Georgia football: top three Sugar Bowl’s in school history
Georgia football has returned to New Orléans and will play in its 10th Sugar Bowl of program history. Georgia’s record in the Sugar Bowl is 4-5.
You can’t spell Sugar without UGA. Georgia football has finally returned to New Orléans to play in the Sugar Bowl, one of the oldest and most prestigious bowl games on the schedule. Georgia has made the January trip to NOLA nine times since the 1946, returning home to Athens as winners four times. Here are the three best Sugar Bowl victories in school history.
1947 vs. North Carolina
If a playoff existed in 1946, Georgia most certainly would have been included. The Bulldogs won the SEC Championship and were the only major college team at season’s end with a perfect record. Yet they finished ranked no. 3 in the polls behind Army and Notre Dame.
The Dawgs were led by Maxwell Award winner and Heisman Trophy runner-up Charley Trippi. but it was future star John Rauch who scored most of the touchdowns for Georgia. North carolina controlled the game early, leading 7-0 at halftime, but Rauch tied the game on a four-yard run in the third quarter. The Tar Heels lead once more with a field goal later in the quarter before Trippi put Georgia ahead for good with a 67-yard touchdown pass. Rauch added one more score on a 13-yard-run in the fourth quarter to seal the 20-10 victory for the Dawgs.
2008 vs. Hawaii
This was more of a comedy than a game, especially considering how much the media hyped the Hawaii offense. They all said Georgia’s defense hadn’t seen anything like the Warriors run-and-shoot orchestrated by Colt Brennan. Even at the desk during the pregame show. The analysts touted Hawaii’s offense as the way of the future and too much for Georgia’s old school defense to handle. Everyone except former Bulldog quarterback Fran Tarkenton that is.
For some reason, Fox invited Tarkenton to join the live pregame, halftime and postgame shows at the Superdome. And Tarkenton must have laughed his ass off about how right he was compared to how wrong his colleagues were.
Hawaii’s offense barely showed up. The Warriors did pass for 311 yards, though most of those were in garbage time. Brennan threw three interceptions and gave up a touchdown on a sack/fumble I’m sure any Georgia fan has seen 100 times. Georgia sacked Brennan eight times and limited their running game to negative-five yards. Three of those sacks were by game MVP Marcus Howard, including the sack/fumble for the touchdown.
On offense, Georgia’s hard-nose running game with Knowshon Moreno and Thomas Brown prevailed. The duo rushed for 159 yards together with three touchdowns. Matthew Stafford did his part, passing for 175 yards with a touchdown of his own. Georgia won 41-10 and ended the 2007 season ranked no. 2.
1981 vs. Notre Dame
Of course the 1981 Sugar Bowl is at the top of the list. Georgia defeated Notre Dame 17-10 to clinch the no. 1 ranking on almost every major poll and the consensus National Championship. Because of Herschel Walker’s mid-game injury, the game became a defensive struggle. The Fighting Irish scored first with a 50-yard field goal and had a chance to extend their lead to 6-0 in the first quarter. But Terry Hoage blocked the kick and Rex Robinson kicked a 46-yarder moments later to tie the game at 3-3.
Special teams came up big again on the ensuing kickoff. Confusion between Notre Dame’s kickoff return men allowed Bob Kelly to recover the ball at the one-yard-line. Walker scored on the next play to give Georgia a 10-3 lead. Walker added another touchdown in the second quarter to put the Dawgs ahead 17-3 at halftime. He finished the game with 150 yards to earn MVP honors.
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Where will the upcoming game against Texas rank on Georgia’s list of Sugar Bowl performances. Hopefully in the top half because it’ll mean a victory for the Dawgs. Georgia can move up to .500 all-time in Sugar Bowl games with a victory. Kickoff is at 8:45 p.m. eastern time on ESPN.