Georgia football: Top 10 programs that the Bulldogs have defeated
5. Michigan State Spartans
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recent history has not been nice for the Spartans. But in the 1950’s and 1960’s, there might have not been anyone better. Michigan State won six national titles between 1951 and 1966.
But for whatever reason, Georgia and Michigan State’s paths never crossed until the 1989 Gator Bowl. And what an exciting game that was. Georgia led 17-0 early, but the Spartans cut the margin to 27-20 early in the fourth quarter.
Rodney Hampton extended the lead to 34-20 but Andre Rison had one more touchdown catch to cut the lead back to 34-27. But Georgia held on the rest of the way to win the last game of Vince Dooley’s career.
The 1989 Gator Bowl was also very important for Michigan State. They had struggled since Duffy Daughtery retired in 1972 but they won the Big 10 in 1987 and making the 1988 Gator Bowl allowed them to sustain some success.
It wasn’t a quick process, but eventually Michigan State was able to become a winning program again.
Georgia and Michigan State have met twice since the 1989 Gator Bowl. First came in the 2009 Capitol One Bowl when Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno led Georgia to a 24-12 victory.
The two teams met again in the 2012 Outback Bowl with Aaron Murray and Brandon Boykin dominating the game. However, Blair Walsh’s disappointing senior year culminated in missed field goals to allow Michigan State to win 33-30 in triple-overtime.