Dawgs Up to Same Old Tricks

Four weeks ago, Gurley became the latest in 
a long line of Dawgs to perform an old trick.

Earlier this week, seeing that Arkansas is now promoting Sebastian Tretola for the Heisman Trophy after the giant Razorback lineman passed for a touchdown against UAB, while hearing that the Bulldogs' one-time Heisman Trophy candidate (whose last game featured a trick pass of his own) will unfortunately miss the Florida game, I recalled a "Cocktail Party" story few Bulldog enthusiasts are aware of, involving an uncommon play which has prominently been showcased in UGA football lore for decades, especially down in Jacksonville against the despised Gators.

Nearly 40 years before tailback Todd Gurley completed a 50-yard pass to Jeb Blazevich against Vanderbilt this season, there occurred the most acclaimed trick pass play, or a pass thrown by someone besides the quarterback, in Georgia football history. 

You're likely familiar with the famous "Appleby to Washington" play—the 80-yard end-around touchdown pass from tight end Richard Appleby to Gene Washington, resulting late in the 1975 Florida game as the Bulldogs trailed the Gators, 7 to 3.  However, one of the greatest plays in the annals of Bulldog football perhaps wouldn't have even been called in the huddle if not for a rain-soaked Gator Bowl field that day.

Much earlier in the game before the famous trick touchdown resulted, Georgia trailed Florida 7-0 midway through the second quarter.  With the Bulldogs facing 3rd-and-6 at the Gators' 31-yard line, the "Appleby to Washington" trick play was called for the first time in the contest, except rather than Appleby passing, it was designed for another tight end—junior Steve Davis, who had been a highly-recruited quarterback out of high school—to do the throwing.

"It was the exact play Richard would run, except instead of running left to right, I took the handoff from [quarterback] Matt [Robinson], running from my right to left," Davis informed me when I interviewed him for my latest book on UGA football. "It had rained really hard leading up to the game and seemingly stopped right before kickoff.  So, and this is also how the play differed from Richard's, when I planted to throw the ball to Geno (Gene Washington), I slipped down on the wet field, losing about four or five yards."

Davis admits his failed end-around pass was kind of embarrassing, but he quickly got over it, adding, "Think about it, if I'd completed the pass, or maybe even gotten a throw off before slipping, there's likely no 'Appleby-to-Washington' to win the game."

A year later in his final game as a Bulldog, Davis would finally get his chance to get off a trick pass.  Against Pittsburgh in the Sugar Bowl, running the same Appleby-to-Washington-type play, Davis threw a bomb that according to ABC-TV announcer Keith Jackson was "right on the money." However, instead of Washington catching it for a touchdown, he let the ball slip through his hands in an eventual 27-3 loss.

The trick pass play has been around at Georgia essentially since the departure of legendary Charley Trippi. With the exit of Trippi, who averaged 11 pass attempts per game as a senior in 1946 from his halfback position in Georgia's T-formation, the Bulldogs' offense instantly changed forever, where the only position primarily designed to throw the football was the quarterback.  Going forward, a pass from anyone else was considered rather unique—a trick pass.

If no rain-soaked Gator Bowl field in 1975, may-
be no Appleby-to-Washington to defeat Florida.

From what I gathered, following the transformation of Georgia's offensive strategy, halfback John Donaldson executed the program's first notable trick pass play—a 40-yard completion early in the 1947 season.  While it's said you can't teach an old dog new tricks, Donaldson's pass thus began a trend of many a Dog pulling what is now an old trick.  

Against Florida in 1959, eventual-Pro Bowl punter Bobby Walden, who was also a standout halfback at Georgia, completed the Bulldogs' first trick pass for a touchdown—a 14-yard halfback toss to Gordon Kelley executed as an icy rain fell in Jacksonville during a 21-10 win by the Bulldogs en route to an SEC championship.

With Coach Vince Dooley's arrival in 1964, Georgia fans for the next quarter-century got used to what was regarded as a conservative offense. However, as cautious as the Bulldog offense operated under Dooley, it routinely had a surprise for opposing defenses, especially in the form of a pass.

Playing for a newly-integrated program while ironically head-coached by the aforementioned Donaldson, running back Horace King—one of the first five black players to sign with Georgia—was responsible for the first points in the first game of the Georgia freshman team's 1971 season by throwing a 38-yard touchdown on a halfback pass to Jerry Paul against Clemson.  In the 33-3 victory by the Bullpups over the Cubs, King also added 143 yards rushing and a touchdown.

Early the following season on the same afternoon he became the first African American to score a touchdown in UGA varsity football history, King completed a 25-yard pass in a victory over NC State—a "halfback pass [which] really hurt," according to Wolfpack head coach, Lou Holtz.  In the opening game of his senior campaign against Oregon State, King threw a 28-yard touchdown to Butch Box.

