Georgia Bulldogs: Hollywood script for SEC Champions

“The inches we need are everywhere around us. They’re in every break of the game. Every minute. Every second. On this team we fight for that inch. On this team we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch. Because we know when we add up all those inches, that will make the difference between winning and losing.” — Coach Tony D’Amato, “Any Given Sunday”

Hollywood has made a killing over the years making sports movies about teams and athletes overcoming obstacles and adversity.

“The Natural” is a picturesque film about overcoming youthful indiscretion and bad decisions. It’s also about love and corruption. And baseball.

“Remember The Titans” is an almost perfect film about tough race relations and how a team can overcome differences by embracing the ties that bind. It’s also about community. And football.

“The Mighty Ducks,” “The Replacements,” “Hoosiers,” “Rudy,” “Rocky,” “Miracle,” “The Karate Kid,” “Friday Night Lights” and “Varsity Blues,” are all iconic sports films worthy of a look. They all involve overcoming adversity.

The Georgia Bulldogs wrote their own Hollywood script in Atlanta on Saturday on their way to winning the 2024 SEC Championship.

We’ve all seen it before. The million-dollar quarterback, dating the model, driving the fast cars, after months of ups and downs and lots of critique, leads his team into the championship game only to get hurt. The “aww shucks” backup, with character cut out of granite and a work ethic comparable to a South Georgia farmer, has to take over and leads the team to an improbable victory. Confetti falls, music plays and stories are written. The end.

We’ve all seen it before, but it was in the movies, mostly. Rarely do we see real life.

Hollywood scripts play out in real time before our collective eyes. In the NFL, you have Jeff Hostetler, Doug Williams and Nick Foles. In college, you have the ridiculous two times Alabama brought in a backup quarterback to defeat Georgia. It doesn’t happen often. For UGA, it happened too often.

This 2024 SEC Championship game was truly a game of inches. Texas missed two field goals by inches. Lawson Luckie made a Brock Bowers-esque catch and was in-bounds by inches. Oscar Delp took a dump off pass and fought through two tacklers for a first down and made it by inches. If any of those things don’t happen, Georgia loses that game.

As for the season, what a story. This team has played worse than any Georgia Bulldogs team since 2020 and found a way to win a conference championship. This team was bruised and battered, and frankly, had played like it the previous few weeks.

In fact, the first half of the championship game was no different. Coach Bobo’s offense was particularly inept, and the defense looked like it was going to give up 300 passing yards across the middle.

Then, in the second half, the fairy dust hit, and the miracle began to unfold. Backup QB Gunner Stockton went 12/16 for 71 yards and one interception. Serviceable, but his legs made a difference picking up first downs on two separate drives. Without either, each drive stalls, Georgia loses this game.

But, they did happen, and the Dawgs won.

Special word for the defense needs to be mentioned. Those dudes bowed that neck and got after it all game long, even though their own offense had them on the field most of the first half. That was a special effort we witnessed. Erk Russell and Larry Munson would’ve been proud.

Next, we have rest for these SEC Champion Georgia Bulldogs. A full three weeks of it.

Time to mend, heal, help and process. They will practice and physical therapy their way to what is a three-game season from here on out.

They will also try to get Gunner Stockton ready to lead this team. If Georgia is able to win a national championship with a backup quarterback, it will go down as coach Kirby Smart’s greatest coaching job to date. The pride of Bainbridge may get a statute in Athens someday, if that happens.

There are other concerns: Can wide receivers learn to catch a ball? Who is going to punt after All-American by way of Australia Brett Thorson got hurt? Can Bobo call a play that scores a touchdown in the first half of any game left?

These things require answers. Those answers will be provided in the coming weeks of practice.

But that’s all in the future. For now, it is OK for us as fans to breathe, relax, repose and regale these 2024 SEC Champion Georgia Bulldogs. This is Smart’s third SEC Championship banner in nine years in Athens. When they hired him, I’m not sure they would’ve written that script any differently.