40-for-80 The Sweetest Season - Georgia Tech Game
November 17, 2020 | Football
By: Jeff Dantzler
November 29, 1980
Sanford Stadium
Athens, Ga.
Georgia - 38, Yellow Jackets - 20
In 1927, Georgia's "Dream and Wonder" Bulldogs were a perfect 9-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country. A Rose Bowl berth, perfect regular season, and the national championship were on the line.
But Georgia lost to Tech.
Let me emphasize how glad I am not to have lived - and died - through that.
It will forever be one of the most crushing losses in Georgia football annals.
With the Bulldogs of 1980 a perfect 10-0, Southeastern Conference champions and ranked No. 1 in the land, all that stood between Georgia and a shot at the national championship was the Yellow Jackets.
Legendary Georgia head coach Vince Dooley, in his 17th season at the helm in Athens, brought in one of the last living members of that 1927 team to address his top-ranked Bulldogs.
The message was simple: "Don't let them do to you what they did to us. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it."
After the gauntlet of South Carolina, Florida and Auburn, the Bulldogs had the customary open date before the tussle with Tech. Georgia exhaled for a moment, got focused in on "The Enemy," and got healed up.
That included the return of standout senior offensive linemen Hugh Nall, who was injured the week of the Kentucky game in October.
Georgia was riding high.
Tech was 1-8-1, but...
The Yellow Jackets were not to be taken lightly.
Beyond the intensity and familiarity of the rivalry, Tech had shown it could rise to the occasion. On November the 8th, the very day Lindsay Scott raced 93 yards with Buck Belue's pass after Nat Hudson's block preceding Mike Fisher's interception, yes, on that same day, the Yellow Jackets shocked then No. 1 Notre Dame, tying the Fighting Irish 3-3 at historic Grant Field in Atlanta.
They were trying to strike for a second time against a No. 1 ranked team, and deal the Bulldogs what would go down as the most crushing of losses. Ever.
But Georgia was ready. Georgia was focused. This TEAM, led by these seniors was NOT going to let this opportunity get away.
Tech opened the game with the ball and picked up a couple of first downs, led by its fine quarterback Mike Kelley. The Bulldogs stopped Tech on the Georgia side of the field at the 46, and took over on the 11.
The Bulldogs put together a nice drive, keyed by a 31 yard catch and run from Herschel Walker on an aerial from Buck Belue in the left flat.
Tech would toughen, though, and with the ball on the Yellow Jackets 40, the Bulldogs turned to All-American super toe Rex Robinson.
GOOOOOODDD!
As the scoreboard at the opposite end proclaimed, "Great Kick Rex."
Indeed, his 57-yarder matched his own record, set three games earlier against South Carolina, kicking through the same East End Zone uprights.
Georgia struck first.
With 6:39 to go in the first quarter, the Bulldogs had a 3-0 lead.
By the way, Robinson nearly "made" his kickoff, bouncing it off the crossbar. What a boot.
Georgia's tough defense then stuffed the Jackets three-and-out. Following a short punt, the Bulldogs took over at the Tech 43.
Belue hit Norris Brown for 15. A couple of Herschel Walker runs of nine and eight yards moved the ball to the Jackets 11. Then Georgia started going backwards. Belue recovered his own fumble for a loss of nine. Following an incompletion, it looked like Robinson's number would have to be called again. It was third down and 19 from the Jackets 20. But a great combo delivered again. Belue to Scott over the middle for 18 to the 2. On fourth and one, it was Herschel leaping over for the first down, so close to the end zone. The next play, he went over the right side for the touchdown, his first of three on a record shattering day.
With 97 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Georgia, following Robinson's extra point, led 10-0.
Another three-and-out followed.
But the turnover bug would bite.
The Bulldogs threw the first of three interceptions on the day and Tech had the ball at midfield. On the second play of the second quarter, Kelley completed a 25 yard aerial, but on the play, captain Frank Ros knocked the pigskin loose and Dale Williams recovered on the Georgia 15.