Of the more than 50 Bulldogs beginning in the 1940s to the present to pass for more than 100 yards for a career, King (119 passing yards) remains the only one not to play the quarterback position. Including his freshman season with the Bullpups, he remarkably threw for 157 yards on 15 pass attempts and two touchdowns while at Georgia from 1971 to 1974.

A few years after King and then Appleby-to-Washington, receiver Amp Arnold became the next Bulldog to pull off a successful trick pass play for a score, and against the Gators, no less. In Jacksonville in 1978, Arnold's 44-yard touchdown pass to Lindsay Scott was the difference in a 24-22 Georgia win. 

Notably, the trick pass play isn't for everyone, not even the greatest Bulldog player of them all.  Tailback Herschel Walker was 0 for 2 passing while at Georgia, first attempting what looked like a wounded duck against Notre Dame in the 1981 Sugar Bowl followed by throwing an interception against Kentucky the next season.

During the Jim Donnan regime, running back Patrick Pass was indeed a threat to pass, going to the air in three of his four seasons (1996-1999), totaling 86 yards on 3 of 5 passing.  Besides Pass and other offensive players, the head coach added a wrinkle to the trick pass by also implementing it on special teams as early as his first season at Georgia.

Attempting a halfback pass against the
Auburn freshman team in '71 is Horace
King—king of the trick pass play at UGA.

During the 1996 season at Mississippi State, punter Dax Langley lofted a 38-yard completion which was described as "wobbly," and one which seemed to hang in the air "forever"—so much that his teammate on the receiving end, Hines Ward, was quickly tackled from behind inside the opposing 10-yard line after having to literally stand and wait on the toss to arrive to him.

"My pass might not have been pretty, but it was better looking than the sight of Hines getting caught from behind," Langley joked when I interviewed him for the same book. To date, Langley's trickery remains the only time in the last half-century a Georgia punter has completed a pass attempt.

During the same game in Starkville and a year removed from playing quarterback, Ward threw a 19-yard touchdown to Larry Brown on a receiver-reverse.  A season later in 1997 against Florida, it was Ward-to-Brown again for nearly 30 yards on the opening drive of the monumental 37-17 upset over the Gators.

In 2005 against Florida, quarterback Joe Tereshinski, who was filling in for an injured D.J. Shockley, made an unforgettable leaping touchdown catch of a 9-yard halfback pass from tailback Thomas Brown (during a forgettable passing performance by Tereshinski, ending in a heart-breaking 14-10 loss).  

Finally, the history of Georgia's trick pass play wouldn't be complete without mentioning the only Bulldog to complete more than one trick pass for a touchdown in varsity action—tailback Tim Worley. During his run for the Heisman Trophy in 1988, Worley attempted three halfback passes, the last of which fell incomplete against Florida. Nevertheless, the Worley-led Bulldogs walloped the Gators that afternoon, 26 to 3, while the star tailback's misfire followed a 9-yard scoring pass from him to Troy Sadowski against TCU earlier that season and a 27-yard touchdown toss to John Thomas versus Ole Miss. 

Upon completion of the Florida game and until the tail end of the season, Worley remained a legitimate contender for the Heisman—a campaign which had been established when his trick-passing prowess, like Arkansas' Tretola 26 years later, caught the nation's attention in October.

Like Worley, Gurley, the other aforementioned, and the additional notable tricksters below, the next player to join the distinguished list of trick-pass-play Dawgs is anyone's guess—surprise!

• 1967 vs. Georgia Tech: the great Jake Scott, positioned at holder, throws incomplete off a fake field goal.
• 1978 vs. Kentucky: tailback Willie McClendon 33-yard completion to Amp Arnold during a furious rally to defeat the Wildcats 17-16 after trailing, 16-0.  
• 1989 vs. South Carolina: fullback Brian Cleveland 30-yard completion.
• 1990 vs. Alabama: tailback Larry Ware two-point conversion pass to Chris Broom, cutting the Tide's lead to 16-14, which allowed Georgia to later win the game with a field goal.
• 1994 vs. Georgia Tech: freshman running back Hines Ward throws incomplete on his first collegiate pass attempt; however, it makes for good practice as Ward would close the following season as Georgia's starting quarterback.
• 1997 vs. Tennessee: holder Drew Cronic completes a 21-yarder to Patrick Pass off a fake field goal; nevertheless, the Bulldogs had been faced with 4th down and no less than 26 yards to go.  
• 1998 vs. Georgia Tech: receiver Michael Greer completes a 68-yarder to Larry Brown for a touchdown; the play remains the last Georgia trick pass to cover more than 50 yards.
• 2003 vs. Auburn: receiver Michael Johnson throws a 40-yard completion to Fred Gibson on an apparent reverse; Johnson catches a 19-yard touchdown from David Greene on the very next play.  
• 2012 vs. Alabama: tight end Arthur Lynch, playing the protector position in punt formation, completes a 16-yard trick pass in the SEC title game to cornerback Sanders Commings, who was positioned as a lineman.
• 2013 vs. North Texas: it was Lynch on the receiving end of a 42-yard completion from Rantavious Wooten—likely satisfaction for the fifth-year senior receiver who had misfired on a trick pass attempt the year before.

