41-30

I'm thinking that next time, instead of gathering the team to vote on what color clothes you'll wear, Georgia would be better served running a few extra drills on the practice field. Honestly, UGA has some of the most dedicated fans in the SEC -- you don't need to coordinate your outfits to get everyone pumped for the game.

I was lucky enough to make it up to Athens yesterday, and thanks to Kim's getting us free rides to where we needed to go, and Amber's superior negotiating skills, not only did I have a fabulous time, but I also got my ticket for only $80.00! We couldn't get 5 all together, so we bought what we could and ended up sitting in the student endzone (kind of a hostile place for anyone decked out in Crimson and White, but other than one or two bad seeds, I was actually not treated all too poorly).

As excellent as my Tide (yes, they're mine, but don't worry, I'll share them with whomever wants to join me) played the first half, I was a little disappointed to see Georgia's first half performance. Don't get me wrong, I wanted Bama to win and win big, but I wanted them to do it by beating one of the best teams in the country while that team was playing its best. But Stafford's timing was off. Knowshon didn't get to work his magic as much as we're used to him doing. The D-Line just didn't seem to be as quick as normal. I would never in a million years have bet you that the score would be 31-0 at the half.

The second half was more along the lines of what I was expecting yesterday. Georgia showed up. They were quick, smart and hard-hitting. Stafford still had some timing issues (but just for the record, I don't think it was intentional grounding either -- exactly how far out of the pocket do you want the kid to go before he can throw it away?!? He was 5 yards from the freakin' sideline for crying out loud), but they started getting points on the board, and the whole stadium seemed to regain some of its energy. However, as much as I hate to do it after a loss to a team I respect, I have to take the Georgia fans to task for this:



Mass exodus with 7 minutes remaining in the 4th. Georgia, c'mon, you're not Miami. Stop it. Despite this rather obvious display of lack of support from the fans in the stadium, the Dawgs actually did turn up the volume in the last 4 minutes and make a couple touchdowns. I almost wish it was a closer game, because I take a lot of pride seeing so many SEC teams in the top 25...but then again, what with Florida's shenanigans yesterday, I'm not so sure the SEC is going to elbow in on the top 10 as much as it did earlier in the season.

On a different note though, I'd like to give Bama's offensive line a ton of credit for playing smart, clean football. Those boys blocked well and kept those yellow flags in the waistband of the officials, and you just can't ask more from them. Lots of kudos should also go to Bama's defense for reading the offense so well and disrupting so many passes. Pre-season, I called it for Bama at 7-5. So far, I'm being pleasantly proven wrong. I sincerely hope it continues. I hope my boys make me look like I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm elated that Saban isn't earning quite as much per win this year as last. I love his strategy in trying to make the team come back after the half like there's no score on the board (which, let's be honest, is Bama's biggest pitfall, the whole not coming back to play after halftime). It might be too much to hope for that I can justify spending a ridiculous amount of money on memorabilia pursuant to College Football Fan Rule 45 come January, but hey, a girl can dream, right?