I’ve been waiting to share this one with you for a while. Bill Connelly has written a book that should be published by month’s end. One of the neat things he’s done in it is compile a list of “the 10 games that most directly formed my fandom as I know it”. Even better, he asked me to do the same for inclusion. I’ve been waiting to share my list with you guys because it was such a fun exercise – although keeping it to ten was damned tough – but held off until Bill had the info out there. Since he’s let the cat partially out of the bag, I figure there’s no stopping me now.
I will follow his lead, though, in only providing the list itself, without my reasons for why each particular game is included. (Not that you should have much trouble figuring out some of those.) Keep in mind, as I told Bill, these aren’t necessarily the ten best college football games of my lifetime, although several of them qualify as such, but they are the ten games that best explain my obsession. They are the touchstones that remind me why college football resonates with me more than any other sport I’ve followed:
- 1966: Notre Dame 10 – Michigan State 10.
- 1971: Nebraska 35 – Oklahoma 31.
- 1978: Georgia 17 – Kentucky 16.
- 1980: Georgia 26 – Florida 21. (Duh.)
- 1981: Georgia 17 – Notre Dame 10.
- 1997: Georgia 37 – Florida 17.
- 2002: Georgia 24 – Auburn 21.
- 2006: Texas
45– Southern Cal42(41-38). - 2007: Arkansas 50 – LSU 48.
- 2012: Alabama 32 – Georgia 28.
Like I said, there are a few more that just missed the cut, but so it goes. I’d love to hear what games you guys would pick. Give me your lists in the comments. And have fun with this.
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Man, what a great question! I’ll have to think about this for a while. Fun exercise.
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Okay, in no particular order, I’ll list these games:
– Any of the Tech-Georgia Freshmen games I went to as a kid. Those were fun and really got me into college football (not that I needed a lot of help.
– 1971 Tech-Georgia. Just a fantastic game, saw it on TV
– early 70’s game in Athens against UK with my Dad. First time seeing the campus and a varsity game live.
– ~1968 Miami vs. Tech – Ted Hendricks, the Mad Stork, played against Tech and my Dad made sure I pulled against Tech. 🙂
– 1976 UGA-Bama. Listened to it on AM up in Young Harris as I was touring the campus. Reception kept fading in and out, but I got the gist of it.
– 1978 UGA-UK. “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”
– 1979 UGA-LSU. A mediocre Dawgs team upset LSU and Charles Alexander (the Great). First big win I ever attended as a UGA student.
– 1980 UGA-UF. I wasn’t there, but I didn’t miss another WLOCP until 1997 (dammit).
– 2007 UGA-UF
– 1980 National Championship
(also in contention were the 1983 Cotton Bowl. It will always be 10-9 in Dallas, and for non-Dawg games, the 2005 BCS championship between UT and “OMGbestestteamevah!!11!11” USC is a pretty good one.)
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Crap. Forgot the 1978 Tech-Georgia game. Another of my all-time favorites.
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Great list. I would add the 2001 UGA vs, Tennessee game. The wife and I had to be at a non-Dawg party that evening and we were in the car for the last quarter. We kept circling the block waiting for the game to be decided. A lot of my reasoning for adding this game is Larry Munson. The man had us hooked. We were hanging on his every word and the the emotion in his voice was the emotion we felt. And then ” We just stepped on their face…”.
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It’s one of those that just missed the cut for me.
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For me regarding the Dawgs it gets down to one game as the beginning really. That’s the 1965 Alabama-Georgia game won by Georgia on the flea-flicker play. I’ve been hooked ever since. Games between other teams were/are great and I watch them frequently but they really don’t mean much to me.
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Being there only hooks you more. The Chapel Bell was loaded onto a pickup truck bed and it rang all over Athens until almost daybreak. No one was trying to sleep anyway. The week-long national advertising on the Today Morning Show didn’t hurt UGA Football either.
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Great post! Up until that point I was just a casual fan of the team. That game probably began my true fanaticism.
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2001 UGA @ UT. 199? (1 maybe). UGA hosted clemson. I just remember cups being thrown as UGA pulled the upset…favorite game.
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uga 21 ala 0 1976, uga 10 fla 7
my fav of many
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I grew up on Nebraska’s campus as my dad was a head coach for the university, hence the large amount of NEB games.
1: 1994: Orange Bowl: Florida State 18 – Nebraska 16
2: 1996: Fiesta Bowl: Nebraska 62 – Florida 24
3: 1992: Nebraska 52 – Colorado 7
4: 2001: Georgia 26 – Tennessee 24
5: 2001: Colorado 62 – Nebraska 36
6: 2007: Georgia 42 – Florida 30
7: 2007: Georgia 45 – Auburn 20
8: 2009: Big 12 Title Game: Texas 13 – Nebraska 12
9: 2012: SEC Title Game: Alabama 32 – Georgia 28
10: 2001: Nebraska 20 – Oklahoma 10
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Cool – what sport?