When Les Is More

Miles' mark representing late-game success
is no laughing matter. Richt's on the other hand...

You too may have seen the same staggering statistic ESPN showcased while recapping LSU's fourth-quarter comeback win over Ole Miss last Saturday night: since he became the Tigers' head coach in 2005, Les Miles has actually won more games than he has lost when trailing entering the fourth quarter. 

According to the ESPN graphic, the top four teams in winning percentage when losing entering the 4Q from 2005 to the present: 

.511- LSU (24-23)

.346- Texas (18-34)

.300- Ohio State (9-21)

.292- Boise State (7-17)

After the astonishment had worn off that a team could be so much better at winning games late than everyone else over nearly an entire decade, I was next surprised Miles had actually entered that many fourth quarters losing to his opposition. Forty-seven games trailing in the 4Q equates to about five annually, or 37% of the head coach's games since he's been at LSU—a rather high percentage considering Miles has guided the Tigers to an overall winning percentage of around 80%.

As I like to do, I wanted to figure the same for our Georgia Bulldogs, and not only since 2005, but for the last 50+ seasons covering the last four head-coaching regimes.  First, the percentage of his total games each UGA head coach trailed entering the 4Q:

31%- Dooley

44%- Goff

37%- Donnan

26%- Richt

It just so happens that the ranking of coaches lowest to highest by percentage of games losing entering the 4Q is the exact same listing of the coaches by winning percentage (Richt-Dooley-Donnan-Goff), which certainly makes sense. Next, and most telling, the winning percentage and record of the four head coaches when trailing entering the 4Q:

.313- Dooley (26-59-3)

.153- Goff (5-30-1)

.318- Donnan (7-15)

.196- Richt (9-37)

Notably, both Dooley and Donnan's late-game mark would rank an admirable 3rd if compared to the top four programs since 2005 in fourth-quarter success. As for Goff and Richt, not so much.

Specifically, Richt's teams since 2005 when trailing entering the 4Q have won just 6 of 35 games, or a winning percentage of only .171, which my guess is wouldn't even crack the nation's top 50, much less be among college football's best.

It may appear on this blog that my nerdy statistical comparisons at times are an attempt to "pile on" Coach Richt; I receive the complaining emails saying as much. However, as they say the "numbers never lie" (speaking of ESPN...).

Nevertheless, Georgia has experienced fourth-quarter success in the past, resulting under two different head coaches—one tenure lasting for a quarter-century—both of which, although not on the level of Coach Miles, would rival the very best since 2005 in late-game comebacks.

Evidently, with Dooley and Donnan at the helm, if the Dogs were down entering the final quarter, they still had a legitimate shot at a victory. However, seemingly under Richt, if Georgia is trailing entering the 4Q, like during the Goff years, you probably might as well chalk it up as a loss. 

We Love the WLOCP

You know this game has always been called the World’s Greatest Cocktail Party, do you know what is gonna happen here tonight, and up in St. Simons and Jekyll Island, and all those places where all those Dawg people have got these condominiums for four days? Man, is there going to be some property destroyed tonight!

—Larry Munson 

How do we Bulldogs describe the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, or the annual Georgia-Florida football game in Jacksonville and its surrounding days of partying? The easiest way to describe it is for you to simply go experience it for yourself. It’s something every football enthusiast should go do at least once in their lives, and if you do indeed have the experience, it likely won’t be your last trip to Jacksonville in late October-early November.

Perhaps the best way to describe Georgia-Florida weekend where the “weekend” is as long as four or five days for a good portion of Bulldogs followers is by the time Saturday finally arrives, many of us have nearly forgotten that there is actually a football game to be played.

Thus, the Bulldogs and Gators battling it out on the gridiron is only a small part of the Cocktail Party, which actually is a series of parties. The partying lasts for days and stretches for roughly 125 miles from St. Simon’s Island in Georgia to the north to Florida’s St. Augustine to the south, while leaving the fans of the losing team exclaiming an outcry that can be traced back in the rivalry for nearly 40 years: “We might have lost the game, but we’ll win the party!”

WHY JACKSONVILLE?

Outsiders to the Georgia-Florida rivalry often wonder why the game is played at an off-campus site and why particularly in Jacksonville, especially considering the “neutral” city is approximately 250 miles further from Athens than Gainesville. In the beginning, it’s evident that no one could determine the permanent site of the game, as four different cities hosted the series’ first four meetings. In the rivalry’s first 13 games over 30 seasons, from 1904 to 1933, not once was it held at the same site in consecutive years.