The two biggest stats on the year, Georgia led the nation in turnover differential and dominated the punt game - giving up just eight total punt return yards on the year, while All-American Scott Woerner, who had a legendary punt return for a touchdown against Tech in the 29-28 thrilling "Wonderdogs" victory of 1978, averaged 15.7 yards per return in 1980.
Georgia drove to the Jackets 45, but the drive stalled. Mark Malkiewicz then lofted a beauty that was downed at the one.
It's a beautiful thing when the offense, kicking game, and defense play off one another.
Three and out. The legendary Erk Russell's Junkyard Dawgs were barking.
Georgia took over at midfield and turned to No. 34. Herschel for seven. Herschel for 17. Herschel for 12. The Bulldogs handed to the stellar fullback Jimmy Womack, who had the greatest block in history in Georgia's next game, and Walker on the next three plays and faced a critical fourth-and-one deep in Jackets territory for the second time.
Fourth and one from the five.
Georgia's other great fullback, Ronnie Stewart, slid wide open to the left side of the west end zone and hauled in Belue's pass for the touchdown. Robinson's extra point gave the Bulldogs a 17-0 lead with 4:16 to go in the half.
Turnovers told the story for the rest of the half. Pat McShea, who led the nation in fumble recoveries, pounced on another and Georgia was back in business. But on the next play, the Jackets pulled in a deep interception on their own 11. The Yellow Jackets then mounted an impressive drive, aiming to strike before the half. On the final play before intermission, from the Bulldogs 20, Williams struck again, intercepting Kelley, and returning it 18 yards, to thwart the Jackets rally.
It was 17-0 Bulldogs at the half.
Thirty minutes separated Georgia from a date with destiny.
Tech would not go quietly in the second half.
The key, Georgia answered.
Kelley threw his first of two touchdowns on the afternoon to cut the Bulldogs lead to ten. Georgia would respond with back to back big plays from All-American greats.
Woerner returned the kickoff 71 yards to the Yellow Jackets 23 yard line, with Sanford Stadium rocking. Then it was Herschel off the right side, breaking through potential tacklers with superb power, strength, balance, and speed, scoring a 23-yard touchdown, his second of the afternoon.
It was 24-7 Georgia with 11:23 to go in the third.
Kelley directed the Yellow Jackets on a 75-yard touchdown march that took nearly five minutes off the clock. The Yellow Jackets were again within ten.
Things got there most nerve wracking as Georgia turned the ball over with the 24-14 lead. Belue's aerial was picked off at the Jackets nine, so Tech had a long way to go. Georgia needed the defense to hunker down.
They did.
Georgia stopped Tech three-and-out, and Woerner had an 18-yard punt return, putting the Bulldogs in position at their own 43 with 56 seconds to go in the quarter. Georgia needed a touchdown.
A reverse to Chuck Jones yielded 16. It was Walker for six, and Stewart for five on the last play of the third quarter.
Now moving East, the Bulldogs were first and ten from the Jackets 29. Walker and Stewart combined to pick up nine yards and Georgia faced its third critical fourth down in which Dooley decided to go for it. With Tech stacked up, Georgia's offensive front got the push, and Herschel broke loose for 19. Had there been replay, it may have been his third of four touchdowns on this beautiful autumn Saturday. But he was inches away, and Belue leapt over from one yard out. Robinson, who set an NCAA record for consecutive extra points and the SEC scoring mark in 1980, pushed the Bulldogs ahead 31-14 on the PAT.
Tech wouldn't go away, driving 86 yards on 13 plays. Kelley's second touchdown pass brought the Yellow Jackets within 11. The extra point was no good. There was just under 10 minutes remaining, and 10-0 Georgia led 1-8-1 Tech 31-20.
But not for long.
The answer came in a red jersey clad with the white Number 34. That jersey was, and is to this day, the Georgia Bulldogs version of Superman's cape.
He returned the kickoff 27 yards to the Georgia 35.
The Bulldogs ran right again, and the freshman from Wrightsville, cut left and kicked it into a gear never before seen by a man of such size, racing 65 yards to pay dirt where he was greeted by a mob as Sanford Stadium shook.
You see, this was the final game for the fans on the famous railroad tracks. The East end would be bowled in. As the crowd grew and grew, they crept and crept.
