Top Dawg Dynasties

Psst, hey Aaron, where do you think my
last six teams rank all time at UGA?

I recently received an email from a reader, asking my opinion of where Georgia's "run" starting in 2007 to the present ranked amongst the greatest eras in UGA football history ("Would the 2007 to 2012 seasons even rank in Georgia's top 10 eras?" the emailer asked).  That inquiry, plus an article I recalled from Athlon Sports back in June of college football's top 25 dynasties of the AP era prompted me to rank the ten greatest Georgia football eras of all time.

 

As apparently Athlon determined, I too decided a "dynasty," or an era, needed to consist of at least four seasons.  I also agree with Athlon that "dynasty is a word that gets tossed around all too liberally" on the whole; however, at Georgia, perhaps not so much, or at least it shouldn't be.  You see, the Bulldogs might be the ultimate example in college football of a steady, quality program over nearly all of its many years, where you won't find persistent losing, but good luck discovering a period besides the obvious from 1980 to 1983 when Georgia was consistently and completely dominant.

 

Still, I made an effort to rank Georgia football's greatest eras.  Now, how many of them are actually "dynasty" worthy is up for debate...  

 

1.  1980-83: 43-4-1

The crème de la crème of eras in UGA football history.  Herschel Walker leads three consecutive teams to SEC titles and a shot for the national championship entering each year's Sugar Bowl.  Without Herschel in '83, a bunch of seniors mostly overshadowed during their careers continue where 1982 left off, losing just one game and upsetting 2nd-ranked Texas in the Cotton Bowl.  Georgia's string of #1, #6, #4, and #4 finishes in the AP Poll is matched by few programs in history, while the four losses during the dynasty were to teams that would eventually finish #1, #4, #1, and #3 in their respective final AP Poll.

2.  1941-48: 69-17-2
A consensus national championship (1942) and another season when the Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 by an NCAA-recognized poll (1946), winning three SEC titles in a seven-year span after capturing just two conference championships during the first 50 seasons of the program, and six bowl games in eight years—the most in college football during the same period—highlight the era.  In the two seasons Georgia didn't go bowling—1943 and 1944—the team was totally depleted by the WWII draft and nearly quit playing for 1-2 seasons (like most of the rest of the SEC), but instead fielded teams primarily comprised of 17 year olds, and still somehow managed to win 13 of 20 games.  Georgia's .795 winning percentage during the era is better than three of Athlon's "dynasties" (Ohio State 1954-70, Clemson 1981-91, and Virginia Tech 1999-2011).

3.  2002-05: 44-9
After one year at the helm, Coach Richt guides the Bulldogs to their first SEC championship in 20 years and a school-record 13 victories.  Three years later, Georgia had won a second conference title in four years while finishing ranked in the AP's top ten four consecutive seasons for only the second time in school history (1980-1983 the other).  Following each of the four seasons, a combined seven different Bulldogs are recognized as first-team All-Americans, while five players would be NFL first-round selections.  The 2005 senior class, which consisted of 11 players lettering in each of the four seasons, including standouts Greg Blue, D.J. Shockley, DeMario Minter, Tim Jennings, and Max Jean-Gilles, remains the winningest class in UGA football history.

4.  1910-13: 25-6-3
This was the era that put Georgia football on the map, so to speak.  As I've mentioned here before, including last May when I argued the program should retire Bob McWhorter's jersey, to fully understand how football at Georgia drastically changed in 1910, you first have to be somewhat aware of the state of UGA football prior to 1910.  From 1899 through 1909, the Red and Black won only about one-third of their games, averaging just 7.2 points per contest.  With head coach Alex Cunningham and All-American halfback McWhorter in Athens from 1910 to 1913, Georgia was considered one of the best teams in the South, never suffering more than two setbacks annually, while averaging 24.2 points per game.

5.  1964-68: 38-13-3
Similarly to the 1910-1913 era, I believe what makes the initial years of the Vince Dooley regime so remarkable was the state the UGA football program was in when the young head coach arrived in Athens.  For the previous 15 campaigns entering 1964, the Bulldogs had only achieved five winning seasons, made two bowl appearances, and captured just one SEC title, while defeating only two teams in their previous 29 games against AP-ranked opposition.

Georgia opened Dooley's first year with a loss to No. 6 Alabama and the Bulldogs fell to No. 10 Florida State a month later to drop its record to 2-2-1.  However, as he recalled for my latest book, it was at the end of the 17-14 narrow loss to the Seminoles that quarterback Kirby Moore, reacting to the Sanford Stadium's crowd cheering a losing but admirable effort, turned to another redshirt player in the stands and said, "It's turned—the Georgia football program has turned around today.  The Bulldogs are no longer a team not to be thought of."  It did turn.  Georgia won nine of its next 10 games into the '65 season, captured SEC championships in 1966 and 1968, and did not lose a single game in 10 tries against AP-ranked opponents through the '68 regular season.

ERAS 6 through 10:

6.  1920-27: 50-22-4; 7.  1975-78: 33-13-1; 8. 2007-12: 57-23; 9.  1997-00: 35-13; 10. 1930-34: 32-14-3

Therefore, in answering the emailer, yes, in my opinion, Georgia's last six seasons entering the upcoming campaign do rank as one of the top 10 "eras" in Bulldog football history.  Granted, there have been no championships and there was the stinker of a season in 2010, but Georgia almost played for a national title last year and perhaps should have in the era's first season.  More so, a banner year in 2013 would propel the current era into the school's top five, although we should continue refraining from tossing around the word "dynasty."