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Women’s Gymnastics.
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You missed Neb-ASU in the Fiesta (75-76?) where ASU won. They felt that they had won the national recognition battle with that game.
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1971 Georgia 28 Tech 24
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Yep, high on my list.
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Well, as quiet as I am about it, I grew up a Trade School fan. Dad taught Army ROTC to Billy Lothridge, Billy Martin and Bill Curry. These are more chronological than in a specific best to least best order:
62 Tech 7 Bama 6…Jackets break Bama’s 26 game streak and avenge Granning
64 Dawgs 18 Bama 17…Dooley’s first big win beating National Champs
65 Dawgs 15 Michigan 7…Barely a week later
66 ND 10 Michigan State 10…Huge National Game
73 Dawgs 35 Vols 31…Andy Johnson leads 10 point comeback in Knoxville
80 Dawgs 26 UF 21…Lindsey, Lindsey…..
80 Dawgs 17 ND 10…Easy
82 Dawgs 10 Texas 9…Prevent Longhorns from winning title
01 Dawgs 26 Vols 24…Return to Glory wearing Hobnail boots
02 Dawgs 24 Tigers 21…Triumph on the Plains Sends us to Atlanta
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Oops..old age and its effects. Georgia Bama opener in 65 and Michigan game was 2 weeks later in Ann Arbor.
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All on memory, but didn’t we beat UCLA the same year?
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1965: Georgia 18 – Alabama 17
1971: Georgia 28 – tech 24
1974: Georgia 14 – tech 34
1976: Georgia 21 – Alabama 0
1978: Georgia 17 – Kentucky 16.
1978: Georgia 29 – tech 28
1980: Georgia 26 – Florida 21.
1982: Georgia 19 – Auburn 14
1984: Georgia 26 – Clemson 23
2002: Georgia 24 – Auburn 21.
I’m clearly old school. My Dad left me at home for the Bama game in 65 (age 8) I’m still pissed about it.
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Enjoy…
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Thanks. My last game as a student.
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Mostly UGA, but a couple of non-Dawg games stand out in my memory:
10/14/1978: UGA (24) – LSU (7)
11/8/1980: UGA (26) – UF (21)
12/9/1980: BYU (46) – SMU (45) Holiday Bowl
1/1/1981: UGA (19) – ND (10)
1/2/1984: UGA (10) – TX (9)
11/23/1984: BC (47) – UM (45)
11/16/1996: UGA (56) – AU (49)
10/6/2001: UGA (26) – UT (24)
11/6/2002: UGA (24) – AU (21)
Tie: 10/27/2007: UGA (42) – UF (30)
11/10/2007: UGA (45) – AU (20)
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Great topic. Wow, this gets the mind spinning.
Obviously not UGA tilted, but my favorite is Bama 34, Miami 13 in the ’93 Sugar Bowl.
Got to attend a national championship game that we won and then met my future bride on the way out of the stadium.
God smiled on ole BD that day.
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That is pretty awesome, BD.
I took my future bride to the UGA-ND title game (it was the first college football game she attended), but we were already seeing each other by then.
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First game I took my honey to in Athens a guy from the Plains named Bo showed up. Not pretty.
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Now THAT is a good day. Wow.
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This game and nebraska’s thrashing of the gators after the 1995 season are the only non-dawg games I’d even consider for my list.
BD- trivia question: before the game who said “sometimes your mouth writes checks your ass can’t cash” and why?
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That sounds like Antonio Langham in reference to Cane smack talking.
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Lamar T. Because he played for Miami.
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Can’t believe a Bama fan wouldn’t pick the 2009 secc. tebow sobbing uncontrollably after the game was icing on the cake!
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Wow…this is an awesome topic. So hard to choose. I wen to undergrad at CU Boulder so I have some Buff games mixed in with the Dogs.
1980 – GA/Clemson – two words, “Scott Woerner.”
1980 – GA/FL
1981 – GA/ND
1982 – GA/Aub – my first road game was a classic as I watched “the sugar falling from the sky” on the Plains.
1984 – GA/Clem (my family had just moved to HHI, SC and we flew to Athens with my Dad’s boss on his Lear jet. He is a HUGE Clemson fan and was running his mouth the whole flight there. My Dad and I enjoyed the silence of the flight back to HHI after” the Butler did it!”
1985 – GA/FL – Worley and Henderson lead the upset of #1 ranked Gators. Dad I listened to Munson call while playing golf in HHI.
1989 – Colorado/Neb – my freshman year in college and the Buffs beat the Huskers. We stormed the field and carried the goal posts to The Hill to celebrate.
