1997 game saw underdogs rule in Jacksonville
Robert Edwards (Associated Press)
One of Georgia fans’ favorite Bulldog wins over the Gators has to be the 37-17 decision in 1997.
The game had a Georgia back, Robert Edwards, running for 124 yards and four touchdowns. It saw Hines Ward accounting for 203 total yards, with seven receptions for 85 yards, five rushes for 21 yards, two pass completions for 27 yards and two kickoff returns for 70 yards. It broke a seven-game Florida winning streak and was the Gators’ worst regular season loss in five years.
Plus, it was a win over Steve Spurrier in his prime.
Despite QB Mike Bobo throwing three picks that day, Georgia racked up 434 yards of offense (287 through the air). The Dogs took a 14-3 lead into halftime thanks to two of Edwards’ touchdowns. Florida, which used three quarterbacks in that game (Doug Johnson, Noah Brindise and Jesse Palmer) came back to grab a 17-14 lead in the third quarter, but it was all Georgia from that point on, with the Dogs scoring 23 unanswered points, including a beautiful 37-yard Edwards scamper down the left sideline that lingers in the memory as one of the high points of UGA football in the 1990s.
The Dogs’ defense did its job that day, too. Florida entered the game averaging 440 yards of offense but was limited to 327 total yards as the Dogs snagged four interceptions — two by Kirby Smart, now Alabama’s defensive coordinator. It was the worst defeat for the Gators since their 62-24 drubbing by Nebraska in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl national championship game and Florida’s worst regular-season defeat since a 45-24 loss to Florida State in 1992.
Said Spurrier after the game: “I don’t know what else to say except they were better than us. The Georgia Bullodgs are a better football team than the Florida Gators and they proved it tonight. They beat us in every area, they outcoached us and outplayed us and the whole bit. We have no excuses, they just beat us.”
What’s often overlooked is that the 14th ranked Bulldogs entered the game 20-point underdogs to the No. 6 Gators — an even bigger point spread than the 16 points Tim Tebow and Co. are favored by this year.
Of course, the 1997 Dogs, Jim Donnan’s best team, had Ward.
But this year’s Dogs do have A.J. Green. Bobo was a more experienced quarterback than Joe Cox, though if Cox had been given more playing experience, he’d probably be as good as Bobo was.
The big difference is the 2009 Dogs don’t have a Robert Edwards. Not even close. Or a Matt Stinchcomb on the offensive line. Or a Champ Bailey or Kirby Smart on defense.
And Florida has Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes.
Still, it’s good that the current Dogs can look at the record book and see that big upsets can happen in Jacksonville.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
78 comments Add your comment
Suck it Nerd
October 28th, 2009
4:31 pm
N Ave…
heh heh heh
Good one.
Burdell
October 28th, 2009
4:35 pm
Yeah, that high school offense of ours is 2nd in the NCAA in rushing, 20th in scoring offense and 27th in total offense.
Oh and you might have noticed that it also placed a WR on the Biletnikoff Award Finalist list along with your AJ. Note that there are only 10 players on the list out of 120 FBS schools!
And this is the second time around. I guess no one is paying attention to the LSU manual, huh?
Cuz
October 28th, 2009
4:59 pm
Burdell, don’t forget to give CPJ some credit with his tweaking of that “High School” offense.
Cuz
October 28th, 2009
5:01 pm
Why does the phrase “High School Offense” still irk the Tech base. I would imagine now that it would be a point of pride. Don’t you Techies have any sense of humor? Lighten up Francis.
Mad Dawg
October 28th, 2009
5:10 pm
Burdell teaches at Tech and stays on the blogs all day. He resents the Dawgs a lot. Than come from losing to us 33 out of the las 45 years. He has been a second class citizen for a long time.
38 Yardline Dawg
October 28th, 2009
5:13 pm
1997, 1980…might as well talk about 1897 for a while, too. Heck, all the Dawgs need for the Saturday is to play with more intensity than the last 12 combined games, get 4 interceptions from Tebow, and have the first and second team Gator defense come down with the flu. Is that too much to ask?
Burdell
October 28th, 2009
6:56 pm
I’m am not a professor…just a meagerly-paid postdoc researcher…trying to work my way up the academia ladder.
I don’t resent UGA, the students or its players…just the fans…especially the non-alumni fans…which represents nearly 80% of the fanbase. Ask Bill.
I am rooting for you guys this weekend though…always do for this game. But a lot of good that has done me.
Burdell
October 28th, 2009
6:59 pm
Cuz…I give CPJ most of the credit. After all, it is HIS “high school offense”.
Denver Dog
October 28th, 2009
7:00 pm
I don’t even understand why the Techies get on here, but that one guy Trade School Poet etc has cut and pasted his prose on every blog this side of San Francisco. It isn’t that good, but if it makes him happy OK. I guess some of my favorite plays were more recent, but you have to love the Tebow Smackdown on the 17 yard line in 07, In this whole series though, the greates plays were the Lindsay Scott TD, and the Appleby to Wasington TD. I suppose that the 24-3 beatdown of #1 Florida was pretty good too!. One of the best tone setting plays of the series though was when Spikes hit Moreno last year on his first carry. That pretty well set the stage for the rest of the day.
