When Georgia Tech's players arrived at the Emerald Bowl in Las Vegas, they planned to teach upstart University of Utah a few lessons. As it turned out, the Yellow Jackets got schooled.
They got a refresher course on the importance of homework, for example. The Utes were hitting the pads — and the books — for 10 hours a day the week before the game. One player said it was like being in camp again. It was an example of final-exam cramming at its best. Never let it be said gridders aren't good students.
The Techies also learned a little about Shakespeare — all the stuff in "Macbeth" about arrogance and how pride leads to a big fall. The Georgia boys looked down their noses at the Utes before the game, then spent the game looking up. A little English lit tutoring may be in order at G.T. next year.
But most of all, the Utes taught Georgia Tech a few things about the fine art of football. In life, the devil is often in the execution. And the Utes bedeviled the southern school with precision play making and basic fundamentals. The last word in "execute" is "Ute." As an old saying has it, between talking and doing there's a canyon. The Utes didn't talk, they did. Georgia Tech talked, but didn't do.
And that was that.
End of story.
End of season.
But the beginning, one hopes, of a fresh legacy of success at the University of Utah. The notion of "giving your all for the old alma mater" has become a bit passe today. Apparently the Utes didn't get the word. And that attitude among the players and coaches has paid off handsomely, not only for the school but for the state.
The game gave the world a lesson on how underdogs can become overdogs through hard work, heart and force of will.
Nice work.