Georgia football countdown to kickoff: 57 days to go
The 2018 Georgia football season begins in 57 days.
The day the Bulldog Nation is waiting for is almost here. Just 57 days until the beginning of the 2018 season. The Bulldogs begin their defense of the SEC Championship and attempt to win a National Championship.
In honor of those 57 days, lets look back at the career of Matthew Stafford. Specifically the best of the 57 touchdowns he threw in his Georgia football career. Stafford accounted for a lot of touchdowns in his time in Athens. in 2008, he set the school record for touchdown passes in a season with 25. He ended his career with 51 passing touchdowns and six rushing touchdowns.
So picking out the best is a chore. But some clearly stood out over others. Here are the three touchdowns that I believe are the best scored by Stafford as Georgia Bulldog.
3. 84-yard pass to Massaquoi against Florida in 2007
The 2008 Cocktail Part was an instant classic. Georgia and Florida traded blows in the first half. Eventually Georgia proved why you defer to the second half with back-to-back touchdowns before and after halftime. That gave Georgia a two-score gap that allowed them to have some breathing room for the rest of the game.
But before that, Georgia and Florida took turns scoring touchdowns. Knowshon Moreno got the game going with the first score but Florida answered to tie the game soon after. The Dawgs started their ensuing drive deep in their own territory, but that advantage did nothing for Florida. Instead, it led to one of the more spectacular moments of the game.
Stafford dropped back while Mohamad Massaquoi easily beat the Gator defense down the sideline. Stafford hit him in stride and Massaquoi ran the rest of the way for the touchdown. Georgia took a 14-7 lead with that score.
Stafford scored two more times that day. His short pass to Brannan Southerland after halftime extended Georgia’s lead to 28-17. His last was another spectacular pass to Mikey Henderson to extend the score to 35-24 early in the fourth quarter.
2. Game winner against Alabama in 2007
The second best touchdown on this list is also the first great call of Scott Howard’s career as Georgia’s play-by-play man. Howard began taking over for Larry Munson in 2007 by covering road games. Against Alabama, Howard and Stafford had a chance to shine together in overtime.
Georgia outplayed Alabama all game long, but the Crimson Tide defense kept Georgia out of the end zone for most of the night. The Bulldogs led 20-10 early in the fourth quarter before the Tide’s defense woke up and scored 10 unanswered points to tie the game.
They took their first lead of the game with a field goal in overtime. But Stafford didn’t waste any time winning the game. He had one look on the first play of overtime; throw the ball deep. Henderson wasn’t wide open, but the pass fell perfectly into his arms.
“One and done baby,” was the tagline Howard gave to the play. Stafford only needed one snap to defeat Alabama in overtime. The Dawgs left Tuscaloosa with a 26-23 victory on route to their 11-2 season.
1. Game winner against Georgia Tech in 2006
Nothing against Howard, but Larry Munson is still one of the greatest radio announcers in sports history. He didn’t just describe plays for the live listener. He made plays iconic and for generations. The best was when Georgia would score a game-winning touchdown late in a game and Munson would bust out the “my God a touchdown!”
Stafford gave Munson a reason to say that one more time in his career with Stafford’s first great touchdown as a Dawg. Trailing 12-7 in the fourth quarter against the best Georgia Tech defense in recent memory, Stafford led the Dawgs on a long, unbelievable drive.
The drive finished with not one, but two passes to the end zone. With just 1:45 left on the clock, Stafford dropped back, and pump faked to the end zone. The pump forced a defender to jump, that opened up a spot for Massaquoi in the back of the end zone. Stafford drilled in a pass for the touchdown to take a 13-12 lead.
But even with a PAT, Tech could still win the game with a field goal, so Richt called for a two-point-conversion. The play would go on to be Georgia’s default play for two-point conversions and any time Georgia needed a touchdown with the ball at the three-yard line.
Massaquoi started on the left side of the field and went in motion to the right before the snap. Stafford took the shotgun snap and rolled right. Massaquoi turned and Stafford threw him the ball for the score. Georgia now led 15-12.
The Dawgs defense shut down Tech in their final possession to preserve the victory. This is the best touchdown of Stafford’s time in Athens because it changed the course of his career.
Going into that game, Stafford only had five touchdown passes with 12 interceptions and a measly 1,449 yards. After that score, Stafford tore up SEC defenses with a heaping amount of touchdowns in his final two seasons.
Next: Georgia needs to make Atlanta their second home
He rode that success to a no. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. Since then, he’s been an elite quarterback for the Detroit Lions. In nine seasons, Stafford has 34,749 yards and 216 touchdowns.