Just Got Back From Athens -- Some Thoughts

 

 

Never seen anything like I experienced last night in Notre Dame's 23 - 17 loss to Georgia at Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium.  Click on the photos above to enlarge.

• It was a "black out" -- but, it looked more like a RED OUT!
• There were red and black tents, tablecloths and chairs -- on every square inch of green grass on campus.  They don't have any parking lots around the Stadium -- so the tailgating is on campus grounds...
• The noise was beyond anything I've ever heard before.  I thought Miami 2017 was loud -- this was at another level.
• The Georgia student section -- world-class!  A little like Oakland's "Black Hole..."
• Don't know how we ever got any snap off in sync.
• First time I ever saw a football stadium turn into a night club -- the light show was impressive and effective -- pre-game and prior to 4th quarter!  The top photo, that's the start of the fourth quarter light show -- a first for Georgia...
• The Georgia home field advantage -- is incredible.
• The campus is very nice -- and very hilly.
• The fans treated us very nicely -- now, if we had pulled the game out -- not so sure...   
• The Georgia fan base did not sell their tickets to Notre Dame fans   
• I was sitting with Tim Brown and Jerome Bettis at half-time on the Notre Dame bench when the Georgia "Red Coats" Marching Band -- marched directly at us on the sideline.  See the photo of Jerome and Tim's reaction seeing the band charging at us -- that's me on the left:  
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Now, on to what I saw on the field;

• We miss quickness and speed at the running back spot
• Georgia's speed at every position (but OL and QB) -- is scary!
• Not sure what percentage of Georgia's starting line-up is "home grown" in the Peach State -- but, when they announced their starting line-up, it seemed like every player grew up in Georgia.
• I stood on the sideline for half of the game -- the hitting was intense
• Our kicking game -- solid
• We need to find a running game in big games like this...
• Dropped passes hurt us in the 1st half
• And, the penalties -- when I saw the officials come out onto the field with their SEC sweaters -- I knew we were in for a long day
• The Georgia fan base thought they were going to destroy us -- we earned their respect...
• Impressed we didn't cave -- in that environment, it would have been easy too!
• Georgia's home field advantage is at least 14 points -- it's a really tough environment to play in...

Need to beat Virginia!