TackyToo Trailer Park

Good morning, y’all. Would waiting almost a month from our last game to the semi-final provide too much of a distraction for our warriors? Would the pounds of food and gallons of glad tidings of the season make our boys soft? Would all of the rat poison being fed to our boys about being a “team of destiny” from the media worm it’s way into our Dawg’s brains and render them incapable of reaching deep just one more time? Would playing the third game of the season in Atlanta in the Mercedes Benz stadium make the boys feel too comfortable, too self-assured?

I did my part. Unable to afford the $1,000 asking price of a ticket I opted to watch the game in section HD in the Tackytoo rec room. I had all of my mojo set right for the game. The Subway sandwiches arrived on time, and truth be told the Grubhub dude sat and watched the first quarter with us. I was dressed to the 9’s in my UGA regalia and Butts the wonder dog was in his favorite spot. All of the good folks gathered around at TackyToo were ready to send the Yankee invaders back across the Ohio River with their tails between their legs. Turns out Buckeyes don’t have tails.

The Dawgs squeaked out a 42-41 win in Atlanta over the Suckeyes of “the” Ohio State University. I don’t know why the inbred iron workers of Ohio have gotten into their heads that they have to preface the name of their college with “the”. We don’t say “The Georgia State University”. To be honest it sounds more like you’re referring to a state prison than a university. That said, the Bucknuts came to play.

We won the toss and elected to kickoff. Things looked good. We finally held them on their possession and then we took over. We marched down the field with their punt only to be held to a field goal attempt, which we miss. Some of us were already Munsoning, the field goal miss puts some of us in a near cardiac state. The OSU boys take over at midfield and promptly drive down for a score. This drive reveals an awful situation with the referees, they aren’t going to call holding.

At this point I realized why the betting points were going down at game time. The “sharps” in Vegas apparently knew that Georgia’s biggest advantage, our defensive line, was going to be a non-factor in the game. Apparently referees from the PAC12 aren’t used to seeing large brutish men steamrolling their way to the quarterback and didn’t realize that similarly brutish men might resort to tackling their opponent to protect their quarterback. We did get it in gear after their kickoff and stormed down field to answer their score. Still, I am beginning to perspire.

About then it seemed like the Gods stopped smiling and Georgia looked befuddled as Stetson threw an interception. Not to let a gift go unanswered, OSU promptly scored and the beloved canines from the Classic City are down 21-7 in what seems like the blink of an eye. Back and forth, both teams exchanging body blows, and knockout punches and we come to the half time down 28-24.

A comfortable deficit to make up from the first half and we get the ball to open the second half with the opportunity to go ahead. We can’t get it done and are forced to punt. Then they score and it’s 35-24 and the people are blurring their vision with all sorts of alcoholic libations. I think that some of the libations even have the federal tax on them. If not for the heroics of Jalen Carter and the defensive line, it could have gotten ugly.

A new attitude seemed to inspire the boys in the fourth quarter. We were down 38 to 24 and just looked like we couldn’t get going. Suddenly Stetson Bennett remembered who he was who he was playing for, and the Bulldogs out score the Bucknuts in the fourth quarter 18 to 3 and go ahead with one minute left 42-41.

One minute is a long time for a good quarterback who can’t be rushed because of the incompetence of the zebras. OSU drives down to attempt a game winning field goal with seconds left and miss. The Gods took a second out of their busy schedules and smiled once again on Bulldog Nation. Here are some highlights:

Offense- Ten different receivers accounted for 398 yards through the air. Stetson’s interception and a couple of judgement errors kept him slinging the ball, 23 of 34 attempts. Five different runners accounted for 135 yards on the ground with Kenny McIntosh getting the lion’s share of 70 yards. Why run when the pass is working, right?

Defense – Came to play and appeared to get better as the game went on. They were held constantly by the OSU offense but still just allowed 119 yards on the ground. They did give up a whopping 348 yards in the air. To my untrained eye it seemed like everything thrown at our number one corner back was completed, but I’m not calling names. I just hope we’ve got someone better to take his place when he goes off to the NFL

Special teams – Were not a disappointment, and that’s always a blessing. We have got to have absolute concentration in our next outing, or we might be the victims of TCU’s trickeration.

Coaches – Probably one of Kirby’s best games. Calling time out on the fake punt may have saved the game for us. I don’t know how you can coach around a defensive line that’s being held, but hopefully they can come up with something. TCU likes to sling the ball and we’re going to need to get to the quarterback early and often.

The sixth man –Let’s give a big shout out to the Bulldog Nation for bringing the noise to the Benz. We get to do it again against TCU in the finals. Just one more to go! GO DAWGS!