40-for-80 The Sweetest Season - Florida Game
November 03, 2020 | Football
By: Jeff Dantzler
November 8, 1980
Gator Bowl
Jacksonville, Fla.
Georgia - 26, Florida - 21
Things looked bleak. Undefeated, second-ranked Georgia trailed the 6-1, No. 20 Florida 21-20 with just over a minute to go. The Bulldogs had the ball, but faced third down and 11 yards to go on their own seven.
"I'm thinking at that time, if we can just get a first down," reflects Georgia's legendary Hall of Fame Coach Vince Dooley. "That's all I wanted was a first down, then we may have a chance to go down the field and have Rex kick a field goal to win the game."
Reciting the epic play, Dooley continued: "Buck goes back, and he gets rushed, Nat Hudson makes an incredible block, Buck scrambles and then he hits Lindsay. He catches it and comes down, and I say, we got it. We got the first down! Well as soon as he hit the ground, he turned and started running and I said, well he may have more than a first down. At about that time, he came up alongside me on the bench, and I started running with him, and I outran him for nearly ten yards. And then he passed me and scored."
It is the greatest play in Georgia history, and one of the most iconic in college football lore. Buck Belue to Lindsay Scott, 93 yards and a 26-21 victory that would propel the Bulldogs to the national championship.
This grandest of Georgia accomplishments was perfectly captured by the Bulldogs incomparable poet, the greatest college football announcer ever, Larry Munson.
"Buck back, third down on the eight, in trouble, got a block behind him, gonna throw on the run, complete to the 25, to the 30, Lindsay Scott 35, 40, Lindsay Scott 45, 50, 45, 40, Run Lindsay! 25, 20, 15, 10, 5! Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott!"
With the Georgia crowd roaring at unprecedented decibels in the old Gator Bowl, a euphoric Munson captured all that made this harmonic convergence so sacred.
"Well I can't believe it, 92 yards, and Lindsay really got in a footrace. I broke my chair, I came right through a chair, a metal, steel chair with about a five inch cushion. I broke it. The booth came apart. The stadium, well the stadium fell down, now they do have to renovate this thing. They have to rebuild it now. This is incredible! You know this game has always been called the world's greatest cocktail party, do you know what's gonna happen here tonight? And up in Saint Simons and Jekyll Island, where all those Dawg people have these condominiums for four days, man is there gonna be some property destroyed tonight! 26 to 21, DAWGS on top! We were gone, I gave up, you did too, we were out of it and gone. Miracle."
Erk Russell once told a young, aspiring broadcaster and writer, "The first thing I did, was look for penalty flags. Thank God there weren't any."
Rover Chris Welton remembers saying to the legendary defensive coordinator, when Georgia got the ball back, "We're going to win, we just need a few first downs, and Rex will make a field goal."
Confidence.
A note on THE PLAY, as Munson said, "Buck back on the eight." When you watch the replay, it looks like the ball is on the eight. But the touchdown was 93 yards. Statistically, because of where the punt was downed, and then a one yard loss on a stop of Belue, the ball was technically on the seven. Though it looked like the eight. There is a very simple explanation.
There was still 1:03 remaining, and in this classic, as Georgia had just proven, anything could happen.
"We put ourselves in a bind, because we had an excessive celebration penalty," Dooley said. "Florida was in great field position, but we weren't going to let the game get away."
Indeed, Georgia had to kick off from the 25 following the 15 yard penalty. Florida, which had an outstanding passing offense, featuring a good freshman quarterback Wayne Peace, and pair of terrific wide receivers, Cris Collinsworth and Tyrone Young, took over on its 36 yard line.
"I remember standing on the sideline before the big play and mad because the defense had let Florida make it a game through missed tackles," says senior captain, linebacker Frank Ros. " Then when 'the play' developed and we saw Lindsay running down the field, I started running too and was in the end zone with half the team celebrating."
Ros continues: "Jeff Harper was head butting me. I didn't have my helmet on and he did. Then I realized that the defense had to go back in and stop Florida - in Coach Russell's famous words that season "One More Time." So I ran back to our sideline and prepared myself to go back in."
Georgia would not be denied.
Mike Fisher, a Jacksonville native from Bolles High School, sealed the victory with his second interception of the day, picking off Peace on first down, and running it back 25 yards.
Belue took a knee twice - with a 15-yard celebration penalty in between - and the clock struck zero.
Georgia had done it.
