On January 1, 2006, my wife and I were riding MARTA to the Sugar Bowl. We were in a MARTA car full of Dawg fans discussing the SEC championship game and how we were going to beat West Virgina by at least 21. West Virginia, after all, was from the weak Big East, a conference that shouldn't have kept their automatic BCS berth after the defection of their best teams to the ACC. WVU was a pretender, they said. One member of our traveling party even confronted two WVU fans in front of us. "I'm just gonna warn you now. No. 17's name is Blue and he's gonna hurt ya'll's freshman quarterback tonight." The Dawg fans laughed. One of the WVU fans turned to the other and said quietly, "Well, they're gonna have to catch him first." You know the rest of the story.
So, here we are again. "We're hot. We're feeling good. We're disappointed we missed the BCS Bowl or a big match up with USC in Pasadena. Instead, we get a tricky team from the middle of the Pacific Ocean who play their home games at 1:00 in the morning. Hawai'i hasn't played anyone. They play in a conference that no one cares about. They put up ridiculous numbers, but they haven't faced an SEC defense. We deserve better. We're Georgia. We'll kill Hawai'i."
Let's put an end to that. No one knows what will happen. I was one of those people who thought we would steamroll WVU, but I never would have imagined we would lose two fumbles in the first quarter and generally play the first half as if we hadn't practiced since beating LSU. We will not win this game simply by telling Hawai'i that we're Georgia and they have no shot in the biggest game in the history of their program. We will have to earn it.
I think the coaches realize this and grasp what's at stake. Georgia's national reputation took a big hit with that WVU loss. People still talk about it as if WVU rolled us when the game was tight until the end, despite the shocking 28-0 first half deficit. It was a bitter pill to swallow after the pure glee of winning the conference championship. If Hawai'i beats UGA, you can expect to hear about it for a long, long time. I've seen several national media folks saying this is a lose-lose situation for us. Let me dispel that notion right now. Winning the Sugar Bowl, a bowl we have a 3-5 record in, is a huge win for us. This is a showcase game for the Georgia program and a springboard for the 2008 season, a season that holds a great deal of promise. A BCS win is important and needed. The season won't look nearly as good, as fun, as special if it ends in a loss. We have to win new year's night.
That being said, here's a few interesting tidbits about the Hawai'i Warriors:
So, here we are again. "We're hot. We're feeling good. We're disappointed we missed the BCS Bowl or a big match up with USC in Pasadena. Instead, we get a tricky team from the middle of the Pacific Ocean who play their home games at 1:00 in the morning. Hawai'i hasn't played anyone. They play in a conference that no one cares about. They put up ridiculous numbers, but they haven't faced an SEC defense. We deserve better. We're Georgia. We'll kill Hawai'i."
Let's put an end to that. No one knows what will happen. I was one of those people who thought we would steamroll WVU, but I never would have imagined we would lose two fumbles in the first quarter and generally play the first half as if we hadn't practiced since beating LSU. We will not win this game simply by telling Hawai'i that we're Georgia and they have no shot in the biggest game in the history of their program. We will have to earn it.
I think the coaches realize this and grasp what's at stake. Georgia's national reputation took a big hit with that WVU loss. People still talk about it as if WVU rolled us when the game was tight until the end, despite the shocking 28-0 first half deficit. It was a bitter pill to swallow after the pure glee of winning the conference championship. If Hawai'i beats UGA, you can expect to hear about it for a long, long time. I've seen several national media folks saying this is a lose-lose situation for us. Let me dispel that notion right now. Winning the Sugar Bowl, a bowl we have a 3-5 record in, is a huge win for us. This is a showcase game for the Georgia program and a springboard for the 2008 season, a season that holds a great deal of promise. A BCS win is important and needed. The season won't look nearly as good, as fun, as special if it ends in a loss. We have to win new year's night.
That being said, here's a few interesting tidbits about the Hawai'i Warriors:
- While several of the Hawai'i athletic teams go by the nickname "Rainbow Warriors," the football team likes "Warriors," only. Why?
- Since 1956, Hawai'i is 7-28 against ranked opponents and 1-7 against top 5 teams, beating BYU in 1990. They are 1-6 against SEC teams, beating Alabama in 2003.
- It's 4,202 miles from Honolulu to New Orleans, a 7 hour and 55 minute flight.
- The Warriors have played a grand total of one bowl game on the mainland, winning the 1992 Holiday Bowl. So, Hawai'i has never lost a bowl game on the mainland.