1990 Colorado/Neb – 38 degrees and pouring rain in Lincoln. Eric Bienemy scores four touchdowns in the 4th qtr to make up for all his earlier fumbles and erases the Nebraska 12-0 lead. My feet were so numb it felt like I was walking on stumps when we stormed the field to celebrate the victory.
1998 – GA/LSU – Watching Quincy and Champ answer everything LSU could give out in Death Valley at night was awesome. Plus, experiencing the tailgate experience there was incredible.
2002 – GA/Aub – My best friend is an Auburn grad unfortunately so we take each other to the game each year. I have seen many great Dog wins there but this one was the best.
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Best tailgate meal I ever had was at that 1998 LSU game. Good lord what a spread.
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My favorite option play of all time from the 1989 CU/NU game. Hagan options the the safety about 30 yards past the line of scrimage.
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That brings up an interesting question: Statistically, would each player be credited with the amount of rushing yards for which he carried the ball on that play? Or would one be credited with the entirety of the yardage?
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Enjoy…
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Cool list! One small correction: The Texas-Southern Cal score was 41-38, not 45-42.
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That is weird, because I could have sworn I looked that up to make sure. Thanks for the correction.
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1978 FSU-Navy 38-6; my first game in person. I was 6 years old. Mom FSU alumna.
1980 GA-UT; heard on radio, didn’t understand why my Bama fans aunt and uncle were so happy to hear UT lose. I do now.
1981 ND-GA; still get chills thinking about GA people rushing the field
1984 GA-Clemson; heard this on radio in grandparents’ living room. Still don’t know for sure if Butler made the kick.
1985 Bama-Auburn; Van Tiffin’s kick to win it for Bama: an odyssey with aforementioned Bama fan aunt and uncle through the North GA mountains. Watched first half in laundromat, second half in Hiawassee pizza joint. Asked to leave after Tiffin kicked the winning FG.
1986 Bama-Temple; first time in Bryant-Denny; school presented with a Waterford crystal houndstooth hat; saw it years later at the Bear Bryant museum.
1990 GA-Bama: my first UGA game in person, as a freshman. “CARSWELL SAVED OUR FANNY”
1992 Bama-Miami: I really enjoyed this one. Gino Torretta flat on his butt, and GEORGE TEAGUE stripping the ball
1994 UGA-Bama: Paid $20 bucks to sneak in, sat in student section in endzone. We coulda won this game, Zeier hit the receiver in the gut for a first down, but it was dropped. Dang it.
2001 Hobnail Boot: I was there. Never heard a place be so loud, and get so quiet so fast.
Almost made the cut: 1997? Q-Dawg leads us to victory in Baton Rouge. The exception that proved the rule.
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Re: Hobnail boot: Wait, yes I did. It was in 2003: Jabari fumbles! Sean Jones all the way! Of course, I was in the Neyland restroom under the GA section in the upper deck listening to Munson when it happened. Dang it.
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I will step away form the UGA homerism for a sec. There are so many UGA games that could make my list or at least be in the discussion. Senator, you have a few of my all time favs in the non-UGA category on your list. In recent memory, I would throw in the 2010 Iron Bowl into the ring. Say what you want about Cam Newton, but that was a fun comeback to watch as CFB fan with no love for either team. Boise State/Oklahoma was another good one. The Kentucky hail Mary as well.
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I’m a Dallas native and grew up an SMU fan who by chance developed a soft spot for Georgia due to their Cotton Bowl appearance. We moved to Georgia in the late late 80’s, but I just couldn’t bring myself to be a full blown fan under Goff. And to be honest, I just don’t think I was ready to emotionally invest in college football again for about a decade after the SMU death penalty. That sort of thing has a tendency to sour your view on the sport. I didn’t become a proper Georgia fan until I went to school there in the late 90’s.
1983 (82 season) Cotton Bowl: SMU 7 – Pitt 3
1983 Sun Bowl: SMU 7- Bama 28
1984 (83 season) Cotton Bowl: Georgia 10 – Texas 9*
Mind the gap. Stupid SMU death penalty…
1991 Independence Bowl: Georgia 24 – Arkansas 15*
1994: Florida 52 – Georgia 17
1996 (95 season) Fiesta Bowl: Nebraska 62 – Florida 24
2000: Georgia 21 – Tennessee 10*
2001: Georgia 26 – Tennessee 24
2007: Georgia 45 – Auburn 20*
2013: Georgia 17 – Florida 9
* Games I actually attended.
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Wow, I could have spent hours putting this list together, but these are what I could remember off the top of my head. All Georgia games of course. Also, I’m a bit of a young’n and kinda grew into my fandom so they are all relatively recent.
