Dawn of the Dawg
Fansided

Georgia football countdown to kickoff: 94 days to go

By Kyle Funderburk

2 Sep 1995: UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA RUNNING BACK ROBERT EDWARDS CARRIES THE FOOTBALL DURING THE BULLDOGS 42-23 WIN OVER THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT SANFORD STADIUM IN ATHENS, GEORGIA.
2 Sep 1995: UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA RUNNING BACK ROBERT EDWARDS CARRIES THE FOOTBALL DURING THE BULLDOGS 42-23 WIN OVER THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT SANFORD STADIUM IN ATHENS, GEORGIA. /
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19 Oct 1996: Head coach Terry Bowden of the Auburn Tigers discusses a play call with one of his coaches over the head sets as he looks on from the sideline during a play in the Tigers 51-10 loss to the Florida Gators at Florida Field in Gainesville, Flor
19 Oct 1996: Head coach Terry Bowden of the Auburn Tigers discusses a play call with one of his coaches over the head sets as he looks on from the sideline during a play in the Tigers 51-10 loss to the Florida Gators at Florida Field in Gainesville, Flor /

Aftermath

Not much changed for Georgia. They slaughtered Georgia Tech but weren’t invited to a bowl game. Their season ended 6-4-1. Goff coached one more year in 1995, but injuries to Mike Bobo and safety-turned-running back Robert Edwards spoiled the season. They finished 6-6 after a loss to Virginia in the Peach Bowl.

1996 wasn’t much better with new head coach Jim Donnan, but he turned the program around in 1997. They went from 5-6 in 1996 to 10-2 in 1997. Georgia wouldn’t win less than eight games in a season again until 2010.

This game altered Auburn’s trajection drastically. Before the game with Georgia, the Tigers were known as the team who just knew how to win. If a game was close, they it was still in their favor. During their streak of 20-straight wins, eight of those came by 10 points or less.

Looking back, you might say that the tie messed with their heads. A week later they lost to Alabama 21-14. The Tigers entered the 1995 season no scholarship reduction or postseason ban. But they didn’t have a long winning streak either. They did enter the year ranked no. 6 though.

Three weeks into the season, an unranked LSU team upset the Tigers 12-6. Florida defeated them 49-38 on route to their undefeated regular season. Arkansas dealt the most devastating blow to Auburn’s ego with a 30-28 victory in Little Rock.

The Tigers wren’t completely without the ability to win close games. They ended the year with one-score victories over Georgia and Alabama to finish the regular season 8-3. But Penn State sent humbled them in the Outback Bowl with a 43-14 score. All of the sudden, the mystique that Bowden built at Auburn was gone.

The Tigers once again lost a close game to LSU early in the year and they almost lost a close game to South Carolina a week later. Then they traveled to Florida hoping to reclaim dominance in that rivalry. But the eventual National Champs demolished Auburn 51-10. On homecoming, Auburn almost lost to Northeast Louisiana.

Then Georgia dealt another big blow to the program Bowden was trying to build. The Tigers allowed Georgia to comeback from a 28-7 second half deficit to tie the game at the end of regulation. But college football had overtime now. The first overtime game in SEC history lasted for four extra periods and Georgia won 56-49. Alabama finished the 1996 Tigers off with a 24-23 victory.

The Tigers seemed to rediscover their ability to win close games at the start of the 1997 season with three wins by two scores or less. But the no. 7 Florida Gators picked up their third-straight win over the Tigers 24-10. Then Mississippi State came out of nowhere and shutout the Tigers 20-0.

They ended the year with two more close wins and their earkly season triumph over LSU gave them the SEC West title. But they lost to Tennessee in the conference championship game. But a 10-3 season was a step back in the right direction.

They just couldn’t take that second step. Virginia shutout Auburn 19-0 in the 1998 season opener. They responded with a 17-0 win over Ole Miss. And inexplicably, they lost their next four games to LSU, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Florida. Bowden resigned after the loss to Florida, they ended the year 3-8.

Next: Georgia, Auburn and the college football Mecca of Atlanta

Auburn began the Terry Bowden era as the hottest team in college football. 20-straight wins to start his tenure as head coach. And it ended with four-straight losses and losses in five of eight games going back to 1997. The turning point for that team was a 23-23 loss to a Georgia team that lost four games and didn’t even make a bowl game.

Bowden retired from coaching after the loss to Auburn and spent a decade as a media personality for college football. He returned to coaching at North Alabama in 2009. He went 23-9 and went to three NCAA Tournaments. Since 2012, he’s been Akron’s head coach. They’ve only played in two bowl games.

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