My son and I went to the game and thought we would share our experience. We had a great time, and wow what a game! It was exactly what I expected.... a shootout. The prolific offenses, lackluster defenses, and phenomenal weather predicted such. I, also, went in expecting a close loss at Georgia, so I think my perspective and expectation was a little more appropriate than what I am reading on some of the other threads. Having said that, of course, I wanted us to win, and until 1:48, didn't think otherwise. I also expect us to learn and grow from this. To start the season, I predicted 13-1 w/a loss at UGA. So far, I am right, but maybe my season expectation are too high, LOL. Few thoughts/experiences to share: 1. The Georgia folks were awesome. No contentious moments, just some friendly "go Gawgs", and mostly "you guys are good", "this should be a good game", and "I expect ya'll to pull out a close one", as well as other well wishes. Most people I met were good people; football fans, but not obnoxiously. In fact, I had to initiate a lot of "Tiger bait's" to get some good old goading. 2. UGA is a pretty campus, and Sanford stadium is pretty cool. It kind of inconspicuously holds 92K. Seats seem closer to the field than at TS. The experience seems more "old school" and more "intimate". What I mean by that, is that a lot of the seats are bench type, and you are closer to the field. It was kind of cool to walk down to the level of the hedges and go to concessions/bathrooms, etc. TS is an amazing place, and Sanford is not at the goose bump level of TS, but there are pros and cons to both w/all of the renovations to TS over the years taking fans up and out, and maybe becoming over luxurious. Seems like UGA could go larger, but it may cost more than money, and lose ambience. 3. Cool bar/restaurant scene. Athens deserves its cool college reputation. Good mixture of culture, character and charm. Fairly eclectic, but still some back woods kind of stuff, too, kind of like LSU/BR. 4. The game. It unfolded exactly as I expected, personally. I said going in, and all day long, that it would be a shootout w/the winner being the last team to score in the 4th qtr. With 8:00 left, I thought we may actually pull it out if we could sustain a drive, score, and not leave much on the clock. Unfortunately, though, we could not run the ball much, and they seemed to blitz more than we expected. As we faced 3rd and long from inside our 10, it was clear we needed to pass. Boom, boom, boom, we not only get out that situation pinned inside our 10, but we score pretty quickly. I knew at that point they would get the ball last, and likely score, then I thought they scored a little bit too quickly. I hoped w/1:48 left, we could pull it off, but suspected it just wasn't our day. It's only September, so a loss now does not hurt NC hopes typically. It's how you finish. I think that is why I left disappointed w/the loss, but satisfied w/the experience. To all of those who are ticked off at this loss, realize that these two teams have a good chance to meet again in the SEC CG. I think we take them at that point if that is the case. Our D will be more experienced, and although it will essentially be a home game for them, we will fare better in Atlanta than at Sanford. I personally think we run the table at this point. I know that sounds far fetched, but sometimes you need some reality checks and adversity to make changes that solidify improvements. It's only September. We've got ALA, and TA&M late in the season. We win those and we will be in the catbird seat, mark my words. Thanks to Geneinga for some good recommendations and to the UGA fans for being respectable and overall hospitable.
Forgot to mention how huge of a human being The Freak is. You get a full appreciation of his nickname up close. That dude is one wide body, and its muscle, not fat. We were lucky enough to get seats that were 6 rows up from the field, so we got a great sense about things like how big the players are, etc. We also happened be right next to the Tiger Band, which made a big difference in our experience at an away game.