DOOLEY vs. RICHT: Tough One to Call

It's now a two-horse race, statistically, as far as who is the top
head coach in UGA football history, but who's in the lead?

Who is the top head coach ["numbers" wise] in the history of UGA football?

 

Entering the 2013 season, the question is certainly a valid one where "Coach Dooley" is no longer  the no-brainer answer.  With Coach Richt essentially reaching the halfway point of the former Bulldog coach's quarter-century regime, I now consider the two coaching greats' careers measureable with the other, and what better way to compare the two than with the customary measurements? 

• Overall Winning %: advantage RICHT (.747 to .715)

To begin the comparison, I first recalled, and then conducted an extensive search to find, a now-inoperative UGA blog declaring "the one comparison [between Dooley and Richt] that matters the most" is winning percentage, where the current head coach holds a decided advantage.  Sure, that could be true, but only if the two men coached against very similar levels of competition.

 

You know how Georgia faces two or three Georgia Southerns, Tennessee Techs, or Buffalos every year?  Back in Dooley's day, cupcakes on the schedule weren't quite as common as today.  Therefore, if you omit Dooley's 12 games against now-FCS or lower-tier FBS competition (roughly, an average of one cupcake every two seasons) and Richt's 22 (nearly TWO cupcakes every one season), the overall winning percentages of the coaches are nearly identical (Dooley .703, Richt .706).   

• SEC Winning %: advantage DOOLEY (.717 to .705)              

I give the argument "the SEC is just a tougher conference now than it once was" a little merit—and I mean a little.  Throw in the fact the SEC has more members now than before, and teams face more conference games annually, and Richt's .705 SEC mark is perhaps as notable, if not more so, as Dooley's .717.

• Bowl Record: advantage RICHT (8-4 to 8-10-2)

That's right—Richt has won as many bowl games in 12 postseason appearances as Dooley did in 20.  However, simply put, no current coach's bowl record should be compared to one from 25-plus years ago.  As T. Kyle King stated a while back, "Dooley was 8-10-2 in bowl games, but half of his postseason losses were in Cotton or Sugar Bowls," and "I would rather see my team lose a Sugar Bowl than win a Peach Bowl."  Also, Richt was supposed to have won all of his bowl games thus far, or almost all of them.  Georgia has been favored in 11 of Richt's 12 bowls  with the one exception being the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl when the Bulldogs were three-point underdogs to Virginia Tech.  Dooley, on the other hand, was favored in just nine of 20 postseason games. 

• Versus ranked opponents: advantage RICHT (.533 to .507)

Richt has won more than 53 percent of his games against teams nationally ranked in the AP Poll due in large part to a 24-13 record under the circumstances his first seven seasons.  However, the coach's respectable versus-ranked-teams mark has benefitted from 15 games, winning 11, against 21st through 25th-ranked opposition.  Remember, in Dooley's day there was only a top 20, so the Dogs could never be pitted against a No. 21st, 22nd, etc.  Remove the 21st through 25th-ranked opponents and Richt's top-20 winning percentage is below Dooley's at .467.

• Championships: advantage DOOLEY (an SEC title every 4.2 seasons and a national championship compared to Richt's every 6 seasons and no national title), but if not for Herschel... 

Honestly, I've always found it a tad absurd when someone dilutes Dooley's career success by stating something on the order of "but if Herschel hadn't played for him..."  Should the career of Ohio State's Woody Hayes or Auburn's Pat Dye not be as highly thought of simply because legends Archie Griffin and Bo Jackson, respectively, played for each coach?  Therefore, we might as well add in, for example, if not for Charley Trippi, the Wally Butts era... .  I personally say, if "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts... 

 

This I do know: since Richt has been at Georgia, the Bulldogs have essentially landed a top-10 recruiting class annually.  The same could not be said when Dooley was head coach.  Dooley might have signed the program's greatest player ever; however, Richt has signed better classes of players than any previous coach in the program's history.  And, by the way, even if you neglect to recognize the Herschel years, Dooley captured three SEC titles in a span of 11 seasons (1966-1976), whereas Richt could only say as much in the near future if he wins the conference championship pronto, like in 2013. 

•  Comeback wins/Lost leads difference: advantage DOOLEY (+10 to -1)

Measuring the number of games won when trailing by 10+ points in the second half (comeback win) and games lost when leading by 10+ points following halftime (lost lead), this unique, but telling coaching statistic is one I first figured following Richt's fifth lost lead of his career (2012 Outback Bowl vs. Michigan State).  Add another from a season ago—Alabama in the SEC title game—and Richt's comebacks-lost leads mark currently stands at a lowly 5 and 6.  Dooley's, on the other hand, was a far-superior 13 and 3.

• Final national ranking: advantage RICHT (No. 16.9 to No. 18.8) 

Before this post is mistaken as an anti-Richt/pro-Dooley analysis, we've come to arguably, as it has been said, "the one comparison that matters the most"—on average, where one ended up in the national rankings.  Since not all Dooley and Richt teams finished ranked nationally in the two major polls, I used the respected Billingsley Rankings—a computer formula figured into the BCS Rankings, slotting all FBS teams, which is normally more or less rather similar to the major rankings decided upon by the pollsters.

In 25 seasons, Dooley's teams averaged roughly a No. 19 national ranking, whereas Richt's first 12 squads were two slots better at approximately No. 17.  And, there are a couple dozen more teams competing in FBS football nowadays than Division I-A in Dooley's time, thus there are more squads currently vying for those national rankings than before.  If I throw out Richt's best and worst national rankings, and Dooley's two best and two worst (since he had twice the tenure), the current head coach's average national ranking is better than 3½ spots higher than the hall of famer's (13.7 to 17.3).