Played in 1904, the game’s first site was Central City Park in the city of Macon, Georgia. Like the game of football, the location of Georgia-Florida would soon change drastically and repeatedly, yet it’s interesting to note that the foundation of the Cocktail Party was already being built. Leading up to the initial meeting of the schools, Macon’s Telegraph stated, “The social side of the game will be a feature. Football has ever been the favorite of the ladies and doubtless will continue to be.”

In 1933 Jacksonville’s Fairfield Stadium hosted the Georgia-Florida game, and like the three previous meetings in the city, the contest was a complete sellout. It was decided then that because of the large crowd and since the two teams and their fans could easily reach Jacksonville by train, the following year’s game would be held at Fairfield Stadium, as well. 

In the early era of the sport, several rivalries, particularly in the South, usually met at a neutral site since the teams’ on-campus stadiums could not accommodate a large crowd. In fact, for a quarter-century, Georgia would face rival Auburn annually in neutral Columbus, Georgia only a week or two after playing Florida in Jacksonville. However, by the late 1950s, Columbus’ Memorial Stadium could no longer hold the number of spectators the Georgia-Auburn game was attracting, and the yearly meeting was moved to the home stadiums of the two schools.

Since 1933, except for a two-year period during the mid-1990s, when the Gator Bowl was being renovated, Georgia-Florida has remained in neutral Jacksonville. Currently, it is one of only two annual games in college football played at the same neutral site every year. The other is the Oklahoma-Texas rivalry—the “Red River Shootout,” or “Red River Rivalry” if you prefer to be politically correct—which takes place during the State Fair of Texas.

So, how do the last two remaining neutral-sited rivalries in college football compare to one another? For most Georgia fans, we haven’t the slightest idea. The weekend of Oklahoma-Texas, we’re usually in Athens or a place like Knoxville, watching our Bulldogs play. It’s hard to comprehend a football game at a State Fair, which prides itself on serving unusually deep-fried items. For most of us, a good party and a cocktail seem much more enticing than a huge Ferris wheel and a deep-fried Twinkie.

THE PARTY HAS JUST BEGUN

While the partying increased, so did the HATE.

Even before the start of World War II, the Georgia-Florida meeting in Jacksonville had already become an annual tradition. Just as anticipated as the game itself, if not more so, was the social aspect of the weekend, especially considering the performances by most of the Gators’ teams back then. Economically, the weekend was acknowledged as the biggest of the year for the city of Jacksonville, where the Bulldogs and Gators played a game on Saturday after the “spectators play one all night long,” according to sports writer Jack Troy in 1939.

“[The fans are] still up by the dawn’s early light,” said Troy. “There is no thought of sleep…if there is time, they go gaily to municipal stadium and see if they had figured things out.”

In the late 1950s, the annual event first came to be known by its distinguished title—the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Bill Kastelz, the editor of the Florida Times-Union, created the moniker but would use it just once in a column. Regardless, the nickname was soon picked up by other writers and the title stuck.

“All the other sports writers in the press box asked me why I wrote that, and I said because it was true,” said Kastelz in 2000. “There was drinking all over the place in those days. People would use their binocular cases to put a flask in there and drink very openly, and there was no crackdown.”

Prior to the 1960s, Florida Gators football was mostly about the parties rather than the team’s performances. The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party was brought to the attention of a national audience by writer John Underwood of Sports Illustrated, indicating that even “all the fun of the [Georgia-Florida] weekends could not make Florida fans happy with their lot.” 

Over the next decade or so, while Gators football started to slowly improve, the Cocktail Party was steadily growing even more in popularity.

HEYDAY OF THE COCKTAIL PARTY

The Spirit and "spirits" of 1976

By the 1970s, Georgia-Florida was viewed nationally as more of a spectacle lasting for days rather than a single football game. While the host city of Jacksonville had begun to devote months of planning for the weekend, some surrounding areas would prep for nearly an entire year for the pre- and post-game partying.

The rivalry was “the 100 proof bowl. The 2:00 pm happy hour,” said writer Ron Hudspeth just prior to the 1972 meeting. “The game with the extra touch of spirit and spirits. Hic.”

However, during this time, the week-long spectacle was evolving into something the city and its Gator Bowl had not originally planned for: the Cocktail Party was now fully overflowing into the stadium itself, while the crowd—split down the middle of the stadium according to rooting interest—had never been so raucous and inebriated, perhaps a little too much so. More and more Bulldogs and Gators fans were stuffing liquor bottles into every little nook and cranny of clothing prior to entering the Gator Bowl, and often in plain view of law enforcement without hesitation.

After Georgia’s memorable comeback victory over Florida in 1976, elated Bulldogs fans spilled into the stadium’s end zones and tore down both goal posts in what was thought to be the first time the Jacksonville stadium’s posts had ever been dismantled. A high school football game immediately followed Georgia’s win and the teams were forced to use a single makeshift structure as a goal post. The celebratory act by Bulldogs fans would eventually cost the Gator Bowl $2,695 for a set of new goal posts.

