Georgia Football countdown to kickoff: 82 days to go
82: Herschel wins the Heisman in 1982
Herschel Walker is the best running back in college football history. That means that his 1982 Heisman Trophy campaign is one of the best in that award’s history. He rushed for 1,752 yards with 16 touchdowns that year to lead the Dawgs to their third-straight SEC Championship with an 11-0 record. The Dawgs barely missed out on a National Championship, losing to Penn State in the Sugar Bowl.
But the campaign almost ended in August. An injury suffered in practice was supposed to keep Walker out for three-to-six weeks. He didn’t miss a single game. He couldn’t afford to. Instead, he opted to play with a very large cast on his hand.
Georgia’s first opponent of 1982 was the defending National Champion Clemson Tigers. Their next opponent was BYU, one of the strongest teams in the nation. Dooley mainly used Walker as a decoy against the Tigers.
He only had 20 yards on 11 carries, by far the worst game of his college career. But he was a very effective decoy and along with the Dawgs dominating defense, Georgia won 13-7.
Walker was his normal self with 124 yards against BYU. The Cougars led Georgia 14-7 going into the fourth quarter, but as Walker had done so often before, he put the team on his back again. He carried the offense to two scoring drives in the final quarter. He converted a fourth and one late in the game to set up a game-winning field goal by Kevin Butler. Georgia won 17-14.
Walker rushed for 143 yards against South Carolina. Mind you, he played with a huge cast on his hand for all three games. By October, Walker was back to his old self. Which meant rushing for 215 yards in a 29-22 win over Mississippi State; 149 yards with three touchdowns versus Ole Miss; 172 yards against Vanderbilt; 152 yards versus Kentucky; 219 yards with two scores against Memphis State.
Walker had carried the Dawgs to a no. 3 ranking and an 8-0 start with 1,196 yards. He played almost half of those games with a heavy cast on his hand. Imagine his stats without the cast. Georgia entered Jacksonville to play a Florida team who never had an answer for Walker. 1982 wasn’t different, he rushed for 219 yards with three touchdowns t lead the Dawgs to a 44-0 victory.
Auburn was next though, all Georgia needed to do was beat the Tigers to win the SEC Championship. They also never had an answer to Walker. He sliced the Tiger defense for 177 yards and two touchdowns including the game clinching score in the fourth quarter.
Walker and the Dawgs concluded the perfect regular season with a 162-yard, two touchdown performance against Georgia Tech. His seasons numbers were now 1,754 yards, but as you can see, it was about more than just numbers for Walker.
Next: Georgia, Auburn and the college football Mecca of Atlanta
Those 1,754 yards weren’t padded stats. They were the Georgia offense. No one else ran for more than 390 yards, and John Lastinger only passed for 907 yards. The rest of Georgia’s offense accounted for 2,115 yards. Walker carried that offense to greatness. He led the 1982 Bulldogs to the SEC Championship and to the Sugar Bowl. By leaps and bounds, Herschel Walker was the most outstanding player in college football in 1982