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Georgia dominated the early series while Florida held a clear advantage in the s and early s. Georgia again dominated from the mids through the 80s under coach Vince Dooley , while Florida took the upper hand in the rivalry during the s and early s under coaches Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer.
More recently, the series has been more evenly balanced. Beginning with the contest, the series is tied at seven, with the fierce rivals enjoying and then suffering through alternating sets of three-game win streaks. The Gators broke the Bulldogs' string of three consecutive series wins in The two universities do not agree on when their gridiron rivalry began. The University of Georgia's athletic department considers a 52—0 victory in against a school known as the University of Florida to be part of the series.
We can't help it if they got run out of Lake City. The first game in the rivalry acknowledged by both schools took place in Jacksonville in The series has been played annually since except in , when Florida did not field a team due to World War II. Georgia dominated the early rivalry. Florida did not score a single point against the Bulldogs until their fifth or sixth meeting.
The Gators won their first two games against Georgia in and , when coach Charlie Bachman 's squads briefly brought Florida's football program to national prominence.
However, after a scoreless tie in , Georgia resumed its dominance, winning fifteen out of the next seventeen games in the series as coach Wally Butts led the Bulldogs to several SEC championships while the Gators suffered through a period of mediocrity in the s and s.
Florida finally enjoyed longer-term success in the rivalry in the s under coach Bob Woodruff , a trend that continued into the s under coach Ray Graves. The hiring of new Georgia coach Vince Dooley in evened the rivalry for the remainder of the decade, and in the s and s, his Bulldog squads usually won the game in Jacksonville while winning a national championship in along the way.
Coach Steve Spurrier 's arrival in Gainesville turned the rivalry back around beginning in , and his Gator squads went 11—1 against the Bulldogs. Coach Urban Meyer continued Florida's winning trend through the mids, but the rivalry has been unusually even since Florida began a three game series win streak in that season, which was followed by a three game Georgia streak, then another three game streak for Florida, which was answered by three Georgia wins, marking the longest evenly-divided dozen years in series history.
Since the s, the Florida—Georgia rivalry often held conference or national championship implications for one or both teams, and both schools have had title hopes dashed in the game, sometimes in a surprising upset. The Florida—Georgia game has often been held at off-campus sites since the very beginning of the rivalry.
Florida's first on-campus stadium. Fleming Field , was quite small, so Florida's early teams usually played "home" games against major college opposition somewhere other than Gainesville. Before , Florida-Georgia contests were held in Jacksonville 3 times , Savannah twice , and Tampa once , along with several Georgia home games in Athens.
The disputed game was played in Macon, Georgia , another neutral site. Florida Field opened in , and the rivals played in Gainesville for the first time in , followed the next season by a return to Athens. From onward, the game has been played in Jacksonville except for a home and home set in and when the old Gator Bowl stadium was being rebuilt for the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL.
In almost meetings, the game has been played in Athens or Gainesville a total of only seven times, and there are no plans to do so in the future. Playing the game at a neutral site rather than on their respective campuses provides the universities' athletic programs with more revenue from the game than if the site rotated on a "home-and-away" basis.
There have been occasional calls to move the game from Jacksonville, usually when either Georgia or Florida is dominating the rivalry. In , Georgia coach Kirby Smart pointed out that the neutral site game cost both programs a valuable recruiting weekend every other year, a view that Florida coach Dan Mullen said that he "respected".
The game weekend is also extremely lucrative for Jacksonville businesses, particularly in the downtown area, with many reporting that it is their busiest weekend of the year.
The designated "home" team alternates from year to year, and ticket distribution is split evenly between the fans of the two teams. More recently, the seating arrangement has split the stadium lengthwise and fans sit on the side corresponding to the sideline their team occupies.
The teams take turns serving as the "home" team, with the "hosts" usually wearing their home uniforms and the visitors wearing white road jerseys.
However, on several occasions, the Bulldogs and Gators have faced off with both squads wearing their home uniforms. The game is one of the busiest annual events in downtown Jacksonville, and attracts huge crowds that congregate around the stadium for tailgating and other happenings, particularly at the Jacksonville Landing , a riverfront plaza facing the St.
Johns River. As a result the game and associated revelry have been known as "the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party", a nickname first coined in the s by Bill Kastelz, sports editor for The Florida Times-Union. However, the city dropped it from most official usage in following a series of alcohol-fueled outbursts. In , Florida fans stormed the field and tore down the goal posts after a 27—0 victory; the following year, a 24—3 Georgia win led Bulldogs fans to do the same, ultimately resulting in 65 arrests.