In conclusion, they say the numbers don't lie...  Well, when compared to the same measurement but of a different era, perhaps some of the customary figures can be exaggerated a bit.  Regardless, when comparing Georgia's best head coach with the Bulldogs' second-best in regards to the "numbers," it's difficult for me at this point to tell who is, well, the program's best and second-best.  For me, only time will tell but quite possibly as soon as the looming season, when a stellar year for Georgia in 2013 could very well push Richt forward as distinctly the lead, top Dawg.

Just Another Opposing Player

The '50 Dogs made history with an infamous tie,
of all results, against a lowly western program
one year away from being defunct.

"Now, you're going way back to the Neanderthal days," Marion Campbell, the "Swamp Fox," declared from his home in St. Augustine, Florida, when I recently asked him what he recalled from the 1950 Georgia-St. Mary's football game. "All I really remember is that we were supposed to beat them bad—real bad—but the game ended in a tie."

I had to remind the former standout Bulldog and NFL player, and college and pro coach, the real significance of Georgia's second game that season, and it had little to do with the Bulldogs' 7-7 upset draw against the host Gaels.

"'Pop' Warner was in attendance," recalled Zippy Morocco, Georgia's star halfback in 1950, when I asked him the same question. Apparently, the then-living coaching legend was part of a small crowd of only 5,000-7,000 spectators to show up on a Friday night at San Francisco's Kezar Stadium. But, was there anything else?

"What about John Henry Johnson of St. Mary's?" I asked Zippy. "Oh, yeah! He was unbelievable!" he said. "Johnson knocked the hell out of about four of our players, and each of them really didn't want to go back in the game after that!"

I then added the significance of the game: With his appearance against the Bulldogs, St. Mary's star sophomore fullback, Johnson, became the first African-American athlete to compete against a college football team from the state of Georgia and against a UGA athletic team in any sport.

By the end of the 1940s, many major college football programs outside the South featured black players. On the contrary, most southern teams wouldn't even face other squads that carried African-American players. However, by the start of the 1950s, southern teams, like Georgia, had little choice but to play outside the region in order to maintain a national profile, meaning the possibility of facing a black player, which meant modifying its Jim Crow policies of opposing integrated games.

Southern teams soon began facing intersectional competition, including African-American players, on the road. However, the southern programs wouldn't dare invite the intersectional, integrated opponent to their site the following season for a meeting in Dixie. Case in point, Georgia Tech traveled and faced Notre Dame and its first black player, Wayne Edmonds, in South Bend in 1953. However, there would be no trip to Atlanta for the Fighting Irish and Edmonds the following year in 1954.

Nevertheless, during the summer of 1949, Georgia announced it would travel to California to play little St. Mary's College in the fall of 1950, and then the Gaels would actually travel south to play in Athens the following season.

Leading up to the teams' initial meeting, one would think all the focus would be on Johnson, or more so his skin color, and the fact the southern Georgia boys would be opposing him. Instead, all the talk centered around how the Bulldogs would easily win out West in a walk. 

"From all we could tell before the game, we were about to play a high school team," Morocco said. Years after the game, according to an opposing Gaels player, "We had a scouting report on [Georgia] and there wasn't a player anywhere with a weakness."

Georgia had upset 15th-ranked Maryland the week before in its opener, while St. Mary's had been routed 40-0 by the College of the Pacific. The Bulldogs outweighed the Gaels by an average of 25 pounds per starter. Georgia entered the contest favored by anywhere from 28 to 31 points on the road. The game was thought to be such a snoozer that it wasn't broadcasted locally on Georgia radio because of the late 11:30 EST kickoff, but scheduled to be rebroadcasted the next day.

Still, in what was envisioned to be a very one-sided affair, The Red and Black's Jim Minter, who would soon embark on a long, successful career with both of Atlanta's two major newspapers, somewhat forewarned the traveling Bulldogs: "But they must stop a dangerous, powerful runner in John Henry Johnson, Negro fullback."

In the first half of the game, Georgia twice reached inside St. Mary's 5-yard line but came away with no points. The contest was shockingly scoreless at halftime, but that would soon change to begin the third quarter as the Bulldogs indeed couldn't stop the dangerous, powerful Johnson. 

Grabbing the second-half kickoff at his own 9-yard line after it had literally bounced off a teammate, the 6-1, 191-pound Johnson first headed towards the sideline, and then streaked untouched for a 91-yard score. The scoring return was just the second of what would be only nine touchdowns scored against the Bulldogs in 11 regular-season games. More detrimental to Georgia, after the successful PAT, St. Mary's had a 7-0 lead.   

Soon after Johnson's spectacular return, he assisted the Bulldogs in scoring a touchdown of their own, fumbling inside his own 5-yard line. Two plays later, Georgia quarterback Mal Cook scored on a 1-yard sneak. Bob Walston's PAT knotted the score at 7-7. Later in the third stanza with the Gaels positioned near the Bulldogs' goal line, Johnson leaped for an apparent touchdown; however, before crossing the goal, Johnson fumbled into the end zone where Claude Hipps gathered his third forced turnover of the game (two fumble recoveries, one interception).

Late in the contest, the Bulldogs were threatening to score following a 39-yard pass completion from Cook to Morocco. However, Georgia's bid for victory was thwarted by Johnson, who broke up a potential scoring pass, securing the surprising tie for St. Mary's.

