University of Georgia Athletics
1997: 'A Very Memorable Moment'
November 24, 2017 | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
It's been 20 years, but Corey Allen remembers Nov. 29, 1997, very well.
With eight seconds left, Georgia quarterback Mike Bobo hit Allen in the left corner of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown in Georgia's 27-24 win over Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 14, drove 65 yards in just 40 seconds to avoid the upset, after giving up the lead on a Tech touchdown with just under a minute to play.
"Our heart that was torn out and bleeding, we picked it up and we stuck it back inside. I can't believe this," legendary Georgia radio announcer Larry Munson shouted in one of his classic Bulldog calls.
Allen, from the Atlanta suburb of College Park, said his game-winning catch "was a very memorable moment for me personally," because of his local roots and all of his family and friends in the stands.
Six Bulldogs earned All-SEC honors that season: offensive lineman Matt Stinchcomb, tight end Larry Brown, linebacker Greg Bright, cornerback Champ Bailey, running back Robert Edwards and a safety named Kirby Smart.
Asked Tuesday about what he remembered about the 1997 game, Smart couldn't come up with much. Of course, Georgia's second-year head coach has other things on his mind this week, like leading the No. 7 Bulldogs (10-1) against the Yellow Jackets (5-5) in Atlanta on Saturday.
"I don't remember much — they run together," he said. "I remember Bobo having a good [final] drive and maybe Champ made some plays at receiver, I think, but to be honest with you I don't remember much."
It's now two decades on from that cool, rainy Saturday in Atlanta, but it remains one of the great finishes in a series that dates back to 1893. The 1997 win was Georgia's seventh in a row in the series, so for seniors like Allen, Bobo, Ward, Edwards and Travis Stroud, the victory capped a perfect run against their in-state rivals.
"We had a lot of motivated senior leadership ... and it was an important game for us. We wanted a chance to have a 10-win season," said Allen, who lives north of Atlanta, in Canton.
Georgia got that 10th win, finishing 10-2 and ranked No. 10, after routing Wisconsin 33-6 in the Outback Bowl. It got win No. 9, at unranked Tech, the hard way.
The Bulldogs started fast with a 54-yard touchdown catch by Ward, but it was 7-7 after the first quarter. In the second, Allen scored on a 59-yard touchdown catch — it was a big day for Bobo by halftime and it only got bigger. Bobo finished 30-for-39 passing, for 415 yards and four touchdowns.
Georgia led 14-10 at the half and 21-10 in the third quarter after Bobo and Ward connected on a 1-yard touchdown. Tech then score 14 straight points, taking a 24-21 lead with 48 seconds left.
What followed was a final-minute drive that couldn't have gone any better. It began with Tech kicking off out of bounds, so Georgia, with two timeouts left, started at its 35-yard line.
On first down, Bobo threw a quick slant to Bailey that the two-way star turned into a 27-yard gain before getting out of bounds. That was followed by another quick strike to Bailey for seven yards. Timeout.
Facing second-and-3 at Tech 31, Bobo threw a short screen right to Edwards, who had nobody near him and gained 10 yards before diving out of bounds at the 21, with 21 seconds remaining.
Then came the huge turn of events: Bobo's pass to Ward around the 10 was intercepted by Travares Tillman (now a Georgia graduate assistant), but not so fast. There was a yellow flag on the field and Tech's Donte Booker was called for pass interference on the play.
"To be honest, I didn't see the flag but I saw the interference," Allen said. "I saw him run up Hines' back and I was just hoping for the flag, but I didn't see it until the crowd began to react."
First down at the 8, with 14 seconds left. Bobo was in the shotgun and Allen was on the left side, with one-on-one coverage against him.
Munson's call: "Shotgun, Bobo; Bobo gonna take it and look and throw it in the corner ... and a touchdown! Oh my God! A touchdown in the corner! My God, in the corner! Oh my, it couldn't have happened!"
Late-game heroics were nothing new for Bobo and Allen, who the year before connected for a 30-yard game-tying touchdown with one second left in maybe the greatest Georgia-Auburn game ever, the four-overtime classic on the Plains that the Bulldogs won 56-49. It was the first OT game ever in the SEC.
Against Tech, Bobo took the snap and immediately threw a fade into the back left corner of the end zone, where Allen pulled it in and got his left foot down before going out of bounds.
"My goal was just to make sure I did my job, and when Mike chose to throw it to me, you have to consider that a special honor, and I just tried to make sure I caught the ball and got my feet down," Allen said. "You don't get a lot of chances like that, especially that late in the game."
It was a play executed to perfection, by two guys that had been working together for a long time.
"Thank goodness I had a chance to be on the scout team when Mike Bobo was on the scout team, playing behind Eric Zeier," Allen said. "We had a chance to grow together — a lot of practice time spent, a lot of offseason time spent together."
Asked if it feels like it's been 20 years, Allen said, "it kind of snuck up on us." But at the same time, his buddy Bobo had a great, long run as Georgia's offensive coordinator under Mark Richt and is now doing well as the head coach at Colorado State, and Smart was one of the top defensive coordinators in the country for years before taking over at Georgia.
"When I look at Kirby and even Bobo and [Will] Muschamp, where those guys are right now in their careers," Allen said, "it's reinforcement that it's been a while since 1997."
