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[Photo: Don't let the smile fool you. You call it "ping pong" and this dude will send a 0.25 ounce plastic ball through your spleen.]
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, big home games.
This game with Auburn shapes up to be a monster Between the Hedges.
First, it's at night. We haven't played a meaningful night game this late in the season since 1997 vs. Auburn. That was a night that started poorly with an injury to Hines Ward and then got progressively worse by the minute.
Second, it's for the SEC East title. The closest we've come to having a shot at clinching a title of any type at home at night would again be the 1997 Auburn game. With a win there, we still would have lost the tie breaker to the Vols, but we likely would've gotten a bid to a Big 4 bowl.
Late season meaningful home night games are extremely rare in Athens. Heck, clinching titles in the day time hasn't exactly been an every year occurance. The last day time start for a home clincher was the Auburn game in 2003. Before that you have to go back to 1983 vs. Auburn for a day game clinch attempt. That one started late in the afternoon and ended at night. Something like 10-3 for the Tigers.
Anyway, the crowd on Saturday shapes up to be one of Sanford's all-time best. Since I have been following the Dawgs (1989), here are the best home crowds that I've seen (day or night):
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- As loud as Sanford has ever been. Loudest moment: LSU's kick returner takes a knee on the 1 inch line in front of the student section. Jamarcus Russell leads the Tigers out on offense to a wall of noise.
2. Tennessee - 2000
- A blood thirsty crowd with 12 years of pain and a 9 game losing streak meets a full day of drinking and a 7:45 kickoff. Of course it was rowdy. Loudest moment: Wansley's INT to seal it.
3. Auburn - 2003
- We needed this game to win the East, and the team answered the bell with a rare Georgia blowout in the series. Loudest Moment: Odell Thurman's 99 yard INT.
Others of Note:
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Tennessee 2004 - This was a loud crowd, but the offense was so bad that we didn't have as much to cheer about.
Auburn 1997 - This one started off loud, but ended with a whimper.
Alabama 1976 - I wasn't there, but everyone that was there swears that this was as loud and wild a crowd as we've ever had in Athens.
There's no reason that we can't have that type of crowd this week. In fact, we NEED that type of crowd. The sort of crowd that's teetering on the brink of a riot. A less violent version of the Death Valley crowd in Baton Rouge would be ideal.
This game is for a shot at the Sugar Bowl. And as an added bonus, we can ruin the Gators' season and Auburn's season all in the same evening. What else could you want from a football game?
Wear Red. Pace yourself drinking. Don't peak too soon! Stand up. Cheer loud. Go home hoarse, but proud.
He's baaaaacck! Photo from georgiadogs.com.
13 comments:
Paul is such a homer! DGD! You even left the "A" out of hoarse, since it's Auburn week.
I was a member of two of your top three crowds (and was in Athens for the LSU game), and God willing, I'll be drunkenly screaming my red-and-black ass off for the Auburn game this weekend. Anybody know a way I can get two tickets and still keep at least half my kidneys?
A couple other loud ones...
Clemson 2002: Night game, opener, hadn't played Clemson in a long time. I remember not being able to hear very well, though it did get a little quiet when we lost momentum. Biggest play was DJ Shockley juking their entire defensive backfield late in the game.
Tech 2002: First game following the Michael Johnson catch. Just a love fest for Dawg fans. Really loud at the beginning, but got a little quieter after the first 7 scores.
Also, something that I think should be taken into consideration about this weekend is the weather. During my college days, the two Auburn home games were the coldest two games I've ever been to in Athens. 1995 was beyond bitter. 1997 was so cold that I was able to take a litre of bourbon (in the bottle!) in without detection because I was wearing so many layers. Saturday it's forecast to be in the low 70s. Weird.
By the time kickoff rolls around, it will be closer to 40 degrees than 70 degrees. So looking forward to this one!
Have to agree with most of these games. The 2004 Tennessee game reached freakish volume levels when Greene was leading the DAWGS down the field for the last drive that ended with Jason Allen's int.
The 1997 game was terrible, but the 1999 version of this game was the worse and basically started the drumroll for Donnan's head. Unfortunately my student days coincided with Donnan's years in Athens (96-00). Fortunately Beam was plentiful and made me forget most of those abysmal games.
Saturday night could be lethal. We'll just be entering the stadium when we're typically walking out. The name of the game will be pace, but with Saturday being full of SEC Showdowns pacing may not be an option.
Richt will be going for win #50 and his third SEC East title in 5 years. Without a doubt Sanford will be rocking.
it hasn't occurred to me until this post how many good home games UGA gets screwed out of b/c of Jacksonville. That's one less opportunity for a huge home game every other year. So basically you're left with AU or UT with possibly LSU or bama rotating onto the schedule every now and again.
I remember 1976 UGA vs. 'Bama. I didn't have a ticket (I was 13), so I put on a Boy Scout uniform, showed up early with the other Boy Scout ushers, shook hands with Bear Bryant as he walked the field (He actually did a little bit of recruiting that morning). Once the game started...I took off my uniform, revealing my jeans and t-shirt underneath and sat on the steps in the upper deck south side. Man, it was loud. That was when a full house was 57,000, too.
Dave that is an EXCELLENT story. Nice work.
LD, you're dead-on about the '97 Auburn-Georgia disaster -- about as cold as I've ever been at a tailgate. And about as drunk. So drunk, in fact, that I put the lit end of a cigar in my mouth -- right in front of the hottie from my philosophy class I wanted to ask out. Ah, good times. And by "good times" I mean "pretty lousy times, actually," but still.
I was at all of those top 3, and I'd agree, things were cooking for all of them. I'd probably put Auburn in 2003 at number one though for just sustained excitement throughout the game. I thought the crowd kind of lost focus after we were blowing the hell out of LSU, but with the shutout working for much of the game against AU, I thought everyone stayed in it the whole time.
Plus that game gets bonus points for the loudest sustained cheer I've ever been a part of, Odell's return. It's a perfect storm of noise, they're on the goal line, we're trying to preserve a shutout and then the pick happens and the crowd had 99 yards to get into full throat, by the time he hit the endzone, that has to be the single loudest moment in that stadium.
I was there when Odell took that one back and, I tell ya, ole Sanford walked a few steps that night.
The Odell runback was a ridiculously loud moment at Sanford.
That game is also when Blue introduced himself to the Georgia folks. I almost felt bad for the receiver when Blue knocked him out at midfield, but then I remembered we were playing Auburn.
I read in the AJC today that only 1 point seperates the all time scoring in this series. That's insane.
Nix - you nailed it. In fact, that's the reason that ESPN Gameday has only been to Athens once. However, we've gotten the Gameday crew on the road a ton recently.
Off the top of my head....
ESPN Gameday:
2005 UF (at Jax) - L
2004 at AU - L
2004 at SC - W
2003 at LSU - L
2002 at Bama - W
2002 UF (at Jax) - L
1998 home vs. UT - L
If LSU had beaten Auburn last year, they would've been in Athens for the LSU game.
If AU had beaten LSU this year, they might have come to Athens again. Probably still in T-town, but with our game being the night ESPN game who knows.
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