Rewriting history

Georgia alone atop SEC East after Alabama victory

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- In the larger historical perspective, there’s little worth remembering about 1982.

The Cold War was on its last legs. E.T. was dominating the box office. And, man, was there a lot of Pat Benatar.

Some radios still haven’t recovered.

In the state of Georgia, though, there’s a reference to 1982 roughly every seven seconds. It’s in the papers, it’s on TV, and it’s stamped on the forehead of anyone who bleeds red and black for the Georgia Bulldogs.

You see, 1982 is the last time this proud SEC program won an SEC championship. From Vince Dooley to Ray Goff to Jim Donnan and now Mark Richt, Bulldog nation has eagerly anticipated their return to glory, but the rest of the league -- in particular Florida and Tennessee -- would have none of it.

Five games into the 2002 season, however, Georgia stands undefeated and alone top the SEC East, thanks to its dramatic 27-25 victory at Alabama on Saturday. Its biggest nemesis, Florida, has fallen on hard times without its fiery figurehead, stumbling Saturday against heavy underdog Ole Miss. The Dogs’ other nemesis, Tennessee, got crushed by those same Gators.

For the first time since … well, 1982, Georgia is in the driver’s seat.

“This is great, because we control our own destiny,” said senior receiver Terence Edwards.

It hasn’t been that way of late for the Bulldogs. Usually by this time, they’re playing catch-up, either from opening conference play with a loss to South Carolina, as they did the past two seasons, or with a humbling defeat to Tennessee, as they did the eight years before that.

By the time they got to the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in late October or early November, they were largely running on fumes, while Steve Spurrier’s Gators were running 40-yard dashes. Florida beat Georgia all but one of Spurrier’s 12 seasons.

But Saturday the Dogs won with the kind of clean, all-around effort they’ve been lacking in recent years. The offense largely avoided mistakes (though a David Greene interception did allow Alabama to take the lead late), and RB Musa Smith had his best effort of the season with 126 yards on 21 carries, despite missing most of the third quarter with cramps.

Meanwhile, the defense was at times suffocating and certainly matched the Crimson Tide’s physicality. And special teams ultimately won the game for them, with Damien Gary returning a punt 15 yards to start Georgia’s game-winning drive at the Alabama 34, and kicker Billy Bennett nailing a 32-yard field goal with 38 seconds remaining.

Most of all, the Dogs didn’t flinch when a 24-12 lead evaporated into a 25-24 fourth-quarter deficit, despite a deafening Alabama crowd, despite their star running back cramping up, despite Tide freshman QB Brodie Croyle making plays most seniors can only dream of.

“The camaraderie of our team is unbelievable,” said Greene, who broke out of an early-season slump with touchdown passes of 42 and 37 yards. “We feel we can win every game.”

The Bulldogs hadn’t done much to distinguish themselves before Saturday, but there’s no overstating the significance of winning in Tuscaloosa.

For one, they’d never done it -- ever. Oh-for-seven at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

But more than that, Alabama is a very good football team, quite possibly the strongest in the SEC West (though the Tide are ineligible for the championship due to NCAA probation). And while wins of this caliber were few and far between for Richt’s two immediate predecessors, in less than two years, Richt has won at both Knoxville and Tuscaloosa.

Not that the former Florida State assistant is getting too excited.

“We’ll enjoy it tonight,” said Richt. “Tomorrow we’ll grade the game film and we’ll probably celebrate a little more, and then as soon as that’s over, we’ll start watching film of Tennessee. By then, we’ll probably be in a foul mood.”

Indeed, the road doesn’t get any easier from here. The Vols come calling next week in Athens, and then, following an unofficial bye week (Vanderbilt), the Dogs play at Kentucky, followed by Florida in Jacksonville, Ole Miss in Athens and at Auburn.

Good lord.

But don’t think for a second the Bulldogs aren’t relishing the victory. Thunderous chants of “Georgia Bulldogs” could be heard emanating from the locker room throughout the postgame media session. And the screaming fans who made the trip could be heard outside the stadium nearly an hour afterward.

“We’re 5-0 for the first time since 1982,” observed Edwards.

Damn, there’s that year again.

Stewart Mandel covers college football for CNNSI.com.

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