Here’s something to get your juices stirring this morning.
“That was something, wasn’t it.” – God bless Erk Russell.
The only thing missing from that clip is an interview with the drunk frat boy in the red pants doing the windmill in the end zone. Ah, fans on the field during a game with nobody freaking out. Those were the days.
Get The Picture 
1980: “A corner back (UF) was turning to our bench and making gestures”
Really, shocking, so it didn’t originate with UGA in ’07!
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Will Slive hand down a suspension to the CB from FL? Afterall, “that is NOT how (Vandy) do it.”
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And our fans didn’t spend the next thirty years bitching about it? How novel.
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Glad that was 1980 because that would never happen today. Buck would have been flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Penn Wagers, or any other official, would have said that he was taunting a Florida player when he allegedly pointed at Lindsey.
On another note, I hate to admit it but I was one of the people Larry talks about when he says “I gave up, you did too.”
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You and Grizzard, so don’t kick yourself too much.
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God bless college football.
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This is an interesting perspective on what is arguably our program’s greatest play. But, it was 31 years ago. The player’s being interviewed are in their 50’s. Erk is dead (rest in peace), Vince has been retired from coaching for 23 years, and Munson is almost 90 years old.
You can’t diminish the impact of that one play and the effect it’s had over the years, but it’s time for some new memories in Jacksonville. Reliving that play may warm your hearts a bit and do a little to soften the frustrations of the past 21 years of this rivalry, but I’m sick as hell of living in the past and want to establish new great moments and new timeless memories when it comes to this f*cking game. I HATE the fact that we have to pull from games of 31 years ago to achieve some sense of satisfaction in this series.
I really wish we would shelve this play for while, at least until we win 2 or 3 consecutively and turn the tide in the series. We should win next weekend, no excuses, no whining, just a beatdown win.
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Well said. It is time!
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That play was a defining moment for a championship team… no way to shelve it. No need to either. You know it erks (bad pun) the $hit out of the Florida nation to bring it up every year, so that alone is priceless. I hear you on winning next week. It is more than time to exorcise those demons down in Jax and get the natives doubting the current direction of their program. I can think of a couple of great moments in ’97 and am still wondering who had more yardage that day, Robert Edwards or the evil one’s visor. And of course, 2007, when Knowshon went superman on their asses. Lets get it done next week, Dawgs!!!!
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That’s what we need to do – both win 2 or 3 in a row then incorporate the ’80 game with the ’97 and ’04 (Leonard Pope TD stands out in my mind) game highlights. Add in Knowshon’s superman & endzone dancing and bang biscuit – you’ve got yourself a whole new highlight reel!
Plus – you can never shelve this play, it was the defining moment plus it stands out on a national scale. You see this play with the Colorado td vs Mich, the Boise Statue of Liberty play, etc etc on highlight reels all the time.
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I am not a “faith healer”, although I do plan to stay in a Holiday Inn Express early next week, so when I say we need to change our mental approach to Florida to realize some success it isn’t like I think by simply wishing I could fly I will develop wings and take off. But I do think some very impressive things can be accomplished by the power of positive thinking. Not that any of us will take the field next Saturday in Jacksonville, but a turnaround of fan support and comments can be of some help to our team. There is no way to turn the true, hard-core negatrons among us around, but most of you guys are pretty decent people and truly want what is best for UGA.
Many of our players read message boards/blogs, and listen to some sports talk shows. Don’t you think they are impacted by the continual lack of confidence in them as they prepare for Florida? I do, I believe that very strongly. You can argue all you want that it shouldn’t affect their approach, but humor me just this once, I could be right. The team has bought into this “energy vampire” thinking CMR has talked with them about. Let’s try to put the past (just the one the UF fans dwell on, behind us and start with a clean slate. Our team is better thaan them, we have momentum, and we have a better chance to make the SECCG than the Florida team does. I think we will win, no reason to think other wise. Stop dwelling on the past, we cannot change the records or scores of any of those games. If Florida beats us, it will be a big surprise to me, and an upset. I believe our team will win, aand start a whole new outlook about jacksonville, aand I don’t want to hear all the whining and negative thinking. What a terrible outlook on a game, or life. Anyone starts that crying in their beer, walk away, or tell them to zip it. UGA wins by 10+. Book it!
