Deep South's Oldest Rivalry: 120 Years Old Today Yet Facing Extinction

The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry: as all-American as apple pie.

(UGA-Auburn Program, 1944).

Today, February 20th, is the 120th anniversary of the first game in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, UGA's second game in program history. The game, played in Piedmont Park in Atlanta, was the capstone to the 1892 Georgia football season, a season which was the first year of organized football being played south of Raleigh, NC.

Auburn fans uniquely identify with the first game in the Rivalry as being the origin of "War Eagle," with an eagle purportedly brought home by a wounded Civil War veteran from the Battle of the Wilderness rallying the crowd and students from Auburn to a 10-0 victory over Georgia, where at the end of the game the eagle crashed and died on the field.

The game has also served as a rallying cry for Georgians. The inaugural game attracted 150 students from the nearby Georgia School of Technology to dress up in red and black and cheer for Georgia, and the second game, a 10-8 Georgia victory in November 1894, caused quite the celebration once the team & fans arrived back in Athens:

"The Varsity special left at 7 o'clock and the people of Athens awaited the arrival of the party at the Athens depot with a brass band and plenty of enthusiasm. Merchants opened their stores and told the boys to help themselves to boxes. Soon a large bonfire lighted up the campus, the college rang out on the night air and the college yell was heard on every hand. The night had far spent itself when the last echo of the bell was heard and the dying embers of the great bonfire was all that was left to remind the passer by that the great day was over. Georgia had triumphed!

Three years had she waited and now the defeat that had once befallen her by the hands of the Alabamians was blotted out." (The Red & Black, December 1, 1894).

Since 1898, the series has only been halted for 3 years, 1917-18 (when we were 'Over There' for WWI) and 1943 (WWII). The Georgia-Auburn rivalry is considered the oldest rivalry in the South, with UGA-Auburn's first game preceding the South's "Oldest" Rivalry (UVA-UNC) by 8 months. While UVA and NC have played 116 times through 2011 (to 115 for UGA-AU), the UVA-UNC series was notably not halted during World War 2.

Ours is a rivalry that is extraordinarily even, with Auburn holding the series lead 54-53-8 thru 115 games, yet Georgia leading by 76 points scored in the overall series, 1854-1778.

Yet all this history may be on the chopping block, along with Alabama's rivalry with Tennessee, for the sake of the greater good of the conference. Once you go down this path for the sake of Missouri, TA&M, and a more 'balanced' 8 game conference schedule, you destroy the fabric of a storied rivalry, trample upon a game that predates the Southeastern Conference itself by 40 years, and kill one of the biggest traditions in both program's storied histories.

On this, the 120th anniversary of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, take a moment to call, fax, or write a letter to Mike Slive and let him know of the importance of the Georgia-Auburn annual rivalry in the SEC and the need to keep fixed annual cross-division rivals. While Commissioner Slive may not have an ounce of Southern blood in him, common sense at some point may kick in to prevent the SEC's own 'New Coke' fiasco.

ESPN-produced Intro to the 2004 Game.

It's almost Valentine's Day...

...and that means the deadline to get donations in for the 2012 Hartman Fund are just two days away. I know a lot of people were kicking themselves for not donating and trying to get tickets last year when the cutoff essential did not exist. While I do think the minimum to start new tickets will go up this year, it will not even be back up to the 2007 levels (around $2,100).

So get your donations in. And, oh yeah, don't forget to get that special someone something nice for Valentine's Day.

It's Been a While, but I'm Back

So things have been kind of dead here on the blog the last few weeks, despite an abundance of things going on within the Bulldog nation. But let me explain. I was on vacation in Hawaii (absolutely amazing) during NSD and have been completely swamped at work since I got back. Here's my thoughts on what has transpired over the last few weeks:

