TAMPA, Fla. - On the first play of the last game David Greene ever wore a Georgia uniform, the winningest quarterback in collegiate history became the most prolific passer in Southeastern Conference history.
On his last play in the last game David Pollack ever wore a Georgia uniform, the most decorated defensive player in Bulldogs history bookended the signature play of his career with another quarterback striptease.
Outback Bowl over. Georgia wins 10 again. Legacy cemented.
"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it's happened," said Pollack as an MVP parting shot.
Tribute over. What's next?
It's really not too soon to ask. Georgia's identity for as long as coach Mark Richt has been around walked off the field at Raymond James Stadium on New Year's Day wearing Nos. 14 and 47. With the Davids gone, can Georgia still be a Goliath? And what if junior defensive studs Thomas Davis and Odell Thurman join senior receivers Fred Gibson and Reggie Brown in the NFL Draft?
What then?
"Everything is going to come together," said Gibson of the 2005 Bulldogs who will go on without them. "Just like when Peyton Manning was at Tennessee and Tee Martin the next year led that team (to a national championship). It's the same thing. Mark my words. It's gonna happen."
Nothing like making a bold guarantee on your way out the door. But it's not a bad analogy at all. After all, it was Manning's Southeastern Conference yardage record that Greene surpassed with a 31-yard completion to tight end Leonard Pope on the first play of the game. It was Manning whose departure after 1997 left Tennessee fans wondering if the window had closed on the Vols' national title hopes.
Who's to say D.J. Shockley can't be another Tee Martin or that a revamped rush-oriented offense might not deliver the ultimate prize that these accomplished Bulldogs couldn't?
"We need to learn from the legacy that they left and keep it going," said freshman running back Thomas Brown.
While Bulldogs fans came to Tampa, Fla., to pay homage to six scholarship seniors who leave behind the second-best era in Georgia's proud football history, Saturday marked a beginning as well as an end. A new generation of Georgia players will try to do what the post-Herschel Walker classes could not - sustain excellence.
Fitting, maybe, that the outcome of this Outback Bowl was left in Brown's hands. The young tailback who fumbled and tipped away an interception in the first half showed his mettle on the game's clinching drive. Wisconsin had just negated Pollack's crowning turnover and blunted Greene's proud exit with an interception return for a touchdown to make it 24-21 with 4:13 remaining.
Brown subsequently salted it away with 49 of his 111 yards on six bruising carries. His effort to set up a fourth-and-short gave Richt the nerve to give it back to his freshman and settle the matter once and for all.
"Thomas Brown's effort and ability was really the difference in being able to finish that game the way we did," Richt said.
Next year's offense should look very different. It needs to. Shockley adds an elusive element at quarterback that Greene did not. Three sophomore running backs - Brown, Danny Ware and Kregg Lumpkin - will require a new scheme to fully benefit from their talents.
If you were the offensive coordinator, how would you use the new talent?
"I would definitely use the same script the Auburn Tigers used this season," Davis said of the two-headed rushing game Auburn employed so well. "I feel we have the same caliber of backs in the backfield with Danny, Thomas and Kregg coming back."
First Tennessee, now Auburn. You get a distinct feeling these Bulldogs recognize blueprints for turning unfulfilled dreams into perfection.
Perfection is the one thing this Bulldogs class was missing. Three straight seasons of 10 wins or more is admirable, but it's nothing these Bulldogs take complete satisfaction in. Try as Richt might to dress it up, everyone knows this was the wrong bowl on the wrong day in the wrong part of Florida.
It wasn't the best, just the best Georgia could do.
"It wasn't a perfect season," Richt said of a team that entered with national championship expectations and left with something less. "We're still looking for perfection. But you can't say a 10-win season was anything but great."
Actually, coach, you can. Beating Tennessee might have made it great. Playing for a third straight SEC title might have made it great. Tuning up a couple more days before the Orange or Sugar bowls might have made it great.
Certainly Saturday's Outback Bowl will not be remembered as anything great. A beauty it was not.
In the end, only the result mattered - and not really all that much. Georgia won another game but lost its identity.
Happy New Year? The Bulldogs will find out soon enough.
Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com
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