Hooray Georgia fans, our men in Red and Black rose to the occasion sending Aubie back to the Plains with another “L” … Bulldogs 31 Tigers 13.

While it was great to notch another home victory in Sanford Stadium, it wasn’t so peachy for our fan base to be called out by Coach Smart after the Auburn victory.

You gotta love Kirby’s passion and his ability to see all the important aspects of being a championship program. With that being said, what say you Bulldog Nation? Are you ready to “Rise Up Sanford” this Saturday versus the Maroon Bulldogs of Mississippi State?

I sure hope so because I think Kirby’s comments were most certainly geared towards the upcoming 4:15 p.m. kickoff. It will be easy to assume that the rebuilding StarkVegas Bulldogs won’t put up much of a fight in Sanford Stadium. However, do that at your own peril because nobody gave Vanderbilt a chance versus Bama this past weekend in Nashville. Little ole’ Vandy did something that us mighty Bulldogs can only hope to happen one of these days. They outplayed the Crimson Tide from the opening whistle and captured the greatest victory in the history of their program.

In my opinion, it doesn’t get any better than a 4:15 p.m. kickoff. You get to enjoy a fun Friday night with friends and family in the greatest college football town in America. And you also have the ability to sleep a few extra hours on Saturday, so you’re ready to roll at kickoff.

So let’s make our head coach and team proud on Saturday … “Rise Up Sanford!”

This issue of BI will certainly get you ready …

Inside you will find almost 90 photos from the Auburn game. Our BI crew was only supposed to take 60 or so, but we hadn’t had a home game in almost a month, so I guess you could say we got a little excessive. Nonetheless, our designer Stacey Nichols made it work since we try to include every photo we take during a football weekend. Thanks Stacey … we will try to hit our mark a little better next week!

Since this is a home game issue, you will also find our Mixtape – Dustin Barrett, Georgia Girl’s – Christina Maher and Proust Q&A – Steven Haugabook features in our Social section. As always, we so appreciate Georgia alums taking the time to participate to ensure that BI is always about both the sports and social side of being a Dawg.

Finally, please don’t miss Jeff Dantzler’s terrific column on page 10. He totally nails it when talking about how sports (and Georgia athletics in particular) is the great unifier. His message is even more heartfelt as his wife Emily has been battling cancer since December of last year. Thankfully, Emily and JD are surrounded by an abundance of family, friends and colleagues who are all working together brilliantly to provide a support system for the fight. However, to have Georgia football/sports as a distraction and respite has been vital. The courageousness I’ve witnessed from both Emily and JD has been tremendous. However for their spirits, I sure am glad King Football is hopefully around all the way to Monday, January 20th.

“Rise Up Sanford” … appreciate your team and make energy on Saturday … Go Dawgs!!