View From the Cheap Seats

Ok, so our seats were actually 80 bucks apiece, but we were literally 6 rows from the top of the entire stadium. I was quite certain I could see the Statue of Liberty from our perch. Anyway, I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

OTR is getting its first ever road trip diary, as I made the trip to Columbia, SC to see No.2 Georgia take on South Carolina. Along with three friends, we drove up Saturday morning and returned Saturday night. In between was pretty interesting.

The day started at about 6:30 when Pesci, Dice, and Lav of 2 Guys, 1 Blog hit the road. I wish I could tell you some crazy story about the drive up. Unfortunately, it wasn't anything special. We got into Columbia (without traffic) by about 9:30. We took up location in a grass "parking lot" next to some railroad tracks. We met up with Pesci's friends and set up our tailgate with them.

The rest of the morning took a sharp turn towards hazytown when I started drinking Jack and Coke. Shortly after, Pesci's friends began pouring Jaeger Bombs and things really got nutty. However, the highlight had to be when Pesci's larger friend went straight through a tailgating chair. Or it could have been when we met Mike "Big Dawg" Woods, the legendary Georgia fan who paints a Bulldog on his bald dome each week.

It should also be noted that we tailgated right next to Sir Big Spur, USC's live rooster mascot. Why they keep him a mile away from the stadium, I'll never know. The plush RV that he arrived in had a loudspeaker on top. That loudspeaker quickly became enemy No.1, as it constantly blared USC's fight songs but sounding like the polyphonic ring tones on old cell phones. Even the South Carolina fans nearby weren't amused.

I forgot to mention, and this is important, it was roughly 342 degrees in Columbia for this one. We're talking surface-of-the-sun hot. It didn't take too much alcohol to get us drunk. Yet, we drank plenty.

We finally decided to go to the game around 2:30, giving us an hour before gametime. Upon arriving in the stadium, we realized that the stadium staff was about the least helpful group of people in history. We had seats in the upper level. We arrived on the lower level. Getting from one place to the other was like trying to find Atlantis. After walking back and forth for about a half hour, we reached our afformentioned seats.

We tried to seek shade beneath the light standards at the top of the stadium. Not very helpful. As game time drew closer, we grew anxious to see South Carolina's famed "2001" intro when the team takes the field. When that moment finally arrived, it was terribly disappointing. The USC crowd was ominously quiet, like they expected a beating after last week's loss to Vandy. I had heard Williams-Brice was one of the loudest stadiums in the SEC. I was lied to. To make the intro even less impressive, the team forgot to take the field when the song was over. There was about a 40 second delay before the Cocks finally emerged from the tunnel.

As for the game itself...ugly. South Carolina's offense's struggles this season have been well-documented. Well, they're as bad as advertised. Chris Smelley isn't good to begin with and he has no weapons to help him. Kenny McKinley was his best option, and he didnt play against the Bulldogs. What was only somewhat expected, however, is how much Georgia's offense struggled.

Knowshon Moreno ran hard and managed to collect 79 yards and a touchdown despite limited running room. Stafford, wasn't particularly sharp, however he didn't make any key mistakes.

All in all, the highlight of the first quarter had to be when the officiating crew, who would later prove to be maddeningly inept, called both pass interference and a block in the back on the same play. They then proceeded to call the penalties offsetting and ordered the down to be replayed. Using this logic, if I got arrested for public drunkeness, but then punched out the cop, I would be let free without penalty. At this point, I seriously considered jumping off the upper deck. Luckily, sanity found its way back into the stadium and the call was reversed.

The Cocks found their only offense of the game when Smelley hit Moe Brown for a touchdown pass in the second. Georgia added another field goal just before halftime to make it 7-6.

Halftime saw a mass exodus from our section to find drinks. I quickly downed a bottle of Dasani in about 48 seconds.

Moreno scored on a beautiful run in the third to give the Dawgs the eventual game-winning score. Rennie Curran would force a Mike Davis fumble at the goal line, which was recovered by Asher Allen. Reshad Jones intercepted a Smelley pass with under 20 seconds to go as the Gamecocks were driving to tie the game. As usual, Georgia barely escaped with a victory against Spurrier and the Cocks.

The most impressive play I saw came from a very unlikely source. Punter Brian Mimbs punted the absolute stuffing out of the football for a 77-yard bomb. After Davis' fumble, the Dawgs went 3-and-out and were stuck inside their own 20. Mimbs launched it over returner Captain Munnerlyn's head were it rolled deep into Carolina territory. Mimbs may be investigated for HGH.

We also saw Richt line up Moreno at quarterback and Stafford at receiver. Most would want to call this the "Wild Dog" formation, in reference to Arkansas' formation with Darren McFadden in Moreno's spot. However, I'm more partial to the "Garden State" formation in honor of Moreno's home state. No word on whether Garden State and Scrubs star Zach Braff was in attendance to witness the formation's unveiling. I did smell Appletinis.

So Georgia escaped, causing Spurrier to throw a tantrum like a 5-year-old whose mommy wouldn't buy him a power ranger.

Spurrier deflected some blame to his players, per protocol. Georgia didn't look like the second best team in the country, but every team has a game like this. Maybe the Dawgs got this one out of their system before they head to Arizona State next week. I think the defense played pretty well, but there were still entirely too many penalties (11 for 110 yards). That has to get straightened out.

The trip was a blast. The tailgating experience in Columbia is much different from Athens, but it was pretty fun. Next weekend is a little fiesta at my place for the Arizona State game.

I'll be back tomorrow to talk about the rest of this weekend's action. Take it easy everyone!