2004 UGA vs. Florida – I was a freshman. Knew that beating Florida was a big deal but didn’t realize how big a deal it was at the time.
2005 SEC Championship – Remember watching this with my hallmates at some sketch wing place in Athens. If only I had known this would be the last one for a while I would have celebrated harder.
2006 UGA vs. Auburn – I had a chance to go to this game and turned it down because I had a project due on Monday. Definitely regretted that. Brandon Cox is still crying.
2007 Bama – Mikey Henderson in the corner in overtime; watched it at Son’s of Italy while I was working as a server. Our bartender gave the whole place shots after we won.
2007 UGA vs. Florida – my first Cocktail Party…and we won! I definitely pissed off some Florida fans that day.
2007 Auburn Blackout – best game in Sanford Stadium; I actually boohoo cried when they came out of the tunnel in those jerseys. I still watch YouTube clips of that moment.
Sugar Bowl – felt on top of the world
2011- UGA vs. Florida – anytime we beat Florida is great, but this felt especially sweet
2012 UGA vs. Florida – Probably the most physical Georgia game I’ve seen; my poor boyfriend was living in Ocala, Florida at the time for work and we watched the game in his apartment. Man it felt good to drive back home to Savannah with my Georgia flags waving on my car.
SECCG vs. Bama – Best game I’ve ever seen; also probably the most devastated I’ve ever felt in regards to a sporting event
Is it August 31 yet?
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Of recent games, you missed the last two Auburn games. Still warms my cockles.
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They definitely just missed the cut.
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I would also say that the games that “directly formed my fandom” and my *favorite* games aren’t necessarily the same thing.
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Great topic, Senartor!
1) UGA 15, Baylor 3 (1989) – 1st date with the girl who has been my wife for 20 years now. I don’t remember anything about the game and that’s not because I had too much to drink before the game.
2) UGA 24, Auburn 13 (1981) – My first game at Sanford Stadium. Any doubt where I was going to college went away that day as the Dawgs clinched the SEC championship.
3) UGA 23, UF 10 (1987) – I didn’t grow to hate the Gators until I attended my 1st Cocktail Party as a UGA sophomore. I didn’t know that 3 years later we would enter the wilderness in Jacksonville.
4) Alabama 34, Miami 13 (1993) – The 1st time an SEC champion truly flexed its muscles against the supposed unbeatable top-ranked Hurricanes.
5) UGA 26, UF 21 (1980) – Any Georgia fan that was alive in 1980 and can remember where you were and doesn’t have this game on any list needs to have their fandom questioned.
6) UGA 26, Clemson 23 (1984) – I still say this is the most electric I have ever seen Sanford Stadium after Kevin Butler kicked one “100,000 miles.” I carried that ticket stub in my wallet for 5 years after that to prove I was there.
7) UGA 26, FSU 13 (2003 Sugar Bowl) – I know the game wasn’t exciting, but to step into the Superdome for the first time as SEC champions was as good as it gets to me.
8) UGA 17, UK 16 (1978) – Explanation here: http://edethomas.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/my-favorite-munson-memory/
9) Nebraska 62, UF 24 (1996 Fiesta Bowl) – I enjoyed every second of the whipping that Osborne’s Cornhuskers put on SOS.
10) UGA 14, Auburn 10 (1992) – My wife and I got back to Atlanta early that morning on a red-eye flight after our honeymoon. We had a message on our machine that friends had two extras. We got back in the car to see the Dawgs win on the Plains.
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I’ll never re-watch #10. Nope.
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I think maybe the best non-UGA games I’ve ever seen were the Joe Montana comeback in the Cotton Bowl against Houston. Down 34-12 at the half, they won 35-34 on a score with 6 seconds left in the game.
I also saw in person, and enjoyed, ND’s crushing of Georgia Tech Institute of Technology in Atlanta in 1978. The bugs got beat so badly, their classy fans were throwing bottles and frozen fish at the ND bench. Stay classy, Tech fans!
the best UGA games not on your list? The Poulos over the top game at Tech in 71. The Belue to Amp Arnold conversion versus Tech in 78. The Alabama game in 76 (the most awesome pregame week in Athens EVER). The 4OT comeback win over AU in 96. The 10-9 Cotton Bowl in 83 (take that, Jeff Leiding).
there is no real right or wrong answer here. The 71 beating of Tech locked me in as a Bulldog fan for life, though. The rest? Just details.
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As a teenager who hadn’t seen Georgia do much, the 97 Florida game brought me in, the 2000 Tennessee game where we tore the goalpost down got me hooked.