Thereafter, the city cracked down on excessive drinking and soon dropped its use of the name. In both schools and the Southeastern Conference asked CBS and the city to abandon the name in promotions due to concerns about alcohol abuse by students and other attendees. Since , the rivalry has lacked an official name. The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission created the Florida—Georgia Hall of Fame in to recognize the players, coaches, and other representatives from each school who have made their mark on the rivalry.
In , two members were inducted who were not linked with one particular school: Greg McGarity , who was a long-serving athletic administrator at Florida before becoming Georgia's athletic director , and Verne Lundquist , a retired broadcaster who was the television play-by-play announcer for many Florida-Georgia games as part of SEC on CBS coverage.
Unlike many college sports rivalries, the Florida—Georgia game historically has not been played for a trophy. The city of Jacksonville announced that it would award the winning teams the goalposts from the game in , in order to persuade fans not to storm the field and destroy them as they had the previous two years. However, no goalposts were ever given out because neither university wanted them. In , the student governments of the two universities announced the creation of a new trophy, the "Okefenokee Oar".
When Charlie Bachman became the Gators ' new head coach, he inherited a team loaded with talent recruited by his predecessor, Harold Sebring. Georgia was 6—0 against Florida with five shutouts and an overall scoring advantage of —9.
With Florida holding a commanding lead in fourth quarter, jubilant Gator fans prematurely rushed the field to tear down the goal posts, resulting in fist fights breaking out between supporters of the two schools. Georgia's All-American back Frank Sinkwich had broken his jaw in a game earlier in the season, but that didn't keep him off the field.
Wearing a custom-made chinstrap attached to his helmet, Sinkwich ran 31 times for and two touchdowns and kicked Georgia's first field goal since in the Bulldogs' 19—3 victory over the Gators.
Having lost most upper-class players and several members of the coaching staff to service in World War II , the Florida Gators brought an inexperienced 3—4 squad into Jacksonville for the contest with Georgia. Georgia halfback Charley Trippi and Heisman Trophy-winning back Frank Sinkwich combined to score seven touchdowns as Georgia defeated Florida 75—0, the largest margin in series history. Georgia clearly dominated the first several decades of their series against Florida.
Coming into the contest, the Bulldogs were 23—5—1 all-time against the Gators and had won nine of the previous ten meetings, including two straight victories over Florida coach Bob Woodruff.
The Gators arrived in Jacksonville with a 3—2 record and an offense that had struggled against good defenses. In an attempt to jump-start their run-oriented attack, Woodruff and Florida offensive coordinator Frank Broyles decided to swap the positions of quarterback Rick Casares and running back Doug Dickey.
Casares had been heavily recruited by Georgia but thought that Bulldog Coach Wally Butts was "too rough" with his players during a recruiting visit, so he opted to attend Florida instead. Led by All-American lineman Charlie LaPradd on defense and Casares on offense and special teams he was also the team's place-kicker , the Gators dominated the Bulldogs 30—0 in Jacksonville, which would remain the Gators' largest victory over the Bulldogs for almost forty years and was the first shutout over the Bulldogs since Florida finished the season 8—3 and were invited to their first major bowl game, the Gator Bowl.
Georgia finished 7—4 and went on to suffer through several sub-par seasons in the s, helping Florida earn a winning decade over their border rivals for first time in the series. While Georgia still held an overall advantage in the series, Florida enjoyed a 10—2 streak from to under head coaches Bob Woodruff and Ray Graves. In a game where the Bulldogs' quarterback failed to complete a single pass and was intercepted twice, Dooleys' 'Dogs relied on their running game, a staunch second-half defense, and a little bit of luck to beat Graves' tenth-ranked Florida Gators.
Dooley's teams would split their first seven games 3—3—1 against Graves' Gators. Thereafter, Dooley's 'Dogs would go on to dominate the rivalry, winning fourteen of the nineteen games from to The seventh-ranked Florida Gators entered the game with a 7—0 record and the opportunity to clinch a share of their first-ever SEC title. I can't say that helped prepare me for football, but it sure did remind me an awful lot of sacking Steve Spurrier.
Spurrier returned to Gainesville as the Gators' head coach in and, with the sting of the loss in mind, emphasized the annual Florida—Georgia contest as the "biggest of the year. The Florida Gators featured All-American defensive end Jack Youngblood , and he pulled off one of the most remarkable plays in Florida football history.
