Here were my pre, during, and post game thoughts. Lost this one once, hopefully I won't have to retype it again...
Get to campus around 3:30pm. Lots of red walking around as expected. Wait, where's the blue? Crap. This is going to be bad. There's "Go Dawgs!" chants in the book store, and that little cheer that starts "Who's that coming down the tracks?!" I never bothered to learn the rest. Overall the Georgia fans are somewhat decent. They're loud and passionate, but not a lot of "Fuck ND!" are heard on campus. I start noticing broken glass around the parking lot and campus though...not something you see a lot of on Saturdays.
Head to the Grotto, then head over to the 5th floor of the Dome to wait for the Trumpets. Getting close to the arrival of the Trumpets I notice that there aren't a ton of fans which is unusual. For USC it was shoulder to shoulder, every level packed. For Georgia it wasn't nearly that packed...still a good turnout, but a clear indicator our numbers were down:
<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fnick.bartosic%2Fvideos%2F10154633268977827%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>
Some Georgia fans came and waited 40 minutes with us before the Trumpets started. They said South Bend was the Mecca for college football, you could tell they were real college football fans. Asked a lot of questions, they were very cool. Best Georgia fans we met all day...and a far cry from the ones we were about to meet.
Start heading to the stadium after the Trumpets. More broken glass in the parking lot. Get into the stadium and get to our seats. There's a cute shorty in a red dress behind me...but she's loud, and shrill. "GOOOO DAAAAWWGS! GOOOO DAAAAWWGS!" She's right in my ear. I look around the stadium...it's almost all red from the visitor corner and it tapers all the way to the press box across from us. We're pretty much surrounded by Georgia fans at the 50 where we're at behind the opposing bench. Not good. Jumbotron looks awesome though, I hear the only other ND fans near us say "About time they did this." I agree. They show a pump up video with Rockne doing the big speech, followed by highlights with Leahy, Ara, Holtz, all the way up to today. Irish in the crowd are excited. They show the team in the locker room doing their Our Father, crowd loves it. Shows the team coming down the steps and hitting the sign, awesome. "GOOOOO DAAAAWGS!" I hear in my ear again. Teams take the field. "FUCK ND! FUCK ND!" Whatever. I get the binoculars and scope out our old season ticket seats 5 rows up from the opposing bench where we used to make things hell for them...there's Georgia fans sitting there now. I'm pissed.
We get the ball first. Running game right from the start isn't really going anywhere. OL is getting manhandled, Mustipher is clearly struggling getting pushed into the backfield. Georgia's front 7 is very good. Lorenzo Carter looks good, really wish we could have landed him. I'm hoping he's not too disruptive today. On the back of some Georgia penalties we get down the field and Yoon hits a FG, we take the lead. Rock on. I sit down after the FG and I get a knee in the back. I think nothing of it and don't react.
Defense does a pretty bang up job containing Georgia's offense. However, every play when Georgia's on offense "CHUBBY CHUBB CHUBB! CHUBBY CHUBB CHUUUUBB!" Sonny comes into the game "CHUBBY CHUBB CHUBB!" Jeebus. Still, even though Frome looks pretty poised in the pocket, and Georgia's OL aren't world beaters, our defense does a pretty good job considering. We force a bunch of punts, but our offense can't maintain a drive without help from Georgia penalties. Our defense seems to be taking a lot of snaps, I'm hoping they have enough gas for the 4th. Georgia fumbles the ball, which leads to a TD for us. Awesome! "FUCK ND! FUCK ND!" Georgia drives down the field on the next possession though and reties the game.
Next kickoff I think CJ takes the ball and makes a good return...looks like he's down, but keeps going. "FUCK YOU, MOTHER FUCKER! YOU WERE DOWN, MOTHER FUCKER!" Her male companion agrees and repeats what she says. I sit down during the replay, I get another knee in the back. I turn around and smile, she pretends not to see me. Okay. I decide to lean forward on the bench for the rest of the game when I'm not standing. Yoon is money again, so thankful that he's found his rhythm again. Georgia feels like Sonny and Chubb are just always a move away from breaking a big run. They have some good ones, but our Safeties step up and save the day. "CHUBBY CHUBB CHUUUUB! CHUBBY CHUBB CHUUUUB!" Tranquil picks off Frome, he's having a hell of a game aside from the missed Sack on Frome. Rover is the position he was born to play. Defense is still playing good, forces punts until halftime. At some point Morgan landed a crushing hit on Frome, Irish in the stands love it. I'm feeling good considering the way things are going with a 3 point lead at halftime.