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I think it’s fair to say that most of us have a chip on the shoulder w/r/t media treatment of the Dawgs (and yeah, it’s probably exaggerated), so to that end, I nominate 2003 Auburn vs. Georgia. That Auburn team underachieved and sucked, but everyone remembers how the NYT had them as preseason #1 and Mark May wouldn’t shut up about their prowess the entire season, even as the wheels were coming off. Odell’s 99-yard pick 6 was greeted by the sound of 90K+ fans telling ESPN to stick it. It was glorious.
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Good one – Blue laying the wood and Odell’s pick 6 – that 2003 defense was just nasty
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Most of my games would be UGA games from the last 15 years. Almost all the ones I can think of have already been mentioned. One more that sticks out in my mind, however, is the 2000 Outback Bowl, where the Dawgs were down 25 to Drew Brees’ Purdue team, and we came back and won.
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The Boilermakers never seemed to recover from that loss or, at least, their fans haven’t.
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+1 for the 2000 Outback. We have Purdue’s kicker to thank for that as much as anyone.
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ah yes. That game and the Peach Bowl the previous year were Quincy “Lord Voldemort” Carter’s best games (you know. He Who Must Not Be Named Among UGA QBs), huge comebacks. The sight of beanbag Chic-fil-A cows floating down from the upper decks after UGA went ahead in the Peach like fat, bovine snowflakes is something I will never forget.
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What a fun, and perhaps impossible, task to work through. I cannot keep the same list of 10 games for 10 minutes. I read someone else’s list and mine changes every time. But it does make you think back through some very impactful games and realize just how great this sport truly is, and how fun/painful the journey has been.
I do know that the 1965 Georgia/Alabama and Georgia/Michigan are the two that began the obsession, and that is all I can be totallyt sure of.. After that it gets hazy, including the difficulty of blurring of the lines with UGA and non UGA games. I have loved so many college games this is overwhelming, but fun to have all these great memories come flooding back. While UGA is my team, I love these other games just as much, I am just not as emotionally involved.
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One that gave me eternal hatred to the Barn was 1971- UGA v Auburn.
Dang that Pat Sullivan to Terry Beasley. The nasty taste is still there.
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My dad graduated from UGA in the late 60’s. This was the game that hooked me. I was six years old, listening to Munson with my dad. My dad still has the 8-track tape he used to record the game and it still works. I got this video from a friend about a year ago and posted it. It was the first time I had ever actually seen the video of the game. It’s mostly just the second half but that’s all a Dawg fan needs. 🙂 Enjoy…
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Wow. Reading through everyone’s favorite games has made me realize that I’m quite possibly the youngest person that frequents this place. Half of your games occurred before I was even born Senator.
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Ditto. Class of 08 here.
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“the 10 games that most directly formed my fandom as I know it”.
1988 Georgia 41 Vandy 22 -At 8 years old my father took me to my first Georgia game. At this game he purchased cassette tapes of Munson’s highlights of the 1980 and 1982 seasons.
1980 Georgia 26 Florida 21, 1982 Georgia 19 Auburn 14 -Every time my father took me to a game we would make sure we listened to the calls from these two games.
1991 Georgia 18 Georgia Tech 15 -My first road game. Huge TD run by Hampton down the sideline.
1992 Georgia 14 Auburn 10 -My first game at Auburn. Dawgs layed down on them at the goal line and time ran out. Munson: We saved ourselves…No we didn’t, ol lady luck did. Ol lady luck has defeated them.
1992 Georgia 31 Georgia Tech 17 -At halftime the Tech band covered the “100 years of Georgia Football” logo with a GT tarp. The stadium booed them for the entirety of their performance and roared during the Redcoats performance. Later in the game Garrison Hearst struck up the Heisman pose after a touchdown.
1994 Georgia 23 Auburn 23 -Dawgs end Auburn’s winning streak which had carried over since the 1993 season.
1996 Georgia 56 Auburn 49 -4 overtime game. Interesting how the clock ran out on them in 1992 and in this one we were able to get one last play in regulation, Bobo to Corey Allen.
1997 Georgia 37 Florida 17 -I remember the whole following week at school my friends and I were quoting Munson. “We have waited, and I mean waited…I have lit the cigar.” Also, he kept going on about how we were too tired to hold on and said something along the lines of “Olandis Gary, 15 yards on two dead legs.”
1997 Georgia 27 Georgia Tech 24 -Munson after Bobo hit Juan Daniels(I think):Our hearts. they were torn out and bleeding, but we picked it, we picked it up and put it right back inside.
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You’ll notice all these are from the last 15 years. I guess that probably gives away my age a little. I have no idea how I could ever assign a ranking to these so ill just put them in chronological order.
1) 2000 Outback Bowl UGA 28 Purdue 25 – This is my earliest memory of Georgia football. My brother bought himself and my dad and I tickets for Christmas. I was young enough to literally be pouting the entire first half. 🙂 I’ll never forget chanting “It’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog” for the first time on our way out of the stadium after a thrilling comeback win.
