Playing the ‘what if’ game cuts both ways for Dogs
What if Lindsay Scott's famous touchdown hadn't happened? (Associated Press)
I’m generally not real big on debating “what if” scenarios in sports, largely because there are so many moments in close games where a key play or two could have made the difference.
What if that player didn’t hang on to the ball? What if that tackle wasn’t missed? You can look at just about any big win or loss that wasn’t a blowout and see how the outcome could have changed if only something had or hadn’t happened.
But many fans enjoy these forays into alternative history, which is why ESPN’s “College Football Live” delves into such topics as the recent “Who wins the 1980 national title if Georgia’s Lindsay Scott doesn’t score vs. Florida?”
Those voting in the poll on ESPN.com for the most part concluded that Lindsay’s famous touchdown not happening would have meant the Dogs wouldn’t have won the 1980 championship, with 43 percent saying Pitt would have taken the title and 37 percent opting for Florida State.
However, 20 percent of the voters thought Georgia still would have been the national champs that year, and agreeing with them was Buck Belue, the Dogs’ quarterback that season. Belue wrote a blog on the subject in which he made a pretty convincing case that even if Scott hadn’t scored on that famous play, Georgia still could have won the game against Florida and kept its unbeaten record.
Trailing the Gators 21-20 with a minute left in the game, the Dogs didn’t expect to score on that play; they were just trying to keep alive a drive mainly aimed at getting into position for a field goal try by trusty Rex Robinson. Rex has even reminisced about how he missed seeing Lindsay score because he was busy preparing for what he expected to be a game-winning kick.
As Belue put it: “Rex told me he was good from 57 that day. In fact, Rex kicked two 57 yard field goals that season, and ended the season 4-6 from 50-plus. He was clutch. That was the plan all along. Let’s get Rex a shot to win it.”
So if Scott had been tackled at Georgia’s 40 on the big play instead of scoring, Belue says he would have hit Lindsay over the middle again. Then: “Drop one off to Herschel underneath would have been 10 yards. Scramble once for 10. Again, with one timeout to stop the clock, we could have run Herschel once. I liked our chances of doing this. What if Buck to Lindsay never happened? We still win the game on a Rex Robinson field goal.”
I’d like to think he’s right.
That discussion set me to thinking about any other “what if” moments for the Dogs with national championship implications, and the one that stood out was the South Carolina game in 2007, when the Dogs were held to four Brandon Coutu field goals in a 16-12 loss in Athens. That loss came to haunt Georgia late in the season when it was one of the hottest teams in the country but was basically out of contention for the BCS game because it didn’t even win the SEC East.
What if Tony Wilson had hung on to the ball he caught from Matthew Stafford when hit at the Gamecocks goal line? And there were other dropped or just-missed passes in the end zone for Georgia in that game.
A TD catch likely would have given the Dogs the win over South Carolina and a better conference record than Tennessee at the end of the season, even with the loss to the Vols. Georgia would have met LSU in the SEC championship game.
The way the Dogs were playing at that point, a win in Atlanta would have seemed likely. And that would have given the Dogs the shot against Ohio State in the BCS title game.
Yeah, thinking about things like that can drive you crazy.
Even so, feel free to offer up your own “what if” moments. …
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139 comments Add your comment
Gator Aid
July 16th, 2010
9:55 pm
Headline: Phone records: Evans, Fuhrmann exchanged about 250 texts
As usual, the AJC closed the comments immediately to spare the UGA Correctional Institute any further embarrassment.
But don’t worry, the player-thugs at UGA will get plenty more embarrassing headlines as the police keep hauling them off to jail.
Damon Evans Panties
July 16th, 2010
10:14 pm
what if the students at UGA could spell dog?
what if they grew a pair and quit closing the comments?
what
July 16th, 2010
10:37 pm
if old Damm had used a taxi…
For the record
July 17th, 2010
1:24 am
What if Obama’s Health Care Plan wasn’t the worst thing since sliced bread:
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/94-charged-in-medicare-571835.html
Please show me how you can put a negative spin on this one I am sure you will try.
