While the Gophers were surprisingly beating up on Purdue and the Vikings had their bye date, I was in Southeast Conference football country watching the No. 5 ranked Georgia Bulldogs and No. 24 Auburn Tigers in Athens, Georgia. It was my first SEC game ever, and kind of a bucket list thing.
Being in Uga land a few days before the Saturday night game got me ready for the Bulldogs and Tigers. Athens makes many a short list of America’s best college towns, and among its proud citizens is Uga, the University of Georgia’s popular bulldog mascot. While the real Uga watches each home game from the sidelines, there are replicas of the famous dog around town including one creation that wears glasses and is positioned outside an eye doctor’s office.
Word is you don’t want to mess with the real Uga. I am told that years ago an Auburn player was showing off after a touchdown. He spun the ball on the ground near Uga, who then lunged toward the player showing disapproval. Presumably the charged-up Georgia players took their cue from Uga and won the game!
While Sanford Stadium is a scene of pom-pom waving, madly cheering Georgia fans on game night, there are a few detractors. Near the stadium I encountered a proselytizing Baptist minister who preaches the game of football is a false idol that besmirches the Lord. The minister seemed to be a lone voice in the wilderness as game time approached and throngs of fans marched toward the stadium gates, completely ignoring the preacher.
No, the minister didn’t have many converts. This is not to say religion isn’t important in the South. It certainly is, but college football is—to put it mildly—about as important as life or death. College football Saturdays down in Dixie can be labeled High Holy Days.
Southern college football authority Paul Finebaum wrote a story for Time magazine last August headlined the “The Holy Game.” Finebaum said: “If college football is America’s lay religion, the South is its ecumenically evangelical center. Nowhere is the passion more intense than on the campuses of the 14 colleges of the Southeastern Conference and among their fans.”
Along with the fervor can also come Southern hospitality and civility. Matt Hall, my game companion on Saturday, got an unexpected offering of that after he realized he lost one of his season ticket passes. He concluded this occurred at a spot in the concourse after he had reached into his pocket to give me a ticket. Returning to the suspected site of his loss, he immediately saw a stranger holding the ticket, with intentions to turn it into fan relations. Now that’s good timing.
Georgia fans were happy Saturday night as their beloved Dawgs won another game in the oldest college football rivalry in the Deep South. The two SEC powers have been playing each other since 1896 and they have won not only league titles but national championships.
The Bulldogs, now 9-1, were pretty much on cruise control Saturday night. Georgia led 20-10 at halftime and added a second half touchdown to make the final score 27-10. Just as important the Bulldogs held fast in the chase for an invitation to the four-team playoffs.
The Bulldogs showed an aggressive defense and balanced offense. Auburn, now 6-4, couldn’t match Georgia’s productivity on the ground including D’Andre Swift’s 186-yard rushing performance.
My guy Matt is a professor at Georgia so he’s on board with the Dawgs. Georgia is just behind No. 4 Michigan in the four-team playoff race. Matt grew up in Ann Arbor so he’s all in on the possibility of the Wolverines getting a shot at the national title. Either Dawgs, or Wolves, Matt is well positioned.
College Football’s Shrine
For many years I have wanted to visit the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Mission accomplished.
Entering the building’s lobby fans are greeted by over 700 helmets representing every level of college football including NAIA schools. While registering, each Hall of Fame guest can identify a favorite team, and then that team’s helmet lights up on a giant wall. Technology also allows highlighting of your favorite team at exhibits.
Much of my focus in touring the facility was on the Gophers. There are 22 individuals with Gopher ties in the shrine including Lou Holtz, who coached only two seasons at Minnesota.
I told fan experience senior manager Robert Bready that there are still copies of a Hollywood movie from the 1940’s about Bruce Smith, Minnesota’s 1941 Heisman Trophy winner. “Smith of Minnesota” starred the hero from Faribault, Minnesota, and was as wholesome of a production as Hollywood has ever produced.
I also shared a mythic tale about the legendary Bronko Nagurski, the Gophers’ fullback and tackle from the 1920s who made All-American at two positions in the same year. Nagurski was said to be strong as an ox, and legend has it that a Gopher coach discovered him on a farm near International Falls. Bronko was using a large plow to dig up the earth when the coach drove by and stopped to ask for directions. The mighty Bronko gave directions by lifting the plow into the air and pointing toward the road the coach should follow.
That was enough for the coach to direct Bronko to Minnesota.
Former Vikings wide receiver Terry LeCount works at the Hall of Fame. He played for the Vikings from 1979-1983, and in 1987.
More on the Hall of Fame at cfbhall.com.