The Sun Belt saw some serious action on Saturday night. In a matchup reminiscent of the Patriots’ Super Bowl LI win, the Georgia Southern Eagles stunned the Marshall Thundering Herd, overcoming a massive deficit in the final moments of the game.
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The clock was running out. The Eagles just had a little over 6 minutes left in regulation to overcome a 20-point deficit! It seemed a loss was written in their stars.
But they flipped the script as they registered point after unanswered point, blowing past their opponents’ 23-3 lead to win with just one point. Backup quarterback Dexter Williams II became the star of the show as he came on in the fourth quarter and led three touchdown drives to beat Marshall 24-23.
The thrilling game between the SBC East rivals transported us to the fateful night in 2017 when the Falcons seemed the unequivocal winners of Super Bowl LI with their overwhelming 28-3 lead.
Surprising statement considering that was the Super Bowl, and this was a regular season matchup in the SBC of all things.
Moreover, the Falcons’ opponent in 2017 was a Patriots unit led by Tom Brady, arguably the greatest QB of all time leading the team with the most SB wins in history. And this was the Southern Eagles, a team in one of the least regarded conferences in college football, who haven’t won a championship since 2014.
Apples and oranges might actually be more comparable. But there it is.
Both the Falcons and Mashall chose to play a defensive game to contain the lead. But they had no answer to how the Pats and the Eagles attacked their defense. Both the offense and defense were bamboozled by a spirited team that seemed hell-bent on winning. Meanwhile, their players had left their spirit somewhere back in the third quarter.
Yes, the SBC is not comparable to the greatest stage in the NFL and yes, Williams is no Brady. But the magic and the thrill of the game was a thing to behold. The change of strategy in halftime, the clutch play from the QB, and the resolve of the team to win it was more than enough to send us back in time.
Not to mention that overcoming adversity had been the greatest theme of Brady’s career. And what screams overcoming adversity more than conquering a 20-point deficit against a team that you last beat more than two decades ago?
