It all starts with this.
We had a post and comment thread last week talking about the Top plays of 2007. The thread evolved into a conversation around the Top Plays of the entire Richt Era. Some were commenting that Michael Johnson's catch vs. Auburn is the most important play. Someone else said that the decision to celebrate in Jax might be the most important or second most important play.
For my money, it all starts with P44 Haynes. With six seconds left we hit the Hobnail Boot. After the 2004 season, I talked with one of the graduating players about his career at UGA. (This was pre-blog so no linky). We talked about buying into the Richt System, and he said it was in Knoxville (his FR year) that the entire team finally bought in.
Prior to that blessed catch by Verron in 2001, there were still doubters. Most of the seniors had bought in during Mat Drills because they had no other choice. They could either try it Richt's way or spend the next 12 months in agony. Three games into the season, significant pockets of the rest of the team still had their doubts.
But a win in Knoxville...for the first time in 20 years...in the face of a bloodthirsty crowd...with a freshman QB...in his first road game...in the wake of Travis Stephens' 62 yard catch and run for the ages...our guys Finished the Drill. As the senior told me, "That was when I said, 'Ok, this is worth it.'"
If that rally falls apart, who is to say that the team holds it together that season? Especially after Richt's brain fart vs. Auburn. We would've likely finished the season in Shreveport against Iowa State struggling to get above 7 wins. One less than we had in Donnan's final year.
Why bring that up now?
Look to our West. Today, there's a large article in the Montgomery paper talking about Saban's failure to get the team to buy-in. There are rumblings that St. Nick will have to dump as many as a dozen players who never bought into his "process." Consider this quote about buying in:
Junior safety Rashad Johnson said close losses by the team -- Alabama lost all six games by seven points or less -- could have been reversed if more players did what was expected of them from the beginning.So, today is as good a day as any to be thankful for that senior class who decided to get on board early, and for a well worn pair of Hobnail Boots. The play that started us on the path towards football righteousness.
"It could've been a totally different thing," he said. "Right now, we're talking LSU in the national championship game, a two-loss team. Every game we lost this year was by seven points, just about. I mean, we won a couple like that, but it could've been a totally different season. Totally different."
"When you're playing teams like LSU, Auburn, even Mississippi State, the little things would have really won the ballgame," Gilberry added.
PWD
