A brief history of Georgia football and the Orange Bowl

2 of 4

Cheerleaders with the Georgia Bulldogs run out onto the field prior to their game against the TCU Horned Frog. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images) /

January 1, 1942: Georgia 40, TCU 26

Not only was this Georgia football’s first-ever Orange Bowl trip, but it was also the first bowl game in Bulldog history.

The 1941 season turned out to be successful for the Dawgs. Led by third-year head coach Wally Butts, the team came into the Orange Bowl with a record of 8-1-1. They defeated rivals Florida, Georgia Tech, and Auburn with relative ease, but their lone loss came against Alabama— big surprise right?

This season also saw the Dawgs travel to Columbus, GA, Macon, Birmingham, and New York City.

The star of this team was future Heisman Trophy-winning halfback, Frank Sinkwich. Sinkwich was a swiss army knife for the Bulldogs. He rushed for 1,103 yards, an SEC record at the time, and passed for 713 yards, giving him 1,816 all-purpose yards on offense that season.

The biggest game in his career would come in the Orange Bowl against TCU. Sinkwich accounted for 355 of Georgia’s 499 total yards of offense. He had three touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown. The Dawgs led 40-14 in the fourth quarter before TCU scored a few times towards the end of the game, giving Georgia a 40-26 victory over the Horned Frogs.

Sinkwich played this game with a broken jaw. He wore a large protector on his helmet to protect it, which had been wired shut. You could say this was a “jaw-dropping” performance from Sinkwich.

This Orange Bowl victory gave Georgia momentum heading into next season. The ’42 Dawgs went 11-1, won the SEC, defeated UCLA in the Rose Bowl, and were named National Champions by many in the media.

Home/Georgia Football