In that East end zone and along the Georgia sideline, it was bedlam.
"I remember how rowdy and crowded the tracks were and having a weird feeling knowing that was the last game they would see, plus seeing all the new construction in progress," recalls Nall. "Feeling the pressure of the final game to a perfect regular season, and the relief afterwards once it was won, and we beat (Tech)."
This was the knockout blow, and on the run, Herschel broke Tony Dorsett's NCAA Freshman Rushing Record set in 1973. Dorsett's first game for Pitt came against Georgia in Sanford Stadium, it ended in a tie. Dorsett and Pitt beat Georgia in the 1975 season opener, as well. His final game came in the 1977 Sugar Bowl, where he went for over 200 yards against SEC champion Georgia in a battle for the national championship. Now Herschel had the record, and following Robinson's kick, the Bulldogs had the 38-20 lead with 9:30 to go.
I'll never forget that run. My dad and I were listening to the mighty Munson on a black battery-powered transistor radio that my grandparents had given me, throwing the football in the front yard.
"Walker my Dog!"
Tech got near midfield. Kelley, who was 27 of 46 with two touchdowns and two interceptions, hit a big pass, but the Bulldogs rose up. Ros batted down a pass, and then on fourth down, Georgia forced Kelley to throw incomplete.
The Bulldogs had a couple of chances to sweeten the lead and the final margin.
First thing's first. The Bulldogs took over at the Jackets 47 with 7:17 to go. Walker carried for the final time on the day, gaining six yards. It gave him 205 for the game - his fourth 200 - that's TWO HUNDRED - yard rushing game of this magical season.
Carnie Norris and Matt Simon came on at tailback, and Jeff Paulk was the quarterback.
The Bulldogs got down to the Tech 13, but were stopped on downs. It was the first time the Jackets stopped Georgia in that spot, as the Bulldogs converted those three critical fourth down plays that set up or resulted in touchdowns.
Tech moved to the Georgia 45. Then one of those fabulous freshmen, Tommy Thurson, a future All-SEC standout, and great understudy to Ros and Taylor, came up with the Bulldogs second interception of the day.
The defensive line was great again, with Jimmy Payne, Eddie "Meat Cleaver" Weaver, Tim Crowe, Robert Miles, Tim Parks, Dale Carver, McShea, Joe Creamons, Freddie Gilbert, Kevin "Catfish" Jackson, and Jack Lindsey all in the midst of the action.
Ros and Taylor both had six stops at linebacker.
Chris Welton and second team All-American Jeff Hipp were lights out in run support. They combined for 16 stops - Hipp with nine and Welton with seven.
The Bulldogs marched to the Jackets 20 yard line, and the clock ran out.
Georgia had won!
The Bulldogs had beaten Tech 38-20 to go 11-0.
"The game was like a big celebration!!!" Woerner said. "Beating the Jackets in the last game, at home, as a senior, culminating a perfect regular season is forever!!!
It was the first perfect season for Georgia since the 1946 juggernaut led by Charley Trippi and Johnny Rauch went 11-0 and won every game by double digits.
Georgia was No. 1 and Sugar Bowl bound to take on 9-0-1 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish had one regular season game remaining the following week, at Southern Cal.
"My feeling was we had taken another opponent down, but quickly turned my focus to our ultimate goal...winning the Sugar Bowl and being crowned national champions," recalls Captain Ros. "We were very good that year of focusing on one game at a time (coaches did a good job of keeping us focused on the game at hand) and that game was not different. In the famous words of Coach Russell the week of Tech game, Tuck Fech (he would write it on his shirt and come to practice with it on). He would have us repeat it after him during calisthenics."
Walker's 1,616 rushing yards broke Dorsett's freshman mark of 1,586 set in 1973. The Heisman trophy ceremony would take place on December 11. Herschel finished third, behind South Carolina's great running back George Rogers and Pitt's All-American defensive end Hugh Green. Herschel was voted the SEC's Player of the Year.
Only one hurdle remained.
Erk Russell's famed words were never more true - "just one more time."
November 29, 1980
Sanford Stadium
Athens, Ga.
