In the 1993 film Tombstone, Doc Holiday says of Wyatt Earp, “Make no mistake it’s not revenge he’s after, it’s the reckoning.” Last season, Vanderbilt backed out of not one but two attempts to play a game against Georgia football.
It didn’t appear they backed out because of Covid cases, but instead, it seemed like they chose to. In doing so, the 2020 seniors at Georgia did not get a senior day. That’s right, Kirby Smart didn’t get to enjoy that special day with his first full recruiting class.
The fans did not get to show their appreciation for the winningest group of Georgia seniors in the program’s history. For that, Smart should roll into Nashville and never back off the throttle.
I am aware that Clark Lea was not the head coach last season and that Vanderbilt is an awful football team this season. Neither matter. The Georgia players need to be angry and play angry.
The game is a noon kick, and Vanderbilt Stadium (yes, that is its name) is cozy and can be challenging for a team to get fired up to play a game Georgia should look no further than last year to find its motivation to alienate the Commodores.
It should be no problem at all for Georgia on Saturday. Vanderbilt lost their season opener against East Tennessee State University by 20 points. The Commodores managed to come back against Colorado State in Week 2 with a win, but it was back to normal in Week 3, losing to Stanford 41-23 in Nashville.
As Dawg nation travels to Nashville, let’s all remember those seniors who never got their day.
In a year that needed football as an escape, Vanderbilt chose to stay at home because they were having a bad year. They would rather hide in Nashville than play a game.
There will be no hiding Saturday. Georgia is coming and coming to their house. It will be a stadium decked in red, full of Georgia fans hungry for a blowout. Hungry for payback. Revenge is not good enough. Georgia needs a reckoning.