Georgia Football Blog

A Photo Journal of a Day in the Life of a Georgia Tech Student

2006-11-21T02:44:00.000-05:00

A while back, I wrote an article entitled “Reason #1 We Hate Georgia Tech: The Fans.” I’ve now come to the conclusion that it is really unfair for me not to allow a Tech Student to tell his side of the story. I’ve found a Tech student who gave me a photo journal that he did last year on November 26, 2005, the day Georgia defeated Georgia Tech for the 5th time in a row. Here is what he gave me:A while back, I wrote an article entitled “Reason #1 We Hate Georgia Tech: The Fans.” I’ve now come to the conclusion that is really unfair for me not to allow a Tech Student to tell his side of the story. I’ve found a Tech student who gave me a photo journal that he did last year on November 26, 2005, the day Georgia defeated Georgia Tech for the 5th season in a row. Here is what he gave me:

Hi, everyone. My name is Dinty Collins, and I am a sophomore at Georgia Tech. Here are a couple of pictures of me:

I have a Chihuahua named Gracie:

I am majoring in Computer Science at Tech’s College of Computing and hope to one day receive a Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction. Here is a photo-journal that I did on November 26, 2005, when I attended my very first Georgia Tech-Georgia game. Enjoy.

8:30 a.m. – I woke up this morning to the serene sound of cars roaring down I-85. I looked out my window across the picturesque Georgia Tech Campus and, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, gave thanks that I am fortunate enough to attend such a beautiful and exciting institution.

10:00 a.m. – I decided to spend an hour reading over my textbook for my Anthropology final that will be coming up soon. I was previously having trouble getting down the nuts and bolts of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, but after discovering a drawing of the theory that I can finally relate to, I master the theory in no time.

11:00 a.m. – I headed over to the athletic department for a tutoring session with Reggie Ball. I spent all of Friday preparing a power point presentation and diorama to help Reggie better understand the concept of four downs. After going over the presentation and diorama with Reggie, I posed a hypothetical to him: “Reggie, suppose Georgia Tech has just gotten the ball and it is 1st and 10. You badly overthrow Calvin Johnson on two consecutive plays. What down would it be now?”

Reggie’s response: “What does the scoreboard say?”

Noon – I went to lunch at The Varsity with my girlfriend. She was Miss Georgia Tech in 2004 and is widely considered the best looking girl of the 7 girls on campus.

1:30 p.m. – I headed over to my fraternity house to hang out with my fraternity brother and best friend, Nehemiah. Nehemiah is one of the most popular guys on campus after being named “Georgia Tech Gamer of the Year” last spring.

2:00 p.m. – Nehemiah and I became very excited when we found out that Wes Wilson, an alumnus of Georgia’s Tech College of Computing, was going to be a contestant on The WB’s Beauty and the Geek 2. Here is a link to the College of Computing’s article on his accomplishment: http://www.cc.gatech.edu/content/view/757/570/. Both Nehemiah and I were further encouraged by the website’s description of the show: “[T]he reality show tests whether eight attractive women, who get by on their looks, and eight intelligent men, with limited social skills, can live together under one roof in order to become the total package.”

The whole fraternity then got online to fill out applications to be on the next season of Beauty and the Geek.

3:00 p.m. – Nehemiah, three other fraternity brothers, and I put on our costumes and headed out to our weekly live-action role playing session. I was especially excited about the session because I was hoping to become a Level 8 Druid by the end of the session. Things started off extremely well as I vanquished 2 warlocks and a mysterious wizard named Zandorf within the first hour. However, my run came to a close when I was ambushed by 3 ninjas. I managed to fend them off at first, but after one of them hit me with fairy dust, my time was done. Here is a shot of me fighting valiantly just before my demise.

5:30 p.m. – I received a phone call from my younger brother, Remy, who is a senior in high school. He was very excited because he had just received an acceptance letter in the mail from Georgia Tech. Remy was somewhat concerned about getting into Tech because his SAT score was a little below what is usually required. However, he attached to his application a copy of his senior picture, and the admissions board said in the acceptance letter that the picture “demonstrated that he embodied every quality we look for in a future Georgia Tech student.”

5:45 p.m. – During the course of my conversation with Remy, he asked me whether I was going to the game tonight. I responded that I wasn’t aware there was a game tonight. After hanging up, I looked online and discovered that Georgia Tech did indeed have a game at 8:00 against the University of Georgia. This confused me greatly as I was not aware that Georgia Tech played football games on Saturday.

6:15 p.m. – After changing into my 2003 Humanitarian Bowl Champions t-shirt and Starcraft sweat pants, I put on a pair of mandals and headed out for the game. When I arrived at the stadium, I was shocked to discover that the stadium was almost filled to capacity. I was also surprised that many of the promotions available for past games (such as “Free Admission for anyone who was actually alive the last time Georgia Tech went to one of what are now known as the 4 BCS bowls”) were not available for this game. Also, I was a bit taken aback by the fact that half the fans at the stadium were wearing red, as I was almost certain that Georgia Tech’s colors were yellow and black.

6:30 p.m. – While making my way to my seat, I caught a glimpse of this white English Bulldog in a red jersey barking on the sideline and, for some unknown reason, promptly soiled myself.

6:45 p.m. – After a trip to the restroom, I rejoined my fraternity brothers to cheer on the Jackets.

7:30 p.m. – I became somewhat bored with the pre-game warm-ups and pulled out my laptop and logged onto the net to check on the status of my Second Life avatar, which is a medieval cobbler. For all you UGAy fans who don’t know what an avatar is, here’s a link to Wikipedia’s description -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(icon.

After purchasing a new cape for my avatar, the game began and I put my laptop away.

9:30 p.m. – An intermission that I’m told is called halftime arrived. I don’t understand that much about football, but I do know that my fraternity brothers were very encouraged by the fact that the score was 7-7 at halftime. They explained to me that not being out of the game at halftime is very rare in this series.

11:00 p.m. – Reggie Ball threw an interception and it became obvious that Georgia Tech was going to lose yet again. When the ABC cameras were turned in my direction, I pretended to be disappointed with the game, but I was really plotting a way to slay the mythical beast I would inevitably encounter later that night on Everquest.

11:15 p.m. – Upon exiting the stadium, many of my fraternity brothers started telling UGA fans that UGA may have won the game, but we win in life. They then began to shout “Florida owns you!” and “14 out of 16!” to the UGA fans. I asked one of my frat brothers about the meaning of these chants, and this was his explanation:

“Florida is a school that is one of UGA’s biggest rivals and has defeated them 14 of the last 16 years in football. Since Georgia Tech is incapable of defeating UGA with any regularity, we have to depend on Florida to get the job done. You know how we all prefer to live vicariously through our Second Life avatars? Well, Georgia Tech football fans prefer to live variously through Florida.”