• My only real disappointment with our recruiting class was the failure to land Avery Young. Cordarelle Patterson choosing Tennessee was a bit of a surprise, but we really did not need receivers. After losing Chester Brown, I thought Young was the most important target we had left. I'm glad we got JHC, but I wish we would have gotten Young instead.
• Of course, the dismissals make the lack of DB depth in the recruiting class look bad. I am really bummed about Nick Marshall. My brother in law is close with some people in the Wilcox County program and have been hearing about Nick for years. I was very excited when he came to Georgia and had big expectations for him. But stealing from anyone, especially teammates, should get you kicked off the team.
• The Chris Sanders situation is becoming more interesting everyday. Today, Sanders spoke about his dismissal and it appears he was not involved in the shenanigans that Seay and Marshall were. He;s going to enroll at GMC and it looks like there may be a chance he is back in Athens in 2013. This is a kid who bleeds red and black and loves Georgia who is owning up to his mistakes. If he gets his stuff together at GMC, I would love to see him back in a Bulldog uniform.
• It looks like the Dawgs may pick up a few Juco additions to the class to supplement the loss of the dismissed players and Chester Brown. While I don't always love the JUCO route, we need experienced bodies right now. The starting groups look great next year, but except for wide receiver, running back, and DE/OLB, we are pretty thin.
• While I am all for the protection of players, I HATE the decision to move the touchbacks up from the 20 to the 25. I know that means there will be incentive to not just kick it deep like they do in the NFL, but this is a fundamental change to how football has been played as long as I can remember and I just don't like it.
• Losing the Auburn game would suck. Can't we just have Tennessee move to the West division? That would be a perfect solution. Tennessee could still play Bama every year, we could still play Auburn every year, and Tennessee would become our new permanent rival in the west. Seems perfect to me.
  
• The more I look at oversigning, the more I think Nick Saban is a dick. A good coach? Hell yeah. But really a dick. I am glad that kid from Atlanta decided to go to Kentucky. But what makes me really mad in that situation is to know that it was the scholarship that was opened up for Dalvin Tomlinson.
• I keep hearing good things about Crowell working hard this off season. If Crowell and Marshall become the 1-2 punch we all hope, look for Aaron Murray's completion percentage to go up and his INTs to go down this fall.
• Dear Board of Regents: Get the contract extensions done. Nor more debating, we need to lock Richt and Grantham down. It helps recruiting and because of the lack of size in the 2012 class, we need to get as much momentum as possible for 2013 as early as possible.
• G-Day will be here before we know it. It may be interesting to watch the kicking duties this year. Georgia has a punter and kicker coming in as part of the 2012 class this fall, but neither of them will be there yet. Most assume Morgan and Barber will win the jobs, but good competition is always better when it comes to kickers.
• Man, the Georgia basketball team is not good. I feel really bad for Coach Fox. He is a good coach, but has not been able to get the talent he needs to win. One five star recruit surrounded by a bunch of lightly recruited players doesn't cut it against teams like Kentucky, where they have 7 or 8 players who will be in the NBA soon. And it looks like the Dawgs are going to miss out on the biggest talents in Georgia once again this year.
• Baseball season is upon. Major league pitchers and catcher begin reporting in the next two weeks and the Diamond Dawgs begin play next Friday. The Dawgs will open the season ranked #11 in the country, but are only the 5th ranked team in the SEC. Florida opens the year at #1 and two time defending national champion South Carolina at #3. It's going to be another tough go at it, but hopefully Coach Perno can get the boys back to the CWS for the first time since 2008.

That's it for now. Next week, I'm going to pick back up with my Damn Good Dawgs series.

Athens Reminiscing - Music

(This post has nothing to do with football. Sorry.)

I'll admit, I am not the biggest music fan in the world. I've been to a few Dave Matthews Band concerts and even went to the Zack Brown show in Jacksonville last fall the night before the Cocktail Party, but I rarely attend shows live. However, there was a period in my life where going to see concerts was much more common and that was during the five years I spent at Georgia. Athens has often been called the best local music scene in the country, have produced the likes of REM, Widespread Panic, and even a couple of classmates of mine who are better known today as Lady Antebellum.

Here some of the memorable shows and bands I remember from my days in Athens:

Jennifer Nettles with John Mayer - August 2000

Yes, you read that right. In the summer of 2000, my friend convinced me to go see some guy named John Mayer, who he described as Dave Matthews-like, open for Jennifer Nettles. Little did we know that the approximately 50 people that were at that show at the 40 Watt were watching two future Grammy winners. Jennifer Nettles went on to become the lead singer for Sugarland and John Mayer went on to be come...a douchy version of John Mayer. I saw John Mayer play a few more times in Athens before he got big, including the show at the Georgia Theatre when they recorded the video for "No Such Thing."

Sister Hazel
Probably the best known band that always seemed to play in Athens about once a semester. Yes, I know they are from Florida but they sure were fun in concert.

Jupiter Coyote
I saw them play about 10 times in a two year period. My sister had their CD from when they used to play in Statesboro. Great southern rock that never took off on the radio.

