Georgia football countdown to kickoff: 94 days to go

The 2018 Georgia football season begins in 94 days.

So far in our countdown to the 2018 Georgia football season, we’ve reviewed games (1908 vs. Clemson, and two 100-point victories), players (Rodrigo Blankenship and Bill Goldberg), and teams (1896 and 1997). Our countdown is now at 94 days until kickoff. So, it’s time to review another game. The 1994 edition of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.

Known as one of the biggest ties in Georgia football history, the 1994 game with Auburn spoiled not just the Tigers 20-game winning streak, they may have spoiled Terry Bowden’s entire head coaching career. And in some ways, the game salvaged an underwhelming season for the Dawgs.

That last paragraph doesn’t do the game justice. To understand why this game, this tie of all things was so great , you have to understand how great the Auburn Tigers were at the time.

Before the game – Auburn

Terry Bowden, son of legendary head coach Bobby Bowden, began his head coaching career in 1983 at Salem, a Division II school. He coached them to a 19-13 record in three years, including two West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships.

He then accepted a job at Samford, a Division III independent who was about to transition to Division I-AA. His record there was 45-23-1. But in his last two seasons he led them to the NCAA D1-AA Tournament. His 1991 squad finished 12-2. The success at Samford and Salem earned him the reputation of one of the best up and coming coaches in college football.

His reputation was so great, that Auburn chose him to replace Pat Dye in 1993. Dye is a Hall of Famer who found success everywhere he coached. He became Auburn’s head coach in 1981 and led them to an 11-0 SEC Championship season in 1983. His Tigers went on to win three more SEC crowns in the 1980’s.

His record after 10 years at Auburn was 89-28-7. But he struggled to maintain that success into the 1990’s. The 1991 Tigers finished 5-6 and eighth place in the SEC and out of all Top-25 polls. The following season, they finished 5-5-1 and fifth place in the SEC West. And again, they were unranked. And they missed out on a bowl game in each season.

During those years, the NCAA investigated one of Auburn’s players, but they cleared Dye of any wrongdoing. Yet, the 10-11-1 record and the NCAA investigation was too much for Auburn to stand and they forced him into resignation.

The Tigers wanted a quick turnaround and they felt like Bowden was the right guy for that job. But it wasn’t an easy transition. The NCAA punished Auburn as a result of the investigation. They reduced scholarships, gave Auburn a one-year ban from playing on television and a two-year ban from playing in the postseason.

So an unranked Auburn team unable to play on TV or for any kind of championship went to work in 1993. They began the year with a narrow win over Ole Miss and a blowout victory over Bowden’s former employer, Samford. But they really turned heads on September 18 with a 34-10 win over LSU.

Sparked by their 16-12 season opening win over Ole Miss, the Tigers developed an affinity for drama. The team that shouldn’t have success was winning and stealing victories from teams that were supposedly superior. They defeated Vanderbilt 14-10 and Mississippi State 31-17.

But there was no way the no. 19 Tigers could defeat the no. 4 Florida Gators right? The Gators had a National Championship on their minds, what did Auburn have? All Auburn had on their minds was beating Florida, which they did 38-35 in front of their home crowd. The game was filled with drama, Auburn never led until late in the game and won with a 41-yard field goal.

The Tigers went on to beat Georgia two weeks later and they ended their season by spoiling Alabama’s hopes for a National Championship with a 22-14 win. Their first over Alabama since 1988. Auburn was now 11-0 and inside the top-5. But because of the postseason ban, there was no SEC Championship Game or trip to the Sugar Bowl.

The season was over. And no one, besides the stadium crowds, could watch the game. The 1993 Auburn Tigers actually led to the NCAA ending their practice of banning teams from playing on TV. That ban caused TV stations to miss out on Auburn’s classic games with Florida and Alabama.

But there was no such ban in 1994, although the Tigers still couldn’t compete in the postseason. All they had to play for was pride, which seemed like enough of a motivator for them. Auburn’s flare for drama didn’t end in 1993 either, they opened the season with another close call with Ole Miss. They won that game 22-17.

They needed four-interceptions to beat LSU 30-26, and a last-second touchdown pass to beat the no. 1 Florida Gators 36-33. Because of the postseason ban, the Associated Press and Coaches Polls were hesitant to put the Tigers in their top-5 despite what was now an 18-game winning streak. But they caved after the win over the Gators. Auburn defeated Arkansas and East Carolina to extend the streak to 20 games going into the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.

Before the game – Georgia

While the Tigers were on the rise, the Georgia Bulldogs were looking for a way to end their tailspin. Ray Goff was proving to be an inadequate replacement for the great Vince Dooley. In five years as head coach, Goff’s record was 34-24.

He did lead the Dawgs to a 9-3 record in 1991 which was a huge step up from 1990. The Bulldogs finished 10-2 in 1992 and narrowly missed out on playing in the first SEC Championship Game. But in 1993, the Dawgs dropped to 5-6 with four losses coming by 14 points or less.

Goff’s contract was set to expire in 1995 so he would be coaching for his job in his last two seasons. Unfortunately, he couldn’t turn the program around. Again, Georgia lost competitive games, just like in 1993. They ended the year 6-4-1. A step in the right direction, but two of the losses again came by 14 points or less. They also failed to keep games with Tennessee and Florida close.

Georgia was almost an exact opposite of Auburn heading into the the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. The Tigers had a 20-game win-streak that featured many close, dramatic victories. Georgia was 10-10 in their last 20 games and rarely looked comfortable in close games. Although they did manage to win some close games with SEC bottom feeders.