The Worlds Largest Cocktail Party!

I know, I am not supposed to call it that anymore, but I am old school and it will always be the Worlds Largest Cocktail Party to me! While a good number of the Bulldog Nation is making their way down to Jacksonville for the bash on the St. John’s River, I have been thinking about the game. Yes, this season is not up to the standards that Dawgs fans have come to expect and no one in the country is picking the Dawgs to win. But that is usually what sets up a huge upset. We know the Dawgs have the ability to put some points on the board, just look at the Arkansas game, 52 points, the South Carolina game, 41 points and even the Vandy game, 34 points. Georgia has one of the best, if not the best, receiver in all of college football in A.J. Green, and a few good (not great but good) running backs that can tote the mail for positive yards. So if we can just protect the ball and not have any turnovers, we should be in the game. The defense has been under fire this year but you can’t blame it all on them. If the offense doesn’t turn over the ball on our side of the field so many times, maybe the defense makes a few stops. But forcing the defense to go out on a short field and expect them to keep a team out of the end zone is unreasonable. But if we punt the ball or kick off after a score, then the others teams have more than 30 yards to gain before scoring!

Granted, the Gators have an even more explosive offense and they also have the #1 ranked defense in the country. But have you seen the last couple games the Gators have played? They won, but not impressively and if not for a couple lucky calls, they might have at least one loss, maybe two! All I know is the Gators have not looked good and they could prime for an upset. The Dawgs have nothing to lose but a world to gain! They are not in the running for the SEC East or SEC title. They have already lost three games and aren’t ranked, but a signature win against the Gators on Saturday would be huge! It would help avenge last year’s whopping and get some revenge on Coach Urban Meyers he called two time outs in the last minute to prolong the agony for the Dawgs. Believe me, those time outs have stayed with the players and most everyone in the Dawg Nation!

On paper, the Gators should blow us out. But they play the game on the field and not on paper, so the Dawgs still have a chance. I am not naïve; I know the Dawgs are going to have to play an exceptional game in order to win. But a dawg becomes extremely scrappy when backed into a corner and right now I don’t see how we could be any deeper into a corner.

In case you were wondering, this will be the fourth time a Dawgs team has faced a #1 ranked Gator team. With one of the first three meetings resulting in a win, in 1985 the Dawgs upset the Gators 24-3! I was at that game and I am pretty sure no one was giving the dawgs a chance that year either. That is why it just might happen again!

Go Dawgs!