A brief history of Georgia football and the Orange Bowl

January 1, 1949: Texas 41, Georgia 28

The lone Bulldog loss in the Orange Bowl was not a good one. Much like the Georgia-Texas Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day in 2019, it looked as if Georgia would have no problems with the Longhorns.

Texas came into Miami with a 6-3-1 record. They were the runner-up in the now-defunct Southwest Conference behind the Southern Methodist Mustangs. SMU was led that season by the 1949 Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker, who now has an award named after him.

Georgia entered with a 9-1 record, winning their third SEC Championship of the 1940s. Their only loss was to North Carolina, a team that also defeated Texas in the regular season.

Coach Butts was in his 10th season with the Bulldogs and had already cemented himself as one of the greatest coaches in program history. That year, Georgia defeated LSU, Miami, and Alabama on the road. They outscored LSU and ‘Bama 57-0 in those games.

Lady luck was not on the side of the Dawgs in the ’49 Orange Bowl. Texas rushed for 332 yards and five rushing touchdowns on the day. They also forced three Georgia turnovers which were two interceptions and one fumble in a 41-28 win for Texas.

One of the leading Texas rushers in this game was Tom Landry, who would later become the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Landry won two Super Bowls as the Cowboys’ head coach and is ranked No. 4 in all-time wins by an NFL head coach with 250.

A notable Dawg on this team was quarterback John Rauch. Rauch would be the No. 2 overall pick by the Detroit Lions in the 1949 NFL Draft. After his brief playing career, he would coach in both the AFL and NFL.