The morning of the game, the greatest Bulldog ever, Dan Magill, delivered a prayer at breakfast, essentially praying... and begging... not to let Florida do to Georgia what Georgia had done to Florida so many times. That is, spoil a splendid Gators season. The Bulldogs had done it in a mega-showdown in 1966, once-beaten Georgia topping the Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier's undefeated Gators 27-10. The Bulldogs and Alabama would go on to share the Southeastern Conference championship in 1966. Florida wouldn't win its first for another 25 years, in 1991, when Spurrier was in his second year as his alma mater's head coach.
A mediocre Bulldogs team upset Florida in 1974. Richard Appleby to Gene Washington - another magical Munson call - delivered a fateful comeback victory in 1975. Georgia rallied from a 27-13 halftime deficit in 1976, and rolled to a 41-27 triumph en route to the SEC championship for the Bicentennial Bulldogs. The "Wonderdogs" of 1978 won 24-22 in Jacksonville, bouncing back from a Florida victory in 1977.
Charley Pell was hired as Florida's head coach in 1979, and the Gators bottomed out at 0-10-1, while Georgia had a strange 6-5 season that did feature a 33-10 win in Jacksonville.
Both teams were rolling in 1980 though. The Gators were 6-1, and ranked 20th, suffering only a loss to LSU. Georgia was No. 2 in the land, a perfect 8-0.
Notre Dame was No. 1, and playing none other than Georgia's arch-rival, the Yellow Jackets, that day in Atlanta.
Georgia led at the end of each quarter in Jacksonville. It's rare that a miraculous comeback in the closing moments is needed when that's the case.
Things couldn't have started better for the Bulldogs.
On the fourth play from scrimmage, Herschel Walker electrified the raucous crowd and national television audience - a young Al Michaels was on the call, and he too was predictably tremendous on Belue to Scott - with a 72-yard touchdown dash around the right side. Less than two minutes in, and the Bulldogs led 7-0 on Rex Robinson's extra point.
Walker was tremendous, as always, piling up 238 yards on 37 carries. He was at his best against Florida. The next year, he carried 47 times for 192 yards and scored four touchdowns - two on the ground, two through the air. As a junior in 1982, he vaulted the Heisman forefront with a 219-yard, three touchdown performance in Jacksonville.
Fisher got his first pick of the day on Florida's first possession, but a Georgia fumble gave Florida the ball right back. A Gator field goal cut the Bulldogs lead to 7-3.
Herschel's running behind great blocking and a 24-yard hookup between Belue and Scott had Georgia in business. Another Jacksonville native, one of the Bulldogs great fullbacks, Ronnie Stewart caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Belue, capping an 11-play 77-yard scoring drive that spanned two periods. Less than two minutes into the second quarter, it was 14-3 Georgia.
The Bulldogs had a golden opportunity to create more separation, as Eddie "Meat Cleaver" Weaver, who had an incredible season on the defensive front, recovered a fumble on the Florida 22. But just like in the first quarter, Florida responded by getting the turnover back on the ensuing possession, this time on an interception.
A fake punt didn't work for Florida, but then Georgia fumbled.
This was a rarity for the Bulldogs - losing the turnover battle. Georgia led the nation in turnover margin in 1980, but turned it over four times and came up with three against the Gators.
Florida cashed in, moving 46 yards in five plays, with Peace and Collinsworth connecting for a nine-yard touchdown.
At the half, Georgia led 14-10.
Robinson the All-American hit two short field goals. Georgia advanced to the eight and to the two, but Florida turned the Bulldogs away from touchdowns.
Then in the fourth quarter, the game swung Florida's way.
Young, who was 6-7, was hard to defend. Florida fullback James Jones, who had a long NFL career, caught an 11-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter following a 57-yard catch and run by Young, described by Dooley as "a tall drink of water."
The two-pointer was good, and less than a minute into the fourth quarter, it was 20-18.
Florida took its first lead of the day, as Brian Clark hit a 40-yard field goal with 6:52 remaining. Scary.
Georgia then went backwards.
Mark Malkewicz came up with a clutch 57-yard punt, and Florida had the ball and the lead, taking over on the 31. Jones and Young moved the ball all the way to the Georgia 36. Then the gritty Bulldogs defense rose up.
Outstanding defensive lineman Tim Crowe stuffed a run and then sacked Peace for a four-yard loss back to the Bulldogs 40.
Florida punted.
Three plays later, the magic happened.
The Aftermath
Moments after the game, word had come down that something else shocking had happened that day.
Top-ranked Notre Dame was tied by 1-7 Tech by a score of 3-3.
"In the locker room after, we heard that Notre Dame had been tied by Tech," remembers Ros. "And we knew what that meant."
