Georgia football countdown to kickoff: 97 days to go

October

Georgia’s great start continued into early October with a 47-0 victory over Mississippi State. At that time, Georgia was 4-0 and they had outscored opponents by an embarrassing 158-25. That stat built a lot of hype for Georgia’s trip to Knoxville against the 3-1 and no. 10 ranked Tennessee Volunteers.

But only one team lived up to that hype. Tennessee held Georgia to just 13 points as the Vols beat the Dawgs 38-13. Georgia entered that game ranked no. 15 but they fell down to no. 21 afterwards. But they bounced back with a 34-13 win over Vanderbilt and a 23-13 win over Kentucky. Georgia climbed back up to no. 15 heading into game with Florida.

November

The Gators were defending National and SEC Champions. They also had a seven-game winning streak over the Dawgs. In 1997, they were ranked as high as no. 1 before losing to LSU. They managed to beat a no. 6 Auburn team a week later and they entered Jacksonville no. 6 in the nation with a 6-1 record.

Despite similar records and both being in the top-15 but out of the top-5, Florida were heavy favorites. Georgia’s one loss was to a top-10 team. No one believed Georgia was good enough to beat the Gators.

Not only were they good enough, they crushed Florida 37-17 thanks to four touchdown runs by Edwards. He dominated the Gators and embarrassed them several times. His final touchdown of that game is still one of the more iconic plays of Georgia football history. Him running to the sidelines without any blocking before sprinting down the sidelines for a 37-yard score is just as enjoyable to watch now as it was in 1997.

The Gators did lead 17-14 at one point in the third quarter, but Georgia scored the final 23 points to upset the Gators. The win propelled Georgia up to no. 7 in the country. But they wouldn’t last that high for long. The Dawg defense fell apart in a 45-34 loss to no. 16 Auburn. Georgia fell back to no. 14 the following week.

But they ended the year strong with a 21-14 rebound against Ole Miss and a 27-24 win in Atlanta versus Georgia Tech. Bobo and Corey Allen were the heroes against Georgia Tech. After a pass interference erased an interception, Bobo hit Allen in the back corner of the end zone to steal the game that Larry Munson said Georgia had no business winning.

Outback Bowl

The loss to Tennessee had spoiled Georgia’s shot at the SEC East Championship, and the loss to Auburn was a devastating blemish to the end of the season. But the Dawgs had one chance to salvage the year. The Outback Bowl with Wisconsin for Georgia’s tenth win of the year.

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The badgers had Ron Dayen at running back who went on to win the Heisman two years later. He had 1,457 yards with 15 touchdowns that year. But a disappointing final half of the season contained them to a 8-4 record. Both teams needed wins to salvage the season.

But Georgia never left the game in doubt. Bobo, Ward and Edwards led Georgia to a 33-6 blowout victory to improve to 10-2 and no. 10 nationally.