- Hawai'i has a player named Hercules and another named Solomon. They are thus both strong and wise. I remember our 2005 team had a Pope, a Moses, and a Mohammad, covering three major religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
25 comments:
I, for one, have no problem with woofing.
I watched about half of Hawai'i's games this year. They suck. We'll win by three scores.
You don't struggle with rancid competition the entire year and then beat the #5 team in the country. You don't have to go to OT to beat San Jose State and then beat a team from the SEC. You don't consider a huge comeback win over a team with 9 losses to be one of your best wins of the year and then beat a team who roasted Florida and Auburn.
It will take a Stanford-vs.-USC effort for Hawai'i to win.
I bet Michigan was saying the same thing about Appalachian State.
I bet Bama said that before UL-Monroe.
I bet USC said that before Stanford.
I bet Oklahoma said that about Boise State.
I bet UGA said the same thing about WVU. I remember reading the AJC.com where all the UGA fans were mouthing off and a few WVU fans were basically saying "You ain't seen nothing like this". The WVU fans were right.
Of all years, this is not the one to be cocky.
Did you miss the 15 or so years of near complete domination that stemmed from UGA being absolutely terrified of honking the Florida game yet again? Georgia players and fans need a good dose of confidence and even a touch of belligerence going into this game. No, we don't know what's going to happen but it's going to end in a Georgia win. Hawaii doesn't belong in this game. Their conference sucks. Their team sucks when they don't have jet lag mojo working for them. I'm personally excited that a delegation from the state of Georgia will be the ones who get to remind that to June Jones.
The way I see it, if Hawaii beats UGA, I'm not going to feel any worse about it if I keep my mouth shut vs if I don't. The I-told-you-so's just run off my shoulder. But if I'm right and talk smack about it beforehand, there are plenty of people on this earth who get mad about my I-told-you-so's that I'll get at least a year's worth of satisfaction out of it. Might as well say what's on my mind instead of being terrified that the unthinkable would happen AGAIN. It won't. Oh yeah, Hawaii sucks.
I'm a self professed night owl and thus I have seen Hawai'i games over the past few years. I have to disagree with you Anon 11:38 in saying that "they suck." Grice-Mullin, Bess, and Rivers are the real deal at WR. Offensively I think they'll fare well against us. Their short passing game, imo, is one of the best in the nation and we've struggled this year against others that aren't as proficient (see South Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky until we rattled Woodson in th second half.) I think we'll win but I'll save my bragging until after the game.
Speaking of Solomon, I think he once said, "Pride comes before the fall."
I am with PWD on this one.
We don't win this game by just throwing our hat into the rink or being the University of Georgia Bulldogs.
If we bring our A game, then sure, I think we will beat them no problem. But I think it will be closer than that.
Skidawg-
Georgia is better coached at this point in the season than all of those teams, including '05 Georgia.
If we struggled against the likes of San Jose State, Boise State, and a 9-loss Washington team, this fanbase would be going nuts. Think how we were so expecting that mid-season beatdown last year after struggling against Colorado and Ole Miss. That's essentially how Hawai'i is right now- though the ESPN/FOX shouting heads have given the Rainbows no idea whatsoever what's coming.
And we have *no idea* how good Hawai'i's short passing game is beacuse they. have. not. played. ANYBODY.
Sorry kids, I've already broken out the victory drinks.
How is this any different then WVU in 05'? People saying the same things, expecting the same results. I agree with PWD. Lets not forget that if we play awefull and they play their best game of the year that we can lose this game. I know it's not likely but it's possible. So why have people come to the forgone conclusion that we are Going to win this game. Georgia winning is based on speculation and educated guessing, not fact. Lets play the game first.
Guys - I didn't write this.
Quinton did.
"How is this any different then WVU in 05'?"
Let's count the ways:
1. The Big East, as much as people talked down on it, was a BCS conference. Yeah, they lost a lot of talent to the ACC but what they had left was still far better than the WAC is now.
2. Georgia isn't just coming off their biggest win of the season. In fact, Georgia got left out of a SEC Championship game they probably could've won if given the opportunity. Georgia still has an awful lot they want to prove to people.
3. WVU is still in Georgia's rear view mirror. They're not going to sleepwalk into a game like this again any time soon, especially not in the same bowl that they honked one last time.
Those are the highlights. Did I miss anything?
