While the Georgia football team wowed Southern, the Human Jukebox wowed Georgia on Saturday.
I had a chance to see the Bayou Classic between Grambling and Southern last year when I spent Thanksgiving in New Orleans with my parents. One of the team’s bands was staying in our hotel, and I still remember my mother asking me, “is this normal?” When it comes to HBCU bands, there is no definition of normal.
Chubb yard check: 31 yards at halftime. This may have been the first time I WANTED the Dawgs to take a knee and run the clock out at the end of the half. I was that eager to watch the show, and The Human Jukebox didn’t disappoint.
As I was walking over to the end zone after halftime, I ran into Mark Fox, and I asked if he planned to “paint up” next Saturday with the Spike Squad like he did for the 2013 LSU game. How ‘bout it, Coach Fox?
Chubb got the rest of his 131 yards in the first two drives of the second half, allowing the Dawgs to play Sony Michel, Keith Marshall and Brendan Douglas the rest of the game. Speaking of Michel, the way he shed Jaguars on the 58 yard TD run = a thing of beauty.
I missed most of the first touchdown drive of the second half because I moved over to the end zone student section to watch the Southern University band up close. It was tough to keep the camera still because we were all dancing. Thank goodness for the stabilizer feature on YouTube.
I got there just in time to see Chubb run it in the end zone from nine yards out. The Southern band played through the kickoff when Southern’s Devon Gales was injured. I don’t think anyone wanted to see that.
Georgia may have won the game, but Southern won the battle of the bands and time of possession (35:35 to 24:25). In the middle of all the hoopla over the Southern band, Chubb’s record-setting day, and the sad circumstances surrounding Devon Gales’ injury, Mark Richt quietly notched his 140th victory to tie Coach Butts for second in wins as Georgia’s coach. Coach Dooley, of course, is No. 1 with 201. Also, Greyson Lambert set another UGA record as he completed 22 straight passes.
I stayed after the game to watch both of our bands, but I only recorded the Southern band. They marched up Sanford Drive to their buses like it was Mardi Gras. And I saw plenty of Mardi Gras parades growing up in New Orleans.
I savor every minute in Sanford Stadium every year since we only have 6 games a year here, and this was No. 3 for the year. My last game of the year in Sanford Stadium will be the Kentucky game since I’ll be out of town for Mizzou and Georgia Southern. First though, Alabama comes in for the fourth home game of the year, and with the Dawgs 4-0. It looks like they shook off the cobwebs after the Ole Miss loss, but I still think we have a lot of work to do this week to beat a good Alabama team that has seen tougher competition than we have thus far.
Sravanthi Meka 