During the game in 1978, reports of gate-crashing by frustrated fans unable to get tickets surfaced. Groups of as many as 50 individuals rushed past ticket-takers or climbed fences to enter the stadium and join the party in the stands. When Georgia defeated Florida by a mere two points, some UGA students attempted exactly what they had done the last time the Bulldogs had defeated the Gators and tear down the goal posts. This time, however, they were met by a ring of police, preventing any fans into the end zone. For any student who happened to reach the field, he or she was soon tackled or beaten back away from the Gator Bowl’s newly installed goal posts.

EVIDENTLY, THE MAYOR WAS A GATOR

All that's missing from this shot of the Gators'
celebration of '84 is for those jeans to be jorts.

For six straight years from 1978 to 1983, Georgia defeated Florida and for each of the six occasions, Bulldogs fans attempted to rush onto the Gator Bowl turf, but to no avail. For some of those who tried to reach the field, they were met by Jacksonville’s finest, who would often make arrests and on occasion physically throw students over a dividing fence.

In 1984 Florida defeated Georgia soundly by a score of 27–0 for what seemed like the Gators’ first victory in the series in an eternity. Florida fans stormed the field, unearthed a newly sodded playing surface, tore down and dismantled both goal posts, carried them around, and eventually left the Gator Bowl with the goal posts in tow. Like previous years, police had been posted around the field to prevent fans from entering. However, during the mêlée, officers merely watched as the destruction took place and did not make a single arrest. Police restraint was exercised, according to a spokesman for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office, “because the surge of fans was too great.”

Jacksonville’s mayor at the time and an apparent Florida fan, Jake Godbold, inexplicably stated that the city “would be tickled to death to pay for [any damages to the field]. If [the Gators] beat ’em like that next year, they can tear it down then, too.”

Much to the mayor’s presumed dismay, there would be no victory for the Gators in 1985, but instead a 24–3 Georgia upset win over a top-ranked Florida team. As the Gators had done the year before, Bulldogs fans attempted to rush the field following the victory by climbing over a fence; however, this time, the jubilant crowd was held back by police. Nonetheless, spectators would eventually open a gate and soon there was a red and black throng covering the field.

Jacksonville police did not exercise restraint that particular year as law enforcement took to the Georgia crowd wielding nightsticks. Numerous arrests were made while 15 fans were treated on the field alone for injuries suffered during the police-engaged chaos.

Entering the 1986 match-up, a “war on alcohol” was more or less declared in and around the stadium and security was greatly increased. This included the addition of police dogs, mounted police on horses, undercover law enforcement, reinforced fences, and, if necessary, even helicopters and marine patrol boats could be used. Apparently, lessons had been learned from previous years and drastic steps were taken by both teams and the city of Jacksonville to keep the Cocktail Party out of the confines of the Gator Bowl.

WHY NOT JACKSONVILLE?

The notion of moving the Georgia-Florida game out of Jacksonville periodically or entirely, and converting the rivalry to an on-campus series or one which includes an additional neutral site, like Atlanta, is nothing new. The idea was suggested as far back as the 1970s when the city of Jacksonville and the stadium’s handling of the game was first widely criticized. Specifically, price gouging by hotels, poor supervision of parking by police officers, and gate-crashing at the Gator Bowl, which had reportedly increased attendance by as many as 3,000 spectators above capacity, were all cited as primary reasons why the game possibly needed a new home.

The idea of moving the game was again suggested off and on throughout the 1990s and 2000s. However, instead of the host city’s management of the game being challenged as before, the actual “neutrality” of Jacksonville was questioned by Georgia supporters. As indicated, “The Bold New City of the South,” as Jacksonville is called, is a heck of a lot further south toward Gainesville than Athens.

Admittedly, for the Bulldogs backers who want to take the game out of Jacksonville, the primary reason for this sentiment—and if we’re being totally honest—is simply because of Georgia’s struggles in the series the last couple of decades. However, that’s not the city of Jacksonville’s fault or its stadium, rather players and coaching should be held accountable. Few Bulldogs wanted to take the game out of town when we defeated the Gators 13 of 16 times from 1974 to 1989.

Most Georgia fans want to keep this game right where it is. Besides the rivalry’s tradition and party-like atmosphere, both universities currently make more revenue from the game at its current location on a yearly basis than if the site rotated between the schools’ respective home stadiums. In addition, the week of the game is extremely lucrative for the city of Jacksonville, which stands to lose millions of dollars each year of not hosting the rivalry. As mentioned, the weekend is the biggest of the year for the city and has been since the 1930s.

Former Jacksonville mayor Hans Tanzler might have put it best when the possibility of moving the game out of his city was introduced to him in 1978: “Talking about moving, it doesn’t make any sense. It ain’t going to be moved. No. 1, it’s too valuable.”

The mayor would be correct in his assessment, at least for the next nearly 40 years. In 2009 UGA’s athletic board unanimously agreed to a multi-year contract, keeping the game in Jacksonville through 2016.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

I concur.

