The Morning Memory: Jones’ Scoop & Score Keys Rout of UT

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Doing something once can be framed by your detractors as a flash. But when it happens multiple times in a short span? It becomes a standard of expectation.

That standard was stomped into the ground at Neyland Stadium early in the 2003 Georgia football season when Georgia made it three wins in a row against Tennessee in what ended up being a 41-14 walkover win.

That win was the Bulldogs’ fourth in a row against the Vols, a realization of what was asked upon Mark Richt when he was hired as Georgia’s head coach in December, 2000.

The mandate for the Richt regime was simple – regularly beat Georgia’s rivals – something that cost his predecessor, Jim Donnan his job.

Of course, the ‘blowing the roof off the lid’ moment for Richt came in 2001 with the “Hobnail Boot” game. But believe it or not, there was a time when as Georgia you wondered if UGA could ever beat Tennessee regularly. Before the 2000 field-storming win, one in which UTK’s quarterback situation was in flux, Georgia had lost nine in a row in this series.

But in October 2003, Georgia showed without a doubt that it had ownership of the rivalry against Tennessee. Going into that game itself, you knew this Bulldogs team could be good, but not quite how good. Sure, there was a shutout on the road against Clemson and a physical manhandling of Alabama, but there was also a road loss to LSU to left a sour taste in many minds of the Bulldog nation. Tennessee was also I na similar boat, a 4-1 record after a win against Florida but loss to Auburn.

Oh, and there was plenty of fodder thanks to Casey Clausen, the Tennessee quarterback who lamented the year before that the win by UGA in Athens was impacted by quarterback injuries.

So yes, this rivalry had plenty of juice when it kicked off on Saturday night in prime time.

By the time this game ended, it Georgia had won 41-14, handing Tennessee its worst home loss since 1994 against Florida.

The result may have been one-sided, but not before a close game was absolutely turned on its lid just before halftime. The Bulldogs crept out to 10-o lead, but a 90-yard scoring strike trimmed that advantage to 10-7. And the Vols were on the doorstep of going up 14-10 until….

It wasn’t Larry Munson’s greatest call of all time, but it’s for sure a top ten. For fans who lamented Jamal Lewis heading to Tennessee and taking a “Peach Bowl” cheap shot at Georgia, its still satisifying to hear Munson exclaim, “Jabari fumbled!”

Plus, you know its a great Munson call when he implores someone to, “Run!!”

Without question, Sean Jones’ return, which according to one press-box observer caused loud shouts of frustration from the Tennessee coaches box, snatched the soul out of Neyland Stadium. Tennessee was demoralized, and it showed by how the Dawgs rolled on to a lopsided win. The Neyland crowd? It was also a non-factor – shown by how listless the reaction was when Rocky Top was played to end halftime.

It’s rare that a single play can change a game’s dynamic into blowout. Sean Jones’ scoop and score was one of them.

Go Dawgs!

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