Alaska Dawg
July 17th, 2010
1:34 am
Bill, I am really sorry that there are so many idiots that have taken time to respond to this blog. I think this is a very interesting topic.I wish the Tech and Gator jerks would go to their own blogs. I enjoy your comments and can’t wait to continue reading them throughout what will, hopefully, be a memorable season. GO DAWGS!!!!
gerald c clemmons
July 17th, 2010
1:38 am
what if there was no racism on these blogs
gerald c clemmons
July 17th, 2010
1:41 am
for the record, that’s president obama, jacka_ _
12-2
July 17th, 2010
2:07 am
2007 South Carolina and Tennessee vols were 2 horrible football teams.
We LOST to BOTH.
2007 we beat a 4-Loss Florida team, the worst Florida team in some time now. In the last 5 seasons Florida has lost only 1 game 3 times, lost 3 games once and then there was the lousiest Florida team in the last 5 years in 2007.
2007 South Carolina lost 6 games, and did not even play in a damn bowl game; but they BEAT us. In fact, they beat us AT Sanford Stadium.
2007 South Carolina LOST to VANDERBILT even among their LAST 5 CONSECUTIVE GAMES to end the season South Carolina LOST.
But, they BEAT UGA at our House.
2007 vols LOST 4 games, but they slaughtered UGA 35-14.
2007 vols LOST to two (2) 7-6 teams BUT THEY MURDERED GEORGIA.
So, who in the Hell did Georgia BEAT in 2007, if BOTH of our LOSSES were to such cruddy horrible teams ?
No one.
That is whom we beat in 2007.
Our Bowl game win came over the # 19 Final AP Poll team, Hawaii. Is that NC bowl game win ? Hell freakin’ no.
12-2
July 17th, 2010
2:08 am
7-6 Georgia tek was certainly no damn good.
Non 1-A Western Carolina sucks.
Troy LOST to every team anyone has ever heard of in 2007, and Troy LOST in addition to FLORIDA ATLANTIC a 5-Loss team who played NO ONE.
2007 Auburn LOST to the likes of South Florida at Auburn. Give me a break. Auburn LOST to Mississippi State in 2007. Auburn in 2007 was no damn good.
7-6 Alabama in 2007 absolutely was a sucky football team. In 2007 Alabama LOST to such teams as 7-6 Florida State for God’s sake. 2007 Alabama LOST to Mississippi damn State. Bless their little hearts, even Louisiana Bloody Monroe who did not even have a winning record in 2007 even with the win over Alabama beat Alabama. That is not a good football team, either now is it ?
2007 Kentucky was a 5-Loss also unranked football team. Kentucky was no damn good in 2007, now was it ?
Okie State cowgirls 2007 was a 7-6 team BLOWN OUT in their bowl game by 7-6 powerhouse Indiana whatever their nickname is.
3-9 in 2007 was what Ole Miss was. You want to try to make a case that was a great team Georgia beat in 2007 along with our 2 most embarrassing losses in 2007 ?
Vanderbilt in 2007 was 5-7.
12-2
July 17th, 2010
2:09 am
Ok, that’s the lot.
Now, who in the Living Hell did UGA beat in 2007 ?
Go ahead, you can say it.
NO ONE.
2007, UGA had the NCAA # 83 Passing Offense with Matthew Stafford.
# 83 Passing Offense 2007 UGA.
Matthew Stafford was # 74 in Total Offense 2007
Matthew Stafford was # 56 In Passing Efficiency in 2007.
2007. I am so tired of hearing how great we were in 2007 when all you do is discuss our won/loss record and never none of you, ever, talk about WE BEAT NO ONE.
And, you want to play WHAT IF about 2007 ?
Do you seriously think that a team that played THAT SOFT SCHEDULE IN 2007 was going to WHAT IFFED INTO A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Bill King you idiot ?
SOGADOG
July 17th, 2010
7:19 am
Tim Tucker would make a great reporter for the tabloids.
minnesota dawg
July 17th, 2010
7:36 am
No such things as “what ifs” only what ares. You can go crazy thinking about “what ifs.”
12-2
July 17th, 2010
7:39 am
DISNEYdawgs.com ALWAYS do WHAT IFs
They got nothing else.