Soon after the city cracked down on excessive drinking at the game during the mid-1980s, Jacksonville dropped its use of the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” title. In 2006 UGA President Michael Adams led a campaign to do away the phrase altogether. CBS Sports, who televises the game annually, and two other networks were approached and asked to drop the phrase due to concerns regarding alcohol abuse by attendees. Reportedly, preferred titles were the “Georgia-Florida Football Classic” or the “Florida-Georgia Football Classic,” depending on which school was considered the home team.

During the president’s campaign, his spokesman stated to the Associated Press: “We don’t like phrase. We don’t use the phrase. We would prefer that nobody use the phrase.”

The fact that Adams, or anyone for that matter, doesn’t use the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” is absolutely fine, but to suggest that nobody should use the title may be going too far. Many Bulldogs familiar with the rivalry have used the phrase since they can remember, and will continue to do so.

In reality, when CBS Sports was initially contacted about the issue, the network indicated that it rarely used the phrase to begin with, if at all. “[The phrase is] not part of the focus of CBS coverage,” said Leslie Anne Wade, vice president of communications for CBS Sports. “CBS coverage is about the rivalry and the competitive match-up of these two schools.”

The fact of the matter is that Georgia-Florida could be labeled the “World’s Largest Outdoor Ring-Around-the-Rosie Party,” and drinking—some of it binge, most of it controlled—would undoubtedly still occur outside the stadium. For most Georgia fans, the campaign to drop a phrase that had been around since most anyone could remember was believed to be yet another example of people in power attacking everything but the actual problem itself.

In closing, you can have your “Georgia-Florida Football Classic,” or whatever ho-hum label you choose. For Georgia and Florida fans alike, most undoubtedly prefer to use the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.”

EXCERPT FROM MY BOOK, I LOVE GEORGIA/I HATE FLORIDA

Bye Bye Bulldogs

Although winning, barely escaping—
like last year in Jacksonville—is the 
recent trend for the Bulldogs after a bye.

In the same interview I mentioned in my last post, I was asked what possible advantages, besides the obvious, Georgia had over Florida a week from tomorrow. Among other things, I mentioned the Bulldogs had an extra week to prepare; they would be coming off a bye.

Doh!

It dawned on me later Florida too has a bye this Saturday. Also, Georgia had an open week prior to this season's South Carolina game, and we all know what resulted in Columbia. So much for the Bulldogs' "advantage" in Jacksonville.

Finally, I recalled a piece I posted two years ago prior to the Bulldogs' mid-season bye against Kentucky regarding a historical view of "what to expect" from Georgia following an open date. 

I've done some updating, including Coach Richt's bye results since my original post, while discovering Coach Dooley's results following an open date for his entire tenure. Listed by winning percentage of head coach, the following are Georgia's records off a bye week over the last 50 years:

.786- DOOLEY (27-7-1)

.762- RICHT (16-5)

.667- DONNAN (8-4)

.464- GOFF (6-7-1)  

As mentioned in my "bye-week" post from two years ago, comparing head coaches by their straight-up records is hardly fair—Coach Dooley faced some rather easy Tech teams off a bye; Goff some rather difficult Florida and Auburn squads.  Perhaps a better comparison would be the coaches' records against the spread—in my mind, a good measurement of a team in terms of straining its potential/exceeding expectations, and vice versa:

.583- DONNAN (7-5)
.500- GOFF (7-7)
.457- DOOLEY (16-19)
.452- RICHT (9-11-1)

Although ranking last among the four coaches, Richt actually had success at first against the number following a bye, covering 7 of his first 9 games. However, beginning in 2008—and this is near staggering—although 6-3 straight up, Georgia is 1-8 against the spread after an open week.

If the recent past is any indication for the future, like eight days from now, the Bulldogs will likely "underachieve" after their bye, although probably escaping Jacksonville with a victory. And, if I was to make an early guess, I'd say Georgia will be around a 9- to 13-point favorite next week. That's a lot of points in a series decided by 8 or fewer points in 9 of the last 12 games, and a rivalry where the Bulldogs have defeated the Gators by more than 12 points just once during the last quarter-century. Nevertheless, a win is a win over the Gators—I don't care if it's by 1 or 100 points—to improve to an admirable 7-1 on the season. 

Although, now that I think about it—and I just thought of my replacement "possible advantage" Georgia has over Florida for next week—the current edition of Richt's Dogs, a squad which should continue to have a no-one-man-team and chip-on-shoulder attitude, appear to be unlike his teams beginning in 2008. Seemingly, the underachieving Georgia program of the past several seasons (on the whole), fielding teams falling below expectations even almost everytime after having an extra week to practice and prepare, might continue to strain their potential continuing through this week's bye to the Florida game, and beyond. 

Far From Extraordinary

As Demetrius Douglas (left) demonstrates in '89, 
Emmitt Smith (right) had a hard time getting  
his footing when facing the Dawgs. 

