'Dog-gone' good time

• By SCOTT HOTARD
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Oct 26, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Knowshon Moreno was in no rush.

Teammates flooded into the tunnel on the visitors’ side of Tiger Stadium, Georgia’s 52-38 victory over LSU in the books. Coach Mark Richt zoomed by with a fist raised in the air.

“I don’t want to leave,” Moreno said to no one in particular, his face full of joy and his eyes fixed on the celebrating Georgia fans above him.

One of the most touted running backs in the nation didn’t leave. He located a crease in the sea of teammates and found more well-traveled, red-clad faithful to high-five.

Saturday, it seemed, was LSU’s turn to make a statement. The Tigers had rebounded from their embarrassing 51-21 loss at Florida with a come-from-behind 21-14 victory at South Carolina. Now, with the nation watching, Georgia was coming to town and an LSU win would put the Tigers right back in the BCS championship fold.

But the Bulldogs had other ideas. By game’s end, it was Georgia — not LSU – that had capitalized, its thunderous performance keeping all the team’s goals alive for at least another week.

“Goodness gracious,” Richt said Saturday evening, the first words of his postgame news conference. “What a great ballgame. I’m thrilled for everybody who took this long trip.”

What a trip it has been for Georgia — and its fans. All eight weeks of it.

The Bulldogs began the season atop the national rankings, viewed as the SEC’s latest threat to win the BCS title. They’d finished No. 2 last year, one spot behind LSU in the AP poll.

But they were drubbed by Alabama, 41-30, in their most high-profile matchup of September, a game that shot the Crimson Tide up the rankings and left Georgia in an uphill battle to regain its national status.

The Bulldogs beat Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Fine enough. They’d still failed to make much of an impression on the voters, barely a top 10 team (ranked ninth) entering the weekend.