It was a long time coming between Cocktail Party wins, once Goff became the head coach. After a 1989 win, Spurrier showed up and Goff never claimed another. Jim Donnan took over and promptly got smoked in Gainesville.
Then came one of the more improbable wins in the series. Georgia entered the ’97 Cocktail Party as a big underdog, but it was the Dawgs’ turn to do the smoking. (In Munson’s case, famously, with a cigar.)
That Edwards TD run that opened up the lead was the closest time I’ve ever come to fainting at a football game. Cathartic. Hines Ward threw one of the greatest blocks I’ve ever seen from a Georgia receiver.
Of course, this being Jim Donnan’s Georgia team, it promptly pissed away all the momentum it gained from the huge win the next week. Sigh.
Get The Picture 
Bueno.
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Two future Pro Football Hall of Fame members on that team. And a fully operational Robert Edwards.
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Yes, he might not have been a hall of famer, had he stayed healthy, but he would have made some pro-bowls.
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Such a fun game. Love seeing younger SOS on the sidelines, as you know prior to that game he thought he’d never lose to the Dawgs (let’s ignore the 1998 game).
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He wouldn’t have won the ’93 game but for the too-late timeout. EZ got robbed!
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Edwards could really explode through a hole. We’ve had some incredible RBs come through the program.
Ho hum, not much going on today. Any big games coming up? New QB? Next year’s schedule announced yet?
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I remember where I was when I watched that game…(a progressive dinner with my church youth group, after my family had just moved to Florida.) I watched the game from house to house. I had just turned 14, and I was smitten. I’ve been a die hard fan ever since.
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Munson’s call was great.
What really stuck out to me was how fast Bobo would pull away from center and toss the ball to Edwards. The play would be at full speed in about one second. Tough on a defense.
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Well prepared, disciplined, and aggressive. Took the fight to Florida instead of waiting to be punched. We’ve never beaten Florida with any other formula.
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I remember walking out of the stadium, celebrating and talking about going out to celebrate into the night. Turned out we were so exhausted (and maybe relieved) that we simply went home and sat on the couch.
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I was supposed to go to that game, but my ticket dried up (read: a buddy and I were planning to go but he blew me off). That’s probably one of the happiest moments I’ve had as a Georgia fan, even though I was sitting alone in my apartment in a seemingly deserted Athens watching (with a neighbor occasionally popping in; we decided not to watch together because the first TD was scored when we were apart. Yes kids, continually losing to someone makes you neurotic).
We never broke out anything resembling that offensive gameplan ever again. On that one series of plays you had the inside handoff to Edwards, Bobo PA to pass with an End Around coming behind him to freeze defenders, a hand off on the end around to the deadly Hines Ward, and Ward could throw from there to boot. You could draw up some great package plays from that which occasionally incorporated the end around. It was gone for the season and for the rest of Donnan’s time as UGA’s coach, mysteriously.
I was so pissed at that Auburn game – we were on the verge of making the SEC title game and then we gave up a ton of yards on the ground to the worst rushing team on the east coast. How does that happen? I had to leave the game and go watch from Sneakers (yes, I might have been 3 sheets to the wind and a little ornery).
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I was there! Weren’t we something like 17 or 27 point dogs? That game was a popping of the pressure valve on a decade of futility. The 90s made me turn the Florida game trip into a vacation
so I could “at least it was still a fun trip.”
That’s how I Georgia Way.
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Was this our biggest win in the 90’s? Maybe Clemson in ’91? It was easily the best win while I was in school. Drove straight back to Athens and rode around downtown.
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I think the Florida game was bigger even though walking into Sanford doing the tomahawk chop and watching Randall Godfrey go off was awesome.
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“Of course, this being Jim Donnan’s Georgia team, it promptly pissed away all the momentum it gained from the huge win the next week.”
Yeah, that was only a Jim Donnan phenomenon. It’s not like that ever happened to a Richt-coached team. It’s not like Mark Richt ever crushed a team (cough..cough…2004 LSU) and then choked on it the next week (cough…cough…2004 Tennessee) to blow a shot at winning the SEC East.
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Unfortunately Donnan made a habit of losing to our rivals. Richt, not so much.
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Perhaps, but that is completely irrelevant to Bluto’s quote that I cited. He wasn’t discussing Donnan’s games against our rivals.
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You picked the wrong Munson quote. I’d have gone with:
“You like the smell of that?”
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I liked, “Don’t say that Scott. What’s wrong with you!?”
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I was there as well. Best trip of my then young life! It was my first trip to Jax. BTW, can i just say how much I miss Munson?
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I wasn’t there, but I will claim that I was in 20 years
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Remember, Edwards was a converted defensive back. When healthy he was a force!
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Thank you for posting this Senator. If anything, it was a great victory to be remembered. Gives me a boost to look back at it knowing things like this can happen in this huge matchup. I was at this game and the game in 07. Huuuuge games! I think both games showed an offense that came out with a chip. With Knowshon in 07 it was like UGA said heres what were gonna do and you cant stop it. I loved seeing that! I would like to see this year’s team go out there and scrap for this game like those teams did. It would be awesome to see. Come on DAWGS GATA!
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That night in Jacksonville was as close to heaven on earth as it gets. Our section chanted “Go for 2!” after Gary’s TD. I listened to the Gator post game and just laughed all night at the alligator tears. We went to a restaurant close to my in laws in south Jax after the game and just loved the quiet of the Gator fans. We got back to my in laws to find out my sister-in-law had taught our 1-year old (now a UGA sophomore) to call on the Dawgs while we were at the game. A night I will never forget …
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My daughters first UGA game. They were 5 and 7. They remember nothing about the game, but they remember it was one of the greatest weekends ever.
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