11:45 p.m. – At the frat house, I noticed pictures of two men hanging over the mantle.

My brothers explained to me these men are Bobby Ross and George O’Leary, the two most successful coaches of the post-Bobby Dodd era. Combined, they won a staggering 58% percent of the games they coached and went 5-8 against Georgia (“depending on whether or not you count the ’98 to ’00 victories, which we do” my frat brothers add).

Midnight – My fraternity brothers and I decided to throw caution to the wind for a night and went to the liquor store to purchase a 6 pack of Zima each. We went back to the fraternity house and started drinking the Zima and re-enacting our favorite Star Trek scenes.

1:15 a.m. – Halfway into my third Zima, I passed out on the floor.
10:00 a.m. – I woke up badly hung over after a night filled with nightmares about the English Bulldog in the red shirt and this man who threatened to physically assault me after the game:
10:15 a.m: I returned to my dorm room for another Sunday of online gaming, thus concluding my first taste of the debauchery and hard living that is the Georgia Tech – Georgia game.

Disclaimer: The Georgia Tech students represented in this article (though almost identical to Tech students you may encounter this weekend) are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons attending Georgia Tech is purely coincidental.

A Confederacy of Dunces: The Fifth Quarter Call-In Show

2006-08-25T02:42:00.000-04:00

In slightly over two weeks, Georgia fans from around the state will flock to Athens to tailgate, drink heavily, and thank God that college football is starting up again. However, I’m most excited about the fact that the new football season brings with it another fall of the glorious Fifth Quarter Show.

For those Georgia football fans who have been living under a rock for the last decade, the Fifth Quarter Show is post-game call-in show typically hosted by local radio personalities Jeff Dantzler and Dave Johnson who are usually joined by a former UGA football player (such as Eric Zier or Kevin Butler). The first portion of the show involves Dantzler, Johnson, and the other host discussing the game that took place that day and engaging in (at least in my opinion) a pretty solid and interesting analysis of the game. They will also have usually a coach or two come aboard by phone at some point during the show. The hosts will usually discuss the game with the coach for a few minutes (which is also usually interesting) before opening up the lines for callers who have questions for the coach. This is when the real fun begins. I’m not quite sure how or if they go about screening the calls, but I would estimate that the average caller possesses somewhere around a 7th grade education. So if you are planning on tuning in to the 5th Quarter Show in two weeks, here are 4 callers that you will undoubtedly become quite familiar with before the program’s conclusion:

Dr. Football: Not to be confused with the Dr. Football who predicted in 2000 that Tech would be the dominant football program in the State of Georgia for years to come, this poster believes that his knowledge of football is superior not only to that of his fellow fans, but also to the entire UGA coaching staff. And why shouldn’t he believe this? His back-to-back third place finishes as head coach of a Pop Warner football team in Habersham County clearly qualify him to criticize every playcalling and personnel decision made by the UGA staff. On Saturday evenings, Dr. Football can usually be found on the Fifth Quarter Show taking Willie Martinez to task for allowing South Carolina to score 15 points. Dr. Football always makes it a point to use football lingo incorrectly in an attempt to impress the coaches with his wealth of football knowledge. A typical call between Dr. Football and Receivers Coach John Eason will go as follows:

Jeff Dantzler: “Now, we’ve got Dr. Football from Cornelia on the line. Dr. Football, what do you have for us?”
Dr. Football: [Silence] [Delayed radio broadcast playing in the background]
Dantzler: “Dr. Football, please turn your radio off.”
Dr. Football: [Confused] “Hello?”
Dantzler: “Dr. Football, you’re on the air.”
Dr. Football: “Oh, uhhhhh…. Coach Eason, uhhh… well, I noticed today that you had the receivers in cover 2, and I just can’t figure out why you wouldn’t use the nickel package.”
Eason: [Confused] “I’m not sure I understand the question.”
Dr. Football: “Well, I’ll tell you right now that if you keep lining the receivers up in a stunt there ain’t no way we’re going to beat Tennessee next month. See last year in the semi-finals of the Habersham County Rec. Department 8 and under football tournament I put my receivers in press coverage and…” [call abruptly ended by technicians]
Dantzler: “Let’s move on to the next caller."

The guy who doesn't understand NCAA recruiting rules: The NCAA does not allow coaches to comment on individual recruits. A fairly simple rule, not difficult to understand. For years, Dantler and Johnson have been telling callers that coaches may not answer questions about individual recruits. Yet still, it never fails that after every single week some knucklehead will call in who apparently is incapable of understanding this regulation. Here’s a typical call between the guy who doesn’t understand NCAA recruiting rules and Coach Rodney Garner:

Jeff Dantzler: “Now we’re going to go to Ricky in Alto. Ricky, what do you have for us?”
Ricky: [Clearly nervous] “Uh, well, I just wanted to say first great game Coach Garner. Great win … um, go dawgs.”
Garner: “Thank you, Ricky.”
Ricky: “Secondly, I was just wondering if you could tell us whether you think the Dawgs have a better shot at signing Caleb King or Jonathan Dwyer.
Dantzler: [Quickly interjecting] “Ricky, Coach Garner cannot comment on specific recruits. If you’ll stay on the line after the call we have a 960 the ref prize pack for you since you are the 10,000th caller since 1997 to ask an inappropriate recruiting question. Do you have another question for Coach Garner?”
Adam: “Well, Coach Garner, I just wanted to tell you about a defensive lineman to keep an eye on for next year’s recruiting class. It is my son, R.D. R.D. is a junior at Habersham Central High School and was an absolute terror in his JV game last week against Jackson County …” [call abruptly ended by technicians].
Dantzler: “Okay, let’s move on.”

The 5 year old: This caller has gotten completely out of control. Every week, some parent will call in and put their 5 year old son on the horn to ask a coach some completely inane question. I suppose that this gimmick might have been cute and humorous the first time it happened, but needless to say, it has worn out its welcome. The kid calling in is probably the same one that kicked over your bourbon and coke during the game while playing with his Power Rangers, and who’s parents asked you to “watch your mouth around our son” when you went on a profanity-laced tirade over a bad call by the officials. His parents, who most assuredly have never set foot on UGA’s campus (or any other college campus, for that matter) except for gamedays, are also the ones who purchased tickets in the student section from a scalper outside the stadium, showed up 2 minutes before kickoff and went and got the security guard so that they could sit in the specific seats on the tickets. Then, they complained incessantly the entire game about having to stand up and demanded that everyone around them sit down so they could see. If you’ve ever sat in the student section, you know who I’m talking about. Here is a typical call from the 5 year old to Coach Willie Martinez.