The Gaels might have been outgained nearly 2-to-1 (147 total yards to Georgia's 292), outclassed, and outmanned, but because of Johnson's kickoff return, his stellar defensive performance, and despite his two costly fumbles, St. Mary's, in a way, prevailed. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, would soon board a plane bound for home after a result described as putting "Southern football back fifty years," while the Georgia faithful listened back home to their radios of a "rebroadcast of the slaughter."

Ten years ago, the Oakland Tribune ran a story on the same notable game where a former Gael curiously indicated that race had been an issue during the skirmishes on the field. It was "the Civil War all over again," the player recalled. "In that game, we heard a lot (said) against John Henry."

"I remember reading or hearing [that Georgia players made racist remarks]," Morocco said. "But, honestly, I don't remember anything like that going on."

"There wasn't anything to [the racial aspect]," Campbell stressed. "To us, Johnson was just another opposing player."

A report from the game collaborates with the Bulldog players' account, indicating both Johnson and his opposition assisted the other by helping one another up following plays, plus "the Georgia squad agreed [Johnson] was a gentleman when the play was done."

The Bulldogs would end their season losing just two regular-season games and made their seventh bowl appearance in 10 years. St. Mary's would win just two games the entire season, resulting against opposition who finished with a combined 2-18 record. Soon after the season concluded, the college disbanded its football program in early January of 1951. However, prior to doing so, according to a fairly recent article from St. Mary's College, evidently "Georgia officials would back out of the second year (1951) of the [UGA-St. Mary's] deal because they weren't ready for a black to take the field in Dixie."

Following St. Mary's tie with Georgia, John Henry 
Johnson is carried off the field by adoring fans, who 
then waited outside the locker room for another 30 
minutes to catch a glimpse of him.

I did not discover any evidence of Georgia backing out of the deal because "they weren't ready for a black" to play in Athens, and find it unusual that the cancellation would have occurred likely while the 1950 season was still in progress. Maybe this portion of the account is an exaggerated snippet to add to an already memorable story, like another report which stated Georgia was favored over St. Mary's by "anywhere from 6 to 10 touchdowns" (when in reality it was more like four touchdowns). Perhaps UGA officials weren't "ready for a black to take the field in Dixie" in 1951 simply because St. Mary's no longer had a football program.

As did several other of his SMC teammates, John Henry Johnson transferred to Arizona State after football was disbanded at the college. He was all-conference in 1951 and selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the 18th overall pick of the 1952 NFL Draft. Notably, in San Francisco, Johnson was a teammate of Georgia's Campbell for two seasons. Upon his retirement from the league in 1966, Johnson's 6,803 career rushing yards was the fourth-most in NFL history. The four-time Pro Bowler would eventually be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. After suffering from Alzheimer's for more than 20 years, Johnson passed away in 2011 at the age of 81.

Finally, although Georgia wouldn't feature a black varsity football player of its own until 22 years following the St. Mary's game, remarkably, less than a decade after the program was integrated, 43 percent of the Bulldogs' national title team of 1980 was African American. Currently, that percentage has risen to more than 75 percent.  But, perhaps it was a whopping 63 years ago—back in the Neanderthal days—when the seed was planted in the form of John Henry Johnson—just another opposing player—and the integration of the UGA football program was first rooted.

We Talkin' 'Bout Practice

Sketched during 1896 fall camp, trainer
"Pop" Warner (L) stands with one of his
star Red and Black players.

As we are all fully aware, football practice at UGA has recently resumed.  Personally, with the start of the last few fall camps, I'm reminded of one of the program's first and has to be most intriguing practice sessions entering a campaign since I discovered its details in research conducted several years ago.

By 1896, although the sport of football was relatively new at the University, it had already taken the town of Athens by storm.  After just one season at the helm, 25-year-old Glenn "Pop" Warner, Georgia's "trainer" as the head coach was known back then, had nurtured a program which, as it was stated, made "Athenians have the football craze."

It was said about 2,000 residents arrived daily to observe the Red and Black's first week of fall practice.  This is absolutely remarkable considering roughly the same number would show up for most of the team's games during that upcoming season. 

Imagine if 90,000+ people showed up nowadays to the Bulldogs' practice field every August.

Back then, a UGA football practice was evidently a family affair.  During one of the early 1896 practices, a newspaper writer overheard a young man ask his father, "Did you ever see better grit than [halfback Laurie] Cothran showed today?"

"He's one of the finest but did you notice [quarterback John] Spain's fearless tackling?" the father replied.  "That fellow would tackle a buzz-saw."

"None of them are as good as [halfback Rufus "Cow"] Nalley," chimed in the mother.

"Oh, shucks, mamma," declared the youngest child, a seven year old.  "Old Cow can eat 'em up when he gets his hands on 'em but you know he ain't half as fast as [halfback Arthur] Clark.  Clark's the swiftest."

A lot was expected from the talent-filled Georgia squad of 1896 despite, according to a preseason forecast, "most of [the players] were light men, not averaging more than 130 pounds." 

One hundred seventeen years later, Georgia's fall practice has certainly undergone some major transformations.  With no such evidence of a cow, buzz-saw, or a debating family of four, an image of one of the Bulldogs' recent practices sent by a photographer friend of mine: 

Posted by the sponsor of this blog to the site's right panel, apparently making it to the practice field recently was also a pouch of SF-7x Super Fruit.  Speaking of my sponsor, I've been meaning to post information on the 100% fruit, 100% natural fruit chews for some time. 

