Georgia football countdown to kickoff: 76 days to go
The 2018 Georgia football season begins in 76 days
Another Saturday has passed. That now means we are less than 11 weeks away from kickoff of the 2018 Georgia football season. With only 76 days remaining until the Dawgs begin their SEC title defense, our countdown to kickoff looks back on another SEC Championship team; the 1976 Georgia Bulldogs.
The 1976 team ended an eight year SEC Champion drought and nearly won a National Championship in the process. After winning the SEC and a share of the National Championship in 1968, the Dawgs came a game close of winning both crowns in 1971 and one game from winning the SEC in 1975.
The 1976 squad entered the season ranked no. 16 in the nation and they opened with a huge game against no. 15 California at home. The Dawgs won 36-24 to set the tone for the season. On October 2, The Dawgs played one of their best games in program history against Alabama. The Tide won the National Championship just three years earlier and would go on to win two more in the 1970’s. They also won eight SEC Championships in the 70’s.
But on that day, Alabama didn’t belong on the field with Georgia. Quarterback’s Ray Goff and Matt Robinson both engineered long touchdown drives and the Junkyard Dawg defense clobbered the Tide offense all game long. Georgia won 21-0. And they were in the driver’s seat in the SEC.
Perhaps the Dawgs were too jacked up after that win as they lost to Ole Miss the very next week to suffer their only regular season loss. However, the Rebels upset Alabama to open the season, so Georgia still had the lead over Alabama. Ole Miss did take the lead in the SEC after that game. But they couldn’t handle prosperity and lost their last three SEC games.
Georgia bounced back with dominant wins over Vanderbilt and Kentucky. A win over Cincinnati gave Georgia a 7-1 record after two months of football. The next opponent was the no. 10 Florida Gators. Hungry for their first ever SEC Championship, Florida carried a 6-1 record into Jacksonville, and they were undefeated in the SEC.
Florida led Georgia all game long, but by the middle of the third quarter, the Gators only led 27-20. Facing fourth and inches from their own 29-yard line, Gator head coach Doug Dickey liked his chances of picking up the first down.
Field position be damned, he kept the offense on the field in their traditional wishbone. The Dawgs stuffed Florida’s triple option for a loss. With the great field position, Georgia swiftly reached the end zone. Momentum was firmly in favor of the Dawgs after that. They scored two more touchdowns to beat Florida 41-27.
Auburn proved no test for Georgia the following week. The Dawgs crushed the Tigers 28-0 to cement their SEC Championship. The icing on the cake was a 13-10 victory over Georgia Tech to end the regular season 10-1.
The SEC Championship gave Georgia an automatic birth in the Sugar Bowl against no. 1 Pittsburgh. The Dawgs great season came to an end as they couldn’t slow down Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett.
Top 5 players of 1976
5. Gene Washington
Georgia only had 958 passing yards in 1976, but Gene Washington accounted for 489 of those yards. That’s more than half of Georgia’s passing game. He also caught 20 passes and scored four touchdowns.
4. Johnny Henderson
Defensive back Johnny Henderson led the Dawgs with four interceptions. He had 61 yards to go with those picks. He’s most fondly remembered for his tackle on the “Fourth and Dumb” play against Florida.
3. Ben Zambiasi
Ben Zambiasi had 144 tackles and an interception in 1976. His performance against Alabama earned him national player of the week honors. And his performance overall in 1976 placed earned him a spot on All-American and All-SEC teams.
Next: Georgia, Auburn and the college football Mecca of Atlanta
2. Ray Goff and Matt Robinson
This is a top-five, but Ray Goff and Matt Robinson have to stay together. How often does a duel quarterback system actually lead to success. Georgia managed to win a Championship with two quarterbacks.
Robinson was the passer as he had 609 passing yards with seven touchdowns. Goff added 322 passing yards with four touchdowns, but he was more of a runner. He rushed for 728 yards with a team leading 10 touchdowns. Robinson only ran for -16 yards, but he did score twice on the ground.
1. Kevin McLee
12 different Georgia Bulldogs have rushed for 1,000 yards. The first to reach that mark was Kevin McLee in 1976. He racked up 1,058 yards with six touchdowns to lead a great Georgia rushing attack.