Band comes out to play. They do "Wagon Wheel" and form a horse and carriage, galloping down the field. Shorty goes: "OHHH, NOTRE DAME IS SOOO SMART! LOOK WHAT YOU CAN DO! YOU SUCK!" Band plays "Livin' on a Prayer," as they've often done, and they put down their instruments to dance during the drum solo. "NO ONE WANTS TO SEE YOU DANCE! GET OFF OUR FUCKING FIELD! THIS IS OUR FIELD!" Shoot me.
Teams take the field again. "U-G-A! U-G-A!" from our section. "Glory, glory to old Georgia! And to hell with Notre Dame!" I notice myself watching the Jumbotron a lot between plays. It's cool seeing the replays and Tim Brown live on there, and it does seem to help pump up the crowd...for those Irish in attendance. Defense holds Georgia to a missed FG. Wimbush comes out, he's been rather inaccurate today, but it's not completely his fault. OL is struggling, and Georgia's front 7 is getting great pressure. "CHUBBY CHUBB CHUBB! CHUBBY CHUBB CHUUUUBB!" We get the ball back, Yoon is money again. If we win this thing, I'm giving either him or the defense the game ball. Georgia follows it up with drawing a bullshit penalty on Okwara for a late hit. That was a big turning point. "CHEATERS! CHEATERS!" This sets up the TD drive, and Georgia takes the first lead. On the ensuing kickoff "BRING IT OUT, MOTHER FUCKER! BRING IT OUT, MOTHER FUCKER!" I get another knee in the back during a TV timeout, while leaning forward. Obviously not an accident at this point. I decide to stand for the entire rest of the game. I'm 6'3" and usually duck a bit when standing so as not to block anyone behind me. For shorty though, I'm hoping to block as much of the remaining game as possible.
4th quarter starts and Yoon hits yet another FG to put us up again. Defense stuffs the Georgia offense, I'm biting nails. Offense continues to sputter, too many 3 and outs. I'm wondering why we don't go back to the HB screen that Adams picked up 30 yards on in the 1st half. Considering the pressure Georgia is bringing it would probably help keep them on their heels. Other than that screen it seems like most of our offensive success has been coming on crossing routes, Georgia has trouble defending them. We can't stretch the field though, Georgia is in Wimbush's face whenever we try. Running game is dead, and yet I wonder why we haven't seen Dexter at all in this game (Lots of fans in the post game radio show echoed this thought). I'm not sure why we haven't found ways to get EQ the ball. Where were our TEs from last week? Shorty says she wants to have Lorenzo's babies.
Geogia gets the ball back "CHUBBY CHUBB CHUUUBB! CHUBBY CHUBB CHUUUBB!" They take the lead on a FG. Our offense continues to sputter. Defense forces a 3 and out with 3 minutes left on the clock...plenty of time to get down the field and get a chance at another FG. "GOOOOO DAAAAWWGS! FUCK ND!" Lorenzo comes up with probably the biggest play of the game by getting past McGlinchey, sacking Wimbush, and causing the fumble. Game is over. "S-E-C! S-E-C!" from our section. I stay for the Alma Mater, then try to head out as soon as possible. Sea of red comes down from the upper bowl chanting "S-E-C! S-E-C!" Great job, guys. You beat a team by 1 point that was 4-8 last year.
I head to the book store parking lot where the car is. Lots of glass in the parking lot. For the most part Georgia fans were alright around campus. They had a lot of passion and cheers, and weren't the worst group to come to South Bend. The glass though? That was disrespectful. I don't remember the last time I've seen that much. What was more disrespectful? The number of ND fans that sold out and gave up their tickets. It was embarrassing, the team did not deserve that.