Our Mohamed is spelled differently than the Islamic Prophet Mohammad and he's a Christian from Liberia. Just saying!
I have to agree with feeling comfortable woofing two weeks prior to the game.
This game should not be close at all. Hawaii has no business whatsoever in this game. They are nowhere near in our league of talent. Looking at their record and their near-misses is damn near laughable.
I have no fear whatsoever that we lose this game. We had our "sleep-walk" wake-up call against WVU. It is a shame that the BCS refuses to put interesting matchups together and instead would rather have 3 of the 4 games risking blowouts (not including the MNC game). So we'll be left with "Wow, UGA beat hawaii by 24, USC beat Illinois by 19... wish they could have played eachother."
I can't even bring myself to capitilize hawaii anymore. They are an absolute joke and I can only hope there will be fewer posts of "they're a quality team" and "don't count your chickens", etc. We are probably the best team in the SEC with Fla and LSU. Meaning we don't lose to Samoans.
WVU is also heads and tails better than Hawaii ever will be. WVU without a coach is heads and tails better than Hawaii with 15 men on the field. Not even comparable. We'll take our BCS victory and move forward to next year where maybe in a worst-case scenario we get enough respect to at least play a respectable opponent.
This year's Sugar Bowl is without a doubt a lose-lose situation for us. Any thoughts to the contrary are simply foolish and based on an unjustified fear of an inferior team. Give the Dawgs the credit they deserve. They should roll this game even with no one in the stands. hawaii is nothing but a homecoming opponent for us.
Dawg fans- fear not. Victory is upon us.
Actually, given that Mohammad (according to one spelling)the prophet and the Muslim world in general used and still use a different alphabet than the West, there are many variants in the spelling of the spelling of the same name, Mohamed being one of them.
Careful about the "Mohammed" talk or Muslim fascists may want to stone you or kill you.
Georgia was not "left out" of the SEC Championship game. It did not win the East.
In the YouTube video there is way too much talk about missing out on the BCS NC game for my taste. Makes me think about Cal the year it did not go to the Rose Bowl and how it was handled in the smaller bowl.
The WAC is no worse this year than it was last year when its champion beat a pretty darn good Oklahoma team.
Just saying...
"Georgia was not "left out" of the SEC Championship game. It did not win the East."
Georgia did win the East. They are co-champions with Tennesee. Since only one team from each division can be sent to the SEC Championship Game, they have some tiebreakers for deciding who goes and Tennessee came out ahead in that respect. That being said, they were "left out" not matter how you look at it. They were not invited to attend just like 9 other SEC schools were not invited to attend. They were all left out and they all deserved it. I was not attempting to indicate that UGA was slighted in any way by their lack of invitation. That's something you inserted in there. They were not invited and they think they could've won that game. I happen to agree with that assessment given how LSU played.
You can cower in fear if you like but I have more faith in my favorite team than that.
"The WAC is no worse this year than it was last year when its champion beat a pretty darn good Oklahoma team."
That reminds me:
4. Oklahoma got embarrassed in just about every way possible by a WAC team just last year in a BCS Bowl. Georgia will use that as motivation not to let their guard down.
'The WAC is no worse this year than it was last year when its champion beat a pretty darn good Oklahoma team."
Hawai'i is no better this year than Boise State in 2005.
And no, Oklahoma last year was not "pretty darn good." The Sooners only got to the B12CG because Colt McCoy got hurt. Elsewise they were soundly dismissed by Texas and were smelling Cotton Bowl. Also, beating Nebraska for the Big 12 championship is somewhere up there with making a sandwich in terms of difficulty.
I think it comes down to depth.
We have it, Hawaii doesn't.
If we pound their defense with Brown and Lumpkin for three quarters and then unleash Moreno, they'll be too tired to catch him.
Also, Georgia has to start strong. The longer Hawaii is in this game, the more they are going to think they can win it.
Show of hands...how many people who are saying that Hawaii sucks and has no business playing UGA have actually watched a game? How many of you are just looking at box scores and rankings to form your opinion?
I too think that UGA will win, HOWEVER, Hawaii is fast, they have a deadly accurate QB, and outstanding receivers. Their defense is vastly improved over last year too. I am actually looking forward to the game because of the "speed" vs. "physical" matchup.
UGA should devour Hawai'i'i'i, and I won't really be satisfied until we're eating Colt Brennan's heart.