2) 2000 UGA 21 UT 10 – This is the first game I remember watching on TV. It was my first exposure to goal posts being torn down and it’s the one that really got me attached.
3) 2001 UGA 26 UT 21 – ….Of course
4) 2002 UGA 24 Auburn 21 ……. This is when I developed my man crush for David Greene.
5) 2004 UGA 31 UF 24 – We jumped out on top and then Fred Gibson sealed the deal late with that finger tip grab for a TD. My developing hatred for Florida was being helped along by the fact the I lived there so this one was extra sweet.
6) 2005 SECCG UGA 34 LSU 14 – The fact that Jemarcus Russell had to leave the game hurt still makes me smile.
7) 2006 UGA 37 Auburn 15 – What’s not to love about an underdog victory that ruins the title hopes of a major rival?
8) 2007 UGA 45 Auburn 20 – What can i say, us youngsters love the black jerseys. 🙂 Plus, that game just had a crazy energy.
9) 2011 UGA 24 UF 20 – The heart Richard Samuel showed on that last touchdown still makes me cry a little. 🙂
10) BAMA 32 UGA 28 – Because this just happened to be the biggest game of our lives, my brother and I decided at the last minute to make the ten hour drive from Columbus, Ohio to Atlanta to attend the game. I don’t think I’ve ever had so little control of my emotions the way that I did when Ogletree returned that blocked field goal. I didn’t think it was possible to become more obsessed with Georgia football, but after we came so close and showed so much heart at the end, I did. Yeah, I still think about this one several times a day.
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I’d also have to throw in the 2003 Miami vs OSU Fiesta Bowl and the 2006 USC vs Texas Rose Bowl. I give credit to that Miami vs OSU game for really broadening my interest from just Georgia football to all of college football.
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Great lists, everybody. That was one of the most fun parts of the book for me.
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1) 1993 Ohio State 0 at Michigan 28
First CFB game I ever attended. Ohio State was #1 and undefeated, and UM was 6-4. Tim Biakabatuka ran roughshod over the Buckeyes, and I was hooked.
2) 1994 Michigan 26 at Notre Dame 24
Second CFB game I ever attended, and it was an all-timer. First tailgate, great seats, last-second FG. This game had it all.
3) 2001 UGA at Tennessee
Duh.
4) 2002 UGA 13 at SCU 7
My first UGA road game as an undergrad. The rain delay. The awful stadium that made me appreciate Sanford even more. David f’n Pollack. Ryan Brewer giving me a heart attack.
5) 2002 Tennessee 13 at UGA 18
This was the week I truly fell in love with UGA football. Suck it, Clausen.
6) 2002 Ohio State “31” vs Miami 24
I already disliked Ohio State, and this pushed that into full-blown hatred. This game also shattered my perhaps naive view of CFB as being less corrupt than pro sports.
7) 2004 LSU 16 at UGA 45
Atmosphere. We wanted blood. Brown and Gibson caught everything. Saban was pissed. Sanford was muggy and loud.
8) 2005 UGA 34 LSU 14
DJ Shockley cemented himself as my favorite Dawg. Richt solidified his spot at UGA. Went to the game with 3 buddies, no tickets in hand. Long story short, we sat next to the LSU hot dance cheer squad for less than face value. Amazing experience.
9) 2007 Auburn 20 at UGA 45
If anyone says there has been a better atmosphere inside Sanford, they are lying.
10) 2011 Auburn 7 at UGA 45
I proposed to Mrs. Hobnail before the game. We kicked the shit out of Auburn. We randomly met Aaron Murray after the game.
** special mention
Every WLOCP forms my passion for college football, along with my deep-seated hatred of UF.
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Your comment about the atmosphere for the 2007 UGA/Auburn game is the truth. I want to see those jerseys once every year, every other at the least. I never want to hear the term “blackout” again, it isn’t about what the fans wear, just wear one of our primary colors as a jersey when ever coach thinks that helps. (Not supporting helmet, or pant changes, nor endorsing any monochromatic uni. Wear a red, white, or black jersey, and let the fans wear whatever of those colors they wish.)
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The fans in black was part of the atmosphere. When we wore them for the Bama game we didn’t do our part of staying load and proud. I don’t mind fans wearing black too but whatever color we wear I want us to be so loud opposing teams dread playing us at home. The UGA/AU game was magical.
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Yeah, I am not against fans wearing black, and maybe should wear then at night games. What I am against is the coach/media being involved in making the color a factor. It was what led to firing up Alabama. I am suggesting we never try to orchestrate that again. Let the coach choose what the players based on what he thinks, and I don’t think we should go overboard with the black jerseys, but fans should wear their own colors. I agree the fans wearing black did contribute to the game against Auburn (maybe because it was a first) but had no impact on Hawaii, and probably cost us the Bama game. I see it as something the coach and players should not be focusing on. Having a special jersey is something many programs have done for decades, it didn’t involve the fans until State Penn did the white outs, I think.