Georgia - 38, Yellow Jackets - 20
In 1927, Georgia's "Dream and Wonder" Bulldogs were a perfect 9-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country. A Rose Bowl berth, perfect regular season, and the national championship were on the line.
But Georgia lost to Tech.
Let me emphasize how glad I am not to have lived - and died - through that.
It will forever be one of the most crushing losses in Georgia football annals.
With the Bulldogs of 1980 a perfect 10-0, Southeastern Conference champions and ranked No. 1 in the land, all that stood between Georgia and a shot at the national championship was the Yellow Jackets.
Legendary Georgia head coach Vince Dooley, in his 17th season at the helm in Athens, brought in one of the last living members of that 1927 team to address his top-ranked Bulldogs.
The message was simple: "Don't let them do to you what they did to us. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it."
After the gauntlet of South Carolina, Florida and Auburn, the Bulldogs had the customary open date before the tussle with Tech. Georgia exhaled for a moment, got focused in on "The Enemy," and got healed up.
That included the return of standout senior offensive linemen Hugh Nall, who was injured the week of the Kentucky game in October.
Georgia was riding high.
Tech was 1-8-1, but...
The Yellow Jackets were not to be taken lightly.
Beyond the intensity and familiarity of the rivalry, Tech had shown it could rise to the occasion. On November the 8th, the very day Lindsay Scott raced 93 yards with Buck Belue's pass after Nat Hudson's block preceding Mike Fisher's interception, yes, on that same day, the Yellow Jackets shocked then No. 1 Notre Dame, tying the Fighting Irish 3-3 at historic Grant Field in Atlanta.
They were trying to strike for a second time against a No. 1 ranked team, and deal the Bulldogs what would go down as the most crushing of losses. Ever.
But Georgia was ready. Georgia was focused. This TEAM, led by these seniors was NOT going to let this opportunity get away.
Tech opened the game with the ball and picked up a couple of first downs, led by its fine quarterback Mike Kelley. The Bulldogs stopped Tech on the Georgia side of the field at the 46, and took over on the 11.
The Bulldogs put together a nice drive, keyed by a 31 yard catch and run from Herschel Walker on an aerial from Buck Belue in the left flat.
Tech would toughen, though, and with the ball on the Yellow Jackets 40, the Bulldogs turned to All-American super toe Rex Robinson.
GOOOOOODDD!
As the scoreboard at the opposite end proclaimed, "Great Kick Rex."
Indeed, his 57-yarder matched his own record, set three games earlier against South Carolina, kicking through the same East End Zone uprights.
Georgia struck first.
With 6:39 to go in the first quarter, the Bulldogs had a 3-0 lead.
By the way, Robinson nearly "made" his kickoff, bouncing it off the crossbar. What a boot.
Georgia's tough defense then stuffed the Jackets three-and-out. Following a short punt, the Bulldogs took over at the Tech 43.
Belue hit Norris Brown for 15. A couple of Herschel Walker runs of nine and eight yards moved the ball to the Jackets 11. Then Georgia started going backwards. Belue recovered his own fumble for a loss of nine. Following an incompletion, it looked like Robinson's number would have to be called again. It was third down and 19 from the Jackets 20. But a great combo delivered again. Belue to Scott over the middle for 18 to the 2. On fourth and one, it was Herschel leaping over for the first down, so close to the end zone. The next play, he went over the right side for the touchdown, his first of three on a record shattering day.
With 97 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Georgia, following Robinson's extra point, led 10-0.
Another three-and-out followed.
But the turnover bug would bite.
The Bulldogs threw the first of three interceptions on the day and Tech had the ball at midfield. On the second play of the second quarter, Kelley completed a 25 yard aerial, but on the play, captain Frank Ros knocked the pigskin loose and Dale Williams recovered on the Georgia 15.
The two biggest stats on the year, Georgia led the nation in turnover differential and dominated the punt game - giving up just eight total punt return yards on the year, while All-American Scott Woerner, who had a legendary punt return for a touchdown against Tech in the 29-28 thrilling "Wonderdogs" victory of 1978, averaged 15.7 yards per return in 1980.
Georgia drove to the Jackets 45, but the drive stalled. Mark Malkiewicz then lofted a beauty that was downed at the one.
