Georgia Football Has Odd Theme With Atlanta Braves
As if a Braves playoff elimination does not already crush Georgia sports fans enough, recent history has shown the Dawgs will add on to that pain shortly after.
Georgia sports.
Those two words create a bittersweet feeling when they enter the ears of Peach State residents, but more specifically, it means more to those who are a fan of both the Bulldogs and Braves.
Starting with the Braves Wild Card loss in '12, an odd connection between Braves’ playoff losses and Georgia losing their next game has appeared. On October 5th, the Braves lost the NL Wild Card game to the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3. That game included the infamous “Infield Fly Rule” call when shortstop Pete Kozma drifted away from a fly ball in left field. The ball, hit by Braves' shortstop Andrelton Simmons, dropped between Kozma and left fielder Matt Holliday, allowing Simmons to reach first base.
However, left field umpire, Sam Holbrook decided to call an "Infield Fly" on the play, causing Simmons to be out. Instead of having a great chance to come back from the 6-3 deficit, the Braves fell short on that night, and the next day, this “connection” was born.
The #5 Bulldogs traveled to Columbia to take on the 6th ranked Gamecocks, and like the Braves the night before, nothing went the Bulldogs’ way. They headed back to Athens with a 35-7 loss, capping off a heartbreaking 24-hours for Georgia sports fans.
Jake Fromm sacked in Saturday's loss against South Carolina.
Sadly, this was not the last time these two events happened sequentially.
The next season, the 13' Braves won 96 games in the regular season, good enough to win the division. They moved on to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS, but despite the solid regular season, another playoff heartbreak eliminated them from the playoffs.
Five days later, #25 Missouri headed to Athens to battle #7 Georgia. Up to this point, Georgia’s only loss came in Week 1, when the Bulldogs lost to Clemson on the road, 38-35. Despite the early loss, Georgia was still in the driver’s seat in the SEC East, but Missouri was not a fan of that.
The Tigers roared in Athens, defeating Georgia 41-26, handing the Bulldogs their second loss, and essentially eliminating them from National Championship contention.
Eric Stokes Jr. coming in with a tackle against South Carolina.
The Braves failed to make the playoffs again until '18, but the playoff drought didn't break the relationship between the two.
Despite finding regular season success again, the Braves’ '18 campaign ended the same way it did in '13: an NLDS loss to the Dodgers. At this point, there is a new wave of "Baby Braves", and a new breed of Bulldog, but the trend continued.
Five days after the Braves season came to an end, #2 Georgia traveled to Baton Rouge for a meeting with the #13 LSU Tigers. A forgettable day from the Bulldogs resulted in a 36-16 loss and a tough trip home.
Adam Anderson coming in to tackle South Carolina QB, Dakereon Joyner.
By '19, the Braves were poised for a deep playoff run, and the toughest games on Georgia’s schedule seemed to be Notre Dame, Florida, and Auburn. A loss to South Carolina seemed unlikely.
In true Georgia sports fashion, unexpected losses popped up for both teams.
The Braves had dreams of bringing a title back to Atlanta this season, but it was turned into a nightmare during the first inning of NLDS Game 5 against the Cardinals. St. Louis put up 10 runs in the first inning, basically sealing their series victory. This loss was unexpected, disappointing, and truly heartbreaking for the state of Georgia.
Three days later, what happened in Athens was so unexpected that it made the Braves loss seem conventional. The unranked South Carolina Gamecocks rolled into Athens as more than just underdogs - Georgia was favored by more than three touchdowns. For the Gamecocks, that was nothing but a number. Georgia struggled to put points on the board, and at halftime, they trailed the Gamecocks, 17-10.
Despite the ugly first half, most would have still expected Georgia to fix their struggles and come out of the locker room firing.
Nope.
Georgia’s defense had an amazing second half, not giving up any points, but the offense was struggling once again. After only putting up 7 points in the second half, the two SEC East foes entered overtime.
In a very surprising first overtime, zero points were scored. The Gamecocks intercepted Jake Fromm, setting up a golden chance to win the game with a field goal, but missed.
Double overtime.
This time, the Dawgs had a golden chance to win the game. Georgia’s defense held the Gamecocks to a field goal, and a Georgia-touchdown would have ended the game. The offense failed to find the endzone, so Rodrigo Blankenship entered the field for his attempt to send the game to triple overtime.
He missed.
A rare miss from the talented senior out of Marietta resulted in a heartbreak in Athens. The Gamecocks stormed the field, celebrating their 20-17 victory between the hedges.
Rodrigo Blankenship reacting to missed field goal in double-overtime.
After the Braves blowout defeat on Wednesday, the last thing fans expected was to witness an upset in Athens, but this awful trend continued. The last four times the Braves have been eliminated from the playoffs, the Bulldogs have lost their very next game.
This relationship between Braves playoff eliminations and Georgia losses is tough to swallow, but there might be some light at the end of this tunnel.
History shows that when this happens, the Bulldogs tend to defeat the Gators in Jacksonville. In '12, Georgia went south and knocked off the #3 Gators, 17-9. The Bulldogs would also go on to play for an SEC Championship in Atlanta.
The following year, an unranked matchup in Jacksonville saw the Bulldogs leave with a 23-20 victory over the Gators.
Most recently, we saw #7 Georgia go to Jacksonville and defeat #9 Florida, 36-17. The blowout win essentially won the SEC East for the Bulldogs, and they would head to Atlanta again for an SEC Championship.
Of course, this year's edition of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party has not taken place yet, but if history is any indicator, Georgia might be leaving Jacksonville with a victory on November 2nd. Better yet, the Bulldogs could be looking at another shot at an SEC Championship.
