ATHENS, Ga. - Saturday night's football game between Georgia and Georgia Tech will be the Sanford Stadium finale for the Bulldogs seniors.
Tailback Knowshon Moreno, linebacker Rennie Curran and safety Reshad Jones will not be running to midfield to hug their parents, having bypassed their remaining eligibility to play in the NFL. Instead, it will be an unheralded crop saddled with a 5-6 record wondering if they will be remembered at all.
"I don't know if we left much of a legacy or not," senior defensive end Demarcus Dobbs said Tuesday. "We've had great people come out of our class, great athletes who have made it to the next level already, but as far as a legacy, I don't even know if we've left one."
Dobbs, receiver Kris Durham, guard Clint Boling and linebackers Akeem Dent and Darryl Gamble are Georgia's most notable seniors on a roster dominated by two junior superstars, receiver A.J. Green and linebacker Justin Houston. Dobbs, Dent, Gamble and Durham signed in the 2006 class headed by Moreno, Jones and quarterback Matthew Stafford, and Boling signed a year later.
The Bulldogs have gone 34-16 the past four seasons but are 13-11 in the last two.
"It's been a little up and down," Durham said. "We have a lot of guys who were able to leave early and go to the NFL. We wanted our legacy to be winning a championship, and we didn't complete that goal, but I would still say we had a successful run."
TAILING OFFThe records of Georgia's senior classes that have gone through a four-year cycle under coach Mark Richt:'04 seniors 42-10'05 seniors 44-9'06 seniors 40-12'07 seniors 40-11'08 seniors 40-12'09 seniors 38-14'10 seniors 34-16
So would coach Mark Richt, who pointed out Tuesday that it's much harder to lead when things aren't going right.
"To keep a team together and to keep a team motivated and to keep persevering is not easy," Richt said. "They could have sacked their bats, and they've not done that or even come close to doing that. I'm proud of how they've led through the adversity, and I'm very confident that when we come out of the gate, we'll be ready to play."
When asked for a favorite career moment, the seniors listed different highlights from the '07 season.
Dent and Dobbs enjoyed rushing the field following Moreno's 1-yard touchdown that opened the scoring in a 42-30 win over Florida. Boling chose the 45-20 win over Auburn in which the Bulldogs broke out black jerseys for the first time, calling it "an atmosphere that I don't know if you could ever match."
Durham picked the 41-10 rout of Hawaii in the 2008 Sugar Bowl.
Georgia's seniors have won Sugar, Capital One and Independence bowls but have yet to qualify for the postseason this year. A win over Georgia Tech would clinch a berth, but a loss would result in the program's first losing season since 1996.
"We don't want to be that class, and we don't want to be remembered as that class," Dent said. "It's important to get to that bowl game."
Said Dobbs: "It's a forgettable season already, but a win Saturday would give us something to hang our hat on."