History of Georgia Bulldogs football

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The Georgia Bulldogs football team represents the University of Georgia in American football.

Overview

Early history (1892–1938)

The first football team of 1892.
Herty Field was Georgia's first football venue. It was used until 1911.[1] (photo October 2005)

Georgia's football program began in 1892, when

Glenn "Pop" Warner's tenure from 1895 to 1896.[4] It is thought that the first forward pass in football occurred in 1895 in a game between Georgia and North Carolina when, out of desperation, the ball was thrown by the North Carolina quarterback instead of punted and a North Carolina player caught the ball.[5] In 1896, Warner's Georgia team, led by quarterback Richard Von Albade Gammon, recorded the program's first conference championship, winning the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) championship with a 3–0 conference record. Georgia's overall season record was 4–0, which marked the team's first undefeated season, as well.[2] In 1897, the team acquired Reynolds Tichenor and moved Gammon to fullback. The program was nearly terminated when Gammon died as a result of injuries sustained in a game against the University of Virginia. The Georgia state legislature quickly passed a bill abolishing collegiate football in the state, but the bill was vetoed by Governor William Yates Atkinson, based upon an appeal from Gammon's mother, Rosalind Gammon.[6]

Bob McWhorter

Beginning in 1910, Georgia started experiencing stability in its head coaches. From 1910 to 1963, Georgia had 7 head coaches and a record of 307–180–33 (a .622 winning percentage). 1910 saw the introduction of coach Bill Cunningham and a player who would be Georgia's first All-American in Bob McWhorter, College Football Hall of Fame running back. Georgia won its first two games of 1910 by a combined 180–0. In 1911, Georgia moved its playing field from Herty Field to Sanford Field, where wooden stands were built.[7] In 1911 and 1912 Georgia suffered its only loss to SIAA champion Vanderbilt. George "Kid" Woodruff was quarterback and captain in 1911. "Kid" and his older brother "Big Kid" were both quarterbacks for the Bulldogs and were the namesakes of Woodruff Hall. It was "Kid" who later led the Bulldogs to their first claim to a national championship, the third former Bulldog player to serve as coach. In 1927, Georgia's "dream and wonder team" finished the season 9–1[2] and could stake a claim to the national championship by finishing #1 in at least one national poll.[8] 1913 was when McWhorter was Georgia's first ever All-American. The next season saw the second, quarterback David Paddock. 1914 was a lackluster 3–5–1 season on paper but included an upset of Sewanee and closed with a scoreless tie against Auburn. Sewanee had a 55-game unbeaten streak at home and the Bulldogs won 7–6 on a Tom Thrash touchdown and John G. Henderson conversion.[9] Auburn was undefeated and defending SIAA champion having been undefeated the year before. The Tigers finished the season as co-champion. In 1915, Henderson was the head of a group of three men, one behind the other with his hands upon the shoulders of the one in front, to counter Georgia Tech's jump shift offense utilized by John Heisman.[10] The game ended in a scoreless tie. The Bulldogs did not field a team for the 1917 or 1918 season due to World War I.

Joe Bennett

Vernon "Catfish" Smith scored all 15 points for Georgia. As head coach, Mehre compiled a 59–34–6 record (.626 winning percentage), but was never able to win a conference championship. Mehre left after ten seasons to accept the head football coach position at Ole Miss
.

Wally Butts era (1939–1960)

Wally Butts coached the team from 1939 to 1960. Charley Trippi (left) and Frank Sinkwich (right), key players.

national championship (Ohio St. was also selected by 6 polls, including the AP, and Wisconsin was selected by one poll), and in 1946 after finishing first in at least one national poll and/or rating system. Butts coached 1942 Heisman Trophy winner Frank Sinkwich and Maxwell Award winner Charley Trippi. His teams also won four SEC championships – 1942, 1946, 1948 and 1959.[16]
As head coach, Butts posted a 140–86–9 record (.615 winning percentage); his bowl record was 5–2–1.[17] Butts was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997.[18]

Johnny Griffith era (1961–1963)

Johnny Griffith, a former player and assistant coach to Butts, succeeded him in 1961. Butts' last few seasons had been somewhat pedestrian apart from an SEC title-winning season in 1959, despite the presence of future Pro Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton. Things did not get any better under Griffith and he was only able to compile a 10–16–4 record during his three-year term as head coach. While there were few successes during this time as head coach, he did have two big victories, a 30–21 upset win over Auburn in 1962 and a 31–14 win over heavily favored Miami in 1963. He resigned in December 1963 after going 10–16–2, including a combined 1–8 against Georgia Tech, Florida, and Auburn.