Stewart and Winfield
To this day, I still love Stewart and Winfield. This is another one that my sister brought to my attention. "Catatonic" is still one of my favorite songs.

Kinchafoonee
If you wanted to hear a bunch of drunk Georgia kids sing songs that were popular when their parents were young and watch grown men cry when they played "Amazing Grace", the Kinchafoonee Cowboys were your type of band.

And, the last band I want to mention is one that seemingly fell into obscurity since I cannot find any mention of them anywhere on the internet. The band was called BlueString they played southern rock/folk music that included like 10 people in the band playing guitars, fiddles, and banjos. I saw them two or three times my freshman year when I could stumble back to O House from the Georgia Theatre. But then I never heard from them again.

So what are your favorite memories of seeing bands play in Athens? I'm sure a lot of us saw the Dave Matthews Cover Band, Corey Smith, and may have even caught an elusive performance by Michael Stipe. Leave your stories in the comments.

Damn Good Dawgs 2012 - Orson Charles

ORSON CHARLES, TE #7

Recruitment:

A 5 star recruit from Plant High School in Tampa, Florida, Charles was one of the most interesting recruiting battles in the 2009 class. He was ranked as the #3 tight end in the country and was highly sought after by Georgia, Florida, and Florida State. During a recruiting visit to Florida, Charles famously knocked over and broke the Gators 2006 National Championship trophy. After waiting a month after national signing day, Charles finally decided to follow his high school teammate Aaron Murray to The University of Georgia.

Career Stats:

• Appeared in 40 games, making 29 starts at tight end
• 94 receptions
• 1370 receiving yards
• 10 touchdowns

Career Highlights:

• Played in every game during his 3 year career at Georgia
• Caught his first career touchdown on a 44 yard pass against Arkansas
• Caught at least one pass in 36 of 40 career games
• Two career games with 100+ yards receiving (UF in ’10, BSU in ’11)
• Caught career high 45 passes in 2011, including 5 touchdowns

Best Game – 2010 Florida

Orson Charles may have been the most talented pass catching tight end to ever come to Georgia. But because he played during a time when the Georgia line was either struggling or the running back situation was unsettled, he was called on to be a blocker just as much as a receiver. He never had more than 6 receptions in a single game, but one of those times was arguably his best game at Georgia. In the 2010 Florida game, Aaron Murray found his high school teammate for a couple of big catches including a touchdown. His best single play was an amazing leaping touchdown catch against Ole Miss last fall.

Honors and Awards

• 2009 Freshman All-American

• 2009 All-SEC Freshman team

• Named John Mackey Tight End of the Week for effort against Florida in 210

• 2010 Second Team All-SEC

• 2011 Mackey Award Finalist

• 2011 First Team All-SEC

• 2011 Offensive Team Captain
  

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Damn Good Dawgs 2012 - Brandon Boykin

(Note: This is the first entry in a series that will look at the career of Georgia players either graduating or moving on this year)

BRANDON BOYKIN, CB #2

Recruitment:
Boykin was a #14 rated cornerback in the country and a 4 star recruit out of Fayette County High School in Fayetteville, GA. Boykin, who also played quarterback, committed to the Dawgs on December 7, 2007 and was amongst a star studded class of 2008 that included AJ Green and Richard Samuel.

Career Stats:

Defense

• 159 Total Tackles (106 solo, 53 assisted)
• 20 Tackles for loss, including 1 sack, 1 safety, and 2 forced fumbles
• 9 interceptions and 27 pass defenses

Offense

• Rushed 7 times for 103 yards (14.7 average) and 1 touchdown
• Caught 5 passes for 71 yards and 2 touchdowns

Special Teams

• Kickoff Returns: 110 returns for 2,663 yards (24.2 average) and 4 touchdowns
• Punt Returns: 14 returns for 180 yards (12.9 average) and 1 touchdown

Career Highlights:

• 38 career starts at corner
• Returned 4 kickoffs for touchdowns, including three during the 2009 season. 3 of the 4 went for 100 yards.
• Georgia's all-time leader in kickoff return yardage (and second all-time in SEC history)
• Had a huge interception in the end zone against LSU in 2009
• During the 2011 season, Boykin began playing offense and scored touchdowns receiving and running the ball.

I don't love the music, but here is a great collection of Boykin's career highlights someone put up online.


