Nice walk down the ’17 season’s memory lane by Seth Emerson.
There never will be another season quite like that one. Oh, there might be national championships, but Alabama fans and media members will tell you the first unexpected title run always holds a unique place in the hearts and minds of those who were there for it. There’s a joy that comes with the unexpected that turns to pressure in ensuing years. Last season had that joy, even if the ending was painful.
Throw in the fact that the season saw trips to Notre Dame and the Rose Bowl – in the same season – along with two championship games in Georgia’s own backyard, and 2017 will be almost impossible to beat when it comes to the memory bank.
I second that emotion.
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I agree. I enjoyed the 1982 and 1991 Braves seasons more than 1995 for the same reasons.
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More than could have ever been asked for and better than any of us deserved. National title or not, 2017 will always be special.
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Yep, and we the fans are already going to be in that “difficult to please” mode. “Kirby got the #1 recruiting class, where is the natty?” “Why did UGA let Tennessee hang with them until the 4th quarter?” Etc. All those Bama type complaints are coming soon.
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Amen. 2017 was far and away the most enjoyable experience in my 40 years following the Dawgs, including the 1980 National Championship. No other season even comes close.
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Not sure I can agree with you. 2017 was awesome but that 1980 had no expectations of a championship. That ride was pretty incredible to watch and listen to for a 12 year old.
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I was a UGA student, and while 1980 was magical, I didn’t fully appreciate how special it was. 2017, I KNEW how special it was. Throw in wins at ND and the Rose Bowl and 2017 tops 1980 for me.
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1980 was my senior year at UGA. In 1979 we were 6-5. The year before, in 1978, our record was decent but we had gone to the Bluebonnet bowl and lost. The 1980 season began with a pig being stolen from the Ag research farm and barbecued. This resulted in lost scholarships. We started with a 16-15 win over Tennessee. The replay of Herschel running over Bill Bates still electrifies the crowd today. We beat Clemson 20-16 and Ole Miss 28-21. Georgia cruised to a couple of easy wins before beating SC 13-10 in game where Herschel out gained Heisman trophy winner George Rogers. The following week gave us Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! It’s still the closest I’ve ever come to cardiac arrest. We capped it all off by beating Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. The 2017 season was certainly magical. But it doesn’t hold a candle to 1980 for me. Today, despite the fact that many (most?) players are exponentially bigger, stronger and faster, we have yet to see another athlete like Herschel Walker. Nick Chubb showed flashes of it before his injury. But on a consistent, day in, day out, play after play, basis – no one else has ever come close.
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Seeing Herschel run over, around and through teams was amazing. I still remember my jaw dropping seeing his first long run in Sanford Stadium vs TAMU. I’ve never seen a man that big run that fast. I don’t think anyone ever had.
And I loved angry Herschel against Vandy. 283 yards and it could’ve been 383. He was looking for people to run over.
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I was a Sophomore in 1980 and that year’s result was a complete surprise. We were awful the prior year (getting curb stomped at Homecoming by the Senator’s Virginia team 31-0). 1980 just kind of happened, thanked in large part by one of the greatest individual performances ever in College Football (Hershel’s freshman year). Take away 34 and there is zero chance we go undefeated.
As Russ said……unlike 1980, we knew very early in the 2017 season it had a chance to be special, so I was able to savor every second of it…..
Reasonable people can differ, but for me, even another National Championship season would be difficult to top 2017. The journey was that GOOD!!!
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My girlfriend and I still occasional look at each other out of the blue and say did we really go to the rose bowl to watch UGA win in overtime or was that a dream?
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+1
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I agree 2017 is stuck in my memory bank, specifically that last play down the sideline I was sitting on in Mercedes Benz stadium. I would rather have a season with 15 20+ point wins than 2017.
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Honestly have only seen that type of domination over an entire season once in CFB, that was FSU a few years ago with Winston. Every other year championship teams have all had a scare or two where a play kept them from going down. I wouldn’t expect to ever see that again in my life time. I just want that one one borderline call, or play, go our way when we get the opportunity. About all you can hope for.
I will take 2017 over 1980 because you could see every play, of every game regardless of the opponent, or location. Coverage today, including all big games nationally, is just so much better than seeing highlight clips. And after 2016’s failures, an SEC championship and solid play play in two playoff games was unexpected. I thought we would get to the SECG, but never expected all of our position questions (especially QB and OL) to be answered so positively. Very special.
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And it included a 35-point beat down of UF … The largest UGA margin since 1997. Folks may not crow much about that game because the gators were in such turmoil, but I enjoyed the heck out of seeing the blue and orange side of the field never get full the whole game.
