Loran Smith: Win vs. Vols offers UGA relief

Published 2:45 am Thursday, October 14, 2010

There was a surge of energy across the University of Georgia campus prior to last Saturday’s game against Tennessee. Even with all the carping and complaining that was coursing through the Bulldog nation, there nonetheless seemed to be a sense that fulfillment might be forthcoming, that the chapel bell would ring into the night and that all would be right with the world.

 As it turned out, it was a Red and Black afternoon as both sides of the ball rendered a dominating performance and the Bulldogs celebrated a 41-14 victory.

Georgia came into the game with frustration heavy on the mind. Losing to Colorado in Boulder the week prior caused researchers to invade the history books to determine how long it had been since the Bulldogs had lost five games in a row. That was not good.

Prior to the game, the questions were plentiful. Would the Bulldogs stand up and be counted? Would Tennessee take heart in nearly upsetting LSU in Baton Rouge? Or would the Volunteers have an off day, having left so much on the field at LSU with so much emotion expended?

None other than the most successful coach in Tennessee history, Gen. Robert Neyland, said it was the greatest challenge to peak emotionally two weeks in a row.

Derek Dooley, once a kid who played touch games between the hedges during Georgia practices, addressed all that before the game.  Before he answered the question, he strolled across the field and remarked, “This is such a beautiful place.”

He didn’t want to talk about his daddy; he didn’t want to talk about his momma. He simply wants to be his own man and establish his own identity in Knoxville.

 At the American Football Coaches meeting in Orlando this past January, his name came up several times with older coaches forecasting success for the young man who grew up in Athens with the greatest passion for the Bulldogs. He was so imbued with the Georgia emotion,  he cried when his father, Vince Dooley, went to Auburn in Dec. 1980 to interview for the dual job of head coach and athletic director at that university, Vince’s alma mater.

When Vince and his wife, Barbara, pulled out of the driveway, headed to the airport, Derek, with tears in his eyes, yelled out, “I hate Auburn.” In one of those curious twists, years later Derek became the enemy in orange.

In the Georgia locker room, Boss Bailey, honorary captain and a hero of the 2002 SEC championship year with the spectacular block of a Vols field goal, was asked to deliver final thoughts.

 He likened the situation to a dog on the porch, in full throated bark with a ring of terror.

“It doesn’t matter how tough that bark sounds,” Boss said. “It don’t mean nothing unless you get off that porch and go bite somebody.”

The Bulldogs took heed. Their bite had a nasty grip. They made plays, they seized opportunity and they rendered a performance that suggests that if hard labor produces results, that these Bulldogs will be more physical in the weeks ahead.

 With victory confirmed, the mood was upbeat as the team came off the field, but Bulldogs coach Mark Richt had these words of wisdom following congratulations: “Men, you haven’t done anything yet.” He meant that is a long season and there is much work to be done if success is to be a weekly companion.

Here’s a parting shot having to do with Tennessee’s signature fight song “Rocky Top.”

A Tennessee guy and a Georgia guy are captured in a foreign land, ruled by dictatorship, and sentenced to die before a firing squad.

The commanding officer explains each has a final wish.

The Tennessee guy says, “I just want to hear ‘Rocky Top’ one more time. 

The Georgia man says, “Shoot me first.”

Loran Smith is a contributing columnist for The Daily Citizen. You can write to him at loransmith@sports.uga.edu.