As the Sports Illustrated cover featuring Herschel Walker proclaimed: "Now Georgia is Number One."
November 8, 1980
Gator Bowl
Jacksonville, Fla.
Georgia - 26, Florida - 21
Things looked bleak. Undefeated, second-ranked Georgia trailed the 6-1, No. 20 Florida 21-20 with just over a minute to go. The Bulldogs had the ball, but faced third down and 11 yards to go on their own seven.
"I'm thinking at that time, if we can just get a first down," reflects Georgia's legendary Hall of Fame Coach Vince Dooley. "That's all I wanted was a first down, then we may have a chance to go down the field and have Rex kick a field goal to win the game."
Reciting the epic play, Dooley continued: "Buck goes back, and he gets rushed, Nat Hudson makes an incredible block, Buck scrambles and then he hits Lindsay. He catches it and comes down, and I say, we got it. We got the first down! Well as soon as he hit the ground, he turned and started running and I said, well he may have more than a first down. At about that time, he came up alongside me on the bench, and I started running with him, and I outran him for nearly ten yards. And then he passed me and scored."
It is the greatest play in Georgia history, and one of the most iconic in college football lore. Buck Belue to Lindsay Scott, 93 yards and a 26-21 victory that would propel the Bulldogs to the national championship.
This grandest of Georgia accomplishments was perfectly captured by the Bulldogs incomparable poet, the greatest college football announcer ever, Larry Munson.
"Buck back, third down on the eight, in trouble, got a block behind him, gonna throw on the run, complete to the 25, to the 30, Lindsay Scott 35, 40, Lindsay Scott 45, 50, 45, 40, Run Lindsay! 25, 20, 15, 10, 5! Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott!"
With the Georgia crowd roaring at unprecedented decibels in the old Gator Bowl, a euphoric Munson captured all that made this harmonic convergence so sacred.
"Well I can't believe it, 92 yards, and Lindsay really got in a footrace. I broke my chair, I came right through a chair, a metal, steel chair with about a five inch cushion. I broke it. The booth came apart. The stadium, well the stadium fell down, now they do have to renovate this thing. They have to rebuild it now. This is incredible! You know this game has always been called the world's greatest cocktail party, do you know what's gonna happen here tonight? And up in Saint Simons and Jekyll Island, where all those Dawg people have these condominiums for four days, man is there gonna be some property destroyed tonight! 26 to 21, DAWGS on top! We were gone, I gave up, you did too, we were out of it and gone. Miracle."
Erk Russell once told a young, aspiring broadcaster and writer, "The first thing I did, was look for penalty flags. Thank God there weren't any."
Rover Chris Welton remembers saying to the legendary defensive coordinator, when Georgia got the ball back, "We're going to win, we just need a few first downs, and Rex will make a field goal."
Confidence.
A note on THE PLAY, as Munson said, "Buck back on the eight." When you watch the replay, it looks like the ball is on the eight. But the touchdown was 93 yards. Statistically, because of where the punt was downed, and then a one yard loss on a stop of Belue, the ball was technically on the seven. Though it looked like the eight. There is a very simple explanation.
There was still 1:03 remaining, and in this classic, as Georgia had just proven, anything could happen.
"We put ourselves in a bind, because we had an excessive celebration penalty," Dooley said. "Florida was in great field position, but we weren't going to let the game get away."
Indeed, Georgia had to kick off from the 25 following the 15 yard penalty. Florida, which had an outstanding passing offense, featuring a good freshman quarterback Wayne Peace, and pair of terrific wide receivers, Cris Collinsworth and Tyrone Young, took over on its 36 yard line.
"I remember standing on the sideline before the big play and mad because the defense had let Florida make it a game through missed tackles," says senior captain, linebacker Frank Ros. " Then when 'the play' developed and we saw Lindsay running down the field, I started running too and was in the end zone with half the team celebrating."
Ros continues: "Jeff Harper was head butting me. I didn't have my helmet on and he did. Then I realized that the defense had to go back in and stop Florida - in Coach Russell's famous words that season "One More Time." So I ran back to our sideline and prepared myself to go back in."
Georgia would not be denied.
Mike Fisher, a Jacksonville native from Bolles High School, sealed the victory with his second interception of the day, picking off Peace on first down, and running it back 25 yards.
Belue took a knee twice - with a 15-yard celebration penalty in between - and the clock struck zero.
Georgia had done it.