Big time?? Not
July 17th, 2010
7:55 am
What if you had an ad campaign centered around “four tickets, four hot dogs, four cokes” Losers
Donnie Darko
July 17th, 2010
7:57 am
What if Georgia had one more arrest? Well, how about taking the lead in the Fulmer Cup:
http://www.sportsargumentwiki.com/index.php?title=Fulmer_Cup
ATL XMAN
July 17th, 2010
10:00 am
2007 we beat fla and 11 other teams that was on our schedule. bad luck against carolina and again when vandy missed a last second field goal from 35 yards out that would of sent us to play LSU in the sec title game.
we had bad game against tenn that year.
ATL XMAN
July 17th, 2010
10:01 am
any win in the sec is a hard tough win where on any given day any team from the sec can beat another team from the sec. thats just how tough the sec is.
AltamahaDawg
July 17th, 2010
10:14 am
What if somebody predicted a 12-2 season after spending the summer describing what horrible shape the program is in and blasting anybody who dared talk of 14 game seasons anymore?
12-2
July 17th, 2010
10:15 am
Bad LUCK against South Carolina ?
The game was at OUR HOUSE.
We scored ZERO (0) Touchdowns.
The worst loss LSU had that year was to a 8-Win opponent.
We LOST to South Carolina who ONLY WON 6 GAMES
And, that counts the win over Georgia
5 without it
LSU National Champions 2007 for 2ND TIME in Coach Richt Era
LSU beat # 9 Final AP Poll Virginia Tech 48-7
LSU beat # 13 Final AP Poll Florida
LSU beat # 15 Final AP Poll Auburn
LSU beat # 12 Final AP Poll Tennessee vols – not LOST by 3 TD
LSU beat # 5 Final AP Poll Ohio State
We LOST to # 12 Tennessee vols by 3 TD
We beat # 13 Florida like LSU did
We beat # 15 Auburn like LSU did
We did NOT beat # 9 Virginia Tech by 7 TD like LSU
We did NOT beat # 5 Ohio State by 2 TD like LSU
We beat # 19 Hawaii & they didn’t deserve to be ranked # 19
Our year 2007 is no where in the same ball park as LSU
Oh, we had a bad game vs the vols that year 2007
Duh
Oh, we had BAD LUCK against South Carolina no TD
Gatorhater
July 17th, 2010
10:18 am
SSIgator…What if Florida didn’t have cartoon school colors and their uniforms didn’t look like Junior high uniforms?…What if Florida fans didn’t wear cut off blue jean shorts, flip flops and have mulletts? What if Urban Meyer wasn’t such a cry baby?..What if Urban Meyer hadn’t run off all his coaches because he is such a pompous ass and takes credit for their hard work?… What if Urban Meyer wasn’t such a liar?…What if Florida didn’t sign players who can’t write their names or put grammatically correct sentences together?…. What if Florida hadn’t had eight players charged with felony crimes over the past five years?..What if Urban Meyer didn’t cry,point fingers at sports writers, coaches and everyone except himself?….What if everyone outside the state of Florida really gave a crap about the gators?…What if you weren’t such a tool?…What If?
12-2
July 17th, 2010
10:26 am
Then we better go
12-2
Because we sure as HELL are not going 12-2 in 2011
Not LOSING 15 seniors after 2010 and 4-5 juniors
12-2
July 17th, 2010
10:46 am
I am dawg-tired of the EXCUSES.
12-2
July 17th, 2010
10:47 am
And
the
LIES
of
HOW GREAT we are
38-14 last 4 years
in a REALLY SOFT SEC East
Rumbo
July 17th, 2010
11:29 am
Virtually every national champion gets a little luck during the season. In 1980, Georgia got enough to last a lifetime. Maybe that’s why they haven’t gotten any breaks in a title hunt since then, the law of averages says they aren’t due for anymore for another generation. The biggest was the kickoff fumble against N.D. Guy was untouched, just dropped the ball and gave the game away. Did Belue even complete a pass in that game? Two teams for the ages, 1996 Nebraska as the greatest, 1980 Georgia as the luckiest.