Best Game - 2012 Outback Bowl
The Dawgs may have come up short in triple overtime to the Michigan State Spartans, but Boykin did everything he could to make sure that didn't happen. Showing his true versatility, Boykin scored in all three phases of the game. He started the scoring by recording a safety in the first quarter, returned a punt 92 yards for touchdown in the second, and catching a touchdown pass in the fourth. He was named the bowl game MVP despite the Georgia loss.

Honors and Awards

• 2009 All-SEC Second Team as Returner
• 2010 Defensive MVP - AutoZone Liberty Bowl
• 2010 All-SEC as Kick Returner
• 2010 All-SEC Fourth Team
• 2011 Paul Hornung Award Winner - given to the nation's most versatile player
• Invited to play in the 2012 Senior Bowl
• 2011 Second Team All-SEC
• 2011 Jim Thorpe Award Semifinalist
• 2011 Defensive Team Captain

The 2011 Season is Over

Here's what I learned this year:

• The NFL may be all about crazy passing statistics, but in college football, defense still wins championships. Alabama's defense is one of the best ever.
• LSU may have won if Les Miles takes Jefferson out after the first half. The decision to keep him in killed any chance the Tigers had last night.
• Andrew Luck was the best college quarterback I have ever seen. He did things at the line that Matt Ryan is struggling with now.
• The power conferences are really top heavy right now. And the SEC is still the best. It will only get stronger next fall.
• Teams on the rise for 2012: USC, FSU, Nebraska, Virginia Tech, and Georgia
• Teams on the decline in 2012: Stanford, Baylor, Boise State, and Michigan State
• Tyrann Matheiu is one of the most amazing players I have ever seen. The guy just makes plays. Him and Matt Barkley are the top contenders for the Heisman heading into next year.
• The season started and ended bad for the Dawgs, but beating Tennessee, Florida, Auburn, and Georgia Tech in the same season for the first time since I have been a Georgia fan was awesome.
• Grantham getting Jordan Jenkins to come to Athens is the first chip to fall. More good news coming for Dawg fans in the next couple of weeks.
• Georgia Tech will continue to be no better than an 8-4 team until Paul Johnson realizes that just because he can recruit crappy players that fit his scheme on offense it doesn't mean you can have crappy talent on defense and be successful.
• The person I feel sorry for the most is Marcus Lattimore. The Gamecocks had their best season ever despite his injury. Hopefully he can be back at his old level next year, but unfortunately, I don't think that will happen.
• Texas was once again the most underachieving program in the country. How can a school with unlimited money and an unlimited talent pool with their own freaking television network suck.
• Despite their absolute embarrassment in the Orange Bowl, Clemson will be a force to be reckoned with next year. They were very young on both sides of the ball this year and the only real challenge in the ACC is FSU.
• This was not the year for kickers, especially in bowl games.
  
• Florida will still not be Florida next year. They may be better than 6-6, but they won't win the East.
• James Franklin did a great job at Vanderbilt but he is a dick. I hope they get destroyed in every game next year.

Friday's Quick Thoughts

Here's a few things on my mind this week:

The loss to Michigan State signifies to me that we have become the benchmark for programs on the rise. If you want to become a national player, you must first lose a game to Georgia. You program will have reached elite level once you can come back and beat the Dawgs a few years later. If you don't believe me, think about this.

• In 2005, Georgia crushed an up and coming Boise State program. Over the next few years, Boise State played in two BCS games and had a Heisman trophy finalist. When they faced the Dawgs again in 2011, they defeated them and went onto another 12-1 season that ended with a bowl victory.
• In 2007, Georgia defeated an up and coming Oklahoma State team. The Cowboys would continue to get better under Coach Mike Gundy and defeated the Bulldogs at home to open the 2009 season. In 2011, OSU won the Big XII, just missed playing for the MNC, won a BCS bowl, and will finish either 2nd or 3rd in the nation.
• In 2009, Georgia defeated Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl following the 2008 season. With quarterback Kirk Cousins, Michigan State would win a share of the Big Ten title in 2010 and play in the first Big Ten championship game in 2011. They came back to beat the Dawgs in the Outback Bowl on Monday.

Bowl season has been pretty good this year (with the exception of the Georgia loss). And for once, my bowl picks are doing really well.

Monday night it will be LSU's insane depth and big plays against Alabama's excellence in all phases of the game. I'm still leaning LSU in this one, despite most people appearing to pick Bama.