In an interview yesterday regarding the Georgia-Florida series, in so many words, I was asked to compare Herschel Walker with the "extraordinary" Emmitt Smith.

My response: there is no comparison, especially when it comes to the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. 

You see, in three games against Florida, the legendary Walker averaged more than 216 rushing yards per contest, 5.5 yards per carry, and scored nearly three touchdowns.  Most importantly, Herschel's teams were 3 and 0 in the rivalry. Emmitt, on the other hand, averaged a paltry 81, 4.5, and ZERO, respectively, and was 0 and 3, or the last time prior to the current streak Georgia had defeated the Gators three times in a row.

I continued, Florida football fans relished the 13-1 run they had in Jacksonville from 1990 through 2003, while seldom speaking of Georgia's dominance leading up to their winning ways in the rivalry.

Taken from my I Love Georgia/I Hate Florida book, I touch upon the latter portion of the Bulldogs' series supremacy, specifically when it came to facing the not-so-extraordinary Emmitt: 

Clemson football fans love to rehash how our legendary Herschel Walker never scored a touchdown against their Tigers. However, conveniently not brought up is how Herschel twice rushed for more than 100 yards in the three meetings and, most importantly, the Bulldogs won two of the three games.

But perhaps that’s a Love/Hate book for another time…

Rarely, will you hear Bulldogs fans recount how Florida’s Emmitt Smith never scored in three games against Georgia. In addition, Smith rushed for more than 100 yards just once in three tries, and above all, Georgia won all three meetings.

At any rate, Smith’s lack of production against Georgia is hardly a big deal to the Bulldogs (although maybe I can touch upon it solely for the purpose of this book). In 1987 Smith broke the NCAA freshman record by reaching the 1,000-yard rushing mark in just his seventh game. Three weeks later, Georgia would be facing Florida’s freshman sensation—the best first-year running back in college football since the Bulldogs’ own Herschel Walker seven years before.

“I’m really looking forward to playing in my first Florida-Georgia game,” said Smith. “They have a strong defense particularly against the run. We’ll need a good week of preparation to play in this one.”

Come to find out, Smith and his fellow Gators would have needed much more than a week to prepare as Georgia cruised to a relatively easy victory. In the 23–10 Florida loss, Smith was held to 46 yards on 13 carries.

In 1988 it was more of the same as Smith was limited to 88 yards on 19 rushes in a 26–3 Bulldogs victory. A year later, in his final season at Florida, Smith totaled 108 yards in Jacksonville but yet again, he couldn’t find the end zone and the Gators were defeated 17–10 by Georgia.

In three games against the Bulldogs, Smith averaged just 81 rushing yards per contest, gained 4.5 yards per carry, and did not score a touchdown. Compare those figures to Smith’s 132-yard average, 5.7 yards per carry, and a total of 36 touchdowns in his 28 games against other regular season opponents.

Prior to a brilliant NFL career, there’s no denying Emmitt Smith had an outstanding three-season run at Florida. His accolades included being a three-time first-team All-SEC pick, a two-time top-10 finisher in the Heisman Trophy voting, the 1987 SEC Freshman of the Year, and the 1989 SEC Player of the Year.

Be that as it may, Smith certainly had his troubles against—as he himself identified—the Bulldogs’ “strong defense particularly against the run.”

TO ORDER MY BOOK ON THE GEORGIA-FLORIDA RIVALRY

A Dream-Come-True Starting Debut at Arkansas

Pledger's starting debut at Arkansas in 1992 was one to
remember for the Athens native. 

Growing up both in Athens and just outside the city, I was more inclined to follow Bulldog players from the Classic City and its surrounding areas  when I was younger. Therefore, when I recently thought of the Bulldogs playing Arkansas in Little Rock tomorrow for the first time ever, it was rather natural of me to think back to when Georgia was hosted by the Razorbacks for the first time in 1992, and the hometown boy who experienced a memorable first in the state then known as "The Land of Opportunity."

Attending school in Athens while growing up but living just outside of Clarke County, Charles Pledger had his pick in the mid-1980s of which Athens-area high school to attend—a choice that was obvious: Clarke Central High School, where Billy Henderson was the head coach of the football team.  Henderson had been a standout halfback at UGA in the late-1940s, and was amidst a legendary coaching career still considered one of the greatest in Georgia high school football history.

"Billy was the best; he truly cared about the kids," Pledger informed me this week from his office in Atlanta.  "On Christmas Day, he'd open the gym at the school, and if there was a kid who didn't have a home or a family to celebrate with, Billy was waiting for you."

Pledger added Henderson was "the best motivator of young men I have ever seen," which is fitting since Henderson once regarded Pledger as "the most coachable young man I have ever seen."

At Clarke Central, Pledger tallied 19 career interceptions from his safety position, including leading the state's AAAA classification in interceptions as a junior in 1988.  It was during that season Pledger began to be recruited by colleges, in a way, by accident.  

