(Full disclosure: I am a University of Georgia graduate and a supporter of Georgia football since, well, since my teen years in the Sixties.)
On Monday night, January 10, 2022, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, the University of Georgia Bulldogs defeated the University of Alabama Crimson Tide by the score of 33-18, and thus were crowned the National Champions for the 2021 season. It marked the first such championship for the Bulldogs since the 1980 season when Georgia defeated Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl in a 17-10 thriller. Behind the coaching of future Hall of Famer Vince Dooley and the on-field heroics of freshman-sensation Herschel Walker, the Bulldogs were victorious over the legendary Fighting Irish.
This year, on their way to the postseason, the top-ranked and unbeaten Bulldogs of Coach Kirby Smart lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship game on December 4, 2021, by the humbling score of 41-24. Despite the loss, Georgia was selected for the playoffs and paired with the University of Michigan Wolverines, champions of the Big Ten Conference. It was a classic matchup between two traditional powers from the South and Midwest. The game was played in Miami’s Orange Bowl on December 31, 2021, with a hard-charging Georgia thrashing the Wolverines 34-11.
And then came the much-awaited rematch this past Monday night with mighty Alabama. Georgia had not beaten Bama in football since 2007, after which followed seven consecutive losses, including an agonizing overtime loss in the 2017 National Championship game. Georgia followers were understandably wary of Alabama, with some cynically concluding that our only chance of defeating them would be in a post-Coach Nick Saban world wherein he’s left Alabama and now runs the entire country as President Saban (some might say we could do worse).
Alabama is extraordinarily difficult to beat, and Saban’s charges know well how to win a football game. If the score is close near the end, Saban is adept at finding a way to win. Not every time, however. Bama’s not unbeatable, but it happens so infrequently that, for those who do manage to defeat them, it’s a bit akin to winning a war or walking on the moon or stunning the Russians in Olympic hockey. It’s a big thing, an emotional thing, certainly a memorable thing.
And it was big and emotional and memorable Monday night when the Dawgs took down the Crimson Tide. Our Bulldog Nation reacted accordingly, some in disbelief, some hysterical, all watching something magical unfold that grabbed at their hearts and constricted their throats and made more than a few shed some tears. We had done it, finally! Forty-one years had passed, having come so close on occasion only to let the crown slip from our grasp. But now it was ours.
It’s just another football game, you might say. Well, to a Southern football fan and more specifically to a UGA fan, that’s just wrong. It’s like claiming that a map of New Orleans’ French Quarter is the same as the actual French Quarter itself; or that pushing an old lady into the path of an oncoming bus as opposed to pushing her out of the path of that oncoming bus can all be explained away as an act of pushing an old lady around. Sorry, but again, that’s just wrong. It’s not just another football game when it comes to the Bulldogs.
By way of review, it was our first national championship since beating Notre Dame, the most heralded program in college football history and the fourth winningest program of all time.
The Bulldogs then defeated Michigan, the overall winningest program in college football history.
The Bulldogs then defeated Alabama, the second winningest program in college football history. And if that’s not enough, Alabama is the undisputed gold standard for football programs in America (at the moment, that is).
The Georgia Bulldogs are now the reigning National Champions. A nice ring to it, I think. Our splendid Coach Kirby Smart no longer has the “can’t beat Alabama” monkey on his back. Our quarterback, Stetson Bennett IV, is a former walk-on who this time outdueled the Heisman Trophy winner. Fame is quickly attaching itself to Stetson; fortune will likely follow.
The aforementioned Vince Dooley, now at age eighty-nine, was able to attend the game and witness the champion Dogs win it all. I am grateful that Coach lived long enough to experience it once again, especially since he is the most consequential figure in UGA athletics history.
Just another football game? Nah. It’s a love affair with all the inherent ups and downs. It’s a way of life that would be possible to live without, but wholly unthinkable. It’s a source of pride in ever so many ways.
And after forty-one years, it turns out to have been worth the wait.
Thanks, Bulldogs. And congratulations. You’ve made history. Let’s do it again, but a bit sooner this time!
GO DAWGS!
