Bama @ UGA - shock the monkey!

It's a BIG week. And it's past time, so let's dig in.

Peter Gabriel's early 1980s hit song has many interpretations. It comes to mind as I write this post because I've always interpreted the monkey as not literal, but figurative. Metaphorical.

The song is about jealousy. Again, my interpretation. But I'm wedging it into this post because this series between Georgia and Alabama is also currently rooted in jealousy. Is it time to "get the monkey off our collective back"? Sure. But it's more than that.

Lemme explain. And let's start with a question. Is UGA now the premiere SEC football program? We can make an argument for the yes column. But it comes with caveats - that's partially due to the Alabama coaching change. And oh, also...Have we beaten them in Sanford? No, like recently?

Nope. The last time we beat Alabama in Athens I was a new dad to my now 24 year old. iPhones were not only absent from shelves, the phones we could carry in pockets were not Smart.

Meanwhile they've got wins against us in five different cities. This series (at least recently) is so jacked up, I can make two seemingly dichotomous statements that are both true:

1. In the modern era...let's says since 1980, Coach Mark Richt has been our most successful coach again the Tide. Yes, you are correct: He had an early win against both Franchione and Shula to prop that statement up on...
2. ...but I digress. It was Richt's 2015 loss to the Tide that was the beginning to his end.

Weird, right? Then again it's college football. It's SEC football.

Former Bama head dude and current Gamecock OC.
Lifetime loser to Georgia

Since 1984, we've gone 6-13 against the gumps. Our last home win was in 2003. We beat them on the national stage in Indy, so are we jealous of them as a program? I'd say probably not. Not anymore. But a rebuttal brings up two years of home games - 2008 and of course, 2015.

Not only bad losses, but two of the worst in program history.

"Overrated! OVERRATED!" - chants from the visitors in '08

"Dressing for their own funeral." - Scott Cochran in the lead up to our funeral in '15

These days are different. We fired Richt and got our guy in Kirby Smart. Bama fans lost their guy in Saban to retirement and as a result, carry a lot more envy than Dawg fans do. 

But that needs to play out on the field. That's something that didn't happen last year in Tuscaloosa, and it didn't the year prior in Saban's swan song in Atlanta. Saban (with and without Kirby) owned us, and now Kalen DeBoer is stating his case. Shock the monkey to life is what I say. No one would really be surprised when/if we win Saturday night. But it'd be nice to prove to those knuckle draggers that there's a new king in the South. 

Am I jealous of the Alabama football program? I would answer a lot less today than a few years ago. What would make my answer more definitive? A win Saturday night 'tween the hedges! Go Dawgs!