UGAAA Staff Writer
It's been 20 years, but Corey Allen remembers Nov. 29, 1997, very well.
With eight seconds left, Georgia quarterback Mike Bobo hit Allen in the left corner of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown in Georgia's 27-24 win over Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 14, drove 65 yards in just 40 seconds to avoid the upset, after giving up the lead on a Tech touchdown with just under a minute to play.
"Our heart that was torn out and bleeding, we picked it up and we stuck it back inside. I can't believe this," legendary Georgia radio announcer Larry Munson shouted in one of his classic Bulldog calls.
Allen, from the Atlanta suburb of College Park, said his game-winning catch "was a very memorable moment for me personally," because of his local roots and all of his family and friends in the stands.
Six Bulldogs earned All-SEC honors that season: offensive lineman Matt Stinchcomb, tight end Larry Brown, linebacker Greg Bright, cornerback Champ Bailey, running back Robert Edwards and a safety named Kirby Smart.
Asked Tuesday about what he remembered about the 1997 game, Smart couldn't come up with much. Of course, Georgia's second-year head coach has other things on his mind this week, like leading the No. 7 Bulldogs (10-1) against the Yellow Jackets (5-5) in Atlanta on Saturday.
"I don't remember much — they run together," he said. "I remember Bobo having a good [final] drive and maybe Champ made some plays at receiver, I think, but to be honest with you I don't remember much."
It's now two decades on from that cool, rainy Saturday in Atlanta, but it remains one of the great finishes in a series that dates back to 1893. The 1997 win was Georgia's seventh in a row in the series, so for seniors like Allen, Bobo, Ward, Edwards and Travis Stroud, the victory capped a perfect run against their in-state rivals.
"We had a lot of motivated senior leadership ... and it was an important game for us. We wanted a chance to have a 10-win season," said Allen, who lives north of Atlanta, in Canton.
Georgia got that 10th win, finishing 10-2 and ranked No. 10, after routing Wisconsin 33-6 in the Outback Bowl. It got win No. 9, at unranked Tech, the hard way.
The Bulldogs started fast with a 54-yard touchdown catch by Ward, but it was 7-7 after the first quarter. In the second, Allen scored on a 59-yard touchdown catch — it was a big day for Bobo by halftime and it only got bigger. Bobo finished 30-for-39 passing, for 415 yards and four touchdowns.
Georgia led 14-10 at the half and 21-10 in the third quarter after Bobo and Ward connected on a 1-yard touchdown. Tech then score 14 straight points, taking a 24-21 lead with 48 seconds left.
What followed was a final-minute drive that couldn't have gone any better. It began with Tech kicking off out of bounds, so Georgia, with two timeouts left, started at its 35-yard line.
On first down, Bobo threw a quick slant to Bailey that the two-way star turned into a 27-yard gain before getting out of bounds. That was followed by another quick strike to Bailey for seven yards. Timeout.
Facing second-and-3 at Tech 31, Bobo threw a short screen right to Edwards, who had nobody near him and gained 10 yards before diving out of bounds at the 21, with 21 seconds remaining.
Then came the huge turn of events: Bobo's pass to Ward around the 10 was intercepted by Travares Tillman (now a Georgia graduate assistant), but not so fast. There was a yellow flag on the field and Tech's Donte Booker was called for pass interference on the play.
"To be honest, I didn't see the flag but I saw the interference," Allen said. "I saw him run up Hines' back and I was just hoping for the flag, but I didn't see it until the crowd began to react."
First down at the 8, with 14 seconds left. Bobo was in the shotgun and Allen was on the left side, with one-on-one coverage against him.
Munson's call: "Shotgun, Bobo; Bobo gonna take it and look and throw it in the corner ... and a touchdown! Oh my God! A touchdown in the corner! My God, in the corner! Oh my, it couldn't have happened!"
Late-game heroics were nothing new for Bobo and Allen, who the year before connected for a 30-yard game-tying touchdown with one second left in maybe the greatest Georgia-Auburn game ever, the four-overtime classic on the Plains that the Bulldogs won 56-49. It was the first OT game ever in the SEC.
Against Tech, Bobo took the snap and immediately threw a fade into the back left corner of the end zone, where Allen pulled it in and got his left foot down before going out of bounds.
"My goal was just to make sure I did my job, and when Mike chose to throw it to me, you have to consider that a special honor, and I just tried to make sure I caught the ball and got my feet down," Allen said. "You don't get a lot of chances like that, especially that late in the game."
It was a play executed to perfection, by two guys that had been working together for a long time.
"Thank goodness I had a chance to be on the scout team when Mike Bobo was on the scout team, playing behind Eric Zeier," Allen said. "We had a chance to grow together — a lot of practice time spent, a lot of offseason time spent together."
Asked if it feels like it's been 20 years, Allen said, "it kind of snuck up on us." But at the same time, his buddy Bobo had a great, long run as Georgia's offensive coordinator under Mark Richt and is now doing well as the head coach at Colorado State, and Smart was one of the top defensive coordinators in the country for years before taking over at Georgia.
"When I look at Kirby and even Bobo and [Will] Muschamp, where those guys are right now in their careers," Allen said, "it's reinforcement that it's been a while since 1997."
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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