The 2018 Georgia football season begins in 53 days.
Another week is flying by, bringing us another day closer to the first Georgia football game of the 2018 season. Just 53 days separate us from our SEC Championship defense. 53 isn’t just the amount of days remaining on the countdown, it’s also the amount of times Herschel Walker handled the ball against Florida in 1981.
That day, Walker carried the ball 47 times for 192 yards with a pair of touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 55 with a pair of touchdowns and returned two kickoffs. That’s 247 yards of offense with four touchdowns for the great Herschel Walker who always brought his best in Jacksonville.
The Bulldogs desperately needed Walker that day. Florida led the game 14-0 in the first half. Walker faced adversity of his own.
The Gators broke a scoreless tie in the second quarter with a 54-yard pass. Walker then muffed the ensuing kickoff and the mental error that followed placed the Georgia offense at their own two-yard line. Ronnie Stewart fumbled the ball shortly after and the Gators quickly scored to take a 14-0 advantage.
But that just fueled the big dawg’s fire even more. Walker went on a tear after that. Late in the first half, Walker got Georgia on the board when he zoomed by defenders after catching a short, over-the-middle pass from Buck Belue for a 24-yard score. In the third quarter, Walker scored a 16-yard touchdown on a similar play to tie the game at 14.
Walker’s first rushing touchdown came later in the first half, scoring from four yards away. But early in the fourth quarter, Georgia found themselves in a similar situation: down 21-20 to Florida late in a ball game. However, Georgia didn’t need a miracle in 1981, they just needed the ball and some time.
They had plenty of time. Over 10 minutes. Starting at their own five-yard line, Georgia drove 95 yards on 17 plays, finishing with a one-yard dive into the end zone by Walker. On that drive, he carried the ball 11 times for 65 yards. After a 17-yard pass from Belue to Scott stretched the defense, Walker had five-straight carries to finish the drive.
The familiar situation led to a familiar score. Georgia led Florida 26-21, the same final score as the year before. When the Gators regained possession there was only 2:27 left on the clock. Walker and the Dawgs had milked nearly eight minutes of the game on their game-winning drive.
Florida couldn’t add anymore drama to the game. On their first play, Steve Kelly drilled a Florida receiver after a catch. The receiver fumbled and Eddie “Meat Cleaver” Weaver recovered to effectively end the ball game.
Next: Andy Johnson is a Georgia Bulldog legend
Walker is known as Georgia’s greatest workhorse. He proved that against the Gators that day. Coming back from a costly mistake that put the team down 14-0. He picked his team back up and carried them to another victory. 53 touches and 200-plus yards never seemed like much to Walker, but they meant the world to the Bulldog Nation.