Throwback Dawg Day: Long-Awaited 2002 SEC Glory at the Hogs’ Expense

Throwback Dawg Day: Long-Awaited 2002 SEC Glory at the Hogs’ Expense

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Throwback Dawg Day: Long-Awaited 2002 SEC Glory at the Hogs’ Expense
ATLANTA – DECEMBER 7: Defensive end David Pollack #47 of the University of Georgia Bulldogs holds an SEC sign, prior to the SEC Championship game against the University of Arkansas Razorbacks at the Georgia Dome on December 7, 2002 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Bulldogs defeated the Razorbacks 30-3. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) | Getty Images

It was one of the most satisfying moments of victory Georgia fans had soaked in for quite some time.

But was jubilant as the feeling was, the 2002 SEC Championship win against Arkansas didn’t need any dramatics. That tone was set in the opening minutes by Decory Bryant’s punt, which may have been the loudest the Georgia Dome ever got up until Alec Ogletree’s field-goal block in the 2012 SEC Title Game.

This game didn’t have a nail-biting, blood-pressure spiking finish like Auburn in November of that year, the Hobnail Boot Game or the 1996 win at Auburn, but it was every bit of a coronation, that after sitting and watching the Bulldogs’ rivals raise SEC trophies since the championship game began in 1992, Georgia didn’t just get to Atlanta…but it did so in a large way.

You almost had to pity the Arkansas fans for this one. Remember, this was back when the SEC West winner usually got handled in the SEC Championship game. Arkansas in this era was pretty good…good enough to get to Atlanta but not above the Floridas, Tennessees and in 2002…Georgias of the league.

To say that the demand for tickets for this game was high is an understatement. Obviously, the Georgia allotment didn’t last long. And since this was back pre-Stubhub, myself and a few roommates and friends had the next best plan – call the Arkansas ticket office when they put their tickets on sale. The game may have been a rout, but for Georgia fans who were there, it was definitely a “I was there” game.

The game was basically over as it began. After Bryant’s punt block was recovered at the two-yard line, Musa Smith needed just one play to score, and the next Razorback resulted in a three and out..followed by a 62-yard drive capped by a 17-yard score by Smith. In short, that was the game in a nutshell – Georgia ran right over Arkansas, and Brian VanGorder’s defense shut down anything that the Razorbacks tried to do on offense.

It was a case where Georgia was the superior team, even if it could have been a wider margin of victory, with the Bulldogs added a field-goal on their next three drives to lead 23-0 at halftime before adding a fourth-quarter touchdown from David Greene to Ben Watson.

If you were around the age of UGA students in 2002 and had family who lived through the early 1980s, it was hard not to feel like it was your generation’s moment of glory. You would hear of stories about the 1980-82 era and of Herschel, Erk, the Sugar Bowl and camping out for tickets like I was a story in an old dusty book (some of us had parents with the 1980! book).

On that December night in downtown Atlanta, Bulldog fans felt like they had reached the mountaintop.

Go Dawgs!

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