Thursday March 28th, 2024 4:36AM

A long journey made worthwhile for Dogs fans

ATLANTA — When Georgia players and coaches step on to the the turf of Mercedes-Benz Stadium Monday it will cap an incredible journey that few saw coming this preseason.

Remember, this is a program coming off an 8-5 record last year, a group that lost to Vanderbilt at home and often looked uncomfortable in its own skin under first year coach Kirby Smart.

But was it much different than what immediately preceded it?

Yes, the Bulldogs won 10 games in 2015, but dig a little deeper and you see that Georgia finished that campaign unranked, having not defeated a single ranked team. Georgia had its moments, including embarrasing Steve Spurrier so bad that the ole ball coach retired mid-season after a 52-20 defeat in Athens and defeating oldest rival Auburn, 20-13.

The Dogs also reeled off five straight wins to close the season, but often lacked real punch, and the one really good team faced -- Alabama -- hammered Georgia 38-10 in Athens in a game that made it clear just how far the Bulldogs had to go in order to reach contender status (and Georgia was ranked ninth at the time, Alabama 13th). And while it was a surprise to see 2015 bring an end to Mark Richt's tenure in Athens, it was based more on seeing the end of a 15-year reign of a good and decent man rather than the reality of his team's performances since the 2012 campaign.

Certainly Richt's teams were always good, but a stumbling block almost always seemed to prevent a levitation to great. Meanwhile, the Bulldog nation watched as conference and local rivals such as Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU and then Clemson pursued and snagged the brass ring. And while loyalty to the great man remained for a large portion of the fanbase, there was often grumbling when another inexplicable loss reared its ugly head -- Tennessee in 2004, South Carolina in '07, Central Florida in '08, South Carolina again in 2012, Georgia Tech in '14 and so on...

Playing in a conference that punishes any weakness, it was obvious that Georgia's -- despite residing and recruiting in a state bursting with high school football riches -- armor often contained chinks.

That was why Kirby Smart was hired, to re-fit a program many believed under-achieving. And it was also why there was some worries headed into 2017, as Georgia rode a roller coaster through Smart's first season as head coach.

That's also why Dog fans held their collective breath when sophomore starting quarterback Jacob Eason's knee betrayed him in the opener. But the immediate hope imbued by freshman Jake Fromm against an outmatched opponent in Appalachian State began to take on the air of something different when the Dogs traveled to South Bend and made the plays to defeat Notre Dame. It had been the lot of plenty of prior Georgia squads to see the defining play -- or plays -- go the other way under the spotlight. But by the end of September it was clear that Smart's 2017 team was not only gritty but pretty ruthless as well. The Bulldogs dominated then-fancied Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt in three straight contests, putting to rest another prior complaint that the Bulldogs tended to let opponents hang around.

Florida could not hang with these Dogs, and Georgia then made a two touchdown win over pesky South Carolina seem routine. At 9-0, Georgia fans finally dared to believe. 

So when Auburn rained all over Georgia's parade with a 40-17 victory at a bloodthirsty Jordan-Hare Stadium to halt the win streak, it seemed the ultimate gut-punch, the reminder that maybe Georgia is destined to suffer. There have long been jokes amongst Georgia fans about their Dogs inking a deal with the devil to gain Herschel Walker's signature and the reign of dominance he helped bring to Athens. No one in red and black was laughing on Nov. 11 when the thought of playing for a first national title in 35 years seemed a distant memory.

But this group of Dogs is different, and they proved it in reeling off two dominant wins to end the regular season and then serving a warm dish of revenge to the Tigers in the SEC Championship game.

They proved it again in the Rose Bowl, fighting back from 17 points down against the Heisman Trophy winner in Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield, displaying that grit and then poise beyond their experience -- yes there may be 30-something seniors on this team, but what big games prior to this season had they won? 

And whatever happens on Monday night against mighty Alabama, Georgia fans can finally relinquish another dose of that, "what's going to go wrong this season?" attitude. It's clear that there has been a paradigm shift in Athens. And what a wonderful journey it has provided fans in 2017.

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