This week’s Georgia Bulldog of the Week is Corey Allen, a wide receiver from 1995-1997.
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If you talk about who the greatest Georgia Bulldog of the 1990’s were, chances are Hines Ward, Eric Zeier, Garrison Hearst and Champ Bailey will be the names mentioned the most. And that’s fair. I could definitely see them at the top four Bulldogs of the 90’s.
Then ask what the greatest plays of the 1990’s are and the top two plays mentioned won’t be plays made by Zeier, Hearst, Bailey or Ward. They’d be plays by another Bulldog receiver, Corey Allen.
But Allen had way more than just two catches in the two seasons he spent as a starter receiving passes from Mike Bobo. He actually caught 61, 29 in 1996 and 32 in 1997.
In 1997 his role on the team greatly expanded. He only caught three more passes, but he was targeted on deeper throws and as a result had 130 more yards to go from 380 in 1996 to 510 in 1997. He also had four touchdowns in 1997 after having only one touchdown in 1996.
1996 vs. Auburn
That one touchdown catch Allen made in 1996 however was the biggest of that season. It came against the Auburn Tigers, a game in which Georgia trailed 28-7 at halftime. The Georgia Bulldog offense scored 14 unanswered points in the second half by the games closing minutes.
After the Auburn defense sacked Bobo, the ball came out of his hand and as a referee tried to pick the ball up to respot the ball, an Auburn player grabbed it and started running towards the end zone. In response the referee stopped the clock so he they could spot the ball. That gave Bobo a chance to spike the ball at the 30-yard line with just one second on the clock.
Bobo took a snap, dropped back and slung the ball towards the end zone in Allen’s direction. Allen boxed out an Auburn defender and made the catch, landing in a sitting position in the end zone. The extra point tied the game at 28. And four overtimes later the Bulldogs were victorious 56-49 in the 100th Georgia vs Auburn game.
1997 vs. Georgia Tech
In 1997 Allen outdid himself by going from a game tying catch to a game winning catch against the Yellow Jackets in 1997. That game was back-and-fourth all afternoon and in the closing minutes the Bulldogs trailed 24-20.
Bobo, just like in 1996 against Auburn, lead a great drive downfield but it appeared to end when he threw an interception on a pass attended for Hines Ward. But Ward was tackled before the ball got to him so the referees called pass interference giving Georgia one more shot.
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Bobo dropped back and tossed a ball to the back corner of the end zone, once again in Allen’s direction. And once again Allen jumped in the air and made the catch, landing with a foot barely in-bounds.
That gave the Bulldogs a 27-24 lead and Tech’s offense did not have an answer on their ensuing possession. Just like that the Bulldogs had seven-straight wins over Georgia Tech.