Georgia Football: Fan journal from Georgia’s win in the Duke’s Mayo Classic
We bought our game tickets back in June through Ticketmaster, when Duke’s and the Charlotte Sports Foundation released tickets to the general public.
We picked our seats solely based on where we wanted to sit. After attending so many Dawgs games over the years and sitting everywhere from seats that require a handkerchief for your nose due to their altitude, to seats in the lower bowl, we’ve gotten particular about the vantage point we like best.
So, we bought our tickets, were fired up, and didn’t think too much else about it. Well, on Tuesday of last week, we got an email thanking us for our ticket purchase and informing us of the protocol for picking up our field passes.
Uhhhh, beg pardon?!?! We must have read the email fifteen times to be sure. FIELD PASSES! Our previously uneclipsable (or so we thought) level of excitement had now morphed into an Everest-level elation.
About two hours prior to kick, we entered the East gate and descended down to field level on the Georgia sideline.
This past spring, Bank of America Stadium made the decision to forego a natural grass playing surface in favor of FieldTurf. When we hit the field, we were struck by how similar the bounce and texture felt to a natural surface.
My brother and I both played college baseball, and played on variations of turf over the years, but this was a step above. The field looked absolutely mint.
As we hit the Georgia bench, Head Coach Kirby Smart came out of the tunnel and walked the field in his full suit with his ear buds in. The only time he stopped and removed the headphones was to chat with former Georgia quarterback and first-year Georgia sideline reporter D.J. Shockley. He was completely locked in.
Over the next half hour, the players started to filter out in waves for pregame warmups. There had been some scuttlebutt on message boards and Twitter that other-wordly tight end Darnell Washington may actually play.
Our sliver of hope that it was true evaporated when he came out of the tunnel in shorts and a walking boot. However, it should be noted, he is an absolute unit.
We didn’t think it was possible for him to look any more imposing than he did at G-Day this past April, but he seems to have bulked up even more. When he returns, he will be a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses.
A bevy of notable former Georgia football players roamed the sideline during pregame. Thomas Davis, Malik Herring, and Champ Bailey all soaked in the environment for the majority of the pregame period.
Multiple Georgia players paused their pregame work to come over and chat with Malik Herring. It was clear that his former teammates respected him and were fired up to see him.
Around 7:15, we decided to head up to our seats to make sure we were set and ready prior to Josh Turner’s rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. Right as we were about to head up the steps to the stands, we noticed a familiar face to our left.
College Gameday’s guest picker, country music star Kane Brown was also taking in the pregame action on the field. We walked over, introduced ourselves, and he was gracious enough to take a picture with us. We chatted with him briefly and he couldn’t have been nicer. We exchanged some hearty “Go Dawgs” with him and then we headed out. It was almost game time.