Live from the Dome: UGA, Boise meet to decide fate of world
Georgia plans to wear new uniforms! Why did no one tell me? (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
The Georgia team is headed back to Athens tonight. The Georgia athletic director will wait until the morning. Said Greg McGarity, speaking Friday afternoon: “When we lose, I like to get out of town. When we win, I like to hang around and soak it in.”
Can we therefore assume McGarity believes his Bulldogs will win? “Yeah, I do,” he said.
As noted, I do, too. But now you’re asking: Doesn’t Utah State’s near-miss at Auburn today bode ill for Georgia’s chances tonight? (Utah State being a member of the WAC, which Boise State was until just the other day.)
Not really. Auburn isn’t nearly the same Auburn that won the BCS title. You might have heard this already, but Cam Newton and Nick Fairley are ensconced in the NFL. And Auburn did beat USU, albeit only just.
Georgia won’t suffer a national championship hangover, having not won of those since Jan. 1, 1981. Georgia doesn’t have a new quarterback. Georgia won’t be overlooking Boise State. (Kind of hard to overlook a team that’s favored to beat you.) The belief here is that the Bulldogs will play as hard and well tonight as they have at any time since the blackout night against Auburn in 2007. The belief here …
Well, you know what the belief here is. I like Georgia’s chances not just in this game but in this season. And it doesn’t hurt that Boise will withhold three players, two of them starters, from tonight’s tilt due to some sort of eligibility kerfuffle.
In a way, that shows how far Boise has come. The cuddly little Broncos just canned their AD because they’ve been charged with NCAA violations in five different sports, football included. And here we thought only BCS-level programs ran afoul of the governing body.
OK, enough fol-de-rol. I like Georgia tonight because I think Isaiah Crowell will go for 100 yards. (Which, to be technical, even Herschel Walker didn’t do in his debut against Tennessee. Herschel, who didn’t start, had 84 yards. And he did trample Bill Bates. And Herschel is here tonight to deliver the game ball.) I think the defense will pressure Kellen Moore enough to make him less precise than usual. I think Aaron Murry will win his first really big game.
Then again, I’m often wrong.
And with that, the floor is open for predictions, observations and jokes about blue turf. My only responsibility tonight is to interact with you fine folks — I don’t have print duty, in other words — and I’ll be here until this one ends and Georgia has won 34-24. (Actually, I’ll be here all night even if Boise State wins 41-0. But I’m not expecting that.) Join me, won’t you? And I thank you, as ever, in advance.
By Mark Bradley
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2,916 comments Add your comment
Mark Bradley
September 3rd, 2011
7:04 pm
The three Boise players aren’t eligible because the SEC runs the world and Mike Slive wants UGA to prevail.
Actually, nobody knows why they aren’t here. The Boise paper is sniffing around, I know.
Jim Donnan
September 3rd, 2011
7:04 pm
I was unbelievably insulted by Loran’s question. I thought at first he was talking about a particular time of the month.
todd grantham
September 3rd, 2011
7:06 pm
Oh no, Mike Slive would prefer a tie tonight. He hates Georgia.
Mark Bradley
September 3rd, 2011
7:06 pm
We’re about an hour from kickoff. Place is slow filling up.
dawg4u
September 3rd, 2011
7:07 pm
This may be the ugliest color scheme looking at both team’s uniforms ever. Orange shoes and blue unis contrasting with the red and white of UGA. Let’s get rid of the red-outs, black-outs and black helmets. Go back to the red jerseys and silver britches!
todd grantham
September 3rd, 2011
7:07 pm
Mark, will you be there until what will be either the joyous or bitter end?
hogmtndawg
September 3rd, 2011
7:07 pm
Hang tight. We’re just outside finishing a beverage. Be right in . . .
GeorgianaBulltiger
September 3rd, 2011
7:08 pm
Remind me to lube my clock next week. This has been worse than waiting for Christmas when I was five.
todd grantham
September 3rd, 2011
7:08 pm
Were there any significant upsets today in the world of college football?
Demosthenes
September 3rd, 2011
7:08 pm
I’m thinking UGA has as much as a 20 point advantage in special teams and a huge advantage on both lines. This is where most teams actually win their games, and Tia is where UGA will win this one. Don’t be surprised by a double-digit victory.
Mark Bradley
September 3rd, 2011
7:08 pm
I plan to be here until the last dog dies.
Oh … might need to put that another way.
dawg4u
September 3rd, 2011
7:08 pm
Also I even liked the old silver helmets!
todd grantham
September 3rd, 2011
7:09 pm
Demosthenes, I hope you are as adept at predictions as Nostradamas.
Mark Bradley
September 3rd, 2011
7:09 pm
Here’s your Boise look: White pants, White shirts, white helmets, blue socks, orange shoes.
Mark Bradley
September 3rd, 2011
7:09 pm
I’m declaring Georgia the loser in the Ugly Uniform Bowl.
Frank Lane
September 3rd, 2011
7:10 pm
All I can say is that this has been a hell of a long Saturday. GO DAWGS !!!
