Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt your celebration of this afternoon's outcome by the St. John's River, your commemoration of the achievements of the second-best freshman tailback in University of Georgia history, and your evening of destroying property to bring you the latest glorious edition of the Mark Richt Victory Watch.
The Mark Richt Victory Watch now stands at 67. Not only is Coach Richt just 134 wins away from tying Vince Dooley for the all-time school record, but, with today's win, Mark Richt is one-third of the way to matching Coach Dooley just two-thirds of the way through his seventh season on the job.
At 67-19, Mark Richt has the best record in Bulldog history after 86 games on the job. At the same point in their respective careers, Harry Mehre (52-31-3), Wally Butts (63-21-2), and Vince Dooley (58-24-4) all trailed Coach Richt.
How big was this win? My father called me at the end of the second quarter. My brother-in-law called me at the end of the fourth quarter. My wife, who took our son out to the "trunk or treat" at our church, had me call her with the result as soon as the game was done. In the words of Leo McGarry, "It ain't nothing but a family thing."
My brother-in-law pointed out that this was the biggest win of the Mark Richt era that did not directly bring the Bulldogs a division or conference championship, and he was right. More to the point, the sun rose on Bulldog Nation this morning with Georgia having lost 15 out of 17 to the hated Gators.
The sun set on Bulldog Nation this evening with the Red and Black having gone 2-2 against the Orange and Blue in the last four series meetings after Georgia claimed the first win by a double-digit margin posted by either team in Jacksonville since 2001.
Go 'Dawgs!