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+100 Earlier this year, the Senator did a survey of those who visit and participate in this site. Not surprisingly, it skews to a younger generation who weren’t even around for the Dooley era. They hear of how great those early ’80’s seasons were, and long for their own chance to live the glory. God Bless the Dawg fans who came of age in the ’90’s…yechhh. (and it ain’t like the ’60’s and ’70’s were all that glorious).
But some in this younger generation also live in a world that suggests all gratification is immediate, and “someone else’s fault” when satisfaction is not achieved in nano-seconds. Given time, they’ll learn the difference between xBox and the real world. How can they not be jealous of our SEC rivals dominating the BCS championships, and UGA is no where to be found?
The answer, my friends, is blowing in the wi….wait. Got lost there for a moment. The answer is that after digging out of a hole in the ’90’s, we’ve had to compete against those superior programs. The odds were against our immediate success. CMR has shown it can be done. He may or may not be the one to get us over the top, especially with Florida. But as Mac states, let’s enjoy this season for what it is NOW, and enjoy our competitive edge over the gators NOW, and go into Jax with the positivity we once felt. We win…it’s just one of the next 3 or 4 in a row we need to win (and can!) to reverse the series trend. We lose…well, let’s dwell on that next Sunday.
Go Dawgs!
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Well, I enjoyed that.
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Negatrons and Richtophobes…. “Oh MY!”
I’m feelin’ ya!
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Harumph!!
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I didn’t get a harumph out of that guy!!
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I hope and pray the Dream Team doesn’t know they are supposed to choke against Florida. Their youthful exuberance and hate for all things saurian should get them a W in Jacksonville this year. This UGA team should have enough young players and pissed off veterans to open a big can of whoop-ass on FU this year.
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Reply to Jax:
That play is more than our fuel for the last 31 years. It’s as iconic as Billy Cannon’s Halloween Night punt return or Doug Flutie’s miracle.
I’ll never get old.
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Fantastic! Great memory that still gives me goosebumps. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there, but the next year and for many years after, I went down there. The old Gator Bowl was a dump, but it was a great viewing stadium. Plus, I loved the smell of bourbon and cokes that just wafted through that place.
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Amen to jax dawg (this phone won’t let me reply) on a side note i feel like this game will be a key turning point to the season and richt’s career at georgia. Win and i get this feeling that it will propel this program back and we will be even better than we were from 02-05 as well as mark the beginning of georgia closing the awful chapter of the last 21 years in jax. lose and richt will and should be let go. if you go 2-9 against uf and cannot beat their worst teams i think it’s a pretty clear pattern that you WON’T EVER have consistent success. Maybe i’m way over estimating uga’s potential but i feel that with the resources our program has we can be a national power. No we can’t win the sec every year but we can be in the discussion most years and for that to happen you cannot and should not be going 3-18 against anyone especially someone in your own division. if richt can’t win consistently against these guys (as in at least 50 % going forward) we need to find someone who can. here’s hoping we can
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Amen Brother, FIRE MARK RICHT if we lose another game ever in the remainder of the schools existence!!!!!!!!1!
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I think you completely missed his point.
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No, he made the point. Isn’t it ridiculous to predicate whether a HC keeps his job on the outcome of one game?
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I disagree. It’s the context of this singular game wrapped around Richt’s dismal record against FL. No, he shouldn’t be fired mid-season should he lose this game, it’s the fact that we are a better team this year and should win, no excuses. If Richt can’t do it this year then what makes anyone think he can? Lose this damn game and it will be another nail in the coffin of his tenure as our HC.