Jeff Dantzler: “And now we’re going to go to Timmy in Mt. Airy. Timmy, what question do you have for Coach Martinez big guy?”
Timmy: [Silence] [Father’s muffled voice in the background feeding Timmy the question]
Dantzler: “Timmy?”
Timmy: [High pitched voice, clearly belonging to a child] “Uh, Coach, I was watching the game today and I was wondering what the bones on the helmets are?”
Martinez: [Courtesy Chuckle] “Well that’s an excellent question Timmy. You see, the coaches give those stickers to players who make good plays during the game.”
Timmy: [Silence]
Dantzler: “Did that answer your question, Timmy?”
Timmy: [Father’s muffled voice feeding Timmy the answer] “Yes. Thanks, Coach Garner. Bye.”
Martinez: “Thanks for the call buddy.”

The Hometowner: The Hometowner always calls in to check in on the status of some obscure walk-on who played football at the local high school. The Hometowner usually wants to know why the obscure walk-on is not yet in the starting lineup. Here is a typical call from the Hometowner to Coach John Fabris.

Jeff Dantzler: “And now we’re going to go to Rattlesnake Darrell on Mud Creek Road. Rattlesnake, what do you have for us?”
Rattlesnake: “Coach Fab, I was just wondering if you could tell me how big ole Jason Sutton from Habersham Central is doing down there.”
Fabris: “Umm, well, Rattlesnake, Jason has been working really hard for us [Fabris quickly flipping through the media guide trying to figure out who in the hell Jason Sutton is] and has … um … really been doing big things on the scout team and has done a fine job of helping the starters get ready for our opponent every week.”
Rattlesnake: “How long do you think it will take him to beat out Quentin Moses for a startin’ position?”
Fabris: [Clearly uncomfortable and still trying to figure out who Jason Sutton is] “Uh, well, like I said, Jason works really hard for us, but right now Quentin is doing a fantastic job and we expect that he is going to start for us for the rest of the season and continue to make big things happen.”
Rattlesnake: “I’m just gonna go right ahead and tell you that y’orta (that’s “you ought to” for those of you that have never ventured into the Northeast Georgia Mountains) play that boy. He’s as strong as an ox, and you should have seen him in 2004 when Habersham Central played Stephens County and he whipped the tar out of their whole offensive line, and if you don’t start him I’m gonna come down there and …” [technicians cue the sound bite of the bulldog growling when Rattlesnake threatens Coach Fabris with physical violence].

So there is the basic rundown of what you can expect to hear on the Fifth Quarter Show this season. Sadly enough, these four callers are a mere drop in the bucket when compared with the ineptitude that dominates the calls placed into the show. So remember that just because the game is over doesn’t mean the entertainment is over. When Larry Munson wraps up the official broadcast on September 2nd, make sure to turn your dial to 960 The Ref for an opportunity to hear Nobel Laureate after Nobel Laureate call in to give their well-reasoned and incredibly articulate opinions on the state of Georgia football.

Disclaimer: The caller’s names in this article are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons residing in Habersham County is purely coincidental.

Tech Second Basemen Trapani: "I'm a die-hard Auburn fan"

2006-06-16T17:10:00.000-04:00

In Tuesday’s edition of the AJC, Mark Bradley wrote a column about Georgia and Georgia Tech baseball, which included a few quotes by Tech second basemen Mike Trapani, one of the better baseball players in the ACC. The following two paragraphs of that article pretty much sum up the state of Georgia Tech football:

“Mike Trapani is Tech’s second baseman. He lives in Dunwoody and played at Marist, so he has been around Bulldogs all his life. He’s a Tech guy now — a Tech grad, actually — but at no time in his life has he been a Georgia backer. “I’m a die-hard Auburn fan,” he said. “Auburn and Jordan-Hare Stadium have a special place in my heart.”

So does the memory of last season’s epic Georgia-Auburn football game, the Tigers winning by a point after the Brandon Cox slant pass to Devin Aromashodu on fourth-and-10 and Courtney Taylor’s subsequent recovery of Aromashodu’s fumble. “There’s nothing better than hearing all [Georgia’s] fans [whining] and moaning,” Trapani said. “I have to listen to all the buddies I grew up with talking about how Georgia’s going to win the national championship every year, and I never say a word.”

Trapani, like most other Tech students/alumni, has apparently realized that in order to experience what it is like to actually defeat your in-state rival in football, it is necessary to live vicariously through either Auburn or Florida. As I noted in my last entry, this is the favorite taunt of Tech fans after Georgia has concluded its annual pasting of the Jackets. In Trapani’s defense, it is not really fair to expect him to say, with a straight face, “Grant Field at Bobby Dodd Stadium has a special place in my heart. There’s nothing better than a Thursday night in Atlanta, when 20,000 fans pack into the stadium to watch the Jackets blow a game against N.C. State or Maryland.”

As a side note, the Tech baseball team must have watched the 2001 Georgia Tech-Maryland football game as inspiration for their first game in the College World Series. Chan Gailey and Joe Burns would be proud of Tech taking a 4-0 into the 8th inning and allowing Clemson to put up 8 runs. Losing in such a fashion is a big deal for Tech as their fans take a lot of pride in almost winning games.

Reason #1 We Hate Georgia Tech: The Fans

2006-03-19T15:45:00.000-05:00

“The Yellow Jackets are the dominant college football program in the state of Georgia and will be for awhile. In the immortal words of Kevin Spacey, they rule.”
Dr. Football, November 30, 2000

No, this quote is not something I made up. You can see it for yourself right here -- http://www.gojackets.com/DrFootball/DrFootball113000.shtml.

Since Dr. Football boldly proclaimed Tech the king of Georgia football for years to come, the Jackets have lost 5 in a row to Georgia to the tune of 17 points per game. Georgia has 2 SEC titles and 4 Top 10 finishes, while Tech has, well, some December trips to Boise, Seattle, and San Francisco. Hey, there’s no shame in being Humanitarian Bowl Champions. I think it goes without saying that Dr. Football, who predicted “nothing but good times ahead” for Georgia Tech in the same article, is one of the finest college football minds of our generation. After all this is man who said, “I can't see what they've (UGA) gained from the change in head coaches (from Donnan to Richt).” I’ve spent about an hour looking at this guy’s posts over the last five years and laughing to the point of tears. It’s good entertainment if you have a few minutes to kill -- http://www.gojackets.com/DrFootball/.

Dr. Football’s pontificating aside, why is it that Georgia Tech is the chief target of the jokes and insults of UGA fans? Unlike South Carolina and Clemson, Auburn and Alabama, or Michigan and Ohio State, Georgia Tech is not universally considered Georgia’s main rival. I certainly have not conducted a poll, but I would guess that there are more Georgia fans who consider Florida our main rival than those who consider Tech our main rival. There is probably also a smaller contingent of UGA fans out there that consider Auburn our biggest rival. So why is it that of these 3 teams, Georgia Tech is our favorite team to disparage and make fun of? I could probably write on this subject for the rest of my life and not fully cover it, but I will do my best.

