I knew that wouldn’t be the case forever.
This is the University of Georgia, our time would come again. I knew that the right head coach was out there. I knew there was a guy, perhaps a former player for UGA, who could get us back to this place. With all the resources and fertile recruiting grounds available to this program, it was pretty obvious. Find a guy who is a great recruiter and a really good developer of talent. Find the guy who has a passion for the UGA football program that came from personal experience with it.
Athletic director Greg McGarity and the rest of the higher-ups in the athletic department took a swing for the fences when they announced they would be hiring Kirby Smart, a man who had spent nine years as a defensive coordinator under Nick Saban for the dominant Alabama Crimson Tide. He was a man who had never been a head coach. It was a bit of a gamble. Well, now they are cashing in and cashing in big.
Monday will be the biggest game the Dawgs have played in since the 1983 Sugar Bowl. That game was for the national title, and they lost a heartbreaker there to Penn State by a score of 27-23. As I said earlier, 2012 was the closest we have been since then. But even that didn’t feel like this to me. I suppose it’s because we are one of the final four and because of where this game is being played.
That game was against Alabama, a team that is extremely difficult to defeat in these big game situations. I know Oklahoma isn’t a pushover. They’re a good football team. But this is a game the Dawgs can win. With the way our defense is playing, it’s a little shocking to me that so many in the national sports media are picking Oklahoma. I honestly feel it’s a bad matchup for the Sooners.