It's not the morning, I know, but I rode the sweet high of victory until 1 a.m. and that means this blog came out a bit late today.
I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not.
Welcome to the second-to-last Tuesday Morning Quarterback of the season, where hopefully we'll hit on a few points you might've missed in some of the other news coverage of the game.
If you've seen them already, thanks for reading anyway.
1) Tae Crowder might have saved the season.
Time for a little bit of a local angle, for the Northeast Georgians in the crowd.
Why does Crowder's name ring a bell for some of y'all?
Let's take a jaunt back to my first year here at WDUN, 2014, when I was just a budding color commentator on our ESPN Radio affiliate, WGGA.
We followed the Gainesville Red Elephants throughout the season, putting all the games on local airwaves here in Gainesville, and that season saw Big Red, in its first season since the graduation of some kid named Deshaun Watson, head into the post season as the No. 2 seed.
Gainesville traveled about 10,000 miles down I-85 in the second round of the playoffs to play undefeated Harris County, where Crowder was shredding defenses as a tailback, aided in part by current Georgia Tech quarterback Taquon Marshall.
That night, Crowder was in peak form, punishing Red Elephant defenders in what would become a wild, 49-40 shootout that Gainesville would hang on to win. I said at the time that I really wished Georgia would recruit Crowder, because I thought, at worst, he was just a good athlete.
Where am I going with this?
Well, I'm glad you asked.
In February 2015, it just so happened that Georgia lost a running back commit by the name of Chris Carson to Oklahoma State, and had an opening.
Guess who filled it?
Crowder, who flipped his commitment from Willie Fritz and Georgia Southern, where he figured to be a ground-and-pounder in the triple-option offense.
On Saturday, that not-so-small decision paid off, as Crowder — who now plays linebacker — was working the middle of the field when Oklahoma kicked off, following the Sooners' touchdown in the waning seconds of the first half.
Crowder snagged the still-not-sure-why-they-did-it squib kick like a catcher killing a ball in the dirt, allowing enough time for Rodrigo Blankenship to square up a 55-yard field goal at the buzzer to give Georgia life.
In a game that went to overtime, it's possible Crowder saved the season in that single play.
2) The other key plays were very fitting.
I found some poetic justice in the fact that the biggest plays of the game (the field goal block and the game-winning score) were made by Lorenzo Carter and Sony Michel, respectively.
Those two were among the four juniors who last year decided to return for their senior seasons (along with Nick Chubb and Davin Bellamy), and they returned for precisely this reason: to make one final run at a national championship.
Michel and Chubb combined for 326 yards and five touchdowns. On defense, Carter had a much more obvious presence against the Sooners, notching 10 tackles, half a sack and, of course, the blocked field goal in the game's second overtime period.
Bellamy, while a quiet day on the field (two tackles), did at least make a few headlines by yelling at Heisman winner Baker Mayfield after the game to "humble yourself!"
I laughed when I saw it, quite honestly.
3) All this team does is win.
For only the second time in Georgia history (2002 being the other) the Bulldogs have claimed victory in 13 games in a season.
But when I think about, this team has found a variety of ways to win, all of which seem to be predicated on the let's-don't-panic attitude and commitment to doing what they can do well.
"Keep the main the thing, the main thing," if you will.
Let's harken back to Week 2, when Georgia leaned on its stellar defense to hang tough in a gritty 20-19 "road" win over Notre Dame. Or to Jacksonville, where the Dawgs blasted the hated Gators right out of Everbank Field with a 21-0 onslaught not eight minutes into the game, en route to a 42-7 thumping.
Or we can jump back to December, when the Georgia defense once again rose to the occasion, shutting down an Auburn attack that had gashed it for 40 points less than a month earlier, slashing the Tigers in a rematch 28-7.
Then on Saturday, the team once again never quit, even trailing 31-14. It held Mayfield and his offense scoreless over five possessions in the second half to regain the lead, 38-31.
It marched right down the field after a costly fumble turned into another Sooner lead, 45-38, and tied the game at 45-all, then got one more stop to send it overtime.
But you know the rest.
4) The look ahead.
I'm not saying I picked it to be Georgia-Alabama in the title game, but I picked Georgia-Alabama in the title game.
Beyond that, my psychic powers know nothing.
I have absolutely no idea what to make of that game, other than I feel reasonably confident it'll be lower scoring than the Rose Bowl.
One side of me could see us grinding out a win like we did against Notre Dame.
The other side of me could see us being gassed from a double-overtime thriller the week before, unable to out-Alabama the mighty Tide in the trenches.
But I'm happy to say this: Thanks to a very generous gift from my father, I will be in attendance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Monday night. I am beyond excited, and you best believe my voice will not be alive come Tuesday morning.
I'm just hoping it's for a happy reason.