The first reason has to be the Georgia Tech fans. While Florida fans are annoying enough with their jean shorts and complete disregard for deodorant and other forms of modern hygiene, there is absolutely nothing more annoying than the mutants from North Avenue. The typical Tech fan has little more than a passing knowledge of tackle football and will make that painfully obvious to the fans around him when he opens his mouth. Of course, when you spend double digit hours per day trying to slay mythical beasts on Everquest, this type of behavior is expected. At your typical Georgia-Georgia Tech game, you can expect an array of stupid insults and bold proclamations when their team (inevitably) falls behind. I had the pleasure of sitting by such a Georgia Tech fan during the infamous 51-7 beating of 2002.

Before the game, this young man was, of course, running his mouth about how Georgia was overrated, how we had lost to Florida, been lucky against Auburn, etc. About an hour later, when Georgia scored to take a 34-0 lead in the second quarter, this idiot was screaming at the officials and blaming them for how the game was going. I must have heard him say, “I’ll guarantee you these are SEC refs” at least 20 times. After defeat became inevitable for the Jackets, the Peter Pan clone started shouting “3 out of 5!” over and over again. As sad as his behavior was, it seems even more pathetic in light of the fact that Georgia Tech has since forfeited those 3 victories. Then, when Georgia Tech put DeMarius Bilbo in the game, this guy starts babbling on and on about how Georgia is going to be in serious trouble when Bilbo takes over the starting job. Before this guy finally put himself out of his own misery and left the game, he proceeded to inform every Georgia fan around him that Florida owned us.

Reality sets in

You can pretty much bank on hearing about Florida every time Georgia starts laying the wood to Tech. I’ve always found it very impressive that Georgia Tech fans have to rely on another school to beat their main rival. This would be like me showing up to a Georgia-Georgia Tech basketball game and when Tech takes a big lead shouting, “Duke owns you guys!” In one of “Dr.” Football’s posts, he was making fun of Georgia for losing to LSU in the 2003 SEC Championship game. Tech goes 6-6, loses 34-17 to Georgia, and Dr. Football taunts Georgia for losing to eventual national champion LSU in the SEC Championship Game. Don’t they realize how sad and pathetic it is that they have to depend on other football teams to get the job done? Oh wait, it’s Tech, so I guess they don’t.

When the game is over and the humiliation is official, you can expect to hear Tech fans mumbling about how we may have won the football game, but they have won in life. Stand outside of the stadium after a Georgia-Georgia Tech game and if you see a bunch of people who appear to be headed for a Dungeons and Dragons convention yapping about their superior education, you can bank on the fact that they have suffered yet another loss at the hands of Georgia. Tech fans usually finish the night off by drowning their sorrows in Zimas and all-night online role playing games.

Next Up: Reason # 2: The School Itself

The Fall of Jim Donnan

2006-02-27T01:21:00.000-05:00

This is the follow up to my previous article, "The Rise of Jim Donnan."

Spring 1999: This is really where the collapse of the Donnan regime began. Donnan decides to hire Tennessee’s Kevin Ramsey as his defensive coordinator and demotes Joe Kines. While Ramsey is widely regarded as one of the SEC’s best recruiters, the decision to hire Kevin Ramsey as the defensive coordinator seems somewhat questionable given Ramsey’s coaching experience.

Summer 1999: Both Reggie Brown and Durrell Robinson fail to qualify.

Fall 1999: Kevin Ramsey decides that when you have a young and inexperienced secondary the proper defensive scheme is one with lots of tight, man-to-man coverage. Georgia gives up more than 25 points in the first half on three occasions, the most famous being when Ronny Daniels burned the Georgia secondary for 200 receiving yards in the first half as Auburn, who had a losing record, embarrassed Georgia in Sanford Stadium by a score of 38-21. Georgia finishes the season last in the SEC in yards surrendered per game and finishes next to last in points surrendered per game.

November 1999: With seconds left and Georgia inside the Georgia Tech 5, Donnan elects to run the ball one more time with the score tied 48-48. Jasper Sanks “fumbles” and the rest is history. The loss is Georgia’s 3rd in its last 4 games of 1999. This is the point when many Georgia fans started having serious reservations about whether Jim Donnan could take UGA to the next level. From a personal standpoint, I’m not sure Donnan’s decision to run Sanks one more time was that stupid. Georgia had been blowing down the field and Donnan thought that either (1) Sanks would score a touchdown, or (2) at worst, Georgia would be able to kick the game-winning field goal as time expired. My sentiments certainly weren’t as vitriolic as those of Len Pasquarelli:

“Jim Donnan, perhaps the thinnest-skinned man operating a Division I football program, ought to be castigated for an inexplicable blunder that probably cost the Bulldogs a victory in regulation. . . . He may be a brilliant offensive schemer, but Donnan remains an insecure man with a me-against-the-world mentality likely born of his long tenure at tiny Marshall. . . . Because university policy has kept him from employing his son as a full-time assistant, there have been rampant rumors Donnan was preparing his resignation. Given his strategy in the closing minutes of regulation, maybe he should have delivered it. . . . Donnan, in typical pass the buck fashion, hinted one of the game officials from the Southeastern Conference crew had graduated from the University of Florida and was out to get the Bulldogs . . .Conceding he blew the game was a difficult admission for a coach who began the season crowing that his team had closed the talent gap on SEC East powerhouses Tennessee and Florida, but it also was too little and way too late.”

February 2000: Georgia signs a somewhat disappointing recruiting class as they miss out on several of the state’s top recruits. Kevin Ramsey fails to sign nearly every player he recruits.

February 2000: After Ramsey’s horrific performance both as a defensive coordinator and a recruiter, Donnan decides to demote him to being just the secondary coach. When Donnan informs Ramsey of his decision, a heated argument and physical confrontation ensues in Donnan’s office. Legend has it that Ramsey punched Donnan. I certainly understand Ramsey’s behavior because the best way to set yourself up for a defensive coordinator position with another team in the future is to physically assault the coach that just fired you. Ramsey later maturely refers to Donnan as “Pontius Pilate.” Surprisingly enough, Ramsey hasn’t been a defensive coordinator at the D-1A level since. In 2003, he was canned after one year on the job as Arizona State’s cornerbacks coach. Ramsey is now misguiding the defense at Carson-Newman.

Defensive Coordinator or Mafia Enforcer?

April 2000: Jim Donnan hires his own son, Todd, as the quarterbacks coach. Though UGA has an anti-nepotism policy, Donnan is able to circumvent the policy by making Todd a joint coach and fundraiser. Making him a fundraiser meant he would be supervised (from a technical standpoint) by the athletic department and not by Donnan himself. This move did not bother me quite as much as some other fans. I figured that if Todd Donnan could get the job done, then what did it really matter if he was Jim Donnan's son or not. My biggest concern was whether Todd, in his late 20s at the time, had the experience to get the job done.