With Bulldogs leading 17—10 and in possession of the ball at the Gators' two-yard line, Youngblood stood up Georgia back Ricky Lake short of the goal, forced a fumble and fell on the football. The Florida Gators came into the game with a 6—1 record and No. The Gators' offense was led by running back Tony Green , who ran an early one-yard touchdown to put the Gators ahead 7—0. The Gators led 7—3 as time was winding down in the fourth quarter. Georgia's "Junkyard Dawgs" defense allowed yards between the yard-lines, but ceded little ground in the red zone.
The Bulldogs set up at their own yard-line with remaining, and head coach Vince Dooley did something he rarely did: he called a trick play. Tight end Richard Appleby accepted the handoff on a reverse to the right, but instead of running downfield, he threw the ball to wide receiver Gene Washington for an improbable yard touchdown play.
The Florida Gators were 6—1 and ranked No. The Gators held a 27—13 halftime advantage and seemed to have the game in hand until the Bulldogs scored early in the third quarter to cut the lead to 27— Then, faced with a fourth-and-one situation at the Gators' own yard-line, coach Doug Dickey decided to go for the first down rather than punt. Led by quarterback Ray Goff 's game management and running back Kevin McLee's yard rushing performance, the Bulldogs seized the momentum and scored three touchdowns on their way to a 41—27 win.
After the game, Dickey admitted that "We were not outplayed; we were outcoached. I made some dumb calls. Trailing the underdog Florida Gators with their perfect season and their No. Bulldog quarterback Buck Belue dropped back to pass and was forced to scramble around in his own endzone to avoid the Gator pass rush before finding wide receiver Lindsay Scott open in the middle of the field near the Georgia yard-line.
Scott caught the pass facing his own endzone, turned and darted diagonally through Florida's secondary, and outran everyone down the sideline to score the game-winning touchdown with only seconds left on the game clock.
Long-time Georgia radio announcer Larry Munson 's legendary call of the play gave the game its nickname:. Florida in a stand-up five, they may or may not blitz. Buck back, third down on the eight. In trouble, he got a block behind him. Gotta throw on the run. Complete to the To the 30, Lindsay Scott 35, 40, Lindsay Scott 45, 50, 45, Run Lindsay, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! The improbable yard pass play sealed the Bulldogs' 26—21 victory, and kept Georgia's national championship hopes alive.
Much like the previous year, the favored Georgia Bulldogs trailed the Florida Gators in the fourth quarter Backed up on their own five yard line with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs methodically marched 95 yards on 17 plays, mostly on the ground. The drive culminated in three straight hand-offs to running back Herschel Walker in which he attempted to jump over the line into the endzone, finally succeeding on third down.
Florida still had 2 minutes to score but turned over the ball on downs near midfield, and Georgia won 26—21 for the second year in a row. After suffering several defeats to the Bulldogs with a conference championship at stake, coach Galen Hall 's Florida Gators entered the contest undefeated in the SEC. The Gators dominated early, building a 17—0 lead by early in the second half. But the Bulldogs seemed to come alive in the third quarter, mounting a long drive; however, Georgia's drive died in the shadow of the Gators' goal line when they were stuffed on fourth down, checking the Bulldogs momentarily but pinning the Gators deep in their own territory.
On the third play following the change of possession, Gators quarterback Kerwin Bell dropped back into his own end zone and lofted a long pass to streaking receiver Ricky Nattiel , who went 96 yards for a touchdown.
The Bulldog momentum was snuffed out and the Gators went on to a convincing 27—0 victory, inspiring jubilant Florida fans to storm the field and tear down the goalposts after the final whistle. The Florida Gators entered the contest on a roll: coming off an emotional win over the Auburn Tigers , undefeated, and ranked No. This would not be a repeat of the game, however. As they had done so many times in the past, the Bulldogs spoiled Florida's season, defeating the Gators 24—3 with freshmen running backs Keith Henderson and Tim Worley both rushing for over yards.
In constant rain, the usually prolific passing game of coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators was stymied. Herring has performed well against Florida throughout his career. UGA will need a great effort from him and the defense in order to win.
Please enter an email address. Something went wrong. UGA versus UF overall series history The University of Georgia leads the Florida Gators in the overall series between the two storied college football programs. Gators dominate s and s The Florida Gators were a powerhouse in the s and s. Player to watch in Fans should keep an eye on Georgia Bulldogs defensive lineman Malik Herring in this pivotal game.
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