Teammate Adrian Jarrell, who would attend Notre Dame, was one of the most highly-recruited quarterbacks in the country that year. "It seemed like everytime [recruiters] would come watch Adrian play, I'd make an interception," Pledger said laughing.

At a UGA football camp the summer prior to his senior year, Pledger did something rather uncommon for 20+ years ago: commit to a school early, and pledged his allegiance to the Georgia Bulldogs.

"Growing up in the Athens area and playing Saturday football games for the YMCA at Sanford Stadium, it was obviously a childhood dream come true to attend Georgia and play for the Bulldogs," Pledger said. 

After redshirting in 1990, Pledger was one of Georgia's top defensive backups in 1991. Now playing cornerback, he was a backup the following season, as well, until the fourth game of the season against Ole Miss, when starting safety Mike Jones was injured.  Jones' injury moved starting cornerback Al Jackson to safety, leaving Jackson's spot open for Pledger.  Against the Rebels, Pledger recorded his first career interception as a Bulldog.

Next on the schedule for Georgia was a 750-mile trip to the newest member of the SEC along with the University of South Carolina—the Arkansas Razorbacks—playing their first SEC game in Fayetteville, while the Bulldogs were playing in the state of Arkansas for the first time.

"It was such a unique trip because we stayed in a golf course community with more than 100 holes of golf instead of hotel rooms," Pledger recalled.  "They were like cottages or golf course homes, and a really different experience from what we were used to. Also, we were located more than an hour from the stadium, and the game had a really early start (11:40 a.m. local time)."

Former Clemson coaching great Danny Ford had been hired by Arkansas as an "Offensive Assistant" just days before the game (Ford would become the Hogs' head coach the following season).  Ford, who had recruited Pledger heavily in high school in an attempt to seize another Athens boy for Clemson, decided to pick on the first-time starter on the very first play from scrimmage.

"I remember it like it was yesterday," Pledger said.  "On the very first play, the Arkansas quarterback threw a bomb for the receiver I was covering.  I would have an interception later, but I should've had two that game because the long pass hit off my fingertips for an incompletion."

With Georgia leading 17-3 in the third quarter, but with Arkansas nearing midfield, Pledger corralled his memorable interception.

"I played wide side [cornerback], so I was pretty much man-to-man the entire game," Pledger said.  "The Arkansas receiver ran a crossing route, and I just read the quarterback's eyes and jumped on it, making what was kind of a diving interception."

Pledger's interception led to a Garrison Hearst touchdown run—his second of the game. The Bulldogs would go onto an impressive 27-3 road victory.  Georgia's pass defense, led by its first-time starter, held the Razorbacks to a lowly 9 of 29 passing for 87 yards and 3 interceptions.  Besides his interception, Pledger also added six tackles (four solo), including a touchdown-saving stop, in a game which left a lasting impression.

"Obviously, anytime you have your first start, especially coming against a team belonging to the caliber of the SEC, and especially in making an interception, it's a really great moment," Pledger said.

As soon as Jones returned from being injured, Pledger finished out his sophomore campaign as a backup like before; however, with the start of the 1993 season, he was starting at corner again.  As a junior, Pledger intercepted passes against Texas Tech and Ole Miss, while his team-leading eight passes broken up for the season were twice as many as any other Bulldog.

A recurring finger injury plagued Pledger in spring practice of his senior season. He could have another surgery on the finger—his third—and play football, but risk losing the finger permanently.

"I loved the game, but there comes a point when your body can only take so much," Pledger said.  "It seemed liked everytime I turned around, I was having an issue with my hand, and at cornerback, I used my hands a lot."

Prior to the 1994 season, Pledger decided to "retire" from the sport he loved.  

Today, golf is Pledger's sport to play. For work, he is Managing Director for Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, a large commercial real estate service firm.  As far as maintaining his ties to Georgia football, according to him, "I stay in touch with some of the guys."

One of those "guys" he's gotten to know over the last decade or so is Jerome Rosetti—a walk-on/scout team member of Georgia's 1980 national championship team.

"Jerome is a great friend and a great coach, and we have a good time," Pledger said.

The one-time Bulldog player has been coaching
groups of younger "Bulldogs" for a decade.

Coaching their games at Chastain Park, Rosetti and Pledger have volunteer coached 9 and 10-year olds in NYO Football of Atlanta.  Fittingly named, Pledger's team, the Bulldogs, have won two championships, including last season, capping a perfect 12-0 campaign.  

"It's rewarding to coach 9 and 10-year olds and then see them play later at the high school level; four of the starters off Lovett's (The Lovett School) state championship team a year ago once played for us," Pledger proudly stated.  "I guess it's my way of giving back to the community."

Seemingly, beyond becoming a notable Georgia Bulldog player, it appears the great Billy Henderson—"the best" who "truly cared about the kids"—rubbed off on Charles Pledger in a number of ways.