Georgia football: Remembering the shoestring play
Georgia football has run thousands of plays in their 125 year history, perhaps none as unique as the shoestring play.
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Trick plays, gadget plays, whatever you want to call them, are a big part of football. And there are many different kinds of these plays from the hook-and-ladder, halfback toss-pass, double reverse. But there have been a few trick plays that totally changed the sport.
One such play was ran by Georgia football in 1975 against the Vanderbilt Commodores. Known as the “shoestring” play, Georgia’s offense lined up on the line of scrimmage with Gene Washington and a couple other players behind the line, and Ray Goff walking to the offense after getting instructions from Coach Vince Dooley.
Vanderbilt’s defense however was in a huddle on in front of the ball. As Goff was walking towards the offense, he stopped to tie his shoe. Or at least that’s what he pretended to do. Instead, he grabbed the ball and tossed it to Washington who ran 36 yards to the end zone.
By the time Vanderbilt realized what happened, it was too late. Washington had a wall of blockers beside him as he scored probably the easiest touchdown of his career.
It’s a little known fact that the traditional snap of the center snapping the ball through his legs is
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actually not required by rule. As long as the ball is moved backwards and the player snapping the ball is on the line of scrimmage, it’s legal. And as you can see, Goff was on the line of scrimmage and he tossed the ball behind the line.
Of course, Vince Dooley did not create this play, Larry Munson even mentioned Minnesota using the play against Northwestern in the 1930’s. But Georgia’s use of the play in 1975 did help lead a major change in football because nowadays, defenses do not huddle.
The fact that Vandy was in a huddle made them vulnerable to the play. In 2017, when defenders are already in their positions, it would be impossible to run the play. Ray Goff and Gene Washington didn’t single handily force this major change in the sport, but they helped.
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Of course this would not be the last memorable play for either Bulldog great, but we’ll save those for a later date.