It's a beautiful thing when the offense, kicking game, and defense play off one another.
Three and out. The legendary Erk Russell's Junkyard Dawgs were barking.
Georgia took over at midfield and turned to No. 34. Herschel for seven. Herschel for 17. Herschel for 12. The Bulldogs handed to the stellar fullback Jimmy Womack, who had the greatest block in history in Georgia's next game, and Walker on the next three plays and faced a critical fourth-and-one deep in Jackets territory for the second time.
Fourth and one from the five.
Georgia's other great fullback, Ronnie Stewart, slid wide open to the left side of the west end zone and hauled in Belue's pass for the touchdown. Robinson's extra point gave the Bulldogs a 17-0 lead with 4:16 to go in the half.
Turnovers told the story for the rest of the half. Pat McShea, who led the nation in fumble recoveries, pounced on another and Georgia was back in business. But on the next play, the Jackets pulled in a deep interception on their own 11. The Yellow Jackets then mounted an impressive drive, aiming to strike before the half. On the final play before intermission, from the Bulldogs 20, Williams struck again, intercepting Kelley, and returning it 18 yards, to thwart the Jackets rally.
It was 17-0 Bulldogs at the half.
Thirty minutes separated Georgia from a date with destiny.
Tech would not go quietly in the second half.
The key, Georgia answered.
Kelley threw his first of two touchdowns on the afternoon to cut the Bulldogs lead to ten. Georgia would respond with back to back big plays from All-American greats.
Woerner returned the kickoff 71 yards to the Yellow Jackets 23 yard line, with Sanford Stadium rocking. Then it was Herschel off the right side, breaking through potential tacklers with superb power, strength, balance, and speed, scoring a 23-yard touchdown, his second of the afternoon.
It was 24-7 Georgia with 11:23 to go in the third.
Kelley directed the Yellow Jackets on a 75-yard touchdown march that took nearly five minutes off the clock. The Yellow Jackets were again within ten.
Things got there most nerve wracking as Georgia turned the ball over with the 24-14 lead. Belue's aerial was picked off at the Jackets nine, so Tech had a long way to go. Georgia needed the defense to hunker down.
They did.
Georgia stopped Tech three-and-out, and Woerner had an 18-yard punt return, putting the Bulldogs in position at their own 43 with 56 seconds to go in the quarter. Georgia needed a touchdown.
A reverse to Chuck Jones yielded 16. It was Walker for six, and Stewart for five on the last play of the third quarter.
Now moving East, the Bulldogs were first and ten from the Jackets 29. Walker and Stewart combined to pick up nine yards and Georgia faced its third critical fourth down in which Dooley decided to go for it. With Tech stacked up, Georgia's offensive front got the push, and Herschel broke loose for 19. Had there been replay, it may have been his third of four touchdowns on this beautiful autumn Saturday. But he was inches away, and Belue leapt over from one yard out. Robinson, who set an NCAA record for consecutive extra points and the SEC scoring mark in 1980, pushed the Bulldogs ahead 31-14 on the PAT.
Tech wouldn't go away, driving 86 yards on 13 plays. Kelley's second touchdown pass brought the Yellow Jackets within 11. The extra point was no good. There was just under 10 minutes remaining, and 10-0 Georgia led 1-8-1 Tech 31-20.
But not for long.
The answer came in a red jersey clad with the white Number 34. That jersey was, and is to this day, the Georgia Bulldogs version of Superman's cape.
He returned the kickoff 27 yards to the Georgia 35.
The Bulldogs ran right again, and the freshman from Wrightsville, cut left and kicked it into a gear never before seen by a man of such size, racing 65 yards to pay dirt where he was greeted by a mob as Sanford Stadium shook.
You see, this was the final game for the fans on the famous railroad tracks. The East end would be bowled in. As the crowd grew and grew, they crept and crept.
In that East end zone and along the Georgia sideline, it was bedlam.
"I remember how rowdy and crowded the tracks were and having a weird feeling knowing that was the last game they would see, plus seeing all the new construction in progress," recalls Nall. "Feeling the pressure of the final game to a perfect regular season, and the relief afterwards once it was won, and we beat (Tech)."
