Day of the Banner, Helios, 49th of Hagwinter, 524 M.E.

This one's from the Sports Desk, as you'll soon see. The No. 5-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, after beating in-state rival Georgia Tech last weekend in an epic, eight-OT game, won another nail-biter of a game tonight, this time against the No. 2-ranked Texas Longhorns for the SEC championship. Tonight's game also went into overtime, the first SEC title game ever to go into OT, though fortunately for my blood pressure, only for one overtime period but still another classic for the books.

A bit of background: Georgia fans still bitterly remember the 2017 and 2018 seasons, when we lost two crucial games to Alabama. In 2017, we lost to Alabama, 26-23 (OT), in the National Championship game after the Tide switched QB Jalen Hurts for then-unknown Tua Tagovailo. Our next chance to play Alabama and avenge the loss came in the 2018 SEC title game, but then 'Bama switched QBs again, this time putting Hurts back in for Tua. Georgia lost, 35-28, and a dispirited Bulldog team, expecting all season to play for the national title, lost their bowl game to Texas, 28-21, after several seniors opted out of the game. 

But just the concept of replacing QBs mid-game still haunts Georgia, while Texas preened and strutted like they were the better team. That latter thought was dispelled when Georgia beat then No. 3 Texas, 30-15, earlier this season, on Texas' home field in Austin.              

Texas joined the SEC this season, and entered today's SEC title game ranked No. 2 in the nation, ahead of No. 5 Georgia despite their earlier loss to the Dawgs. With Texas leading 6-3, Georgia QB Carson Beck was injured on the final play of the first half after getting hit on the arm on an incomplete pass and had to leave the game. Backup QB Gunner Stockton started the second half as Beck watched from the sidelines. This was a blow to Georgia, as Carson had led the team the past two seasons, but the Bulldogs and their fans rallied to support his replacement. This was our chance to beat a team in a crucial match by replacing QBs mid-game. 

Stockton drove the Bulldogs down the field for the first TD of the game, giving Georgia a 13-6 lead. The Longhorns made a 41-yard TD to tie the game at 13-all early in the fourth and the two teams then traded FGs. The game went into OT tied at 16, our second consecutive OT game, with nightmarish memories of last week's 8-OT slog-fest still on our minds and aching in the players' bones. 

The Bulldogs held Texas to a field goal on the first overtime possession. When the Dawgs got the ball, Stockton ran for the goal line but took a hit that looked like targeting, but was ruled to be clean, that knocked the helmet off his head. By college football rules, Stockton had to sit out one play because of the helmet (more of a penalty on the victim than the perpetrator, IMO) and Beck came on the field, his limp right arm dangling loosely at his side. That's right, the Bulldogs had to replace the replacement QB, and did it with an injured player. But Beck took one snap and handed the ball to running back Trevor Etienne - touchdown, Georgia. The Bulldogs won the game and the SEC Championship, beating an over-ranked Texas team a second time this season and dispelling their replacement-QB anxiety. 

The Bulldogs improve to 11-2 and are now winners of two of the past three SEC Championships, two of the past three National Championships, and 56 of their past 59 games, including a record 31 straight home games. They've won 11 of their last 13 bowl games and during that stretch produced ten consensus All-Americans. Head coach Kirby Smart is three-time SEC Coach of the Year, the fastest coach to make it to 100 wins in NCAA history, and one of only three active head coaches in CFB to have won a national title.

Texas, who squeaked into the SEC title game without having played Alabama, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Missouri, or South Carolina, are 0-2 this season against Georgia and 10-0 against teams that aren't Georgia.

The best news for Georgia is that with the conference title, the Bulldogs get a bye next week in the first round of playoffs and a chance to heal up (in addition to Beck, both our first-string punt kicker and place holder were injured too). We'll have to wait until tomorrow's final Selection Committee rankings to see how the Dawgs are seeded and who they'll likely face in the playoffs.

This is the penultimate day of my Rohatsu practice period and I intended to devote several hours to sitting meditation today. The Bulldog's nearly four-hour game and my additional one hour to decompress afterwards cut deeply into my sitting time, but I still managed to get in 3¾ hours (225 minutes) today.