SF-7x Super Fruit is operated locally out of Athens and currently supplies its fruit chews to more than a dozen college athletic programs around the nation.  Each pouch is equivalent to two servings of fruit, USDA and NCAA compliant, a fruit source free of preservatives, added sugars, waxes and glazing agents, and  comes in three flavors--Strawberry, Raspberry, and Watermelon.

And, unlike similar products, SF-7x Super Fruit actually tastes good.  My family can attest to this: my 6-year-old is perhaps the pickiest eater on earth; however, when it comes to SF-7x Super Fruit, my wife and I literally have to hide the family pouches from him.

If you're interested in finding out more information on SF-7x Super Fruit, visit their website.  From there, you can order their products.  When ordering, make sure to enter SFATD as your promo code (ATD for "About Them Dawgs!") to receive a 10% discount off your order.

For a few of you, SF-7x Super Fruit is giving away pouches of its fruit chews.  Be one of the first three to answer the trivia question correctly below, and the company will promptly mail you a box of 15 pouches--five of each flavor.  

 

Speaking of 1896, Georgia would finish a perfect 4-0 that year, marking the first of how many seasons in UGA football history through 2012 where Georgia has gone perfect, not losing or tying a single game for an entire campaign?

A. One (1896 has been the only perfect season)
B. Three
C. Five
D. Seven
E. Nine  

 

Email your answer to Samples@patrickgarbin.com for the opportunity to receive complimentary SF-7x Super Fruit.  Please send only one answer per email address.

That was quick--had five readers promptly email and answer the trivia question correctly.  Congratulations to W. Easom, J. Blackston, R. Rivera, J. Pratt, and R. Tankersley.

Summing up Georgia's fall camp of 1896, it was reported "Athens has the football fever," and "the outlook for the Athens men is exceedingly bright" ("in spite of the lightness of the candidates").  Perhaps Athens and its "men" have actually transformed little 117 years later; the exact same things could be said of the city and its Bulldogs during the current fall practice (except the "lightness" part as the Athens men now average approximately 230 pounds per player). 

'13 Defense: Actually Better than Before?

Grantham and Garrison are pumped for 2013 
... and based on the Bulldogs' inexperienced 
defensive past, they should be.

One of my writing assignments for the newly-released DAWGTIME preseason magazine was to preview Georgia's upcoming defense—a unit deeply depleted from a year ago (as we are all fully aware).  Still, the Bulldogs' school-record seven defenders drafted into the NFL did not seem to daunt my four interviewees for the article—Garrison Smith, Ray Drew, Damian Swann, and Todd Grantham.

 

"We actually have eight guys on this year’s team who have started on defense before," Grantham was quick to point out when I brought up the fact Georgia returns just four starters from last year's unit (and really just three if you consider the top 11 defenders as far as their number of starts in 2012).  Yes, the coach is correct—eight guys return who have starting experience on the defensive side of the ball.  However, that includes Devin Bowman (1 career start), Connor Norman (2), and Malcolm Mitchell, who started three games at cornerback last year, but will presumably play only wide receiver in 2013.  

 

The bottom line is that Georgia returns just 59 career defensive starts, and from what I discovered, that is the Bulldogs' lowest returning total in 35 years since the 1978 team.

 

An additional telling statistic measuring a team's returning experience on defense, and another which is Georgia's lowest since 1978, is one utilized by the acclaimed Phil Steele in his forecasting: percentage of the returning number of tackles from the previous year.  In returning tackles from 2011, Georgia ranks 126th in the FBS, or dead last, returning players who totaled just 34.0 percent of the team's tackles a year ago.

 

How indicative is a team's percentage of tackles returning?  Well, in the FBS from 2011 to 2012, rather revealing.  I found that 16 FBS schools entered 2012 returning 48 percent or less of their tackles from the previous season.  Of these 16 teams, 10 would allow more points in 2012 than 2011, 11 yielded more offensive yards, and most importantly, just three of the 16 bettered their record from 2011.  Makes sense to me: the less tackles a team has returning, the less tacklers are coming back, rendering a more inexperienced defense which causes most defenses to be in decline from the previous season.  However, as I've presented on this blog a number of times before, Georgia is not like most teams, and its historical trending patterns seem to often go against the norm.

 

No longer the Junkyard Dogs, the inexperienced 
Wonderdog defense of '78 seemingly improved
from Georgia's defensive unit the year before.  

I soon recalled Georgia's 1978 team returning just three defensive starters from the year before, and then calculated that only 31.9 percent of the team's tackles from '77 returned.  Defensively, things looked bleak for the Bulldogs entering that season and such despair was following a losing 5-6 campaign the year before.  However, as a preseason forecast stated, "Defensive Coach Erk Russell has been known to work miracles," and miracles were indeed worked that year.  Led by an opportune defense, which allowed less than 15 points per game, the '78 "Wonderdogs" shocked the nation with a 9-1-1 regular-season mark.

 

Entering the last 38 seasons beginning in 1976, I discovered just seven instances, including 1978 and 2013, the Bulldogs returned roughly 50 percent or less of their number of tackles from the year before:

 

1978- 31.9 percent

2013- 34.0

1989- 46.1

1992- 47.1

2007- 48.3

2002- 49.5

2010- 50.6

 

Interestingly, four of the six listed campaigns above (excluding 2013) were outstanding years at Georgia—four top-11 finishes in the final AP regular-season poll.  And, for all six seasons, the Bulldogs had admirable defensive units.  I compared these six—the 1978, 1989, 1992, 2002, 2007, and 2010 at-or-less-than-50-percent-returning-tackles seasons—to their previous campaigns, and both sets averaged the exact same number of yards yielded per game (324).  Curiously, Georgia's at-or-less-than-50-percent-returning-tackles set allowed nearly 2½ less points per game (17.0 to 19.4) and most significant, averaged a better record of more than a one-game increase from the previous season (6½ games better for the six seasons combined).