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-Hooked after GA-Auburn game in ’96. Hines Ward was my favorite
-GA-UT in 2000 we stormed the field. I’m on espn hanging from goalpost
-GA-AU in 2002
Llama-Rama block party heydays while attending UGA late ’90’s early 2000’s. Just way too many reasons to count why GA football is special
I guess it’s really hard to pinpoint considering how long I’ve known and grown up with several of the football players
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In chronological order:
1) 1991 Miami-Florida State (Wide Right 1), 1992 Florida State-Miami (Wide Right 2)
2) 1993 Notre Dame-Boston College
3) 1997 Georgia-Florida
4) 1999 Georgia-Georgia Tech
5) 1999 Florida State-Virginia Tech (BCS title)
6) 2001 Georgia-Tennessee
7) 2002 Georgia-Auburn
8) 2004 LSU-Georgia
9) 2007 Auburn-Georgia
10) 2012 Georgia-Alabama
1) I am cheating, but I am including two games for my number one because their significance relies on the existence of the other. I grew up a Florida State fan (because my dad is), and Wide Right 1 is the earliest game that I really remember. I was a devastated 10 year-old, and I couldn’t believe that my beloved Seminoles lost a shot at what was a sure-fire national championship. I didn’t think I could feel any worse… until the next year when I became inconsolable for a solid hour after the game. These two games scarred me emotionally, and gave me the college football bug that I haven’t been able (or want) to cure since. I still hate Miami.
2) The second game introduced me to the thrill of someone else beating your rival. Notre Dame beat Florida State the week prior, eliminating Florida State from national title consideration… or so everyone thought. The next week, inexplicably, Boston College beats Notre Dame on a last second field goal, opening the door back up for my Noles. I have had a soft spot for BC ever since.
3) I can still see Robert Edwards getting the corner for a TD.
4) Jasper was down. This game ruined my faith that refs usually get it right.
5) FSU’s first, really-for-real claim to the BCS title vs. Mike Vick.
6) I quit after the screen pass to Stephens. I just knew the game was over, and the Dawgs had lost. Then, David Greene led an unbelievable drive to win the game. Who bites on a play-fake in that situation?
7) 4th down fade to Michael Johnson in the end zone to secure UGA’s first Sugar Bowl since I was a wee tyke.
8) The loudest game I’ve ever attended in person. Bomb after bomb after bomb on Saban’s D, and then the KO return man taking a knee at the one.
9) This was the most electric atmosphere for any game I’ve attended in person. Just when the fake juice was running out in the third quarter, Knowshon and Stafford stepped up and played to their potential. A picture of this game adorns my mantle.
10) One of the best games I’ve ever seen. With the BCS title shot in the balance, both teams traded metaphorical punches like heavyweight boxers, but the bell rang before my team could land what seemed like the inevitable finishing blow. College football is great, y’all.
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For non-Dawg games it’s hard to beat the 2007 Boise State Fiesta bowl win over Oklahoma. That was just flat out fun to watch.
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Haven’t seen it mentioned much, but the Boston College Flutie comeback game is one I will never forget. Still the record, I believe.
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Wow this is hard! I have been a college football fan for 40 years so there are a lot of games that have passed by in that time.
1-South Carolina 27-UGA 20 1979 (1st game I ever attended at Sanford)
2-UGA 16-UT 15-1980 (My God….A Freshman!)
3-UGA 26 UF-21-1980 (Run Lindsey, Run!)
4-UGA 17 ND-10-1981 (Duh!)
5-UF 26 UGA 24-1992 (Time out my ass!)
6-MTSU 16 GASOU 13-1991 (Great game between two IAA powers at the time)
7-UGA 56 AUB 49-1996 (the overtime game)
8-NEB 62 UF 24-1996 (It never gets old watching the Gators get destroyed)
9-Boise St 20 MTSU 13-1991 (still pissed about the #1 ranked team having to go on the road to play in the IAA playoffs. Didn’t help that our 1st and 2nds string QB’s were out with injuries)
10-ALA 32 UGA 28-2012 (one of the best games I have ever seen. It was also emotional as it was the last game my mother in law ever saw her beloved Dawgs play. She passed away from cancer 2 weeks later)
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Great topic. Great stuff. On most everyone’s list will be their first time to see a game live. Mine was on a rare cold day in Athens in the early 70’s. My Dad and brother took me, and I remember a woman next to us gave me her blanket to cover up from the late afternoon chill in the southeast corner of the stadium. The pageantry was magical. The Dawgs won and the Redcoats played afterwards. You could go down on the field back then to just mingle and celebrate. The cheerleaders had tossed out little plastic promotional footballs from C&S bank and my brother and I recreated the big plays of the game.
