Hmm, maybe I watched a different game. Know what I saw? Three quarters of Georgia football. Actually, four quarters because the slow starts aren't a monster that has only begun to raise its head; we've done this lots. Here's the team we've been waiting for all season. Here's the team who, when backed up to the wall, came out swinging. Here's a team who went from a chorus of boos to having Sanford rocking. Here's a team that the Dawg nation knew lived on campus somewhere, but waited ten games to show up.
After auburn scored the touchdown on the kick off return, I remember saying to myself that if the Dawgs play with the heart they showed from midpoint in the second quarter all the way to the end, a loss will be easy to swallow because they were grinding it out. What I forgot in my moment of accepting the inevitable is that a Dawg team that plays that style of football usually doesn't lose.
Ealey is a monster. I didn't see a single play where that kid didn't hit the holes at full speed. And, to carry my point further, what about the kids who stepped up? AJ went down and all of a sudden we have Israel Troupe showing what he can do...and Orson Charles. Boykin had another stellar game. Houston was wearing them out at the end of the game, and both the O and D lines dug in.
Sure, we gave up some easy stuff and the first quarter was a stinker, but this game revealed that this team has CHARACTER. This is the team that should have played OSU, Tenn and LSU. Hell, had this been the team in J'ville...but it is what it is. And what it is is encouraging.
And just so the circle is complete, don't forget Joe Cox. I'm pretty much on record for NOT being a fan of Joe Cox, but the Joe Cox of the second half was somebody I haven't seen all year. That 50-yard bomb down the sideline was a complete surprise. Who knew JC could rifle them like that, and on the money too?
For me, that was a great game. Georgia football grinding it out all the way to the end. Gotta love it. I hope BR and AJG are okay. Go Dawgs.
"The freedom of individuals to verbally to oppose or to challenge police actions without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state."