 

In short, most college football defenses go into a decline in seasons when the unit would be regarded as inexperienced compared to its previous year, and rightfully so.  However, on the whole, this hasn't been the case at Georgia.  In fact, the Bulldogs' defense, and the team's overall record, tends to actually get better than before when featuring a depleted defensive unit. 

 

Historical trends aside, the Bulldogs' talent-filled defense allowed nearly 20 points and 360 yards per game last year.  Against the run specifically, Georgia gave up a staggering 182.1 yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry—both the highest averages for a Bulldog defense since 1994.  Therefore, one could argue Georgia's NFL-laden defense of 2012 was actually the most yielding of the Coach Richt era.

"A year ago, there was some talent playing behind that NFL talent; it's just that some of us didn't get to play a whole lot," Drew told me.  "Considering that, plus the depth we'll have this season, I think our defense will be just fine." 

Considering that—what Drew says—plus the fact the Bulldogs tend to buck certain trends which inhibit other teams, instead of inexperienced, Georgia's defense may very well be distinguished by another "I" word in 2013—improved.

Diary of a Dawg Night Wait-lister

As I've mentioned here a number of times before, I have limited interest in high school football recruiting.  I tend to follow a player upon him becoming a Georgia Bulldog, and not before so.  Nevertheless, I found myself intrigued a week ago with UGA's "Dawg Night," and the desire of a young man -- a Dawg Night "wait-lister," so to speak -- to perhaps become one of the fortunate ones to eventually sign with Georgia.

 

Last week, I knew little regarding UGA's Dawg Night, but was interested in what exactly a prospect experienced at the event.  The articles I discovered primarily dealt with which recruits committed to Georgia during the night, but not what they actually encountered.  I did discover a few articles with supposed inside information on some recruits' thoughts on Dawg Night, but those particular pay-site pieces were for "insiders" only -- no pay, no insight.   

 

As fate would have it, I was put in touch with the father of Shiloh High School's Cameron Stewart a few days following Dawg Night.  Cameron and his father didn't know it, but I was quite familiar with the soon-to-be junior wide receiver.  I lived in Snellville from 2003 to 2012, including covering high school sports as a correspondent for the Gwinnett Daily Post for several years.  I might know little about high school recruiting, but I still follow football in Gwinnett County rather closely.

 

I was first familiarized with the 6-foot-3, 180-pound Stewart following his defender's-hand-under-facemask, leaping catch against Meadowcreek as a mere sophomore a year ago (photo).  Cameron finished the 2012 season with 26 catches for 615 yards and 9 touchdowns.  His receiving yards were nearly half that of his entire team's; the rest of the Shiloh squad combined for less than half (four) his number of receiving touchdowns.  Nicknamed "Calvin Johnson Jr.," Stewart also runs a 4.5 in the 40, and maintains a 3.0 GPA.

 

Some sophomore highlights of Cameron:
 

 

A number of schools have come calling for Stewart, including Auburn, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt, and Virginia Tech.  The receiver, who still has two years remaining of high school ball, has been given offers from Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Louisville.  But, so far, nothing has come from Georgia -- a school located less than an hour from his home.

This summer, Cameron has been invited to his fair share of collegiate football camps.  At one camp just prior to Dawg Night, Kipp Adams of ESPN/Dawg Nation felt compelled to tweet, "Remember this name Cameron Stewart 6'3" WR Shiloh HS."  Regardless, a few days later as far as an invite to Dawg Night, again, nothing came from Georgia.

Cameron's father, Randy, visited Georgia's "2013 Coach Richt's Football Camps" webpage and was confronted with the following: 2013 Dawg Night registration has met capacity. If you are interested in being placed on a waiting list for this camp, please call 706-542-1515 for details.  Randy called for details and was greeted with an automated message, declaring Dawg Night was filled, but if the recruit's contact information was given, he'd be placed on a waiting list.  If spots came available, Georgia would reach out to the most deserving recruits. 

A spot must have become available rather quickly because Georgia was soon in touch with Cameron, asking him to attend its Dawg Night.  The wait-lister had turned invitee in less than two hours.

Regardless of the rain and the fact one could tell which recruits were the highly anticipated, and which were the last accepted (by the jerseys the players wore -- evidently, there was a slight difference in the jersey appearance between the recruits Georgia had been expecting for some time compared to the last-minute wait-listers), Cameron had a "great time" at Dawg Night.  Prospects were first weighed and their heights measured.  After being informed about the UGA football program, the players were then divided into groups, where they underwent drills.

I just had to ask what was Cameron's favorite part of Dawg Night...  Apparently, during the drills, Stewart's performance turned the heads of both assistant Tony Ball and Mark Richt.  This wait-lister was taken aside and given unanticipated "special attention" from one who would be his position coach and the head Bulldog of them all.  Not bad for someone who wasn't even invited to the event to begin with...

Again, I might know little about high school football recruiting, but I do know my UGA football history and am quite aware of the numerous local players -- those that would turn out to be standouts for other schools -- the Bulldogs have let slip through their fingers over time.  Of course, with the abundance of talented recruits available seemingly from all over, such unawareness will inevitably result and obviously occurs at every major program. 

