I seek shelter from the field storm

Welcome to Rise and Grind, a daily series where I start each morning with my thoughts on Georgia football. If you want to start your morning on a good note, wash your face, fire up your coffee maker, and get ready to “Rise and Grind.”

A wave of Ole Miss Fans slowly but surely built up behind this Georgia On Saturday, the Rebels stood on the sidelines as it became clear they would defeat the Dawgs. According to reports, the Bulldogs survived Ole Miss’ two field rushes unscathed – except for the damage done to their pride.

Georgia has been one of the best programs in college football, but on Saturday the Bulldogs felt the opposing fan base take the field after a rare UGA loss. An opposing fan base had not stormed the field since after the win over Georgia LSU in 2019, and that moment became another unwelcome new experience for Dawgs on both sides of the ball.

Georgia nose tackle Nazir Stackhouse didn’t have to worry too much about his safety as the Rebels fans approached. The 6-foot-1, 300-pound defensive lineman described the experience as fun, although it interrupted his usual postgame conversations with opposing players.

“I’m always used to talking to the other team and just saying it’s a good game, this and that, just breaking it down. So it was just hard for me to communicate with some of the guys after they started rushing the field,” Stackhouse said. “The only thing I thought about was just going to the locker room. “It’s a good game for them, but you know how the fans are and that’s why you have to hurry up and go to the locker room to get in To be safe.”

Even the drunkest Ole Miss fan would know better than to try out Stackhouse after the game. The same can’t be said for some of Stackhouse’s teammates, who managed to get back to the locker room safely.

Georgia quarterback Carson Beck He explained that as fans overtook the field, people crowded around him to protect him, which Beck appreciated. Security Malaki Starks wasn’t so lucky, as he said a few people ran into him when chaos broke out at Vaught Hemingway Stadium.

When all was said and done, Starks was fine, but it was clear that the field storm left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“It sucks, man. It sucks being on the other side. It really is,” Starks said. “It’s something you never want to feel again – I never want to feel again. And like I said, we just have to get back to work and get better across the board.”

Georgia didn’t make enough plays against Ole Miss, and with one of the Rebels’ biggest wins in the program’s modern history came a celebration that the Bulldogs did their best not to be a part of. Multiple Bulldogs sounded like they would do their utmost to not experience something like that again and one can be sure that these players will push themselves to the limit to make that happen.