We no longer have to listen to opposing fans taunting us with "1980." No more, "Georgia can't beat Alabama." No more, "The Dawgs will never win a championship with Stetson Bennett at quarterback."
Forty-one years – forty-one long years – after Herschel ran over Bill Bates, after Belue to Scott, after vanquishing the Irish in the Sugar Bowl, the Dawgs are again national champions. The fact that the Dawgs did it by beating our unbeatable foe Alabama makes it even sweeter.
Glory, Glory.
I really don't remember a time in my life when I wasn't a Georgia fan. I don't know what my first word was, but it wouldn't surprise me if it were "woof."
My first trip to Sanford Stadium was an astonishing 52 years ago. I was a wide-eyed 5-year-old, mesmerized by Sanford Stadium. I loved to hear the Redcoats play “Glory, Glory.” I loved to watch the cheerleaders. I always had my fingers crossed for an opportunity to pet Uga, the beautiful white English bulldog mascot.
Not all my memories of Georgia football are so good. I did sit through every game of the Ray Goff and Jim Donnan eras.
It's not that Georgia hasn't come close to another title. 1981. 1982. And 2012, when we fell an agonizing five yards short in the de facto championship game against — you guessed it — Alabama.
Why is it always Ala-damn-bama?
Second and 26. The comeback in the 2018 SEC title game. The routs in the 2020 regular season game and this year's SEC championship game.
Yet this year's team seemed built to beat Bama. An overpowering defensive line. An explosive offense led by a former walk-on and a couple of stud running backs. We were undefeated and No. 1 in the land.
But in the SEC title game, everything that worked in the regular season failed that day and the result was an embarrassing loss.
On that fateful night in Indianapolis, though, when things went wrong, Georgia didn't blink. When the second half came, Georgia played like Georgia. James Cook broke the longest run of season against the Tide. Stetson Bennett threw two beautiful touchdown passes. And the Alabama defense looked gassed.
But even up 26-18, I wasn't completely comfortable. You weren't, either. We'd seen this movie before, and we hated the ending. Then Kelee Ringo — My God, a freshman — rewrote that script. He took an interception 79 yards to glory. It wasn't just a touchdown. It was a vindication. Kirby jumped four feet in the air on the sidelines. So did I. So did you. So did every Dawg.
TV cameras caught Stetson Bennett in tears of joy on the sidelines. If there were TV cameras where I was, you'd have seen the same thing. Forty-one years of angst washing away in one exhilarating moment.
To be honest — and I'm not afraid to admit it — nearly everything after that made me cry. Kirby hugging Vince. Kirby echoing the legend Larry Munson with "there's gonna be some property destroyed in Indianapolis tonight." Stetson lifting the national championship trophy over his head. Big Jordan Davis snuggling with it like it was a baby.
I still tear up as I talk about the game with friends and co-workers. Or as I watch a replay. Or when I put a national championship decal on the rear window of my car. Yeah, it happened then, too.
Forty-one years. Forty-one long years. It's like I'm that 5-year-old again. Rejoice, my fellow Dawgs. We are atop the mountain. We have vanquished the dreaded Tide – at least for now. And we are national by-god champions.
Glory, Glory.