As I was ending my call with Randy, I asked if Georgia happened to show Cameron some interest in the near future would the star receiver suddenly be attracted to becoming a Bulldog.  "Then, UGA would definitely be in the mix!" he confirmed.  Randy then bided me farewell speaking from a restaurant in Nashville, where his son had just finished his stay as an invitee to Vanderbilt's Elite Camp IV.

Following the conversation, I was reminded of one of the reasons why I don't follow recruiting closely: it's difficult for me to comprehend why a recruit is considered a wait-lister by some, but an A-lister by others.  Regardless, and as tweeted, remember this name -- Cameron Stewart.  And, it would likely be in Georgia's best interest to remember it as well when the Bulldogs extend their initial invites next time they hold camp. 

Pulpwood (Candidly) Spoke

I wanted to announce that my newest UGA football book -- GAME OF MY LIFE Georgia Bulldogs -- has recently been printed and released by my publisher in New York.  For what it's worth, I can honestly say it is my favorite of the six book projects I have completed. 

 

As mentioned here before, I was granted permission to co-author the book with my father, and that made the project extra special.  Also, I was fortunate enough to sit down and interview 25 standout Bulldog players from the past, whose ages span from 22 to 91 years old, and not only hear about the "game of their life," so to speak, but also simply their life experiences in general, on and off the UGA campus, and on and off the football field.  

Notably, a conscious effort was made by us for the book to be different from the dozens of previous ones on UGA football by revealing the untold stories of a number of great players.  There have been many standout players in history to don the red and black, but unfortunately only a select number of them have been featured in a book.  As I asked my father at the beginning of the project, "Surely, even a punter has a game of his life, right?"   

These stories entertained us, and some made us laugh, while even a couple made us tear up.  Above all, the stories we were told educated and enlightened my father and I.  Our hope is that we were able to convey these accounts in the pages of the manuscript, giving each player their due.

Over the last few months, I've been asked several times which of the 25 interviews was my favorite.  Honestly, they were all so pleasing, but different, it's impossible for me to answer that.  However, thumbing through the book, I just caught a glimpse of what I believe was my favorite and perhaps the most meaningful quote from a player.

Pulpwood today -- no longer
with gasoline drawers on

Speaking of "different," I've blogged about Andre "Pulpwood" Smith before, including just after I interviewed him for the book.  He certainly gave a one-of-a-kind interview, especially in regards to his up-and-down life since flunking out of UGA following his one-hit wonder season of 1984.  Pulpwood was more than straightforward with me, including in explaining his circumstances while recovering in a hospital in 1997 after being shot in the back: "I had been through hell with gasoline drawers on and thought I might die," he declared.

Like the other two dozen accounts, Pulpwood's story has a happy ending.  He became a Christian, escaping his life of crime and drugs, while discovering there were people "out there from my past that really loved me."  Still, he admits, "I've actually had people, including some teammates, recently tell me, 'I thought you were dead!'"

The book is titled "Game of My Life," but it's just as much about the life experiences of those we once cheered for.  Some of these players still remain in the spotlight, whereas you may have not heard the names of others for years.  The experiences they share in the book span from one extreme to the other -- from the customary encounters to going to hell wearing gasoline drawers.

The book can be found at local bookstores and via online dealers, but your best bet, avoiding paying sales tax and inflated shipping charges, is to purchase the book directly from me at my online bookstore -- PatrickGarbin.org.  I sell my books at retail price and will ship all orders, whether you buy 1 or say 1,000 books, for 99 cents.  Plus, my co-author and I will happily throw in our complimentary signatures (especially if you were to purchase 1,000...).

Wrong Call! Wrong Call!

 If not for a couple of "gifts," (pictured L to R in '47 Sugar Bowl) Charley Trippi, Joe Geri,
"Rabbit" Smith, and their teammates perhaps would've been withheld from a perfect 1946 season.

I hope everyone had a Happy July 4th!  My holiday began yesterday with an unexpected, mid-morning phone call from an 85-year-old gentleman from Dacula, whom I'd never spoken with before.  The man said he hated to bother me on the holiday morning, but he was wondering where he could get a copy of my newest book on UGA football. (Well, with that being said, you're no bother at all, and for anyone else interested, the book can be purchased at a discount directly from me beginning early next week, but more on that, well, early next week...)

 

During our conversation, I inquired with my new friend what I often ask from those I meet who have been following the Bulldogs for many moons: What are some of your greatest memories of Georgia football?

 

The man was filled with a number of compelling stories from yesteryear, including one of assistant coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan serving as his instructor for a P.E. class at UGA during the late-40s.  "But one in particular really sticks out in my mind after all these years," he told me.  "You know, Patrick, we really got outplayed by UNC in Charley Trippi's last game for Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.  We won 20-10, but it seemed the officials were really on our side.  Afterwards, UNC raised Cain!"

 

My friend detailed the 1947 Sugar Bowl between the undefeated Bulldogs and the North Carolina Tar Heels, featuring Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice, and two questionable rulings by officials, which made a drastic difference in the bowl's scoring.  I had never heard or read of such lore, so I was all ears as the man recalled himself listening to the radio while distressing over what had been a rather one-sided affair.  That is, until Georgia caught a break, or two.

 

Midway through the third quarter, UNC led 7-0 and was looking for more before Georgia's Joe Tereshinski intercepted a pass, lateraled the ball to Dick McPhee, who sprinted more than 60 yards, nearly scoring a touchdown.  "Wrong call!  Wrong call!" evidently the unbiased national radio announcer proclaimed.  Apparently, Tereshinski's pitch was an illegal forward lateral and instead of Georgia possessing the ball deep in UNC territory, the Bulldogs should have taken over deep inside their own.  Georgia tied the score three plays later.  