Dogs will show up and play. We are out manned, out coached, out fanned, out banded, and out of excused, but I would take the 16, and have so far. I’ll bet we more than show up, and I bet we score first. GO DOGS
Denver Dog
October 28th, 2009
7:05 pm
If anyone wants to blast Coach Johnson go ahead, but whatever you want to call it, the offense works and works well. Right now, no body can stop it consistently. It is an offense designed to get big plays and use lots’ of time on the clock. Hats off to those guys, heck they are playing a whole lot better than we are, and I dare say that right now, nobody in the country, is playing to the caliber which they are playing. You might think that it is high school, but old school Erk Russell invented that scheme, and Paul Johnson knows how to run it. Right now, I’d say it is a take you to school offense, and until someone can stop it, it will be. GO DOGS, BEAT GATORS
Cuz
October 28th, 2009
7:39 pm
Take the 16, the Gators win on defense, not offense.
Cuz
October 28th, 2009
7:41 pm
If Tech can play defense with the big boys like they played with UVA, they have a shot at being one of the best teams in the country. Their D has let them down as much this year as ours. But they have an offense that can generate points which is the difference between Tech and UGA.
Cuz
October 28th, 2009
7:43 pm
We have to establish the pass with Florida. If we start out trying to establish the run, we will have three and outs every time we get the ball. Throw it, for God’s sake throw the ball.
PeligroPero
October 28th, 2009
8:58 pm
Dawgs have the talent to beat Fla. but its up to coaches to “put them in position to win.” I’m skeptical. BTW, “Bobo had more experience than Cox.” Guess what guys, next year we’ll be starting from square one again. No backup QB’s seeing any action, per CMR strategy.
Gayandproudofit
October 28th, 2009
9:48 pm
Thankfully, I will not be attending this violent game. I am going to enjoy the Gay parade on North Avenue with my team.
heath
October 28th, 2009
9:52 pm
hey skipper, idiot, YOU check the record books and tell me who leads the overall series. freakin’ retard.
heath
October 28th, 2009
9:54 pm
burdell = nerd. go lay down somewhere, poindexter. this thread is for football fans.
Cuz
October 28th, 2009
10:02 pm
First play first Georgia offensive series. Air it out to AJ. If he makes the catch on a long bomb first play it will throw UF off their plan. If we give the ball to Samuel and he hits a LB and falls down for a one and a half yard gain, start drinking heavily.
Iceman
October 28th, 2009
10:03 pm
Skipper is reading the wrong record books. FL was nothing before 1990.
benadawg
October 28th, 2009
10:22 pm
wtfyousay, i assure you almost no one is talking about tech in my part of the state, you got a decent team but i ain’t that impressed, i love my dawgs and i hate tech, nothing new where i come from…
Panther4life
October 28th, 2009
11:33 pm
L-Dawg,
I don’t know what playbook you are talking about. Which state championship year? Being a backup couldn’t have been that bad, could it?
FL for Life
October 28th, 2009
11:48 pm
All that talk last year on the way to the game in FL., after the fight, you couldn’t hear a DAWG whimper on the bus on the way back. Moral of this story, DON’T BE GATER BAIT!!!!!!
GaCracker
October 29th, 2009
12:43 am
I like the 1976 game where the Dawgs were down 2 TD’s at the half and outscored the Gators 28-0 in the 2nd half. Ray Goff’s greatest day!
fildawg
October 29th, 2009
1:41 am
GATORS WEAR JEAN SHORTS!
The Thin Guy
October 29th, 2009
2:12 am
UGay doesn’t need a new OC or DC. You poochie ball lickers need a Driving Coach to teach those dumb jock straps how to drive. How hard can it be? Stick key in ignition, engine throttle, brake, windshield wipers, steering wheel. If Tech grads can fly the Space Shuttle you UGays should at least be able to drive a golf cart to Walmart. Gator Bait. Gator Bait. Florida 57 UGay 3. (Not sure about the 3.)
hardmanb
October 29th, 2009
4:51 am
Old Tech alum here. UGA has talented football players. Football players ALWAYS want to win. Georgia has a long and proud tradition, including rising up and playing over their heads in some big games. Richt is a good coach and a class act. With what the players have been through this year, I hope the planets line up, and the players find their best game Saturday. It can happen. These kids deserve it.
Never thought I’d say it, but……Go Dawgs!
hardmanb
October 29th, 2009
4:52 am
My heart may be with the underDawgs, but my mind says “take UGA and the points”.
robodawg
October 29th, 2009
9:29 am
Biggest difference I see is Florida’s D has been simply untouchable. The only team that threatened them at all with the game in the balance was Arkansas, and their overall production was also pretty limited.
Man we had some talent in ‘97. Hard to see how we didn’t do more that season. But we’ve also got talent now that we haven’t been able to fully capitalize on yet. To be competitive, we really need a few players to have a breakout game this week to complement AJ on offense and Curran, Atkins and Owens on defense. Orson Charles, Ealey, Branden Smith, Boykin, or Rambo are all candidates. Or Caleb King — he’s had some good looking runs when he’s been healthy.