Georgia Football: Notre Dame Win Turning Point For UGA Program

As Bulldog Nation, and the Georgia Football team invaded South Bend, coming away with a 20-19 victory Saturday night, the future started coming into focus.

You’ve heard that phrase, “You’ll know it when you see it”? Well, that’s what UGA’s win over Notre Dame Saturday night felt like. And boy did we see it. And hear it. With easily more that 35,000 Georgia Football fans packed into Notre Dame stadium, which seats 79,000 at capacity, We knew it when we saw it. The game, the win, and the fan showing meant something had turned.

I wrote about this the other day talking about Kirby Smart and “signature wins”, etc. Make no mistake, this was that. It was a signature win that could prove to be the pivot that all Dawg fans have been panting for since the 2012 SEC Championship game. Had they won that game, they would’ve faced Notre Dame in the National Championship. There’s no way to know, but my gut says they’d have won.

Ever since that loss, nothing has felt right. Florida and Tennessee were dumpster fires. Presumpitvely, leaving UGA, and maybe South Carolina, to duke it out for the SEC East. Except, Missouri won back to back East Division Championships. That didn’t sit well with Dawg Nation. That’s a major reason why folks wanted to part ways with Coach Mark Richt, in spite of loving him and his family.

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This very close, very sloppy, and incredibly infuriating, at times, 20-19 win over Notre Dame, however, is the tonic that Georgia Football has been craving for five years. A win in a game where they were the underdogs, on the road, and the deck was stacked. A gut check, what you got in your boots, type of game. And they won.

It is true that all of the “Dawg People”, as the late great Larry Munson once described, went to South Bend, Indiana because it is an iconic school and football program. It is true that fans traveled en masse because it is rare that UGA schedules these types of games. It is a great trip for folks going to a great part of this great country.

But that’s not why they went. Bulldog Nation turned Notre Dame into a quasi-home game Saturday Night to help will that team to win. That’s how bad they want it. And they got it.

I suspect that Notre Dame will go on to win between 8-10 ball games this year, but right now, we have no idea if that team is good or not. We could look back and say, “Aww, that team wasn’t any good anyway”. Maybe. Georgia could go on to struggle this season. Who knows?

But right now it doesn’t matter. Right now, at least, Georgia won the type of game they’ve been losing the last few years. Right now, at least, if you play Georgia, they’re bringing a nasty Defense, a solid run game, and 35,000 of their friends.

Next: Georgia Football: Notre Dame Not Just Another Game

When you can go to Notre Dame, turn “Touch Down Jesus” into a neutral site, and come away with a victory, it feels like a turning point.

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