1980 national championship game

As usual, freshman sensation Herschel Walker did his thing. But, it was a miracle pass from Georgia quarterback Buck Belue to wide receiver Lindsay Scott that covered 93 yards that won the game for the Bulldogs.

It was one of the more famous plays in college football history. Run Lindsay. After beating the Gators, , the Bulldogs moved to number 1 in the latest polls. Coming off of a disappointing season, literally nobody saw this happening in Auburn was the second of the three big Georgia rivals, but this was not a particularly good Tiger team and they finished with a record.

They fired coach Doug Barfield right after this season and hired. However, rivalry or not, this was definitely a really weak Georgia Tech football team that won 1 game all season long under new coach Bill Curry. Later, Curry would get this program turned around and would leave for the head coaching job at Alabama.

The Yellowjackets did give Georgia a tough enough game, but the Bulldogs finished them off, , to finish the season undefeated. Florida State was the new number 2, but they were invited to the Orange Bowl.

Number 3, Pittsburgh, strangely played in the Gator Bowl. In something of a defensive struggle, Georgia beat Notre Dame, and claimed their last national title. After a three-and-out by Alabama, Bennett capped a seven-play, yard drive with a yard touchdown pass to Brock Bowers to increase the lead to and put Georgia away from a national championship — while also cementing Bennett's selection as offensive player of the game. Georgia defensive back Lewis Cine earned the honor on the other side of the ball, racking up seven tackles.

Kelee Ringo then intercepted Young and returned it 79 yards for a pick-six that sealed the victory for Georgia and denied Alabama a second straight title.

Skip to content. College Football. Download our local news and weather app for iOS or Android — and choose the alerts you want. SportsWrap The top sports headlines of the day. MLB 5 hours ago. San Diego Loyal 8 hours ago. This article tagged under: College Football georgia Alabama. Back to Article. Close Menu. Thirty-seven years later, the Dawgs are one game away from the title, with another key freshman quarterback Jake Fromm and an early win over Notre Dame involved.

On April 7, , Georgia secured the signature of a running back from Wrightsville, a town of about 2, in east central Georgia. You could say that Georgia won the national title the day Herschel Walker signed. Even blue-chip freshmen usually take a while to become acclimated, to grow into a large role within the game of college football. The Dawgs had finished ranked only once since , but by his third year, Dooley had the Bulldogs back in the top five. Georgia won the SEC in and , but results had grown more sporadic in the s, as integration changed life for many SEC programs.

The Dawgs went in , then fell to in They went in , then fell to They were ranked 16th in the preseason AP poll heading into , and honestly, they may have indeed been the 16th-best team in the country. The first game of the season took place in front of the largest crowd to ever watch a football game in the South.

Georgia quarterback Buck Belue fumbled the ball in the end zone in the second quarter for a safety, and Tennessee led at halftime. The Vols quickly expanded the lead to , but after Georgia got a safety of its own when UT fumbled out of the end zone, Walker took over. His first career touchdown was perhaps his most memorable; Walker ran through an ankle tackle at the line of scrimmage and, at the 5, ran over Tennessee safety Bill Bates like he was driving a corn harvester.

Bates, by the way, would go on to become an all-pro safety for the Dallas Cowboys. Walker flattened him like Bates was an overwhelmed year old playing against Johnson County High. My God, a freshman! He had begun the game on the third string; he would never be anything less than a first-stringer again.

Georgia still had work to do, though. As the minutes wound down, Tennessee moved the ball inside the Georgia red zone and all the way to the 1. But Ford fumbled, and McShea recovered. Walker rushed for yards and three touchdowns and shook off tackler after tackler on a yard burst late in the third quarter.

Now 10th in the country, Georgia played host to rival Clemson. The Dawgs and Tigers were in the middle of a crazy series of tight non-conference battles, and this one was no different.

He returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown, then made a leaping interception in the Georgia end zone and raced 98 yards to set up a short Belue touchdown. Find out more. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.

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