“I guarantee you we will beat Georgia tomorrow,” said Vanderbilt Food Coach Magic Noori as the football team loaded onto the five busses that would carry them to the game.
Noori is famously optimistic, but he’s no Pollyanna. He’s not naïve to the Herculean task it would take for Bobby Johnson’s unranked Commodores to knock off the No. 16-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. After all, the ‘Dores had not beaten a Top-20 team on the road since the 1950s. And coming off heartbreaking conference losses to Ole Miss and Arkansas, the tealeaves didn’t bode well for the ‘Dores between the fabled hedges in Athens, Ga. But Magic Noori looked as if he knew something I didn’t. He put his hand on my shoulder to pull me toward him.
“I guarantee it,” he said, lowering his voice almost to a whisper.
I thought about this encounter as the caravan of busses made its way down West End. Noori’s words echoed as we passed Antioch and Murfreesboro and Monteagle. Finally, as we crossed over the Tennessee River near South Pittsburgh, I was able to lift myself from the gravity of what he had said.
They would have to play the game of their lives to win, I thought. Besides, this is a guy who dyed his hair gold as a sign of solidarity with the 350 student-athletes he feeds each night. He’s just excited.
Once in Athens, every Dawg-loving fan I met was more than happy to talk football with me, an out-of-the-closet, Black-and-Gold-tie-wearing Commodore fan. Speaking with a UGA sociology professor at a local watering hole, it occurred to me: The Commodores are not even on Georgia fans’ radars. Everybody I met in Athens talked about Jay Cutler and how it’s too bad we don’t have him anymore, implying that with him under center we might … might … be able to compete tomorrow. But without him, well …
I congenially view opposing fans simply as new acquaintances wearing different colors – friendly rivals, not bitter enemies. But the tone often changes when I ask them what would happen if the ‘Dores were to win? It was apparent in Athens that this though was so preposterous … so removed from the realm of possibility, that the fact that I had verbalized such a question seemed like a violation of something sacred. Sometimes they laughed. And in each instance my new acquaintance retreated to the huddle of people dressed more like them. I don’t think they were being rude or smug or anything else for that matter. I think they simply didn’t have an answer. They would have no idea what to do should the Commodores win, and the mere suggestion was an unspeakable Homecoming downer.
With this, my Black-and-Gold tie and I made our way to the other side of campus and beyond. Miles beyond, actually, to where UGA keeps their facilities for their female student-athletes, to where Ronnie Coveleskie and her soccer team would send the signal that all is not well in the world of UGA Homecoming by beating the Lady Dawgs 2-1 in an overtime thriller. I wish I could say that Amy Baumann’s heroic performance somehow lent credence to Magic’s prophecy. But the truth is that I was now focused on fantasy: How sweet would it be for Chris Nickson and his teammates to stun the Dawgs tomorrow?
Then came the game, which beckoned 92,000 Bulldog fans cheer on their beloved Dawgs, some who brought their Homecoming festivities into the stadium with them, and some were still recovering from the night before.
The first two quarters were all Georgia. The Dawgs went into the locker room at halftime with a 13-7 lead and lopsided statistics stacked in their favor: 15 first downs to Vandy’s 6, 271 total offense to Vandy’s 76, and 19:30 time of possession compared to Vandy’s 10:30. But, as the Bulldogs would soon find out, halftime stats don’t mean squat at the end of the day.
The second half began with a recovered fumble by head’s-up freshman Commodore cornerback D.J. Moore on the first play of the second half. Four plays later, Cassen Jackson-Garrison tied the game on a two-yard touchdown. And eventual gameball recipient Bryant Hahnfeldt’s extra-point gave the ‘Dores a 1-point lead.
Nickson later connected with sophomore wide receiver Sean Walker to extend the lead to 21-13. The 35-yard pass was a beauty, over the head of the defender and just within reach of Walker’s outstretched hands.
Of course, even more surprising than the eventual win would be, are the super-sized mistakes the ‘Dores would overcome. Two interceptions almost proved fatal for the Commodores: One occurred in the Vanderbilt end zone, and the other was returned for a Bulldog touchdown to give the Dogs a 1-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. Another was a 5-yard punt upon which the Dawgs failed to capitalize with just over 7 minutes left in the game. Chalk that success up to an outstanding defensive stand that forced Georgia to try a 38-yard field goal attempt, which sailed wide left.
The ‘Dores got the ball back on their own 20 with fewer than 5 minutes left to play to start the eventual game-winning drive. Nickson threw a dramatic bullet to Sean Walker on dramatic 4th-down with little more than 2 minutes, setting up Hahnfeldt’s game-winning field goal.
When the ball tumbled end-over-end through the uprights, 92,000 Georgia fans were stunned into silence, I was proven right: The Red-and-Black fans had no idea what to do after losing to players they had never heard of. They just stood there like a battered boxer waiting for his knees to buckle after a knockout blow. Surely the Georgia sociology professor who only the night before could quote Cutler’s passing records but said he had never heard of Chris Nickson or Bryant Hahnfeldt was among them, standing there in silence with his mouth agape. At least I hoped he was.
Commodore fans, on the other hand, new precisely what to do: They filled the otherwise silent Sanford Stadium with the comforting cadence of the Commodore chant. WHO YA WIT? V-U! WHO YA WIT? V-U! WHO YA WIT? V-U! Finally, the Georgia band that had played with such vigor throughout the game realized what was happening resumed playing if only to drown out the Commodore chants.
But I wasn’t the only one who was right on that sunny October Saturday. My cell phone rang in the press box almost immediately after the game ended. Because missing my deadline to file a post-game story means missing the bus home, I typically don’t answer calls immediately after the game. But this one I had to take.
“Skip, what did I tell you?”
It was Magic Noori, and he wasn’t gloating. He was merely validating that he had called the shot. At this moment, he was Babe Ruth crossing home plate and tipping his hat. And at this moment, so was the Vanderbilt Commodore football team.