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Yes 2017 was special but 1980 is still undefeated and remains on top of the shelf for epic Bulldog seasons.
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My favorite for 2017 was Michel fumbling to let OSU back in the game then running the GW TD to seal the deal. Just such great redemption for such a great young man.
Kicking the last two teeth out of ut was nice too.
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Hell yes. My switch was flipped to 11 when the very first play from scrimmage in Knoxville happened. That was THE moment I went full on fan mode. What. A. Season.
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OSU?
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I moved to Athens 6 months after the 84 Rose Bowl where an 11-1 Illini played a 7-4 UCLA and got trounced. That was a year when we beat both Ohio State and Michigan, and incredible performance for that team. Mid way through the 2nd Qtr at the Rose Bow this year I thought, “oh no, I came back here for this”! The second half was the most exciting thing I’ve seen in almost 50 years of going to college football. I know I’m a FNG compared to some Dawg fans but 32 years here have made me Red and Black through and through.
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I was just a kid for that rose bowl game but because my dad had coached the Illini previously we went to almost every home game. We were so excited for that game. Man that party went south in a hurry!!
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Head or assistant? I had a lot of buddies who played for Blackman and Moeller.
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Assistant in the 70’s. QB coach and head freshman team coach when that was actually a thing. One of his fave stories was a freshmen from Miami getting off the bus at Purdue who had never seen snow. He tried to get back on the bus lol.
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So he probably worked with Kurt Steger, Jimmy Kopatz and Argie Johnson! Cool.
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2017 was flat out awesome. Pretty much either whooped everyone’s ass like we should and/or delivered payback. The freakin’ Rose Bowl.
I am also thankful we now have something other than 1980 we can talk about. That record has been played a long, long, time. Great for sure, but pretty scratchy.
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I just don’t get it.
How the fucking fuck could being first loser be a great season?
I have seen a great season, its called 1980.
Georgia fans been down so long it looks like up to us.
26-21. Its all that matters. Everything else is just delusion.
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Not sure how snark you got going there Scorpio, but that attitude right there is why I personally do not like ‘playoffs’. 2017 was a fantastic season, full stop.
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What a jackass.
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Sure it was a “fantastic” season if you accept you are not good enough to win it all.
If the situation in the championship game had been reversed, Bama loses, do you think the Bammers would be happy being first loser?
Its all part of the deal, if you are satisfied with less, you will get less.
And, fuck carpetbaggers.
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I know one person, who deep down in his heart, does not think 2017 was a “fantastic” season….Kirby Smart.
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I’d put you right there3 with this fucking morons from Bama.
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I will be glad to match Dawg Credentials with you any time you please you fucking pickup truck Dawg…oh, golly I moved here so now I am one…la dee da. Carpet Bagger.
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Jason J Figg, 11th Tennessee Infantry died at the Battle of Atlanta July 22, 1864. Just one go my ancestors who fought for the Confederacy. Take your carpetbagger and shove it right up your ass.
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awww, sensitive are we? Carpet Bagger. Degree from UGA…no? Carpet Bagger, pickup truck Dawg…Carpet Bagger.
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Degrees asshole.
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of course, YMMV, but I can be happy with the way UGa played last year AND disappointed we didn’t win it all. Zero Sum thinking is so limiting. One can never be happy, nothing is ever good enough. How long would be happy if we went undefeated and won every game by 30 points? A day? A week? Gotta forget that and get better for next season. . . It’s a moot point, but if the season had ended after the Rose Bowl (like it would have in days gone by) and we had to argue all off season about who was #1, I’d be satisfied. With that fantastic season, the fact we lost the last game hurts, but doesn’t take away from the season that was – In my opinion, of course.
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“It’s a moot point, but if the season had ended after the Rose Bowl (like it would have in days gone by) and we had to argue all off season about who was #1, I’d be satisfied.”
Absolutely.
But we can’t because the dumb asses who just had to have a playoff, who bought into the TV bullshit that said we had to have one, got their way.
Money talks, we get first loser.
This time.
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One of the worst parts of the way the season ended (apart from, you know, the gut wrenching heartbreak) was that it took away from one of the most incredible seasons in Georgia history, certainly the best in my lifetime. It still stings, but I’m glad most people (including me) can generally still appreciate the magic of the rest of the season.
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I have waited my whole adult life to see UGA curb stomp UF.
Donnan did it ONCE. CMR NEVER. CKS-1 and counting. THIS (to me) makes last season very special, no matter how it ended.
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