I hate Tennessee. I have been conditioned to gag whenever I see any shade of orange, and theirs is a shade that is particularly atrocious. Winning in Knoxville is always refreshing.
But, last night wasn’t about Tennessee. It wasn’t about beating them for the sake of a rivalry. Perhaps it began that way, but in the end last night was about us.
For the past three years we have watch our team go literally from #1 to irrelevance. At the end of the 2008 season we had just demolished everyone’s favorite BCS buster and people were asking “who will stop Georgia?”
Then came the decent.
Last night Georgia stopped a very good offense from getting in to the end-zone for almost an entire game. The past 4 games, opponents of Georgia have only made it there 2 times via their offense. This is the team that Georgia fans longed for. This is a team that would make Erk proud.The is a team that yells “GATA” and then does it with authority and extreme prejudice.
h/t Jason Kirk at SBNation
And, fittingly, as the Senator points out, it was through coaching. Going for it 3 times on 4th down, great halftime adjustments, and getting the team to play 4 quarters at full speed are all the result of an involved and passionate head coach. This is the coach we fell in love with in 2001. This is the coach we hope retires here after breaking the father’s record.
Last night was about Dawgnation. Last night was about a head coach taking the reigns and a team playing hurt, tough, and for 60 minutes in a hostile environment.I haven’t felt this good about our team in a very long time.
(AP Photo/Phil Coale)
Congratulations Coach on number 100.
I tried to find video of the various, punishing hits that Rambo, Washington, Jones, and Robinson in particular have delivered on opponents this year for the line “with authority and extreme prejudice” but I haven’t been able to find any. If you can, please leave in the comments section.