This was the knockout blow, and on the run, Herschel broke Tony Dorsett's NCAA Freshman Rushing Record set in 1973. Dorsett's first game for Pitt came against Georgia in Sanford Stadium, it ended in a tie. Dorsett and Pitt beat Georgia in the 1975 season opener, as well. His final game came in the 1977 Sugar Bowl, where he went for over 200 yards against SEC champion Georgia in a battle for the national championship. Now Herschel had the record, and following Robinson's kick, the Bulldogs had the 38-20 lead with 9:30 to go.
I'll never forget that run. My dad and I were listening to the mighty Munson on a black battery-powered transistor radio that my grandparents had given me, throwing the football in the front yard.
"Walker my Dog!"
Tech got near midfield. Kelley, who was 27 of 46 with two touchdowns and two interceptions, hit a big pass, but the Bulldogs rose up. Ros batted down a pass, and then on fourth down, Georgia forced Kelley to throw incomplete.
The Bulldogs had a couple of chances to sweeten the lead and the final margin.
First thing's first. The Bulldogs took over at the Jackets 47 with 7:17 to go. Walker carried for the final time on the day, gaining six yards. It gave him 205 for the game - his fourth 200 - that's TWO HUNDRED - yard rushing game of this magical season.
Carnie Norris and Matt Simon came on at tailback, and Jeff Paulk was the quarterback.
The Bulldogs got down to the Tech 13, but were stopped on downs. It was the first time the Jackets stopped Georgia in that spot, as the Bulldogs converted those three critical fourth down plays that set up or resulted in touchdowns.
Tech moved to the Georgia 45. Then one of those fabulous freshmen, Tommy Thurson, a future All-SEC standout, and great understudy to Ros and Taylor, came up with the Bulldogs second interception of the day.
The defensive line was great again, with Jimmy Payne, Eddie "Meat Cleaver" Weaver, Tim Crowe, Robert Miles, Tim Parks, Dale Carver, McShea, Joe Creamons, Freddie Gilbert, Kevin "Catfish" Jackson, and Jack Lindsey all in the midst of the action.
Ros and Taylor both had six stops at linebacker.
Chris Welton and second team All-American Jeff Hipp were lights out in run support. They combined for 16 stops - Hipp with nine and Welton with seven.
The Bulldogs marched to the Jackets 20 yard line, and the clock ran out.
Georgia had won!
The Bulldogs had beaten Tech 38-20 to go 11-0.
"The game was like a big celebration!!!" Woerner said. "Beating the Jackets in the last game, at home, as a senior, culminating a perfect regular season is forever!!!
It was the first perfect season for Georgia since the 1946 juggernaut led by Charley Trippi and Johnny Rauch went 11-0 and won every game by double digits.
Georgia was No. 1 and Sugar Bowl bound to take on 9-0-1 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish had one regular season game remaining the following week, at Southern Cal.
"My feeling was we had taken another opponent down, but quickly turned my focus to our ultimate goal...winning the Sugar Bowl and being crowned national champions," recalls Captain Ros. "We were very good that year of focusing on one game at a time (coaches did a good job of keeping us focused on the game at hand) and that game was not different. In the famous words of Coach Russell the week of Tech game, Tuck Fech (he would write it on his shirt and come to practice with it on). He would have us repeat it after him during calisthenics."
Walker's 1,616 rushing yards broke Dorsett's freshman mark of 1,586 set in 1973. The Heisman trophy ceremony would take place on December 11. Herschel finished third, behind South Carolina's great running back George Rogers and Pitt's All-American defensive end Hugh Green. Herschel was voted the SEC's Player of the Year.
Only one hurdle remained.
Erk Russell's famed words were never more true - "just one more time."
Georgia Football - Monroe Freeling - Post Practice Press Conference
Tuesday, September 09
Georgia Football - Kyron Jones - Post Practice Press Conference
Tuesday, September 09
Georgia Football - Coach Smart - Post Practice Press Conference
Tuesday, September 09
Kirby Smart All Access vs Austin Peay - 2025
Monday, September 08