Probably 7 years old and a Dawg for life.
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Sadly, a lot of games that stand out from my early Georgia fandom ended in disappointment, but I’ll try to keep those to a minimum:
1. Pitt 24 – UGA 20 1982 (I was 6 and it was the first game I ever watched in its entirety)
2. UGA 20 – Auburn 16 1986
3. Clemson 21 – UGA 20 1987 (The ’86 game sort of goes alongside this one. Brutal games.)
4. Miami 26 – FSU 25 1987 (funny to think that FSU was an underdog upstart program at the time)
5. UGA 17 – Bama 16 1990 (first UGA victory I attended. Stadium was really rocking as Georgia rallied in the fourth quarter)
6. BYU 28 – Miami 21 (Miami was the dominant program when I really got into football in the late ’80s, and outside of Georgia, their games mattered to me more than other teams’ for some reason. I hated them, and I still love it when they get upset to this day.)
7. Tennessee 34 – UGA 31 1992 (brutal loss, but the best game I’ve ever attended)
8. UGA 28 – LSU 27 1998 (first and only true road game I ever attended. This one experience keeps me from despising Quincy Carter as much as I’d like to.)
9. UGA 24 – Auburn 21 2002 (given the era I grew up in, this game seems pretty self-explanatory)
10. UGA 30 – Arkansas 3 2002 (They finally fucking did it!)
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For non-UGA games, the one that stands out for me was the 1988 FSU v. Clemson (the famous Puntrooskie game). That play really established what became the FSU dynasty. Prior to that game, I just don’t recall FSU or Bobby Bowden being much of anything. Clemson was ranked No.3 and still had Danny Ford as their coach. Anyway, FSU ran off a string of 14 straight Top 5 finishes…pretty amazing.
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Seems we’ve all forgotten the Stanford Marching Band game….
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Wow. Was just revisiting that game and it has a huge wiki page (The Play) that is really fun reading.
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My favorites in no particular order:
1988- Miami v. Notre Dame- Notre Dame beats Miami by stopping the 2 point conversion.
1991- UGA v. Clemson- Night game at Sanford stadium. I was in the 8th grade and possibly drunk.
1992- Alabama v. Miami- The strip is still one of the best football plays I have ever seen.
1993- FSU v. Notre Dame- Athens native Adrian Jarrell (sic) runs a reverse for a TD in the “Game of the Century.”
1995- UF v. Nebraska- after witnessing first hand the Ga-Fla game in Sanford stadium earlier in the year, I was very excited to see the Huskers stomp the Gators in the national championship. I watched this game at “Allens” and was too excited to drink.
1997- UGA v. UF- My first trip to the Cocktail Party remains the best. 37-17 and a throat that was sore for a week.
2001- UGA v. UT- Watched this on Church Street and still get chills thinking about Veron Haynes and Larry’s call.
2002- UGA v. Arkansas- I watched this in Okinawa Japan. Not a particularly great game but it was the first time that UGA won an SEC Championship when I was old enough to enjoy it.
2004- UGA v. UF- I did not watch this game but I did get a report over a PRC-119 while in Fallujah that the Dawgs had won. Made me confident that I would live.
2010- AU v. UA- I hate both teams but I can appreciate how awesome it must have been for Auburn to come back against their rival. Especially when it gave them the chance to win the SEC and National Championship. All it cost them was their coach, their relevance, $180 k and their trees.
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Ah, you chirrens.
In chronological order:
1. Navy 21, Army 15 (1963). Crowd noise foils Stichweh as clock runs out.
2. Georgia 18, Alabama 17 (1965). First iconic Dooley win, breaking what seemed like eternal Bama win streak.
3. Alabama 33, Mississippi 32 (1969). Incredible performance by Archie Manning spoiled by missed PAT.
4. Nebraska 35, Oklahoma 31 (1971). Seems to be on everyone’s list old enough to have seen it.
5. Georgia 28, Georgia Tech 24 (1971–same day as NU/OU!). Dawgs win on long late drive.
6. Georgia 29, Georgia Tech 28 (1978). Left game at half-time to study and missed greatest Georgia comeback win ever.
7. Georgia 26, Florida 21 (1980). The greatest.
8. Arkansas 58, Ole Miss 56 (2001). The game that wouldn’t end.
9. Georgia 45, Auburn 20 (2007). The blackout, Souljah Boy, and Verne Lundquist dancing in the broadcast booth.
10. Georgia 17, Florida 9 (2012). Watched it at bar in Half Moon Bay, CA, and waitress kept thinking I was having a stroke.
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