Recruiting will work itself out over the next few weeks. Georgia will sign between 20 and 25 kids, but most of them will not make much of an impact in 2012...unless we have a bunch of players leave early.

Crowell was hurt, what a surprise. The opportunity is there for Keith Marshall to play right away. If he is impressive at G-Day and the Dawgs pick up some other commits, the running back competition will be the thing to watch this summer.

I will miss Brandon Boykin. God, he was fun to watch. Few players do the fantastic things he can do on the field without being cocky and stuck up. Boykin was a pure class act that I think most people unappreciated. Good luck in the NFL!

Look at what AJ Green did in the NFL this year. Can you imagine if he had stayed?!?

Tennessee football is a mess. I can't see them winning more than 2 games in the SEC next fall.

ACC football is horrible. That is all.

Well, that sucked

It was a great season with a horrible beginning and a tough ending. But those 10 games in the middle were great. We should have won yesterday.

Too bad our former All-American kicker lost his head this year. The O-line was horrible and Murray looked off. Crowell got hurt, John Jenkins go hurt, and Mike Gillard and Deangelo Tyson didn't play. And we still should have won.

Let's also give credit to Michigan State. They were a veteran team with a senior quarterback who made plays in the end. They were a very good football team. But we still should have won.

But we didn't. That's football. The team is heading in the right direction. From 6-7 to 10-4 is pretty impressive. The 4 teams we lost to this year have a combined 5 losses (and can finish with no more than 6).

It was a sucky way to end the season, but it was a lot of fun getting there.

The 2011 UnDawgs

As was highly visible in the media last off-season, a number of Georgia players left the team either by choice or because they were forced before completing their eligibility in Athens. Today, I take a look at what a few of those players did during the 2011 season instead of playing ball between the hedges.

Washuan Ealey, Running Back

Rumors ran wild during the spring that Waushan Ealey was going to leave the Georgia program for Georgia Southern. But after Ealey officially left the program, Southern coach Jeff Monken publicly stated that Ealey would not be coming to Statesboro. Ealey followed in the footsteps of former LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux and ended up at Jacksonville State University. Wearing #7, Ealey helped solidify a Gamecock rushing attack that led them to a 7-4 record. Ealey had a very good junior year, leading the team with 1082 yards (6.1 yards per carry) and 8 touchdowns. He added 126 yards receiving and one touchdown, giving him 1,200 yards in total offense for the year. Ealey even had a solid game against SEC foe Kentucky. Returning to the site of his 5 touchdown performance in 2010, he rushed for 120 yards on only 16 carries in the 38-14 loss.

Marcus Dowtin, Linebacker

Marcus Dowtin, who would have been a senior for the Dawgs this fall, left the program in January and transferred to play for Terry Bowden at North Alabama. Dowtin was arguably the best player on defense for the Lions this fall. He was named Gulf South Conference player of the week after his first game against Central Oklahoma. He had 9 tackles, forced a fumble, and returned an interception 23 yards. He lead the team with 115 total tackles on the year, including 9 for a loss, 4 sacks, and one interception. Along with former Florida star Janoris Jenkins, the Lions defense helped lead them to a 9-3 record this fall.

Brent Benedict, Offensvie Tackle

Benedict transferred from Georgia to Virginia Tech and sat out the 2011 season because of NCAA transfer rules. Benedict never played a down at Georgia because of a knee injury, but it sure would have been nice to have him on the two deep.

Zach Mettenberger, Quarterback

Many expected Mettenberger to challenge for playing time at LSU this fall, but a solid early season from Jarrett Lee prevented him from seeing the field much. When Jordan Jefferson returned and took back the starter's job, Mettenberger fell to third on the depth chart. LSU will play for the national championship, but Mettenberger had little to do with it. For the season, he completed 8 of 11 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown. He will most likely be the starter in Baton Rouge next fall.

Caleb King, Running Back

King was declared academically ineligible during the summer, ending his underwhelming Georgia career. He entered the 2011 NFL supplemental draft but was not taken. He signed a free agent contract with the Minnesota Vikings and has remained on their practice squad all season.


The list of others includes Nick Williams, Jalen Fields, Lonnie Outlaw, Dontavious Jackson, Montez Robinson, Derek Owens, and Chris Little. In all honesty, the only players I wish we still had this fall would have been King, for running back depth and pass protection, and Benedict. The others, it is probably better they were not around.