Vince Dooley era (1964–1988)

Fred C. Davison and the Georgia athletic department, headed by Dooley, who was also the football coach, in a pattern of academic abuse in the admission and advancement of student-athletes over the previous four years.[23]

Ray Goff era (1989–1995)

Georgia Tech and won no conference titles. During his time at Georgia, Goff was often derisively referred to as Ray "Goof", a nickname given to him by disgruntled fans, and even rival coaches. There was one incident in which an aircraft flew over Sanford Stadium during the 1990 Georgia Tech game towing a banner reading "'Fire Ray Goof'". This nickname was resurrected after Goff's teams began to fall below expectations again. Goff had a 2–2 bowl record.[24]
Goff's 1995 team was on the receiving end of Steve Spurrier's "Half a Hundred" game in which his Florida Gators team put up 52 points on the beleaguered Bulldogs. They were the first and, to date, only team to do so inside Sanford Stadium. He was fired at the end of that injury-plagued season, despite the Bulldogs being invited to the Peach Bowl.

Jim Donnan era (1996–2000)

Jim Donnan left Marshall and took over as head coach of the Bulldogs in 1996 and coached the team until 2000, posting a 40–19 record (.678 winning percentage). He was the first head football coach in UGA history to lead teams to four consecutive bowl victories. Under Donnan, the Bulldogs won the 1998 Outback Bowl, the 1998 Peach Bowl, the 2000 Outback Bowl, and the 2000 Oahu Bowl. Before the 1997 game against Mississippi State, Donnan drove a steamroller into practice and told his players they "were either going to be the steamroller or the pavement"; Georgia won the game, 47–0.[25]

Donnan was fired by University President Michael F. Adams, against the wishes of athletic director Vince Dooley, in 2000 after the Bulldogs posted two consecutive eight-win seasons and three consecutive losses against Georgia Tech. Before the 2000 season, Georgia, led by a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate (Quincy Carter), was predicted by some prognosticators to contend for the national championship. However, an early disappointing loss to rival South Carolina and later losses to rivals Florida, Auburn, along with the loss to Tech frustrated many in the fan base. Donnan's inability to return the program to the national prominence of Dooley's era, compete with longtime SEC Eastern Division rivals and off-the-field problems for players, are believed to be the reasons for his dismissal. Donnan was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2009.

Mark Richt era (2001–2015)

Mark Richt

Mark Richt joined the Bulldogs in 2001 after serving as the offensive coordinator of the Florida State Seminoles under Bobby Bowden.[26] During Richt's tenure, Georgia won two SEC championships – 2002 and 2005 – and 6 of their 7 SEC East Division Championships – 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, and 2012.[16] (Out of those years Georgia represented the East in the SEC Championship Game in all but 2007.) Including bowl games, Richt's record, as of January 14, 2014, was 126–45 for a (.737 winning percentage) and 72–32 (.692) in the SEC.[27] His bowl record through 2014 was 8–5. On October 8, 2011, Richt won his 100th career game as UGA's coach against Tennessee at Neyland Stadium 20–12.

Under Richt, Georgia was 10–5 against Tennessee, 5–10 against Florida, 10–5 against Auburn, and 13–2 against Georgia Tech. In 2007, under Richt, Georgia defeated Florida and Auburn in the same season for the first time since 1982. In 2011, under Richt, Georgia defeated Tennessee, Florida, Auburn, and Georgia Tech in the same season for the first time since 1981. Richt never lost a game as Georgia's head coach at Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, finishing 8–0. Having won more Georgia-Georgia Tech match ups at the stadium than even its namesake, the legendary Bobby Dodd, many Georgia fans to this day refer to Georgia Tech's home stadium as "Historic Mark Richt Field".

