Georgia in 2011, “Georgia took a 10-0 lead and led at halftime. The lead could have been bigger if the Bulldogs didn’t drop two touchdown passes. Tyrann Mathieu returned a punt 62 yards for a score…”
If Georgia scores touchdowns on those first few drives instead of settling for field goals (with one missed attempt I believe), then I think we run away with that game. LSU would have been reeling and I don’t think they were built for a big come-from-behind victory.
And on the replay of Mathieu’s big punt return, it sure looked like he tossed the ball through the side of the endzone to the ref before he broke plane, which would’ve been a touchback instead of a touchdown. Huge difference there.
If Georgia wins that game, LSU almost certainly doesn’t play for the national championship, and maybe we don’t have a college football playoff, or at least not for another couple of years. Because people had talked about the playoff idea for years, but the heat really ramped up (in my opinion) after the SEC-only national championship of 2011.
So many what-ifs in that game alone.
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There was an uncalled block in the back on the Badger’s PR, too, IIRC. I thought we had a brilliant gameplan for them in the 1H; we just didn’t execute.
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I wonder what Bama fans argue about on their blogs. Which title meant the most? Which Tide defense was the greatest in college football history? We get to argue about which Bulldog team was best among all the others who came up short at UGA. Which what-if could have had the most positive impact had it gone our way…for once. This all makes me want to drink…alone.
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Which coach was better Bear and his six titles or Saban and his five. For those of us who are non math majors, it’s 11 titles between them. Saban might get his number 6 this year to really add fuel to their debate. It must suck to not be able to tell who the best coach in your programs history was. I just want to say, with 11 titles, who gives a shit?
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I am sure they don’t have folks arguing why the 1961 team really wasn’t as good as people think, or that the 1964 team was overrated, or that the 2011 team should not have been in the BCS, or a bunch of other things that Georgia fans argue about their own fucking team
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Not just the best SEC title game ever but the most exciting game I’ve ever attended. Period. You could cut the tension from both sides with a knife. What a game.
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It really was.
And then there was this asshole UGA fan who sat next to me, chided me for not standing up to cheer before the game… and left after Murray appeared to have thrown that interception late in the 4th quarter. Although she’s probably spent the next four years telling her friends she stayed until the bitter end.
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I actually sat through all the fanfare afterwards. I was too exhausted to move.
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9/20/2003, Baton Rouge.
A whole bunch of “what the hell” happened that day, including a Greene redzone fumble, 3 missed Bennett FGs, and some phantom holding penalties.
Win that game, and the 1-loss Dawgs play (and likely trounce) Ole Miss in Atlanta on their way to play Oklahoma for the title.
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Good one. Saban doesn’t get his LSU title, doesn’t leave for the NFL after 2004 and likely doesn’t come to Tuscaloosa. Bama stills wanders in the wilderness in the post-Shula era. What is it they say about a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world causing a hurricane on the other side of the world.
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