Throwback Dawg Day: UGA Adds Ganus As UAB Ceases Program

The 2015 season at Georgia was one unlike any other.

Through the official stories and ones that have details that remain unconfirmed, it was a year that will never be forgotten.

Yes, there was the hanging of half-a-hundred points on the Head Ball Coach just before he retired. There were also unsettling losses to Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama as well as the embarrassment of needing overtime to beat Georgia Southern.

In the midst of all that, there was one of the better feel-good stories in Georgia history that ties into this Saturday’s matchup against UAB - Jake Ganus.

In December of 2014, UAB dropped the bombshell that the football program was being discontinued. Obviously, that decision was later rescinded as the program is now restarted.

But at the time, the Blazers had a roster of players needing a place to play, For leading tackler Jake Ganus, that place ended up being Georgia, and he’d go on as a senior transfer to be Georgia’s top linebacker as well as one of the best on the defense.

Ganus led the team in tackles with 101 and was tied for second in interceptions with two.

Oh, and he also proposed to his then-girlfriend at the 50-yard line after that win over South Carolina.

Even if it was a 10-3 season that even included a bowl win against Penn State, 2015 produced on-field results that prompted the end of the Mark Richt era in Athens. In that season’s midst, there were players like Ganus who endeared themselves to Georgia fans by never leaving a doubt about what it means to wear the red and black.

And Georgia has UAB to thank for it.

Go Dawgs!