I couldn’t help for a few moments but think that Ole Miss had beaten Alabama yet again.
I had sympathy for Crimson Tide place kicker Andy Pappanastos when he shanked the game-winning field goal attempt at the end of regulation in Monday night’s thrilling national championship game in Atlanta.
Pappanastos, who transferred to Bama after starting his college career at Ole Miss, had badly missed a kick in the first half and to fall to the pressure again with Coach Nick Saban stomping in frustration on the sidelines, was not an enviable position to say the least. It appeared to finally halt the Tide’s momentum after a predictable comeback and possibly open the door for Georgia to win their first national title since 1980.
Joel McNeece
In all frankness, I was pulling for the Bulldogs, but mostly for an entertaining game, which we all got.
As a Southern Miss alum, I don’t have a true SEC rooting interest and have always liked the Dogs from Athens. Herschel Walker is the best college football player I’ve ever seen play. I can still see him running over tacklers and then pulling away from them with an odd, stiff-legged looking, yet still incredibly graceful, sprint that was faster than anyone else.
UGA is unquestionably the best mascot in all of sports. It wouldn’t be a college football season if at some point you didn’t see that beautiful, bright, white bulldog in his red Georgia jersey sitting on the sideline with tongue wagging, or stretched out on a bag of ice during one of those hot September games.
There are the hedges, the beautiful city of Athens, the classy uniforms, what’s not to love? But in these times, everything seems to come up Crimson.
Five national titles in the last nine years is a staggering accomplishment in the current sports world. No other team in any other sport has come near that. The closest comparison would have to be the New England Patriots who have won five in the last 15 years.
This isn’t a completely new phenomenon. I grew up with Bear Bryant and the Crimson Tide dominating the college football landscape. But those were very different times in terms of recruiting, television and segregation. The SEC as a conference wasn’t as dominant as today’s version either.
The SEC has won nine of the last 12 national titles, 10 of the last 15.
Nick Saban’s current run at Alabama I believe is the greatest stretch in college football history. Every one of his recruiting classes at Bama have won a national title. Think about that. Every kid he has signed at Alabama has at least one national championship ring.
Counting the championship he won at LSU, Saban now has six himself, equaling the Bear. The numbers clearly suggest he is the best in the game’s history. It’s rare that we can see that and clearly recognize it while it’s still going on.
Georgia appeared to be the better team for most of Monday night. They led 13-0 at the half when Nick Saban did what few coaches would have done. He benched his starting quarterback who had a 25-2 record and led him to two straight national title games for a true freshman who had only played in a mop up role in seven games during the regular season during which he never threw more than 12 passes.
Still, the Bulldogs led 20-7 with just over five minutes to play in the third quarter in front of a very partisan Georgia crowd, and yet you just never had the feeling Alabama was out of it.
There was talk this could be the turning of the corner, that this game could be the point when Georgia takes over for Alabama as the dominant force in Southern football, which based on the numbers means college football overall.
I believe Kirby Smart is the real deal and the Dogs will be a contender for years to come, but the Tide is not going anywhere as long as Saban is still on the sideline.
He won his sixth title Monday night with an 18 year old freshman from Hawaii (Tua Tagovailoa) throwing a 41 yard touchdown pass to another true freshman from Louisiana (DeVonta Smith). The Tide’s leading passer, rusher and receiver in the game were all freshmen. The top tackler was a sophomore. Alabama will open next season ranked number one again.
Chaucer once said “All good things come to an end,” but with this Bama dynasty, I’m starting to wonder.
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