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Wasson: Beat 2 teams in 1 night? Yeah, Georgia is plenty worthy of being No. 1 again
By David Wasson
Published:
Georgia had everything going against it Saturday night.
A raucous crowd literally making a difference in the game. The No. 1 team in the nation on the other sideline hungry to prove a point. The third team on the field seemingly conspiring against them.
It wasn’t supposed to go right for the Dawgs, no sir.
Except no one told the Dawgs.
Putting on a first-half defensive clinic and then holding on against a torrent of bad calls and bad fan behavior, Georgia proved Saturday night in Austin that a wild 3-week stretch in the SEC meant absolutely … nothing.
The Bulldogs should be Top Dawgs when the sun rises Sunday on the new AP Top 25, no matter what Nike U. out west and the rest of the idle Big Ten have to say about it. That might be a statement borne out of relevancy bias, but who else can beat 2 teams in 1 night?
Georgia and Kirby Smart can, that’s who.
We say “2 teams” because that’s precisely what the Bulldogs were up against. Not only was top-ranked Texas at home inside raucous DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium preparing to assert control in the SEC, but the third team on the field seemed dead set on conspiring against the Bulldogs in a potentially key moment.
Look, officials make bad calls all the time. Literally. When you combine the otherworldly speed of the game and eyesight that can at times make Mr. Magoo look 20/20 by comparison, the guys in the striped shirts can throw an occasional gaffe into a contest. It’s why we have a review system, after all.
But when Texas was flagged for pass interference – negating an interception and long return and also seemingly squashing a ton of third-quarter Longhorns momentum – Georgia dodged a major bullet. The penalty was announced, the infraction marked off and Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was even coming down from a tantrum when …
Not so fast, said the boys with the whistles.
As hundreds of water bottles and other debris rained down onto the field from the student section and replays that showed Texas’ Jahdae Barron and Georgia’s Arian Smith colliding 50-50 while the ball was in mid-flight, the refs huddled together for several minutes before referee Matt Loeffler announced that the penalty was reversed and Texas indeed had the rock at the Georgia 9.
Listen, Smart is not the introspective sort. The Georgia coach is a constant dervish of hand motions, visor removal and headset adjustment that qualifies for a weekly aerobic workout on the sidelines. But for him to go as apoplectic as he did – which included phrases even the most inexperienced of lip-readers could clearly comprehend as words you don’t say to officials – and not get a penalty was remarkable.
That could have easily folded Georgia like a cheap tent, as Texas made short work of punching it in to narrow the margin to 23-15. Instead, the on-field Bulldogs maintained their composure and answered with a drive that included a double-reverse flea flicker and a 4th-and-goal plunge from the 1 by running back Trevor Etienne to re-extend the lead to the eventual 30-15 outcome.
Postgame as the Dawgs celebrated a road win against No. 1, Smart did not mince words.
“Nobody gave us a chance,” he said. “And then they tried to rob us with calls in this place.
“Now, we’ve set a precedent that if you throw a bunch of stuff on the field and endanger athletes that you’ve got a chance to get your call reversed. And that’s unfortunate because, to me, that’s dangerous. That’s not what we want, and that’s not criticizing officials. That’s what happened.”
What also happened is that Georgia’s defense did an absolute number on Texas in the first half – pitching a shutout, allowing the Longhorns just 38 total yards (a mere 2 of which came on the ground), sacking Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers 5 times and forcing 7 tackles for loss — and a brief QB change.
The result – other than Texas’ staff members and security establishing a conference record for cleaning up on-field debris – was that Georgia is perched back precisely where it was before Alabama held off the Bulldogs on Sept. 29.
That spot, for now, is atop a wild and crazy SEC – a place where penalties sometimes aren’t official until you rain trash down on the field.
The spot also should be atop the nation’s college football pyramid, because who else besides Georgia can lay legitimate claim to overcoming 2 teams in 1 night?
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
