Cheap Seats: Epic Game of Georgia Football Firsts for Bulldogs

Georgia football returned to Athens Town, bringing with it a list of “firsts” to Sanford Stadium. Here’s my perspective on it all after viewing from the cheap seats.

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On top of Georgia’s first game with Greyson Lambert at QB and Brian Schottenheimer as OC, Georgia provided some unintended firsts as well.

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First game Sanford Stadium with a lightning delay. I was at South Carolina last year when the game was delayed because of lightning.

First game I’ve ever been to called because of weather.

First time Georgia game called because of weather (??).

First game for Que as the UGA mascot, unofficially.

First Georgia game since 1985 with two blocked punts (courtesy of Lorenzo Carter and D’Andre Walker), and – after extensive online research – apparently only the fifth game with two blocked punts in Georgia history.

First game for 19 freshmen who saw playing time.

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It was also a first game for many kids. I saw at least 10 families in our section with “rookies”.

I am probably one of the few that likes the games against the Sisters of the Poor A&M. I love seeing dads taking their kids to their first game between the hedges. This is a great game for that because it is easy to get tickets, and you’re not paying $100 a ticket like you would for Alabama. You can leave early if your kid gets bored or needs a nap. Your kid will be happy to see the Dawgs win, and the kids won’t see you crying because we didn’t lose. And you don’t have to worry about the guy next to you puking all over your child.

Pregame, we parked downtown, hit The Grill for grilled cheese sandwiches, feta and fries, and walked around downtown to see what had changed since I was in town for Hawaii Dawg-O last month.

Grilled Cheese, Feta & Fries. The Coke Float washed everything down.

Our opponent, Louisiana-Monroe, didn’t bring much other than their uniforms and players, but that’s to be expected. This isn’t the same team that beat Alabama in 2006. Actually, it’s not even the same team or mascot that played in Athens in 2005 when their mascot was the Indians. They became the Warhawks the next year.

The game started out with a whimper – illegal substitution, a 3-and-out by the Dawgs, but the Dawg Nation was set right when Nick Chubb ran the ball in 14 yards for his first touchdown of the year.

ULM racked up three penalties for 25 yards and only 11 yards of offense on their first three drives, if you can call them that. Those three drives totaled seven plays. The Dawgs didn’t help themselves either, with two penalties for 20 yards in the same time frame.

Schottenheimer has to have the easiest job of the year: hand off to Chubb, score. But we can’t have a one-dimensions offense and just run the ball against most SEC defenses. One thing I noticed was our play-callers on the sidelines wearing neon hats so it would be easy to spot them. I could see them all the way in section 328!

ULM finally got into Bulldog territory with 45 seconds left in the first half, and promptly scored their first touchdown.

It was great to see Keith Marshall and Malcolm Mitchell GATA again, and getting their first touchdowns of the year after injuries the past couple of years. My Harris County friend, Jordan Jenkins got his first sack of the year. Tim Kimbrough also had one, and Quincy Mauger and Leonard Floyd shared a sack as well. It was good to see Collin Barber booming kickoffs out of the back of the endzone, too – four of his six kickoffs were touchbacks.

Que and Charles Seiler take shelter during the delay

Que made his unofficial Gameday debut filling in for Uga IX (Russ), even though the official collar exchange won’t happen until later this year. The most eventful part of the second half was Que and his handler, Charles Seiler, taking shelter in the doghouse during the lightning delay and the downpour that followed.

Runner up was the blocked punt and safety, courtesy of Walker. Second runner-up was the student section and the south side of Sanford doing Georgia-Bulldogs during the lightning delay.

Freshmen of Note: Terry Godwin, Rico McGraw, Trenton Thompson, Walker with his blocked punt

Things to work on for future games: 

Loved the idea of a ‘Guest Mic Man’ – but let’s make sure they know how to do it. Pastor Troy either got some stage fright, or didn’t know what was going on.

Train the concessions staff on how to use the credit card machines BEFORE the first customer (me) shows up.

Penalties that can be avoided – substitution infraction, false start — at home, against ULM?? Still, four penalties for 30 yards is nothing to be ashamed of. And no delay of game penalties, or not knowing which players to have on the field. It looked like everyone was where they should be.

I’ll see you next week in Nashville, but I will not be in the upper deck because, well, “Vanderbilt doesn’t have an upstairs” as my friend’s daughter, Grace, said during my last visit to Vanderbilt in 2009.