Link to Article on The Red & Black
Olivia Sayer
The University of Georgia football team leads the University of Tennessee 24-6 after the first half at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia, on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. (Photo/Jessica Gratigny; @jgratphoto)
It was the talk of the town.
The anticipation began on Friday, when the SEC Network trucks pulled into the front lawn outside of the University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries. Although they were up the hill, one could make out the faces of Paul Finebaum, Laura Rutledge, Jordan Rodgers and others, as they played corn hole, ate hot dogs and talked SEC football.
On the other side of campus, students lined the fence outside of the College GameDay set, aiming to be in the background of The Pat McAfee Show — before it was a cool thing to do. It was there that McAfee learned the “What’s that coming down the track” chant he infamously used a year later at the SEC Championship to turn Georgia fans against him.
All the publicity warranted what was looming. Tennessee, who was ranked No. 1 in the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history, was coming to Athens. And this season, the team actually had the chance of leaving victorious.
Saturday began with students camping out at Myers Quad soon after the clock struck midnight. Nine hours later, Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and McAfee took their positions, and in front of a sea of red and black, all picked Tennessee.
To say Athens was fired up for the game would be an understatement. Students crowded the gate on Reed Plaza four hours before kickoff and came up with creative ways — including Geometry Dash, chanting and heckling those that wore opposing colors — to entertain themselves.
Once inside of the stadium, it was a mad rush to the student sections, as everyone waited eagerly for the game to begin.
The same level of excitement will not be as prevalent when Tennessee comes to Athens this Saturday, but it will be close. The former eastern division rivals are playing in what will be an elimination game for Georgia, who sits at 7-2 after a 28-10 loss to Ole Miss. Should the Bulldogs suffer their second consecutive loss, they would presumably be knocked out of the 12-team playoff.
Georgia actually fumbled on its opening drive in 2022, contrary to the “blowout, demolition-like football” many remember the game to be. Tennessee was in prime position to go up early on the Bulldogs, but two false starts limited the Volunteers to just a field goal.
The 92,746 in attendance took all of the doubt and slights against Sanford Stadium’s game day atmosphere personally. Fans delivered, causing seven false start penalties with noise levels that reached 132.6 decibels, according to the scoreboard. The mentality carried over to the players.
“I think everybody was mad,” former quarterback Stetson Bennett said on the “Unreserved with TJ Callaway” podcast. “The fans were mad. I mean, I know the team was mad. It was like the audacity of the Tennessee Volunteers to be ranked No. 1.”
Bennett had a valid reason to be irritated, as a Tennessee fan leaked his phone number the night before the game. Bennett said he received 600-700 calls, in addition to other text messages. He did not return any of them but celebrated his 13-yard touchdown run in the first quarter with a gesture that mimicked a phone call.
“I was like, ‘If I score — and I’ve got to score, I can’t throw it and then do it. I’ve got to run a touchdown in — I’m going to do the [celebration],” Bennett said. “And then we scored, and I did it, and I felt really cool.”
As the game progressed, the sky turned from light blue to pitch black with precipitation beginning to fall. However, as the rain increased, so did the electricity of the crowd. Not before long, “overrated” chants hailed from a rain-soaked crowd, as Georgia defeated Tennessee 27-13.
“I’ve never seen our fans not leave the stadium like that, even when it rained,” Kirby Smart, said after the game “Our fans were elite today.”