Despite his success, some supporters began to question whether the well-liked Richt could take the program to a higher level. Although some rivals had better facilities and larger recruiting budgets during most of his time in Athens,[28] many supporters felt that given its in-state talent, Georgia should be a contender for the national championship on a regular basis.[29] On November 29, 2015, Mark Richt and Georgia mutually agreed to part ways after 15 seasons.[30]

Kirby Smart era (2016–present)

On December 6, 2015;

Indianapolis, Indiana. Georgia won 33–18 against Alabama. During the 2021 and 2022 season Smart led the Bulldogs to two undefeated conference play. They are the only third team to do this in SEC history, behind Florida and Alabama. On January 9, 2023, Georgia would go on to win back-to-back National Championships, which is the first time a team has ever done so in the College Football Playoff era. They set a record for the largest bowl game margin of victory with a 65–7 title win over the TCU Horned Frogs (58-point difference), which they broke with a 63-3 victory over the Florida State Seminoles in the 2023 Orange Bowl.[32][33]

References

  1. ^ "Herty Field State Historical Marker". Cviog.uga.edu. Archived from the original on October 10, 2006. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d "GEORGIADOGS.COM - University of University of Georgia Official Athletic Site - Football". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-09-21.
  3. ^ "Black and Crimson Waves Triumphantly Over The Ball Ground". Athens Weekly Banner. February 2, 1892.
  4. ^ "Pop Warner in the Cornell Chronicle". News.cornell.edu. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  5. ^ "Tarheels Credited With Throwing First Forward Pass". Tar Heel Times. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  6. ^ This Day in Georgia History: October 30 Archived 2006-12-07 at the Wayback Machine, Ed Jackson and Charly Pou, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, The University of Georgia
  7. ^ "UGA Historic Athletic Grounds Historical Marker". Cviog.uga.edu. Archived from the original on September 20, 2006. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  8. ^ a b c Georgia Football National Championships [dead link]
  9. ISBN 9780810860407
    .
  10. ^ Alabama vs. Tulane (PDF). November 6, 1937. pp. 5, 11.
  11. ^ Camp, Walter, ed. National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Rules: Official Intercollegiate Football Guide. 45 Rose St, New York: American Sports, 1922. Print. Spalding's Athletic Library.
  12. ISBN 9780810860407
    .
  13. ^ Morgan Blake (November 22, 1923). "Gil Reese Stars As Commodores Defeat Athenians". The Red and Black.
  14. ^ Russell, Fred, and Maxwell Edward Benson. Fifty Years of Vanderbilt Football. Nashville, TN, 1938, p. 42
  15. ^ a b c Former Head Coaches[dead link]
  16. ^ a b All-Time Winningest Division I-A Teams [dead link]
  17. ^ Official 2006 NCAA Divisions I-A and II-A Football Records Book Archived 2006-12-22 at the Wayback Machine, page 331
  18. ^ Wally Butts at the College Football Hall of Fame
  19. ^ "Vince Dooley Coaching Record - College Football at Sports-Reference.com". Archived from the original on 2013-01-27.
  20. ^ "History on Sic'Em Dawgs.com". Sicemdawgs.com. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  21. ^ Official 2006 NCAA Divisions I-A and II-A Football Records Book Archived 2006-12-22 at the Wayback Machine, page 332
  22. ^ Vince Dooley at the College Football Hall of Fame
  23. ^ Goldstein, Richard (December 12, 2008). "Jan Kemp Dies at 59; Exposed Fraud in Grades of Players". The New York Times.
  24. ^ Official 2006 NCAA Divisions I-A and II-A Football Records Book Archived 2006-12-22 at the Wayback Machine, page 334
  25. ^ Schlabach, Mark (2007-10-29). "Richt's motivational gamble pays off for Georgia". Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  26. ^ Mark Richt Biography on georgiadogs.com [dead link]
  27. ^ "Mark Richt Victory Watch". dawgsports.com. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  28. ^ "What went wrong for Mark Richt at Georgia". November 29, 2015.
  29. ^ Ellis, Zac. "Fired Richt couldn't get Georgia to next level".
  30. ^ "UGA Coach Mark Richt to Step Down". GeorgiaDogs.com. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  31. ^ "Kirby Smart Named New UGA Head Coach". Archived from the original on 2015-12-06. Retrieved 2016-09-21.
  32. ^ Dodd, Dennis (January 9, 2023). "Georgia's dominant national championship win sends clear message to rest of sport: Don't even think about it". CBS Sports. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  33. ^ "Georgia wins Orange Bowl in 60-point rout of Florida State". ESPN. December 30, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
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