UGA’s back-to-back National Titles and frequent stays in the Top 10 and Top 5 of college football have raised the standards of most UGA fans. The last 3 seasons, which ended in losses in the SEC Championship and CFB Playoffs, landed like a failed punchline from your favorite comedian.
We are spoiled by all the sudden success, and I can’t help but wonder if we’ve all become a little blasé about “just” winning 10-12 games a year and even the SEC Championship?
Since UGA’s true rise to national prominence in the 1940s, the Dawgs had won SEC Championships in each decade of the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, including National Championships in 1942 and 1980. By the time I was a freshman on campus in 1989, we were only 8-9 years removed from the most recent National Championship and just 5-6 years from our most recent SEC Championship.
Everyday, I walked by the “large” Sanford Stadium scoreboard, which was back facing Sanford Drive. Back then, it was smaller, and “yellowish” bulbs gave fans inside the stadium the score and not much else. On the backside facing the bridge, in the center of a large, black backdrop, were sizable white letters saying “National Champions 1980” and underneath, all ten SEC Championships were listed in a little smaller text.
To me, walking by each day was like facing the flag each morning in grade school and saying the Pledge. Something to memorize and take pride in. But that old sign disappeared in the first renovation of Sanford Stadium that “bowled in” the lower deck section of the West end zone. I often wondered if the lack of new titles to add prompted the decision to remove the writing. Time mocked fans as the record gap between moments of glory continued growing.
Even worse, the SEC Championship game was created in 1992 and for the first ten years, Georgia failed to reach the game, but watched as arch-rival, Florida seemingly represented the East nearly every year. By the time Georgia booked its first ticket to the game in 2002 by beating Auburn on 4th down, in the fourth quarter on the Plains, no Georgia fan was complaining that they would only play for the SEC title and not the National Championship. When Michael Johnson caught the touchdown just sealing UGA’s place in the game, the explosion of joy in Bulldog Nation at its most palpable since the early 80s.
After 20 years with no titles, Georgia won 6 SEC titles and 2 National Championships in the 23 seasons since 2002. This success has propelled UGA to the top of the college football world where it’s frequently cited as one of the sport’s preeminent programs, following years of frequently being labeled the team that failed to deliver on its potential. Last year, Georgia fans even openly questioned whether the once coveted spot in the SEC Championship Game was actually a curse, holding UGA back from its higher goal of winning the National Championship.
I often think of that old scoreboard and what all the new titles would look like in the old white stenciling on the black background. We have banners in the stadium for each title, but they are only there on Game Days and I had a real fondness for the old sign and its more in-your-face bravado.
A third straight SEC Championship this season would give us 17 overall and tie us with Alabama as the only teams to have 2 different stints of 3 or more SEC Championships in a row. 17 seems like a much bigger gap to Tennessee and LSU behind us with 13 and 12 respectively. 17 would mean that we have more SEC Championships than Florida and Auburn combined.
Come on, that makes you smile just thinking about it. Imagine dropping that little fact nugget on some unsuspecting orange and blue-clad fan/friend/family member at just the right moment the next time you’re gathered with them and others who can witness your glorious mic drop.
SEC Championships still matter and I’m hoping we win another this year!
Go Dawgs!