Mike Berardino

Web posted January 2, 1998

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 Bulldogs notebook
 Georgia trio goes out in style
 `Great Dayne'

TAMPA, Fla. -- Steve Bornstein could have ended it all with one phone call.

Not the beating on the field, just the telecast to a nation full of still-groggy college football fans.

Watching back in New York as Thursday's Outback Bowl unfolded here at Houlihan's Stadium, the chairman of ESPN and ABC Sports had to be tempted to flip open his cell phone. Bornstein is among the many distinguished alumni of the University of Wisconsin -- ranking somewhere behind Donna Shalala and somewhere ahead of Rudy Martzke -- so it had to particularly gall him to see his beloved Badgers getting hacked to bits by Georgia.

And on ESPN, no less.

Wisely, though, Bornstein stayed out of the fray. Like the 56,186 fans who witnessed this execution, he was probably too mesmerized by Mike Bobo and the rest of the Bulldogs to do anything more than watch in silent awe.

The final was 33-6, but it was really much uglier than that.

Georgia's domination was total, overwhelming, undeniable.

Wisconsin's ineptitude was stunning, pathetic, unforgettable.

So much for Ron Dayne, the earth-moving, bowling ball of a back who was supposed to use this game to launch his '98 Heisman campaign. Not-so-great Dayne managed just 36 yards on 14 carries, a 2.6 average.

So much for Aaron Gibson, the 6-foot-7, 370-pound offensive tackle who wears the largest helmet in all of college football. Georgia beat him regularly with slants to the inside and blitzes to the outside.

So much for Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez and his three-game bowl winning streak. That '93 Rose Bowl win seemed light years away.

So much for Bucky the Badger, the school's goofy mascot. With his shirt of red-and-white vertical stripes covering his light brown fur, Bucky looked like a mutant candy cane. This is to say nothing of his noggin, flat and elongated, like a New Age sofa cushion.

On a sunny but chilly afternoon, there was nothing Bucky nor Barry could do to stop Georgia. All they could do was watch as yet another Southeastern Conference club doled out yet another whipping to yet another overrated Big Ten team.

``Their quickness really hurt us,'' said Alvarez, he of the droopy eyelids. ``I'm up here in the cold country. I don't have kids who can run around like that.''

Those kids would rather play in the South. At a place like Georgia, where winning football games again seems as natural as running water.

Thursday's win was Georgia's 10th of the year and 16th in 33 bowl trips. Never before had the Bowl Dogs won so easily.

It was the usual trio of seniors at the forefront of this exhibition. There was Robert Edwards, ripping off long gains and looking like a certain first-rounder. There was Hines Ward, another likely first-rounder, shaking loose for 12 catches. And there was Bobo, laser-precise as he went 26-for-28 and hit 19 straight in a game he easily could have missed.

Together, that wholly unstoppable trinity combined for 531 yards.

``We played with a lot of efficiency,'' said Jim Donnan, who became the fourth Georgia coach to win a bowl game. ``I'm happy for Mike, especially after what happened over the holidays (an arrest for fleeing a crime scene). I think justice prevailed here. He deserved this.''

All the seniors did. They went through a coaching change and losing seasons and widespread doubts. They were mocked and chided and widely dissed. It's to their credit that their college careers would end this way, with an easy bowl victory on New Year's Day.

``Hey, we've still got a long way to go,'' Donnan said. ``I'm not going to stand here and say we were the greatest team ever. We were a good team. We played together, built around each other, fed off each other and did what we had to do to win.''

That's it. A good team. And, as it turned out, Bornstein-proof as well.