I’ll also add that Donnan was fired for the way his team played against Tech in 2000, and for losing the previous two. Need I remind you.
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Losing to Florida has gone on for 21 years and through 3 UGA head coaches and 3 Florida head coaches. Ever consider that maybe there is another reason besides Richt behind losing to the Gators on a consistent basis? P.S. I dispute that the reasons you gave above were the reasons Donnan was fired.
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Need new material.
just sayin’.
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Playing for the field goal?
A willingness to punt with time running out?
Play action on third and long?
Vince must have done some sort of Vulcan mind meld with Richt when he hired him. That is something for us Richt critics to consider: He is essentially playing Dooley Ball.
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DING!DING!DING! We have a winner…
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Good point. Unfortunately, Richt tries to play Dooley ball in the post-Spurrier SEC (in which the offenses are just slightly more prolific than his days) and with an offensive line that probably thinks a “power block” is a high protein candy bar.
Of course, if that miracle play didn’t happen then I think that people wouldn’t have quite the same nostalgic fondness for Dooley Ball. We were going to punt?? I guess we must have had all 3 TOs left, but still…. And even Buck has a chuckle over the third down play action.
Great clip though. After a thousand watches, still doesn’t get old for me. Let’s make some new memories next week though.
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Hate to say it guys but 3rd and 12, deep in our own territory, that play would not have happened in our current offense. Bobo would’ve run a delayed RB draw to Carlton or Crowell to get a few yards back before punting.
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Am I the only one that does not want the team insanely jacked up when we go down there? The defense can be a little jacked up, but the thought of Aaron Murray really jacked up in JAX again scares me more than seeing Mike Tyson with a powder mustache, a burnt spoon in hand, and holes in his arm.
Let’s go down there and dominate by outsmarting them. Jacked up gets you Murray/Stafford like INTs.
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Couple things:
1. Good to see Vince wearing red and black, regardless of where his son coaches.
2. The old Gator Bowl was rough around the edges, but man was it great to bring in your own cooler like it was a NASCAR race. How more people weren’t killed at this thing annually is amazing.
3. Never noticed that the drunk frat boy was already on the field as Lindsey goes by about the 20 YL. What was he doing out there? I agree Senator, those were the days with drunken buffonery was taken a lot more with a grain of salt.
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As for #3, going on the field at the Gator Bowl was almost a given. Of course, people weren’t going on the field to do crazy stuff, just to get nearer to the action. It was a great place to watch a game. I like those old single-level bowls.
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Damn, that always makes me cry. And I was one of the fools on the field after the game retracing Lindsey’s steps. Most exciting sporting event I ever attended. Time for another.
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I cried a little. This is about as good a tribute to Erk Russell as it is to The Play.
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Hello all. I just found this blog and this article searching the internet for where we are getting mentions. I’m the publisher of the Documentary “1980 Dawgs”. Thanks for embedding our clip – we are trying to get the word out.
Enjoyed these comments and the perspectives. Some very thoughtful replies. Like many of you, I also want there to be new winning memories created for the Bulldogs. One of the goals of this project is to help us all remember what it feels like to be champions again. I’ll put it bluntly. I want to whip Florida’s ass many times over the next few years, including next week. Thanks for taking a look at our video clip. For the Erk comment, if you want a full cry, check out the Erk tribute clip at http://www.1980Dawgs.com. There is also a good bit of Erk throughout the film. One of my favorites is a chapter on the “Tracks”.
Go Dawgs!
Mike Moss
Publisher, 1980 Dawgs
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Great Clip Mike. Enjoyed it immensely… I’ll certainly check the rest of the documentary out, as well. Thanks to you, I assume, a Damn Good Dawg!
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Thanks! Credit really goes to the Film Maker & Director, Lenny Daniel. He was a former Red and Black Sports Reporter during those years and continues to be a passionate Dawg. He overcame some formidable challenges to make the project happen.
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