I am about as far from being a morning person as I could possibly be, so very few events in my life have actually motivated me to get up in the morning, at least of my own free will.

Yet for red seersucker pants, black dresses, a hot autumn sun, cozies, tailgates and masses of crazy football fans overwhelming my college campus, I can roll out of bed at the first pulse of my alarm.

The 12 football Saturdays a year at the University can motivate even the most hung-over of fans to make the walk across campus to Sanford Stadium.

The empty beer cans strewn everywhere, the abundance of Athens police on every street and the occasional obnoxious tailgater only add to the thrill of crossing the beautiful University campus along with thousands of other fans decked out in red and black.

From children barely able to hold a football, to girls wearing stickers declaring their sorority’s love for the dogs, these groups find a home on game day.

Beware a freshman found next to an ardent fan screaming “go dogs,” for if unprepared, a barking response from the surrounding crowd may come as a shock.

While the walk to Sanford does build excitement, only after reaching the stands does the true Georgia football experience begin.

Who could imagine thousands of screaming fans all decked out in only the colors of red and black?

The colors littered all over campus and even the notorious Georgia “G” plastered on the majority of faces in the stadium can be seen from any location.

With every win and even with that rare loss, “How ’bout them dogs?” dies hard.

Last year, as a freshman coming from Raleigh, N.C., a state where basketball

dominates and college football is lacking to say the least, I had only a hint of what was in store for me when I stepped out of my dorm on the day of my first football game at Georgia.

Little did I know that, from then on, I would not be able to willfully miss a football game for the rest of my college career, even if that means getting up early on a Saturday morning.

With only 28 days of home football games for those students ambitious enough to leave the University after four years, I plan on being in the stands for every single one, as should any Bulldog.

-Lauren Coppage is a contributor for The Red & Black.