Georgia football countdown to kickoff: 89 days to go
The 2018 Georgia football season begins in 89 days.
Our countdown continues after skipping day 90. There are now just 89 days until Georgia football starts the 2018 season against Austin Peay. So, for 89 days, our countdown is going back to January 1, 1989. Vince Dooley’s last game as head coach. The 1989 Gator Bowl. One of the greatest games in UGA history.
The 1988 season
It was Dooley’s 25th and final season. The Dawgs entered the season ranked no. 12 in the nation. But they quickly climbed to no. 6 after wins over Tennessee, Texas Christian and Mississippi State. But for just the ninth time ever, Georgia lost to South Carolina. The 23-10 loss dumped Georgia back to no. 15 But USC was still an independent at the time so the Dawgs SEC title hopes were intact.
The Bulldogs smacked down challenges from Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. Going into the October 22 game against 2-4 Kentucky, Georgia was the only team with an undefeated record in the SEC. But Georgia couldn’t keep that run going. They lost to Kentucky 16-10 to enter a four-way tie for first place.
Georgia fell back to no. 17 with some of their goals still ahead of them. A National Championship was out of the picture. But they could still win the SEC Championship. Just two more SEC games.
They slaughtered William & Mary to refocus themselves. Then the Dawgs smacked around Florida for a 26-3 victory. The Cocktail Party set up the biggest weekend of the season in the SEC.
On November 8, LSU played Mississippi at 12:30 with their SEC Championship on the line. But upsets were a very common occurrence in the SEC that year. Georgia felt that against Kentucky. Alabama had overlooked Ole Miss earlier in the year. Even LSU was unranked back on October 8 when they defeated no. 4 Auburn in the Earthquake Game. But the 1-7 Mississippi State Bulldogs were a long-shot to defeat LSU and the Tigers handled them 20-3.
So, LSU had already won at least a share of the SEC Championship. Later that day, Georgia met Auburn at Jordan-Hare to help decide the other co-SEC Champion. If Georgia wins, they earn a share of the title. If Auburn wins, they need to defeat Alabama a week later to share the crown.
Unfortunately for Dooley and the Dawgs, the Auburn Tigers broke Georgia’s hearts one last time. Georgia lost 20-10. The SEC Championship hopes were gone. But this was still Dooley’s last year and Georgia still had a lot to play for. Specifically, beating Georgia Tech and winning a bowl game.
Georgia outmatched Tech 24-3. With a 9-3 record, they earned a trip back to Jacksonville against Michigan State in the Gator Bowl.
Gator Bowl
The game, like Georgia’s season had a lot of hiccups. Yet, the Dawgs still finished in triumph. The Bulldogs started off hot with a 17-0 lead with a touchdown run by Rodney Hampton and a 30-yard pass from Wayne Johnson to Hampton. Johnson went on to have one of the passing performances in school history with 227 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Spartans cut the Dawgs lead late in the second quarter with a touchdown catch by soon-to-be Atlanta Falcon Andre Rison. Georgia remained in control though. Kirk Warner caught an 18-yard pass from Johnson to extend the lead to 24-7.
Georgia seemed to keep control of the game with Sparty facing a third and nine from their own 45. But Rison provided more fireworks with a 55-yard touchdown catch to cut the lead to 24-14. The Dawgs bounced back with a 36-yard field goal by Steve Crumley.
Michigan State responded with a touchdown run by Blake Ezor early in the fourth quarter to again cut the Georgia lead to 27-21. Rodney Hampton provided the deciding score with a 32-yard run with 11 minutes left on the clock. Georgia led at that point 34-21.
But the drama was not over. Far from it actually. Georgia’s defense stepped up to shut down Michigan State for most the final 10 minutes. They even had Michigan State facing a third and 44 from their own 46-yard line.
Next: Georgia, Auburn and the college football Mecca of Atlanta
Risen had one more highlight however. In the middle of his Gator Bowl record setting 252-yard game, he caught a 54-yard touchdown behind two Georgia defenders to give Sparty one more highlight. His touchdown cut the score to 34-27 with 3:49 left on the clock.
Despite Rison’s record setting game, Johnson earned player of the game honors as his leadership in the final minutes helped the Dawgs hold on to the win. The players hoisted Dooley on their shoulders one more time as he won his 201st game to end his Hall of Fame coaching career.