Summer 2000: Donnan, speaking at a Bulldog Touchdown Club Meeting, makes the most infamous statement of his career: “I’ve been waiting 55 years to be the head coach of a football team that has this much potential, and I guarantee you that we’re going to get it done.” The phrase would increase in notoriety as the losses began to mount. It remains one of the most well-known quotes in UGA history.

September 2000: South Carolina breaks a 2-year SEC losing streak by defeating Georgia 21-10. Quincy Carter, hyped before the season as a Heisman hopeful, throws 5 interceptions.

Mack Williams is a genius, and this is one of my favorites

October 2000: Donnan breaks Georgia’s decade-long losing streak against Tennessee by defeating the Vols 21-10 and putting Georgia back in the thick of the SEC East race.

October 2000: An array of first half mistakes prevents Georgia from blowing the game open against Florida and the two teams go into halftime tied 17-17. Florida takes control in the second half and defeats Georgia for the third time in a row by the score of 34-23. The loss effectively knocks Georgia out of the SEC East race.

November 2000: Georgia Tech dominates Georgia in Athens and wins the game by a score of 27-15. The loss is Georgia’s third in a row to Georgia Tech and drops Georgia to 7-4.

November 2000: The week after Donnan drops the game to Georgia Tech, Vince Dooley announces that Jim Donnan has been let go as Georgia’s head coach. Donnan decides to stay on and coaches Georgia to victory in the Oahu Bowl. Donnan finishes his UGA career with a 40-19 record.

Donnan’s Legacy:

More than 5 years after Jim Donnan coached his last game at Georgia opinions about him still remained quite polarized. To some, Donnan was an outstanding coach who simply fell victim to the unrealistic expectations of delusional Georgia fans. To others, Donnan was a bumbling hack who had absolutely no business running an SEC football program. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. Perhaps the most important contribution Donnan made was that he got the talent level at Georgia back up to the point where we could be competitive again. At the same time, I think he started to place too much emphasis on hauling in great recruiting classes and hired Kevin Ramsey simply because he had a reputation as a great coordinator. I think he assumed that as long as Ramsey was hauling in blue chip prospects the defense would simply fall in place.

Another mistake that Donnan made is that he failed to get Georgia fans to like him on a personal level. While I never met the man and cannot confirm this, many Georgia fans found him to be a little “standoffish” and just not a very personable individual. I think one problem was that Donnan had some difficulty adjusting to the media attention that comes with the Georgia job because he came from a D-1AA program that wasn’t the major college program covered by a major media market such as Atlanta. As an example of how the media often felt about Donnan, look at how Pasquerelli’s quote above seems more than just objective criticism -- it seems to take on a personal tone (calling Donnan “thin-skinned” and “an insecure man”). The AJC’s Mark Bradley was also notorious for absolutely lacing into Donnan. Donnan may have been a great guy to know, but he failed to project that image to the media and I think it hurt him. Ray Goff is a fine example of how being well-liked can take you a long way when you coach in the SEC. Had Donnan compiled a record like Goff’s, he probably would not have even lasted as long as he did. However, Goff lasted two more years than Donnan despite having a much worse record because he was so well-liked by the Georgia fans. This is one area where Mark Richt has certainly done an outstanding job.

Jim Donnan’s record through 5 years was 40-19, which was the second-best winning percentage of any Georgia coach since the 1920s. This is doubly impressive considering that the Florida and Tennessee programs were at their peak during this time. However, the problem really seemed to be the direction that the program was headed. Since going 10-2 in 1997, Georgia had been taking steps backwards and went 7-4 in 2000 with a team absolutely stacked with NFL talent. Perhaps Donnan’s worst sin, from a record standpoint, was that he had dropped 3 in a row to Georgia Tech. If he wins one or two of those games, he most likely would not have been fired.

Another problem was that there was a perception that Donnan didn’t quite have the control over the team’s off the field activities that he should have. And when he was fired, the University suggested that there were some behind-the-scenes happenings that they were not pleased with.

Donnan will probably continue to be a man that elicits very strong feelings concerning his performance as Georgia’s head coach. I firmly believe that Georgia never would have achieved the success they have over the last 4 years had Jim Donnan been their coach instead of Mark Richt. At the same time, I think that Donnan had a big hand in laying the groundwork for that success. Ultimately, I just don’t think Donnan had the head coaching skills to take Georgia to the level that Mark Richt has. I think Donnan would have made a fine offensive coordinator and a good recruiter, but I think he lacked the managerial and personnel skills to run a program that consistently finishes in the Top 10.

The Rise of Jim Donnan

2006-02-24T22:56:00.000-05:00

This is part one of a two-part retrospective on the 5 years Jimmy Donnan roamed the sidelines for UGA. This part features the rise of Jim Donnan, the second part will feature the painful fall.

December 1995: After Glen Mason accepts the Georgia job and then rejects it to stay at Kansas (this pretty much sums up the state of Georgia football at that time), Jim Donnan, the successful head coach and offensive guru of D-IAA Marshall, accepts the job.

August 1996: Georgia manages only one touchdown in an utterly embarrassing 11-7 loss; hardly the offensive explosion Georgia fans were looking for. Georgia finishes the 1996 with a disappointing 5-6 record.

February 1997: Jim Donnan puts all his eggs in the Jasper Sanks basket and watches many of the state’s top players sign with other schools. Most notably, Tennessee comes in and takes UGA to the cleaners by nabbing three of the top players in the Southeast – Cosey Coleman, Jamal Lewis, and Deon Grant – who form the core of a team that would win the 1998 national championship. Jamal Lewis was the most dominating freshman back I’ve ever seen in the SEC (I’m only 24 – I didn’t get to see Herschel Walker or Bo Jackson).

Summer 1997: Jasper Sanks fails to achieve a qualifying score on the ACT and enrolls in Fork Union Prep School.

September 1997: Jim Donnan, in a post-game interview after a win over South Carolina, snaps at Loran Smith for what he felt was an inappropriate question. I don’t remember exactly what Donnan said, but he let Loran know he thought the question was stupid. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Loran, he’s one of the most irritating sideline reporters and post-game interviewers you will hear (he is, however, an excellent writer). When Larry Munson sends it down to Loran during the game, Loran usually sounds like he’s just downed a fifth of Wild Turkey and starts babbling incoherently about how this game reminds him of the 1931 game between Georgia and Auburn. His comments frequently have little, if anything, to do with what’s going on in the game. Furthermore, his post-game interviews are really tough to sit through because he asks irrelevant and sometimes inappropriate questions. My personal favorite was during the pre-game show before the 2002 SEC Championship Game when he asked Kathryn Richt if she was excited about the bonus Mark Richt would get if Georgia won the game. I don’t remember the question, but the bottom line is that Donnan’s response was likely what every Georgia fan was thinking at the time. Though we all moan and groan whenever Munson sends the broadcast down to Loran, for a guy who’s been at a school less than two years to tell off a guy who’s been a fixture at UGA games for decades did not sit well with the fans, especially the older ones who appreciate Loran’s pontificating. This was a really stupid P.R. move for Donnan and is a fine example of why he failed to endear himself to the UGA fans the way Richt has.

