3. Georgia Tech 2002 – Thrilling victories? Last second scores? Yes, these are the things that make what one would call a “classic,” but hanging 51 on your top rival is definitely something that sticks around in my mind. From what I remember, it was a pretty cold day and I was looking at never marching in Redcoats again. For all intents and purposes at that time, I had enough disagreements with the staff within the RCB and I just didn’t know if I’d come back for my (second) senior year. I was hoping to go out with a solid victory and Georgia Tech is one of those games that gets my blood boiling at somewhere around 1000 degrees Kelvin. You know, somewhere around the temperature of the sun. Anyway, it was a real nice day. Not too cold, not too hot and I think it was a bit overcast, which is always nice because I didn’t have to wear sunglasses. The Dawgs were just way too hot early on and quickly forced turnovers and found the endzone like it was their job. And why wouldn’t they be kicking the snot out of the Nerd Herd? I mean this was the 2002 team of destiny that was on the outside looking in for a National Title shot, but was still very much in the hunt. We were out to make a statement and we did. The “Money Shot Memory” began in the 3rd quarter when you saw the Yellow River (written by I.P. Freely) start heading for the exits. Very quickly after halftime was over it was apparent that this was a game of men vs. boys and it turned into an excuse for some key reserves to get playing time for next year…for both teams.

2. UT 2000 – Can you say “long time coming?” UGA had been getting killed by UT for years, losing what I believe to be 8 straight in the series. Not since the Herschel days had we dominated any UT team. Phil Fulmer was 2 seasons out of a National Championship win and subsequently the world’s first BCS title. It was time for us to get a win and time for Jim Donnan and Quincy Carter to live up to the hype. The Dawgs were touted at the beginning of the year to be a very successful team after years of solid recruiting. All week long there was talk in the Red and Black about tearing down the goal posts. ESPN jumped on the bandwagon as well and picked up the game to be televised at night. So let me get this straight…1) talk of tearing down goalposts 2) ESPN night game 3) TONS AND TONS of hype all week long and finally 4) Some genius from UT talked some trash earlier in the week and it was prime bulletin board material. You put all this together and you’ve got Dawg fans that will not take a loss, and they will drink as much as necessary to make sure a victory is guaranteed. The score would indicate it was a close game the whole time, but UT was never really in it to begin with. UGA scored often enough and UT stalled offensively pretty much the whole game. The “Money Shot Memory” begins with a little less than 2 minutes left. A score plus onside kick plus another score is the only thing that’s going to give UT a “W” and the students have started gathering on the sideline. In Larry Munson’s words, “The athletic department is about to lose $11,000.” The common security you see at every game starting around 5 minutes left is nowhere to be found and it’s almost time to celebrate. UGA kills all of UT’s hope on a 4th quarter stop and the students begin pouring out on the field. Flash bulbs are going off, people are running to the goal posts….and the game isn’t over. The Dawgs start chasing students back. Coaches and fans are screaming at the top of their lungs for these idiots to move back out of bounds so the clock can run out. The crowd is seemingly uncontrollable and I can remember thinking to myself, “we might have to forfeit this game with 1:40 left.” The Redcoats begin chanting “GET OFF THE FIELD!” over and over again until finally the intoxicated mob realizes that it’s over when it’s OVER…not before. Order is restored, Quincy takes a knee (and not because he dropped his joint on the ground), and time runs out. Then, the hedges are destroyed, the goal posts come down, the Dawgs are mobbed, the scene turns ugly, a girl gets trampled to the point of hospitalization, and my roommate loses my UGA hat that he borrowed. In his words “it got knocked off as I was climbing the pole.” I miss that hat.

Well, there you have it. #1 should be up sometime in the next few days.

Until next time kids.

Be safe.