 

In the fourth quarter, UNC's Ken Powell caught a 20-yard touchdown before falling into Georgia's Charles "Rabbit" Smith in the end zone.  Curiously, Powell was called for pass interference and the touchdown was negated.  With that, and for a second time, the radio announcer declared, "Wrong call!  Wrong call!"  and the Tar Heels would come away with no points.  To this day, there are a handful of UNC old timers who still wonder how a receiver can interfere with a defender, when he is in front of the defender while facing the oncoming ball.

 

The man's story of how Georgia apparently was on the "good" side of a couple of bad calls, which helped the Bulldogs capture the Sugar Bowl and, thus, complete a perfect 11-0 season, compelled me to list my opinion (and gather a few video clips) of Georgia's all-time most questionable game-deciding rulings -- official calls, whether they went against the Bulldogs or in their favor,  that likely wouldn't be made today because of instant replay or other rule changes.  

1947 Sugar Bowl: On Tereshinski's forward lateral, an official actually ran to the spot of the toss, standing there for a moment, but didn't call the return back.  On the second call in question, Powell not only caught the touchdown in front of Smith, but was then knocked out cold by the "Rabbit" and had to be removed from the field, yet the receiver was called for the interference. 

 

1965 Alabama: Trailing by a touchdown, Georgia executes one of the greatest plays in school history -- the Moore-to-Hodgson-to-Taylor famous 73-yard flea-flicker.  As noted before, common belief is that the Bulldogs got away with one because Hodgson's knees appeared to be touching the ground when he pitched the lateral to Moore.  However, the officials would claim the Georgia end never had complete control of the ball, therefore Hodgson's lateral was more like a batted ball to Taylor (therefore, his knees were allowed to touch).  Still, to some examiners of the play, Hodgson not only appears to have both knees grounded, but also seems to be in control of the ball...  

 

1968 Tennessee: Losing by eight points, Tennessee completes a 20-yard touchdown on the game's final play, and then passes for two points to "defeat" Georgia, 17-17.  The touchdown pass caught by Gary Kreis, who appeared to trap the football as he rolled over the Bulldogs' goal line, was later examined by the media, which "conclusively" decided Kreis never had control of the scoring pass. 

1984 Cotton Bowl: Quarterback John Lastinger runs for a 17-yard, game-winning touchdown against second-ranked Texas in the 1984 Cotton Bowl.  Lastinger, who was driven out of bounds while crossing the goal line, informed me for my latest book, "Honestly, I think by today's standards with instant replay, I would have been ruled out just short of the goal line."  Notably, even possessing the ball on the 1-yard line, a touchdown was no certainty for a running game, which had been dismal the entire contest, pitted against arguably the greatest defense in the history of college football.

1992 Auburn: Down by four points, Auburn attempts a running play inside Georgia's 1-yard line, but is stopped short of the goal line.  Chaos ensues as some Bulldog defenders argue for possession, others lay on top of Tiger players, all while officials somehow allow the final 19 valuable seconds to tick off the clock.  In today's sport, the Tigers undoubtedly get to run another play, maybe two.

1993 Florida: Known as "The Timeout," with five seconds remaining, Eric Zeier completes a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Jerman, pulling Georgia within a point of Florida, 33-32.  But, the head linesman rules a Gators' cornerback had called timeout just prior to the snap of the ball.  The Bulldogs wind up losing the game.  Head coach Ray Goff travels to Birmingham to complain at SEC headquarters, where it is explained that as soon as an official sees a player calling timeout, as soon as he "receives it in his mind" (huh?), it's a dead play.

 

Late-90s GA Tech: The final three meetings of the 1990s between Georgia and Tech feature controversial, game-deciding plays -- two of which go in the Yellow Jackets' favor: A pass interference against Georgia Tech, leading to Georgia's game-winning touchdown in '97; Joe Hamilton's "non-fumble" in 1998; Jasper Sanks' "phantom fumble" in 1999.  Replays of the worst ruling -- Sanks' fumble -- undeniably show the Georgia back down prior to fumbling the football.  The '99 game’s officials, regarded as the best in the conference, were scheduled to officiate the following week’s SEC Championship Game until their blunder; they were suspended by the conference for their mistake.



A few others of note:

• Florida's stolen "fumble recovery" by Jack Youngblood in 1970, totally turning around a game Georgia appeared to have clinched, coming a year after a tie in '69 when the Gators were granted an additional play resulting in a field goal as officials accused photographers  of being too close to the field. 
• The Bulldogs' 14-13 lead over 19-point and third-ranked Alabama in '73 with less than three minutes remaining (and Georgia had the ball!) quickly turns for the worse when what should have been pass interference and then roughing the punter are not called on consecutive plays, whereupon the Tide score two touchdowns in the game's final two minutes.
• Trailing BYU by a touchdown late in '82, a John Lastinger-to-Herschel Walker-to-Mike Weaver maneuver of pushing the ball forward under the pile after the play, barely picking up a critical first down for the Bulldogs, directly leads to a 14-14 tie and later a 17-14 victory for Georgia. 

As indicated, Georgia has certainly experienced a number of game-deciding, curious calls over the years -- some turned out good for the Bulldogs, others bad, and one from 1999 that's difficult to even think about.  Regardless, what's done is done -- "wrong call" or not.  And, as Coach Dooley said while heated debate continued days after his Georgia team was tied by Tennessee in '68 on evidently an incomplete pass, "You don't win college football games on Sunday."