The morning of the game, the greatest Bulldog ever, Dan Magill, delivered a prayer at breakfast, essentially praying... and begging... not to let Florida do to Georgia what Georgia had done to Florida so many times. That is, spoil a splendid Gators season. The Bulldogs had done it in a mega-showdown in 1966, once-beaten Georgia topping the Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier's undefeated Gators 27-10. The Bulldogs and Alabama would go on to share the Southeastern Conference championship in 1966. Florida wouldn't win its first for another 25 years, in 1991, when Spurrier was in his second year as his alma mater's head coach.
A mediocre Bulldogs team upset Florida in 1974. Richard Appleby to Gene Washington - another magical Munson call - delivered a fateful comeback victory in 1975. Georgia rallied from a 27-13 halftime deficit in 1976, and rolled to a 41-27 triumph en route to the SEC championship for the Bicentennial Bulldogs. The "Wonderdogs" of 1978 won 24-22 in Jacksonville, bouncing back from a Florida victory in 1977.
Charley Pell was hired as Florida's head coach in 1979, and the Gators bottomed out at 0-10-1, while Georgia had a strange 6-5 season that did feature a 33-10 win in Jacksonville.
Both teams were rolling in 1980 though. The Gators were 6-1, and ranked 20th, suffering only a loss to LSU. Georgia was No. 2 in the land, a perfect 8-0.
Notre Dame was No. 1, and playing none other than Georgia's arch-rival, the Yellow Jackets, that day in Atlanta.
Georgia led at the end of each quarter in Jacksonville. It's rare that a miraculous comeback in the closing moments is needed when that's the case.
Things couldn't have started better for the Bulldogs.
On the fourth play from scrimmage, Herschel Walker electrified the raucous crowd and national television audience - a young Al Michaels was on the call, and he too was predictably tremendous on Belue to Scott - with a 72-yard touchdown dash around the right side. Less than two minutes in, and the Bulldogs led 7-0 on Rex Robinson's extra point.
Walker was tremendous, as always, piling up 238 yards on 37 carries. He was at his best against Florida. The next year, he carried 47 times for 192 yards and scored four touchdowns - two on the ground, two through the air. As a junior in 1982, he vaulted the Heisman forefront with a 219-yard, three touchdown performance in Jacksonville.
Fisher got his first pick of the day on Florida's first possession, but a Georgia fumble gave Florida the ball right back. A Gator field goal cut the Bulldogs lead to 7-3.
Herschel's running behind great blocking and a 24-yard hookup between Belue and Scott had Georgia in business. Another Jacksonville native, one of the Bulldogs great fullbacks, Ronnie Stewart caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Belue, capping an 11-play 77-yard scoring drive that spanned two periods. Less than two minutes into the second quarter, it was 14-3 Georgia.
The Bulldogs had a golden opportunity to create more separation, as Eddie "Meat Cleaver" Weaver, who had an incredible season on the defensive front, recovered a fumble on the Florida 22. But just like in the first quarter, Florida responded by getting the turnover back on the ensuing possession, this time on an interception.
A fake punt didn't work for Florida, but then Georgia fumbled.
This was a rarity for the Bulldogs - losing the turnover battle. Georgia led the nation in turnover margin in 1980, but turned it over four times and came up with three against the Gators.
Florida cashed in, moving 46 yards in five plays, with Peace and Collinsworth connecting for a nine-yard touchdown.
At the half, Georgia led 14-10.
Robinson the All-American hit two short field goals. Georgia advanced to the eight and to the two, but Florida turned the Bulldogs away from touchdowns.
Then in the fourth quarter, the game swung Florida's way.
Young, who was 6-7, was hard to defend. Florida fullback James Jones, who had a long NFL career, caught an 11-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter following a 57-yard catch and run by Young, described by Dooley as "a tall drink of water."
The two-pointer was good, and less than a minute into the fourth quarter, it was 20-18.
Florida took its first lead of the day, as Brian Clark hit a 40-yard field goal with 6:52 remaining. Scary.
Georgia then went backwards.
Mark Malkewicz came up with a clutch 57-yard punt, and Florida had the ball and the lead, taking over on the 31. Jones and Young moved the ball all the way to the Georgia 36. Then the gritty Bulldogs defense rose up.
Outstanding defensive lineman Tim Crowe stuffed a run and then sacked Peace for a four-yard loss back to the Bulldogs 40.
Florida punted.
Three plays later, the magic happened.
The Aftermath
Moments after the game, word had come down that something else shocking had happened that day.
Top-ranked Notre Dame was tied by 1-7 Tech by a score of 3-3.
"In the locker room after, we heard that Notre Dame had been tied by Tech," remembers Ros. "And we knew what that meant."
As the Sports Illustrated cover featuring Herschel Walker proclaimed: "Now Georgia is Number One."
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