ATLANTA — The Georgia Bulldogs were in Indianapolis Monday night for the College Football Playoff National Championship, and UGA fans showed up to the city's Lucas Oil Stadium to support their 13-1 team in force. During the final quarter of the game, a recent UGA tradition made its way into the stadium.
The Dawgs led Alabama 13-9 at the top of the fourth quarter, putting the team just plays away from their first national title in 42 years. To give their favorite team a little boost, UGA fans lit up their phones for the Light Up Sanford tradition.
It's a tradition that started just five years ago in 2017. Social media played as the proverbial ground zero for it all.
“I was actually on YikYak, as outdated as that social media service already is, and someone had mentioned doing it and we thought that it was a really cool idea,” Redcoat Band trumpeter Kenneth Hubbard told DawgNation. “We decided that we were going to make it happen and part of doing that was getting the Redcoat Band to follow.”
Now half a decade later, Georgia Bulldogs fourth quarters are ushered in with a playing of Krypton by UGA's Redcoat Band and a ceremonial lighting of cellphones in the stands. On Monday night, it was a sight to be seen.
The Georgia Bulldogs faced off against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Monday night from within the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana for the College Football Playoff National Championship. The Bulldogs had not won a national title since 1980.