Jackets 2011
September 3rd, 2011
7:10 pm
Auburn should have gotten beat but shoulda, coulda doesn’t count.
todd grantham
September 3rd, 2011
7:10 pm
Yes, only Loran and you could come up with a comment like that. You, I know, did it for jocularity. Loran would do it because he knows no better.
todd grantham
September 3rd, 2011
7:12 pm
as long as Georgia is not the loser on the scoreboard tonight. If we do lose, you’ve never seen such viscious, vindictive, ugly, outrageous blog entries that will be proferred.
RW
September 3rd, 2011
7:12 pm
Enter your comments here
Russ, the Temporary Mascot
September 3rd, 2011
7:13 pm
We try not to talk dead dogs, Mark.
Mark Bradley
September 3rd, 2011
7:14 pm
I beg your forgiveness, Russ.
Bamadawg
September 3rd, 2011
7:14 pm
Mark: Quick!! Look at UGA’s dog house. Has our mascot been replaced with C3PO or maybe R2D2 that barks on command with his Nike uniform on??
todd grantham
September 3rd, 2011
7:14 pm
Frankie Lane, I sure hope you can “keep them doggies movin’” tonight. Heh, heh
Russ, the Temporary Mascot
September 3rd, 2011
7:15 pm
This is much bigger than Shreveport.
todd grantham
September 3rd, 2011
7:15 pm
Mark, you may have to google Frankie Lane to catch that witty remark.
Russ, the Temporary Mascot
September 3rd, 2011
7:16 pm
I’m at field level. Feeling good. Ready to go.
mOM24
September 3rd, 2011
7:16 pm
My oldest is a freshman in The Redcoat Band…first ever college game tonight. We’ll be watching hoping to catch a glimpse of the band. PLEASE take some pics of the band and post online! <3
Delbert D.
September 3rd, 2011
7:16 pm
One of Boise State’s coaches is from the Netherlands (that’s Holland, not part of DragonCon.) He brought several high school kids from there to a Boise football camp. 3 of them decided to stay and finish high at local schools in Boise. Then, Boise State hired the guy as an assistant coach, and low-and-behold, those 3 guys got scholarships form Boise St.
That’s my synopsis from the local paper in Boise.
Jackets 2011
September 3rd, 2011
7:17 pm
Looks like ND-USF will get started again soon.
USF up 16-0.
TennesseeDawg
September 3rd, 2011
7:18 pm
Dawgs – 36
Taters – 16
Delbert D.
September 3rd, 2011
7:19 pm
Georgia should replace Hairy with that creepy white plastic mannequin for this game. Then bury it deep under a basement somewhere on campus.
Mark Bradley
September 3rd, 2011
7:20 pm
Place starting to get loud now. And this place gets loud for college games
Delbert D.
September 3rd, 2011
7:21 pm
Hallelujah, Bob Davie is doing the Ole Miss game! Won’t hear him tonight.
Diggitydawg
September 3rd, 2011
7:21 pm
That’s what I heard also
Diggitydawg
September 3rd, 2011
7:22 pm
Their immigration and eligibility
Mark Bradley
September 3rd, 2011
7:23 pm
“Glory, Glory” is played for the first time tonight. But not, I predict, the last
faultline
September 3rd, 2011
7:23 pm
Did Auburn win on blown call. Looks like ball was kicked and caught in air, but it looked to me like Utah State player was in position to catch. He did not signal for a fair catch, but what to NCAA rules say about giving player receiving team player fair chance to catch a kick in the air ?
Terry Funk
September 3rd, 2011
7:26 pm
MB..does a part you wish you were hearing “My Old Kentucky Home”..??
Mark Bradley
September 3rd, 2011
7:27 pm
A kickoff is fair game after it goes 10 yards. There was nothing wrong with Auburn’s paly.
Mark Bradley
September 3rd, 2011
7:28 pm
Nah, Terry. I’ve lived in Georgia nearly as long as I lived in Kentucky.
Delbert D.
September 3rd, 2011
7:28 pm
The Aggies failed to block the Auburn guy, and he slipped through and caught it. He kept running and actually scored, but you can’t do that.
There Goes Herschel
September 3rd, 2011
7:28 pm
Mark- Is that you with the Red Shirt and Shoes I see on the laptop upstairs?
Cuz
September 3rd, 2011
7:33 pm
Any truth to the rumor the Captains of the Dawg team come out to the coin toss in a Clown Car?
There Goes Herschel
September 3rd, 2011
7:33 pm
BYU 14- Ole Miss 13. 5 minutes to go in 4th.
Cuz
September 3rd, 2011
7:35 pm
Just watching the South Carolina game I think Garcia could do a better job than Shaw. The one that has been dead for twenty years.
Jimmy Crack
September 3rd, 2011
7:38 pm
Orange shoes, candy cane helmets. Mark, when are they coming out with silver Nike footballs?
I see a hard fought game riddled with mistakes of every conceivable kind, with the Dawgs pulling it out of their hind quarters on a late field goal by the soon to be most popular guy in school, Blair Walsh.
30-28 Bulldogs.
todd grantham
September 3rd, 2011
7:38 pm
Mark, if the singing bug ever hits you you could sing “I left my left knee in Georgia” to the tune of I left my heart in San Fran.
Mark Bradley
September 3rd, 2011
7:38 pm
Both teams warming up now. Georgia’s guys are wired. (Not to be confused with Coy Wire, who was cut by the Falcons yesterday.)
Mark Bradley
September 3rd, 2011
7:39 pm
Right kneecap, actually.