2017 may not have ended with the raising of a championship trophy for the Georgia Bulldogs, but it will never not be special.
It harkened the arrival of what the current level of the Georgia football program is today. For sure, it had plenty of moments that still stand out, and you can probably start some good back and forth conversations at tailgates this fall about which was the favorite.
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Yes, there was the dawg-stomping of Tennessee, Florida, and Georgia Tech. You had the South Bend Takeover and the riveting Rose Bowl win.
Yes, those wins were great and memorable in their own way. But each special season has a moment when you knew something really special was in the works. And that came in another slice of time in the Classic City – that was on Sept. 23 when Georgia absolutely demolished Mississippi State, who entered the game unbeaten.
So many trendy picks coming into this game were leaning on an upset of Georgia. In multiple ways, that logic had some legs, albeit shaky. Georgia did not yet have a reputation of staying on a high level after an emotional win like they had the week before at Notre Dame. Sure, Jake Fromm and Co. had beaten Notre Dame that week before, but could it be enough week-to-week. And then you had Dan Mullen, having elevated Mississippi State and gained notoriety for doing as well as one could at a second-tier program, one that could take down conference heavyweights.
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It took only a few seconds to show that this time…things will be different.
How long? Try less than three minutes, when Jake Fromm’s flea flicker way downfield to Terry Godwin was good for 59 yards, and the route was on as the Dawgs led 14-3 at halftime. If MSU was going to key on the run, it already had second thoughts thanks to that offensive trickery.
On both sides of the ball, the Bizzaro Dogs had no answer for Georgia, which rolled up 404 yards of offense in a 31-3 win with Nick Chubb’s two rushing touchdowns pacing to a 21-3 third-quarter lead, one added to by a 41-yard pass from Fromm to Isaac Nauta in the second half.
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With the win, that night in Sanford Stadium showed that just one signature win would not define Georgia in a football season. It also was the start of showing that MSU had reached a ceiling under Mullen, a team that had progressed but could not get over the hump. 2017 saw State lose four games, three to Georgia, Alabama, and Auburn. Mullen would not escape being tormented by Kirby Smart, however, as he departed Stark Vegas for Florida at season’s end.
Go Dawgs!