October 1997: Tennessee drills 4-0 Georgia 38-13 in Knoxville behind over 200 yards rushing by Jamal Lewis. Jasper Sanks is hundreds of miles away at Fork Union.

October 1997: After getting embarrassed by Tennessee, Jim Donnan accuses Phil Fulmer running up the score. Um, Jim, running up the score is something teams like Vandy and Georgia Tech are supposed to be complaining about. Perhaps focusing on not letting the game get to a point where the score can be run up would be a better strategy.

January 1997: After Donnan takes Georgia to a 10-2 record and a Top 10 ranking, he is offered the head job at North Carolina, but turns it down.

February 1998: Donnan signs a recruiting class considered by everyone to be one of the five best in the country. The headliners of the class are Quincy Carter, Jon Stinchcomb, Boss Bailey, Will Witherspoon, Terreal Bierra, Jasper Sanks, Charles Grant, Jesse Miller, and Terrence Edwards. Donnan also expands the successful recruiting to assistant coaches when he convinces Tennessee’s Rodney Garner, still the SEC’s best recruiter, to come to UGA.

Fall 1998: Despite the loss of several key seniors and the absence of any playmaking wide receivers besides Champ Bailey, Donnan, with freshman sensation Quincy Carter at quarterback, leads Georgia to a 9-3 season and a Top 15 ranking.

The Dynamic Duo

February 1999: With Rodney Garner on staff, Georgia lands another sensational recruiting class. Georgia closes very strong by signing the top 2 wide receivers in the country on Signing Day (Reggie Brown and Durrell Robinson) and one of the top offensive linemen in the country (Kevin Breedlove). At this point, it looked like Georgia was prepared to be a fixture in the Top 10. This would be the high point of the Donnan Era.

Next Up: "The Fall of Jim Donnan"

Jasper Sanks: Has it Really Been 9 Years?

2006-02-18T13:48:00.000-05:00

On May 15 of last year, Matthew Stafford, the #1 rated quarterback in the country, committed to Georgia. When spring practice starts up in a few weeks, Stafford will step on the field as the most celebrated UGA recruit I can remember. Reggie Brown was pretty big, so was Kregg Lumpkin, so was Durrell Robinson, and so was Sterling Boyd. For my money, however, the only recruit in the last 15 years that might have been more hyped than Stafford is none other than Carver-Columbus’s own Jasper Sanks. To truly understand just how hyped Jasper Sanks was, you have to understand the state of Georgia football at that time.

When Sanks gave his pledge to Georgia on January 17, 1997, Georgia football was at its lowest point in over 30 years. Georgia was coming off of 4 consecutive seasons of 6 wins or less, and the talent deficit we had with Florida and Tennessee had become quite obvious. That recruiting season was considered “The Year of the Runningback” in the state of Georgia, and Sanks was the most highly rated of a group that included Jamal Lewis, Travis Zachery, Audrell Grace, and Ed Wilder. Georgia lost a lot of recruiting battles that fall, but apparently had won the most important battle of all when they signed Sanks, the first team Parade and USA Today All-American. Every Georgia fan began immediately predicting a return to glory for the UGA football program with Jasper Sanks leading the way. Sanks would surely come in and take the starting job from Robert Edwards his freshman season, have Georgia in the SEC title game by his sophomore season, and become a Heisman trophy frontrunner by his junior season. Maybe the biggest concern Georgia fans had about Jasper Sanks was whether he would leave for the NFL after his junior season or stick around for a national title run.

Sanks’s UGA career got off to an appropriate as he failed to make a qualifying ACT score and was forced to go the Fork Union for a year to get his academics in order. While Georgia was busy putting together a 10-2 season, Sanks actually had a pretty nice season at Fork Union, running for over 1000 yards and being named the team’s Offensive MVP. Sanks re-signed with Georgia in 1998 as part of a recruiting class that was considered by almost every recruiting analyst to be one of the top 5 in the country. This class also included former high school All-American Quincy Carter. The possibility of a Sanks/Carter backfield had many Georgia fans believing that an SEC Championship was not very far off. Unfortunately, Sanks showed up for fall practice badly overweight and out of shape and found himself down near the bottom of the depth chart. His ankle injury early in the 1998 season would be the first of many injuries that dogged Sanks throughout his career at Georgia. The 1998 season was a complete disaster for Sanks, who carried the ball only 10 times for 65 yards on the season, with 9 of those carries coming during a blowout of Vanderbilt. Sanks’s 1998 season is one of the biggest wastes of a possible redshirt that I have ever seen. Bascially, Jim Donnan succumbed to all the Georgia fans that were constantly calling for Sanks.

Sanks got off to a very fast start in 1999, running for over 100 yards in 3 of Georgia’s first 4 games (130 v. South Carolina, 147 v. Central Florida, and 156 v. LSU) and really was starting to look like a guy that could emerge into one of the best backs in the country. Unfortunately, the LSU game would be the high point of his career. Sanks was never quite the same for the rest of the season, and the wheels really began to come off the wagon at the end of the year. Against Florida, with Georgia driving deep in Florida territory in the 4th quarter looking to take the lead, Sanks fumbled the ball and Florida recovered. Momentum completely shifted and Georgia never threatened again. However, Sanks would further sully his legacy in the Georgia Tech game a few weeks later. With the score tied 48-48 in the waning seconds, Georgia was trying to set up a game winning field goal inside the Georgia Tech 5 yard line. On the final play before Georgia was going to set up the field goal, Donnan went to Sanks one last time, but Sanks “fumbled” the ball and Tech recovered and went on to win in overtime. Though replays would show Sanks was clearly down, I don’t think Sanks ever quite got over that fumble and he was never a major contributor to Georgia after that point.

Sanks showed up to fall camp in 2000 trimmed down to 220 and was expected to be the go-to back for a team that many expected to challenge for the SEC title. However, injuries kept Sanks out of 2 games and by the end of the year he had lost his starting job to Musa Smith. Sanks finished the season with only 352 yards rushing and averaged only 3.8 yards per carry. Sanks missed spring practice in 2001 because of injuries, and apparently decided that a good way to challenge Musa Smith for the starting job in the fall would be to put on 20 pounds. By fall practice, Sanks had ballooned to 240 pounds (his fluctuating weight was become an annual fall practice story) and his quickness was so diminished that there was talk of moving him to fullback. Sanks stayed at fullback and was Musa Smith’s backup for most of the season. Sanks did a decent job filling in for Smith when necessary and finished the season with 338 yards rushing. However, Sanks’s season and career would end in a way that had pretty much defined his career at Georgia – in disappointment.

