Georgia/LSU reaction

When was the last time you saw a college football coach cry in a post-game interview after a win in September?

Mark Richt’s tears, Aaron Murray’s jubilation, and me jumping up and down in my living room were completely justified as the team finished off one of the most difficult four game stretches in the history of Georgia football.

All of the hopes and the expectations for this season came down to winning the game today, and Georgia got it done.

Sanford Stadium was rocking this afternoon. I can’t really remember seeing the crowd affect the game the way it has so far this season. A true home field advantage. Georgia’s last loss Between the Hedges was in September of 2011, 45-42 to South Carolina. Georgia has won 15 straight games at home.

In my season preview for Georgia, I said that if Georgia made it to the month of October with a record of 3-1, no matter who the loss came to, Georgia would play in Atlanta for the SEC title. Well here we are, and I think we just punched our ticket to the Dome on December 7^th.

For Georgia to lose the East they would have to lose two conference games the rest of the way. No offense to the teams left on Georgia’s schedule, but that’s just not going to happen.

Tennessee almost went to overtime against South Alabama today. Missouri has to come to Athens. Vanderbilt just isn’t the team they were two years ago. Florida has lost their quarterback and their best defensive player. Auburn is actually the team that scares me the most, but by November, I think Georgia will be playing much better on defense. The last SEC game is against Kentucky, so yeah.

I saw people on Twitter calling this game a classic. I’m not sure about that, but I know that winning these types of games beats the heck out of losing these types of games.

To me, at least one thing was settled tonight. Aaron Murray is the greatest quarterback in the history of the University of Georgia football program. He’s not perfect, but what he has done in the past year has proven that he is great.

Murray didn’t play well against Florida last year, but he made plays at the end of the game to win. Murray played well against Bama, but the team came up just short. Murray played well at Clemson, but just made one mistake. Murray assisted in the win against South Carolina, but Gurley played a big part.

Tonight was all about Aaron. Down four with under four minutes to play, ball in his hands, best back in America in a walking boot, all of the pressure on his shoulders, and he leads his team down the field for a game winning touchdown.

Yeah, he threw an interception, quarterbacks do that some time, but in the end, he made the plays that mattered.

Mettenberger played great, but Murray played just a little bit better.

Even though they surrendered 41 points, I thought there were signs of improvement for the defense, particularly against the run. The defense is getting better, and the schedule is getting easier.

After playing the most difficult schedule in America for the first month of the season, Georgia’s schedule now sets up perfectly for getting healthy and getting better.

Georgia won’t play Gurley against Tennessee if he isn’t 100%, and they won’t have to. Georgia can focus on improving on defense and getting more experience for some of these guys that have a ton of talent.

If Georgia can run the table, which should be expected at this point, they will find themselves in the exact position they were in last year; playing in Atlanta for the SEC title, a win away from playing for the National Title Game.

Don’t you wish you could hear how the Mighty Munson would have called that game today?

Glory, Glory to Old Georgia!

Dawgs on Top.