Are some Dawg fans overconfident? Yep. Disgustingly overconfident? Yep. However as long as it's Dawg fans overlooking Hawai'i'i'i, and not Richt or Stafford or Moreno (who I imagine have had UGA/WVU & Boise State/Oklahoma pounded into them), I'm not going to worry about us posting a comment on a Bulldog website. We'll have very little influence over the game.
I missed Hawaii vs. Alabaster Teacher's College, Shanghai School for Girls and Nashville Auto Diesel College.
But I did watch the Washington and Boise Games.
My review:
-- They'll have the best WR/QB combo that we will see this year BY FAR. Colt is probably better than Ainge, and the have the best 3 WRs we'll see.
-- Their WRs and QB don't play RB, OL, DL, LB, DB, Kicker or Punter.
-- UGA typically does well against 1 dimensional teams (WVU game being the exception that proves the rule).
-- Willie has purchased a DVD player since the UT game.
Dawgs win if Dawgs show up.
If we get the pre-Celebration Dawgs, we're in for a LONG ASS night. If we get the post-Celebration Dawgs, Hawaii will still score some points, but Dawgs will going away.
PWD
I watched the Washington and Boise games, too. My thoughts:
1) Boise is pretty lousy. Too bad they won't get a chance for an encore to the Fiesta Bowl; chances are they'd get blown out. Heck, it wouldn't surprise me if the Blueturfers got a game out of freakin ECU.
2) Washington was screwed. That illegal forward pass call was bogus, and the team just quit after that. And they still were in a position to send the game into OT. Also, WASHINGTON HAS NINE LOSSES. IF GEORGIA FUMBLED AROUND AGAINST A TEAM LIKE THAT, WE'D BE CALLING FOR WILLIE'S HEAD.
I also saw Hawai'i's Fresno and San Jose games. When they needed an OT miracle to beat SJU, I remember thinking "this team will be labeled this year's Boise if they win out" and then "but it'll be wrong, and they'll get blown out in the BCS."
And so here we are.
I will admit I only saw the game hawaii played against Washington. That was enough for me. I was hoping they'd lose so we wouldn't get stuck with them as I knew we would. UGA somehow is the janitor for the BCS. We get stuck with the teams who come in with no respect or regard whatsoever (reference the 5 loss FSU and WVU). We get more props for beating Purdue, Wisc, and any other Little 10 team in the lesser bowls than we do for winning these BCS games.
I am already on record as to my thoughts of this waste of time and energy game, but I will say this. Of all 9 bowl games which our SEC compatriots are in, the Sugar Bowl is the one the SEC MUST win. If somehow God comes down from Heaven and annoints hawaii their biggest win ever (cause that is the only way they win. Our bus could get lost and any 22 UGA fans in the stands would pull out the 'W') the SEC will take a ribbing for years on in. Not to mention the damage it will do to UGA's rep.
The game is barely a must-see to the avg college football fan, but the staff has got to get our boys thinking we're playing for a nat'l title so we can win by 30.
Next year we'll finish probably #3 in the nation, just miss the title game, and wind up playing "janitor" once again and play an upstart Nevada team.
"The game is barely a must-see to the avg college football fan, but the staff has got to get our boys thinking we're playing for a nat'l title so we can win by 30.
Next year we'll finish probably #3 in the nation, just miss the title game, and wind up playing "janitor" once again and play an upstart Nevada team."
Are you sure you're a Georgia fan?
That just doesn't sound like a fan that bleeds RED AND BLACK.
You guys have seen our pass defense right? It will be a long night chasing those frisbee catchin' dogs in green & white unless we can jack one of 'em up early & put a little fear in 'em. I think CJ & Reshad need to be in knockout mode on anything over the middle & rattle 'em up a little. If they're thinkin' they ain't playing as fast, and that is prime time for a pick.
Since when does a UGA fan have to be blindly loyal and ignore the reality that Hawaii is a scary team.
Just "showing up" is not going to be enough. They need to come in prepared and ready. The DBs had better be in shape and the DLs as well. They are going to chase a lot not only the QB who has a quick release (faster than Ainge from what I have seen); the DL/LBs will also be chasing down field.
The best bet is to control the line of scrimmage with the running game which is something UGA can well do.
I think it ends up being a shootout and one of the best bowl games of the year.
Please do not question my Bulldog loyalty. For one I actually attended and graduated from UGA (class of 1985).
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