I think the lasting image that myself and most Bulldog fans have of Sanks is Auburn stuffing him at the goal line as time ran out in that maddening 24-17 loss. Sanks would go out the next week and quietly run for 50 yards against Ole Miss, but was outshined by Verron Haynes gaining 192 yards on the ground. Then, in the week leading up to the Tech game, Mark Richt announced that Sanks had been dismissed from the team for the always popular “unspecified violation of team rules.” The Jasper Sanks Era was mercifully over.

Rumors were certainly swirling about Sanks's removal from the team, but none were ever confirmed

Sanks's Legacy:

Whenever Georgia fans begin discussing a highly-touted recruit, someone will invariably say “Let’s hope he is not the next Jasper Sanks.” Sanks is considered the gold standard for what constitutes a recruiting bust. In my opinion, most of the criticism that is thrown Jasper’s way isn’t really his fault. First of all, I would not consider Sanks’s career a bust. In my opinion, a complete bust is someone who contributes almost nothing to the team or never even sets foot on campus. Durrell Robinson, Reshard Dudley, Audrell Grace – those guys were busts. Sanks ran for over 1600 yards in his career, which, although I have not checked to be sure, probably puts him among the top 15 or 20 all-time at UGA. So the question that remains is why is it that Sanks’s name invoked such a bitter response among Georgia fans?

Obviously, the hype had a lot to do with it. As mentioned, Sanks’s was all-everything in high school, had a college ready body at 220 pounds, and was coming into a system known for producing great tailbacks. If Sanks had been a 3 star, middle-of-the-road type prospect, then his career would have probably been considered a moderate success. Also, the state of Georgia football at the time probably had a lot to do with it. If Sanks’s had signed this year, no one would be resting the future of Georgia football on his shoulders. Also, the 3 most memorable moments Georgia fans have of Sanks are his fumble against Florida, his fumble against Tech, and him getting stuffed at the goal line by Auburn. Two of those, the phantom fumble and getting stuffed, were not really his fault, but he is nonetheless associated with three very bitter moments.

However, the biggest factor is probably the ineptitude with which Jim Donnan handled Sanks’s recruitment. Donnan basically focused all of his efforts on getting Sanks, and as a result got his clock cleaned with the in-state recruits that season. In probably the most notorious recruiting coup in Georgia over the last decade, Tennessee came down and grabbed 3 of the state’s top prospects – Deon Grant, Cosey Coleman, and Jamal Lewis. Donnan’s decision making really came under fire the following Fall when a 4-0 Georgia team lost at Tennessee 38-13 as Jamal Lewis ran for over 200 yards. Sanks hadn’t even made it to campus yet. Lewis revealed that Donnan, while recruiting him, had basically said that Lewis would have to back up Sanks if Sanks came to Georgia. This is a prime example of why betting the farm on a single player is an absolutely terrible recruiting strategy. And this is why for the next 20 years the phrase “I hope this guy isn’t the next Jasper Sanks” will be uttered when early February rolls around.

I never really wanted to win a national title anyway

Damn Spurrier

2006-02-09T17:46:00.000-05:00

My first post will be the article I wrote for dawgbone.net back in early August about Steve Spurrier and the Georgia-Florida Rivalry:

I am writing this in response to David Shepherd’s very well-written and insightful piece on the complexities of the Georgia-Florida rivalry during the Spurrier era and how important the ’05 game is to the rivalry. I would like to address this topic from the perspective of a Georgia person.

For those of you Georgia fans under the age of 30, believe it or not, things haven’t always been this way. When Vince Dooley retired following the 1988 season after 25 years of coaching Georgia, he left with 6 SEC championships, 1 national championship, and a 17-7-1 record against Florida. For a quarter century Georgia owned Jacksonville, drubbing the Gators with superior teams and finding ways to win with inferior ones. That trend came to a screeching halt when Steve Spurrier arrived in Gainesville in 1990 to revive a middling Florida program that had yet to win an SEC championship. For the next 12 years, Spurrier unleashed a reign of terror on the SEC and seemed to have a special affinity for making Georgia his own personal whipping boy. I was born in 1982, so unfortunately a culture of Florida domination is pretty much all I am accustomed to.

While Florida probably had the better team for at least 9 or 10 of Spurrier's 12 seasons, it was the way Georgia lost that made the Spurrier tenure so miserable. Spurrier didn't just beat Georgia; he humiliated them and took great pleasure in doing so. Between 1990 and 1995, when Spurrier and Ray Goff were facing off every fall, Georgia fans really began to question if it was ever going to get better. Spurrier had an unbelievable air of confidence standing on the sideline and always looked like he was in complete control of the flow of the game, planning 3 and 4 moves ahead of the coach on the other side of the field. The childlike Goff, on the other hand, frequently looked confused on the sidelines, and would start leaping around like he’d just won the national championship when Georgia would get a first down. Those demeanors carried onto the field, where Florida would destroy visibly rattled Georgia teams in an almost machine-like fashion. Danny Wuerfful, Reidel Anthony, and Ike Hilliard carved up forgettable Georgia defenses to the tune of 50 points per game between 1994 and 1996.

Honestly, would this matchup make you feel confident?

Florida was light years ahead of Georgia talent-wise between 1994 and 1996, so those beatings were inevitable, but even when the talent gap closed somewhat in the late '90s, Spurrier still owned Georgia. Losses by an average of 19 points from 1998-2000 were simply inexcusable, and ultimately led to Donnan being shown the door. Once again, the site of Jimmy Donnan supposedly matching wits with the greatest offensive mind in the game provided Georgia fans with little comfort. Only a 37-17 win in 1997 over a Florida team that rotated three quarterbacks provided Georgia fans with any relief. Any good feelings about the future of the series were summarily vanquished in 1998 when the Gators reeled off 21 unanswered points in the first quarter. The final score was one Georgia fans had grown accustomed to, 38-7 Gators.

Anyone else feel a tunnel screen is on the way?

Twice (1992 and 2000), Georgia marched into Jacksonville with more talented teams and a chance to go to put themselves in the SEC East driver's seat, only to see the Gators walk away victorious and into the SEC championship game on both occasions. Even in years when inferior Georgia teams put themselves in position for an upset, a fourth-quarter miscue or controversial call would end their chances. Who can forget the timeout in 1993 that negated a game tying Georgia touchdown in the final seconds or the Jasper Sanks fumble in 1999 that ended a fourth quarter drive deep in Florida territory?

Spurrier’s humiliation of Georgia extended beyond the playing field. Unlike the overly modest Dooley, who by the end of a press conference would have you believing that Vanderbilt was on the brink of putting together a national championship run, Spurrier was not going to pretend that a 3-4 Georgia team had a chance against his undefeated Gators. Even after he left Florida, Spurrier jumped at any chance to wipe his feet on the Bulldogs. Asked by a reporter if the Dallas Cowboys would become his new Florida State, Spurrier responded, “I hope they become our Georgia.” If Georgia fans viewed Vince Dooley as the southern gentleman you see eating brunch at a Savannah country club, they viewed Spurrier as the guy you see drag racing a Camaro down the strip in Panama City.

