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4 characteristics of greatness
Bob Kenerly, Craig Meeks, Clay McElroy,
Marcus Simmons
Connection
Georgia fans use different approaches to
travels to LA and national title game
BY MURRAY POOLE
Connection.
Not only was there a special
bonding and trust within the
ranks of the Georgia players and
coaching staff this past football season, one
of the key ingredients that enabled Kirby
Smart’s Bulldogs to become the first team of
the College Football Playoff era to win backto-back
national championships, as well as
an SEC title, but the Georgia fanbase has a
special connection of its own. Both with its
football team and with fellow Bulldog fans
as well.
Said UGA president Jere Morehead
when speaking at the recent national
championship celebration at Sanford
Stadium/Dooley Field: “And to our incredible
fans, our fans are the best fans in college
football, period! You are loyal, you are loud
and the passion that you bring gives our
team a home field advantage everywhere
they go … every weekend no matter where
they play! Thank you so much!”
Smart also praised the Georgia faithful
while pointing out his team has earned the
rabid support of the Bulldog Nation.
“These fans, they turn out all the time,”
Smart said. “They travel all over the country.
But you don’t inherit that. You work for it,
you earn it. And that’s what this team did
over the last year. They earned every single
victory over the last year. It was hard and it
was tough.”
And the Georgia fans certainly took over
opposing stadiums all season, to watch the
Bulldogs click to the program’s first-ever
15-0 record and the CFP championship.
Three times this past fall, they packed
Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, watching
the Bulldogs smack Oregon in the season
opener, beat down LSU in the SEC
Championship game and then capture the
dynamic 42-41 win over Ohio State in the
Peach Bowl CFP semifinals.
And once the victory over the Buckeyes
had been secured, the Georgia fanbase set
its sights on the National Championship
game, set for January 9 at SoFi Stadium in
Los Angeles.
By plane, train, automobile and boat –
well, maybe not boat – the Red and Black
contingent descended on the Left Coast
and the City of Angels. And many took very
unique approaches to get to LA. Here, we
present three different ways some Bulldogs
fans found their way to the championship
game.
The Longest LA Road Trip -
4 Horseman (Athens to LA in a mini-van)
As soon as Ohio State’s 50-yard field
goal attempt sailed wide left at the
stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve in
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, thus preserving
Georgia’s comeback CFP semifinal win
over the Buckeyes, the Bulldogs’ fanbase,
as mentioned, began looking toward Los
Angeles and the national championship
game against TCU.
Bob Kenerly
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 32 2022 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS EDITION