DawginOH
July 17th, 2010
11:42 am
What if all Gators and Bugs had better things to do than post stuff on our blogs that no Georgia fan actually cares about?
BurningRedBleedingBlack
July 17th, 2010
12:06 pm
Typical Comments from a Gator, They have no class thats why they live in FLA. thats why they get onto the AJC and reads bulldawg blogs, , not even close.I saw a gator fan the other day at store, he had on his tebow jersey, crocs,visor, and jorts for crying out loud!!!!! Typical!! I took a picture of him i’ll have to post it!!!
AltamahaDawg
July 17th, 2010
12:16 pm
Not so sure what excuses would be required when your predicting a 12-2 ,beating UF, winning the East season, eh Disney Dawg.
Except for the excuse that Coach Richt has for firing Coach Bobo this year, as you claim will happen. After going 12-2 and winning the east.
I recall that Tech helped in abig way
July 18th, 2010
10:24 am
On the fun day when UGA won the Florida game with L Scott for a TD ………..I recall that tech played Notre Dame and either tied them or won. THAT tech win put us (UGA) at number 1, the following poll release.
We went on to win it all. Besides, we knew that if tech hung in there with Notre Dame with a 10-01 tie or whatever its was …………… ND must not be much. My next door neighbor then was a ND grad and he was ill when UGA handled them. Fun to recall that.
Imagine how many very well known college foot ball teams have never won it, even once. This fact is why when morons scream that “UGA has not won a NC in 30 or so years”, you know that they
are not even alums of ANY college. Traditions make college so much fun and the anticipation of another memory building season. This is called -F-U-N folks.
Tech ……….many thanks.
Go Dogs
AltamahaDawg
July 18th, 2010
1:06 pm
More to the point that is how rare it is that any team wins a NC without the result from some other game that as completely out of thier control, and usually in the form of an upset.
doug
July 18th, 2010
6:42 pm
Then you have to account for all the games we should not have won, when we really didnt deserve to win.
Silly
Dawg Trainer
July 19th, 2010
8:47 am
12-2, I salute you, sir. You are a Georgia fan with an actual clue. There is no need for one of my usual sarcastic posts, your posts above spelled out exactly what the present state of Georgia football is at.
May Mark Richt stay at Georgia for ANOTHER decade!
WillDawg
July 19th, 2010
1:47 pm
What if SSI and GT baby had a life and stayed on their blog.
GOOB(Get off our blog)
Schmucks!!!!
Roy Wood
July 20th, 2010
12:18 pm
SSIgator what if fla didnt pay their players 100,000.00 to play for ufla?
Ed
July 20th, 2010
2:55 pm
“Who wins the 1980 national title if Georgia’s Lindsay Scott doesn’t score vs. Florida?”
I agree with Belue – the goal was accomplished when he connected with Scott over the middle. That would have given the Dawgs momentum, confidence, and about 1 minute of clock time to move another 35 yards or so for one of the best kickers in the nation that year. Besides, defenses are usually out of gas at that point in the game which I think was illustrated by Florida’s sluggish response to Scott after he made the catch. I still like the Dawgs, they weren’t going to be denied that year.
Ed
July 20th, 2010
5:11 pm
What if Florida’s roster wasn’t stocked with Union Correctional’s finest athletes?
Ed
July 20th, 2010
5:16 pm
Gator Aid, a UF fan who complains about “thugs” on any other team just sounds stupid. Really, really stupid. Two words: Tony Joiner.
Lionel DeLoach
July 20th, 2010
11:25 pm
What if Moreno and Stafford had played last year?
Hunker Down
July 21st, 2010
11:10 am
what if UF had not gotten the timeout they called a split second before David Green tossed a TD pass in a loss that year.
Ted Striker
July 24th, 2010
11:08 am
#1 — The Jasper Sanks phantom fumble against Tech. The officials cost UGA the game.
#2 – UGA vs UF in 1993 with UGA losing 33-26. Zeier completes a game-tying touchdown pass to Jerry Jerman with 5 seconds left. But wait. Officials rule the Florida CB called timeout just before the ball was snapped. Replay. Incomplete.