When Mark Richt arrived at Georgia in 2001, Georgia fans were confident that Bobby Bowden’s right hand man and offensive genius was exactly what the team needed to compete with Spurrier. No longer would Georgia have to watch an overmatched coach get his clocked cleaned every October. Mark Richt didn’t beat Spurrier in 2001, but the 24-10 loss was understandable given that Georgia was in rebuilding mode and Florida was in the thick of the national title hunt. When Spurrier unexpectedly retired following the 2001 season, Georgia fans began immediately declaring the era of Florida domination over. 2002, they said, would surely be a new chapter in the series. Georgia was a trendy pick to win the SEC championship, whereas Florida had replaced Spurrier with the unknown Ron Zook and had lost a number of key players. Unfortunately for Georgia fans, the next two trips to Jacksonville would be more painful than any during the Spurrier years. Two years in a row following Spurrier’s departure, Georgia walked into Jacksonville in the thick of the national title hunt, but managed only 13 points in both contests and watched their national title dreams go down the toilet.

There was an immense amount of pressure to win in 2002 with the Evil Genius out of the way, and I would say it’s safe to say the 2002 Georgia team completely buckled under that pressure. Florida’s worst team in a decade had lost 3 games going into Jacksonville and was a big underdog against an undefeated Georgia team that seemed to be hitting its stride after a 52-point explosion against Kentucky. What followed would prove to be one of the most painful nights imaginable for a Bulldog fan. What made the loss so unbearable was that Florida was, at best, the 4th best team Georgia faced that season, and they didn’t even play that well, committing numerous turnovers. While I generally have happy memories about the 2002 team, the loss to Florida might is the most bitter and painful Georgia football memory I have. Time and time again, the Georgia offense advanced into Florida territory, but every time they would find some way to give the ball right back to the Gators. The final minutes were befitting of both the game and the previous 12 years. With Georgia down 20-13, Terrence Edwards dropped a sure touchdown pass, letting both the ball and Georgia’s national title hopes slip through his fingers.

When the final horn sounded, the looks on the faces of Georgia fans were not of anger or disappointment, but of sheer disbelief. This couldn’t have happened, not to this Georgia team, not to Mark Richt, not at the hands of the hapless Ron Zook and a rag tag Gator offense that called Kelvin Kight and Carlos Perez “go to” receivers. Georgia had knocked themselves out of the national championship hunt by failing to deliver in a game that was thought to be a sure thing. On the long walk back to my hotel, I was taunted mercilessly by an endless string of orange clad Billy Ray Cyrus clones pounding PBRs and shouting witty phrases like “You guys choked” and “We own Georgia.” The worst part of it was that I had no response, because they were exactly right. The drive back to Athens the next morning seemed to drag on for days. I remember reading a newspaper article on the ride back about Spurrier's legacy that said something to the effect of "Somewhere in the D.C. area you can bet Steve Spurrier was watching the game and smiling, knowing that in some way he still had a hand in what was unfolding on the field."

Very well said.

The 2003 version of the Dawgs was more talented than the young 2003 Gators, but I can't really say they buckled under the pressure, because Florida, unlike in 2002, played a pretty good game. Still, you could just feel Spurrier’s shadow casting down on Alltel Stadium when Matt Leach's last second field goal that looked like it was hooking left suddenly straightened up and went through the uprights. In both 2002 and 2003, an array of errors allowed mediocre Florida teams to continue the trend Spurrier had started – the normally heady David Pollack committing a forward lateral on an interception return, Greg Blue taking a Pop Warner tackling angle on a screen pass to Carlos Perez that went for a touchdown, D.J. Shockley throwing the ball into the waiting arms of Gus Scott, and the one no Georgia fan will forget, George Foster drawing a personal foul for, as one Georgia student accurately described it in an editorial to the Red and Black, attempting to “dry hump” a Florida defensive lineman after the whistle had blown. Spurrier may have physically been hundreds of miles away in D.C. at the time, but the legacy he left clearly got into the heads of the Georgia players.

The 2004 game was a win, but it did nothing to make any Georgia fan (or at least myself) think that the psychological hold Jacksonville and the Gators have on UGA has been broken. Georgia's most talented team since '82 went into Jacksonville against yet another underachieving, though talented, Florida team. Florida had lost two weeks before to Mississippi State, a team that had lost to Maine earlier in the year, and Ron Zook had since been fired. Georgia stormed out of the gates to a 21-7 first half lead and looked to be cruising to an easy win when they drove down to the Florida one yard line. Then, the inevitable happened. Georgia fumbled and Florida recovered. Georgia managed to hold on and win 31-24, but failed to capitalize on numerous opportunities to put the game away (including letting Florida convert a maddening 3rd and long with an option). Georgia had beaten Florida, but for me, the feeling after the game was one of relief that we hadn't blown it, not one of exhilaration.

Heading into year #5 as head coach of Georgia, Mark Richt has 3 top ten finishes and an SEC championship, but he's 1-3 against the Gators and has lost or been taken to the wire by less talented teams each of the last 3 years. 2005 is a huge game for this rivalry and one that I think will be looked upon as a turning point 10 years from now. Even though it hasn’t necessarily manifested itself on the field, the general feeling (from a Georgia standpoint) is that the tide is slowly turning in this rivalry, but that could all come crashing to a halt in 2005. For the first time since 2001, Florida is considered by most publications to be the better football team, and the stage seems set for Florida to get back to the SEC championship and possibly even the national championship. Ron Zook, who many Gator fans wanted to show the door before he coached a single game, has been replaced by Urban Meyer, the wildly successful Utah coach and offensive guru who seems to be cut from the same cloth as Spurrier, even in demeanor. His jokes about Miami’s lack of fan support this summer hearken back to the days of Spurrier referring to Ray Goff as “Coach Goof.” Florida fans think Meyer is the man who can return them to mid-‘90s form, but I can assure you if the Gators fall to a rebuilding Georgia team, the love fest will immediately come to a halt and fireurbanmeyer.com will be the new internet site of choice in Gainesville.

On the other hand, if Mark Richt can orchestrate a victory over the ultra-talented Gators, he will have proven that the days of wetting the bed in Jacksonville are likely over, and that 2004 was not just an aberration (like ’97 was for Donnan). If Georgia goes down there and gets pasted, any confidence carried over from 2004 will be shattered, and Georgia fans will start wondering if the Cocktail Party under the Meyer regime will be much like it was under Spurrier. The win in 2004 will not break the hold Jacksonville and Spurrier have on Georgia, but a win in 2005 just might.