Backing In

There is no such thing as backing in.  So, don't even entertain it from people.  No.  Such.  Thing.  If the Gators beat the Cocks and we go down and beat #3 and undefeated Florida in a stadium and in a series we haven't won 2 in a row in since 1989, and go 11-1, that is not backing in.  That is earning it.  It is what it is sometimes.  You roll with the punches, deal with the schedule, get lucky sometimes and get unlucky sometimes.  We had the most talented team we'd had in years, probably ever in the Mark Richt Era in 2008.  We have Bama and LSU on the schedule instead of Ole Miss and Miss St.  Jeff Owens gets hurt in the opener.  Ellerbe gets hurt in the first quarter against Bama.  We had to show up in Baton Rouge and play lights out to win there…and we did.  We got boat raced the next week.  What if we'd have played in Oxford the week before Jax instead. 

Peyton's 1997 team made it to Atlanta because us and LSU beat Florida.  They hoisted a trophy.  LSU won a train-wreck of a division in 2001…and hoisted a trophy.  You win some, you lose some.  Sometimes you get the schedule breaks, sometimes you don't.  We played amazing vs. Vandy cause we wanted it bad, rolled early vs. UT and left our guts on the field in the 4th qtr.  I look back now and think, "How in the world did I think we could pull off 2 of those in a row."  It's very hard.  Then you have a couple plays go against you and you're down 21-0 in a hornets nest.

UT backed in in 2007 thanks to us beating Tebow, something they never did.  South Carolina backed in with 3 losses in 2010 because everybody else sucked.  Yes, I know they beat all three of UT, UF and UGA.  Still, 3 losses?  That team lost to Kentucky…seriously.  If we go 11-1 and so to the Cocks I'll tip my hat to them.  But if we end up playing in the SECCG, I won't feel a bit dirty.  If you go down the Jax and win that game, any UGA fan in their right mind knows that's earning it.  We're trying to do something that hasn't been done in 23 dadgum years and people are talking about 'backing in.'  Have they lost their minds? 

I kind of get the feeling that this thing is going to great crazy this year.  It just feels that way.  Don't know why.