Matthew Stafford is one of the greatest Georgia football players of the modern age. He was a stud out of high school, came to Georgia, and gave the Dawgs three years of great moments.
While he didn’t win a national championship or SEC title, Stafford still produced some epic moments during his career.
Titles don’t always define greatness, and Stafford proves that. He was a quarterback Georgia needed after David Greene and DJ Shockley. Stafford did his job and had some great moments in the Red and Black.
With him playing in his first Super Bowl, we thought it was only right to take Dawg Nation down memory lane to reflect on some of his best moments.
Georgia football quarterback Matthew Stafford had some great moments, but these are three of his best.
During his three-year career, Stafford went 30-9 collected the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl, the 2008 Sugar Bowl, and the 2009 Capital One Bowl.
Stafford completed 564-of-987 passes for 7,731 yards, 51 touchdowns, and 33 interceptions. He completed 57.1% of his passes and finished with a 133.3 quarterback rating.
His sophomore season was his best as the Dawgs went 11-2 in 2007. They tied for the SEC East crown that year.
Stafford was the No.1 quarterback out of high school, and when he chose Georgia over Texas, it was the recruiting win Mark Richt and his staff needed to replace SEC title-winning quarterbacks DJ Shockley.
After his junior year, he declared for the NFL Draft, and the Detroit Lions took him as the No.1 overall pick.
There are plenty of epic moments to talk about with him during his time in Athens. Some honorable mentions we almost included were his performance in the 45-42 loss to Georgia Tech in 2008 and his performance against Arizona State in 2008.
Those were two great performances, but these are the three best Stafford moments during his time as a Georgia Bulldog.
#3: Matthew Stafford efficiency led Georgia football to beat the Gators
One of the greatest Georgia-Florida games was the 2007 meeting when the Dawgs stomped the Gators 42-30. Florida just won a national title the year before, and the Dawgs sent them a message.
This game was the one with the massive celebration on the first touchdown drive, but those forget just how good Stafford was in this matchup.
He went 11-of-18 for 217 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Stafford completed 61% of his passes, including an 84-yard one to Mohamed Massaquoi for a touchdown and a 53-yard touchdown to Mikey Henderson.
His third touchdown was a 1-yard pass to Brannan Southerland to make it 28-17.
That first touchdown, though, was the one that resulted in Massaquoi doing the gator chomp down the endzone that also caused the Dawgs to get a penalty, but it didn’t matter. Georgia wanted to send a message to the Gators, and they did.
Stafford may have coughed up a pick-six in this game, but it didn’t matter. He regrouped and kept his head. Stafford’s pass to Henderson gets overlooked because of the Massaquoi one, but that third touchdown pass was a perfect throw.
Georgia hung 40 on the Gators, and they were one of the first teams to do it against a Florida defense since they lost the national title to Nebraska in 1996.
#2: Matthew Stafford helps Georgia football beat Oklahoma State
Matthew Stafford let the world know Georgia would have a great season in Week 1 of 2007 against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Dawgs went on to win 35-14, and it was because he opened up the season with this performance.
Stafford went 18-for-24 for 234 yards and two touchdowns against the Cowboys and showed the fanbase that his up and down freshman campaign wasn’t continuing in year two. Completing 75% of his passes let everyone know to be on the lookout for what Stafford was about to do that season.
This game was the first time in his college career that he threw for multiple touchdowns without throwing an interception as well.
Oklahoma State hung in there with the Dawgs until halftime, but Georgia shut them out in the second half. With a couple of second-half drives from Stafford, the Dawgs ran away with it and sent the Pokes home with an 0-1 start to the season.
Stafford’s first touchdown that game was an 11-yard pass to Bruce Figgins, and his second was a nine-yard pass to Michael Moore.
The defense handled the rest, but Stafford’s strong performance gave him a confidence boost for his sophomore campaign. With this strong start, in my opinion, it was the thing he needed to put his freshman year behind him and play his game.
#1: Matthew Stafford against Auburn in the original blackout game
The best moment from Stafford has to be the first-ever blackout game against Auburn in 2007 when the Dawgs destroyed Auburn 45-20 in Athens.
When those players ran out of the tunnel with black jerseys on, it was at that moment everyone knew that night was about to be epic.
Stafford went 11-of-19 for 237 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.
While this game is more known for the defensive performance and Knowshon Moreno’s 22 carry 101 yard and two-score game, Stafford still did his part for the team.
After a 3-3 start, Stafford opened it up by connecting with Mohamed Massaquoi for a 58-yard touchdown pass to go up 10-3.
It’s time for QB1 to get his ring tonight. pic.twitter.com/AMYOwrhjKV
— GSN (@GASportsNow) February 13, 2022
Then Stafford connected with Sean Baily for 13-yards to score in the second quarter, making it 17-3. Auburn came storming back to make it 20-17 in the third quarter, but the ground attack took over as they scored the next four touchdowns.
After the Florida celebration game, no one expected the Dawgs to come out in black jerseys, but they did because the seniors on that squad asked for it.
Stafford and the rest of the underclassmen honored those guys with a massive win over one of their biggest rivals.
Georgia football quarterback Matthew Stafford had some great moments in the Red and Black, but these three bring backs some of the best memories because they were wins we can all remember.
They were some of the biggest wins during that time when Georgia wasn’t as dominant as they are right now. Stafford helped make these happen, and today it’s his time to get the ring he has been working on getting his whole career.