Throwback Dawg Day: Bounce-Back Against Ole Miss Leads To SEC Crown
Look, putting the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in the rear-view is not easy. It’s tough for fans to bounce back depending on how hard they WLOCP’d, and depending on the result, it can be hard for everyone in the locker room to move on to what is next. Due to coincidence and other factors, Georgia has played Ole Miss late in the season during its history, sometimes right after Florida on the schedule. That’ll be the case Saturday, and it was also the case in 2002. Each time, criticism and outside noise was palpable around the program. Way back in 2002, questions were about how championship-ready Georgia was under Mark Richt after a loss to the Gators and of all people, Ron Zook. The Dawgs lost that game for many reasons, but two that got an undue amount of blame were receiver Terrence Edwards and placekicker Billy Bennett. With all of that going on, Georgia had to head back to Athens and host a rather sporty Ole Miss team and Eli Manning. The Rebels started 5-1 before going into the meat of SEC play, dropping games to Alabama, Arkansas and Auburn. But with the latter of those coming by seven points, signs pointed to Ole Miss turning things around, and a Bulldogs team limping in after a loss would have been a logical reason for someone to make the game a toss-up. It was a ‘how good are you, really?’ moment for Georgia, one in that it had to get up and answer the bell. Georgia did indeed do that on a chilly night in Athens. Early on, both teams mirroed one another, putting together long scoring drives ending up short run plays, Georgia’s via JT Wall - yes, the bygone era of using the fullback to great effect. Tim Wansley put Georgia up 14-7, running back a Manning pass 64 yards on a pick six, but any angst about Georgia’s offense was not helped after a fumble during a series with DJ Shockley set up a 27-yard scoring drive by Ole Miss, tying the score at 14-14 before Georgia answered, driving to a 17-yard pass from David Greene to Fred Gibson, keying a 21-17 halftime lead. Edwards and Bennett? They went from being maligned to helping Georgia pull away in the third with a Bennett field goal and Edwards hauling in a 33-yarder from Greene. That put Georgia up 31-17, enabling the Bulldogs to cruise from there. The win put Georgia back on track toward an SEC title, one that continued the next week with a thrilling 24-21 at Auburn. That day won the SEC East for Georgia, which would go on to trounce Arkansas for the first SEC title since 1982. It was all possible, in part, due to how Georgia bounced back against Ole Miss. Go Dawgs!
Look, putting the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in the rear-view is not easy.
It’s tough for fans to bounce back depending on how hard they WLOCP’d, and depending on the result, it can be hard for everyone in the locker room to move on to what is next.
Due to coincidence and other factors, Georgia has played Ole Miss late in the season during its history, sometimes right after Florida on the schedule.
That’ll be the case Saturday, and it was also the case in 2002. Each time, criticism and outside noise was palpable around the program.
Way back in 2002, questions were about how championship-ready Georgia was under Mark Richt after a loss to the Gators and of all people, Ron Zook. The Dawgs lost that game for many reasons, but two that got an undue amount of blame were receiver Terrence Edwards and placekicker Billy Bennett.
With all of that going on, Georgia had to head back to Athens and host a rather sporty Ole Miss team and Eli Manning. The Rebels started 5-1 before going into the meat of SEC play, dropping games to Alabama, Arkansas and Auburn. But with the latter of those coming by seven points, signs pointed to Ole Miss turning things around, and a Bulldogs team limping in after a loss would have been a logical reason for someone to make the game a toss-up.
It was a ‘how good are you, really?’ moment for Georgia, one in that it had to get up and answer the bell.
Georgia did indeed do that on a chilly night in Athens.
Early on, both teams mirroed one another, putting together long scoring drives ending up short run plays, Georgia’s via JT Wall - yes, the bygone era of using the fullback to great effect.
Tim Wansley put Georgia up 14-7, running back a Manning pass 64 yards on a pick six, but any angst about Georgia’s offense was not helped after a fumble during a series with DJ Shockley set up a 27-yard scoring drive by Ole Miss, tying the score at 14-14 before Georgia answered, driving to a 17-yard pass from David Greene to Fred Gibson, keying a 21-17 halftime lead.
Edwards and Bennett? They went from being maligned to helping Georgia pull away in the third with a Bennett field goal and Edwards hauling in a 33-yarder from Greene.
That put Georgia up 31-17, enabling the Bulldogs to cruise from there.
The win put Georgia back on track toward an SEC title, one that continued the next week with a thrilling 24-21 at Auburn. That day won the SEC East for Georgia, which would go on to trounce Arkansas for the first SEC title since 1982. It was all possible, in part, due to how Georgia bounced back against Ole Miss.
Go Dawgs!
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