Georgia Bulldogs football

The Georgia Bulldogs football team represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The University of Georgia has had a football team since 1892 and has an all-time record of 738–398–54 (a .647 winning percentage). The "Dawgs," as they are sometimes called, play in historic Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia, which, with a capacity of 92,746, is the eighth largest on-campus stadium in the United States and the 15th largest stadium in the world.^[3] The Bulldogs claim two consensus NCAA Division 1-A college football national championships^[2] and have won 12 Southeastern Conference championships. The team has also produced two Heisman Trophy winners, namely the running back Herschel Walker and No. 1 draft pick in the '43 draft Frank Sinkwich, as well as winners of a number of other awards and numerous All-Americans and NFL players. As of the 2009-10 school year, the University of Georgia is the second most profitable program in college football.^[4]

History

Early years: 1892–1909

The University of Georgia first formed a football squad in 1892,with chemistry professor Charles Herty as head coach. The team played its first game against a team from Mercer University, in what was supposedly the first football game played in the deep south.^[6] Playing on a field that would later be called Herty Field, Georgia beat Mercer by a score of 50–0.^[5] In the second (and final) game of that inaugural "season," Georgia lost by a score of 10–0 to Auburn University.^[6] That game marked the beginning of Georgia’s longest-standing football rivalry, which is called the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.

From 1892 until 1909, the head coach at Georgia changed frequently, with 14 different head coaches in a 17 year period. The combined record was 47–52–10 (.477 winning percentage). During this time period, Georgia’s greatest success came when Glenn “Pop” Warner coached it and Iowa State for two seasons.^[7] In 1896, Warner-led Georgia went 4–0^[6] on the way to its first conference championship, when the team was a co-champion of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA). It is thought that the first forward pass in football occurred in 1895 (passing was illegal at that time) in a game between Georgia and North Carolina when, out of desperation, the ball was thrown by the North Carolina quarterback instead of punted and a North Carolina player caught the ball.^[8]

In 1897,football very nearly came to an end in the state when a Georgia fullback named Richard Vonalbade ("Von") Gammon died as a result of injuries sustained in a game. The Georgia state legislature quickly passed a bill banning football from the state, but the bill was vetoed by Georgia Governor William Yates Atkinson, based upon an appeal from Gammon's mother, Rosalind Gammon.^[9]

Butts-Mehre era: 1910–1963

Beginning in 1910, Georgia started experiencing stability in its head coaches. In 1911, Georgia moved its playing field from Herty Field to Sanford Field, where wooden stands were built.^[10] In the 53 years following 1910, Georgia had 7 head coaches and a record of 307–180–33 (a .622 winning percentage). Although Harry Mehre and Wally Butts are the two best-known coaches from this era, it was George “Kid” Woodruff who led the Bulldogs to their first claim to national championship. In 1927, Georgia finished the season 9–1^[6] and could stake a claim to the national championship by finishing number 1 in at least one national poll.^[11] Herman Stegeman coached the Bulldogs to an 8–0 record in 1920, when the team was named co-champion of the SIAA.

Harry Mehre coached the Bulldogs for nine years from 1928 to 1937, but perhaps his most memorable game was in 1929. October 12, 1929 was the inaugural game in the newly completed Sanford Stadium and Mehre’s Bulldogs responded with an upset victory over the powerhouse of the day, Yale University, winning 15–0.^[12] In that game, Vernon “Catfish” Smith scored all 15 points for Georgia. As head coach, Mehre compiled a 59–34–6 record (.626 winning percentage), but was never able to win a conference championship.

Wally Butts coached the Bulldogs for 21 seasons (1939–1960) and continued as athletic director until 1963.^[12] Butts came to UGA as an assistant to Joel Hunt in 1938, but Hunt left UGA after a 5–4–1 season to take over at Wyoming; Butts succeeded to the post of head coach. During his tenure as head coach, Georgia had a claim to the national championship in 1942 being selected by 6 polls recognized by the NCAA Division 1-A college football national championship(Ohio St. was also selected by 6 polls, including the AP, and Wisconsin was selected by one poll), and in 1946 after finishing first in at least one national poll and/or rating system. Butts coached 1942 Heisman Trophy winner Frank Sinkwich and Maxwell Award winner Charley Trippi. His teams also won four SEC championships – 1942, 1946, 1948 and 1959.^[13] As head coach, Butts posted a 140–86–9 record (.615 winning percentage), including six bowl games. His bowl record was 5–2–1.^[14] Wally Butts was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997.^[15]

Johnny Griffith, a former player and assistant coach to Wally Butts, succeeded to the position of head coach in 1961. He resigned in December 1963 after going 10–16–2, including a combined 1–8 against Georgia Tech, University of Florida, and Auburn University.

Vince Dooley era: 1964–1988

Vince Dooley held the head coach position longer than any other Bulldogs coach, leading the Bulldogs from 1964 until 1988.^[12] During his tenure as head coach, Georgia won its second consensus national championship in 1980,^[11] winning the Grantland Rice Award. Dooley’s 1968 team finished first in at least one national poll, giving Georgia a claim to the national championship in that year.^[16] The 1967 Cotton Bowl win over SMU made Georgia only the 3rd school in college football history to have won all 4 of the historical major bowls, Rose, Cotton, Sugar, Orange. His teams gave Georgia six SEC Championships and he coached 1982 Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award winner Herschel Walker, 1968 Outland Trophy winner Bill Stanfill and 40 All-Americans.^[12] Dooley won the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award in 2001. He compiled a 201–77–10 record (.715 winning percentage), which included twenty bowl appearances. His bowl record was 8–10–2.^[17] From 1976 through 1982, his teams were in contention for the mythical national title 4 times (1976, 1980, 1981, and 1982). His 6 SEC titles ties him for second place all time amongst SEC coaches for SEC titles. Dooley's offenses were known primarily for running the football. He converted UGA's single-wing offense to a wishbone-type scheme in the early 1970s, and later ran a professional I-type offense with the development of Herschel Walker. For awhile during the 1980s UGA was known as "Tailback U." Vince Dooley was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997^[18] In 1981, Professor Jan Kemp complained that Georgia officials had intervened allowing nine college football players to pass a remedial English course, allowing them to play against Pittsburgh in the Sugar Bowl. The board of regents of the University System of Georgia issued a report in April 1986 implicating Dr. Fred C. Davison and the Georgia athletic department, headed by Vince Dooley, who was also the football coach, in a pattern of academic abuse in the admission and advancement of student-athletes over the previous four years.^[19]

Post-Dooley era: 1989–2000

Ray Goff took over as head coach in 1989 and coached the Bulldogs until 1995, posting a 46–34–1 record (.574 winning percentage). His teams were 0–5 against Tennessee, 1–6 against Florida, 2–4–1 against Auburn, 5–2 against Georgia Tech and won no conference titles. During his time at Georgia, Goff was often derisively referred to as Ray "Goof", a nickname given to him by former Florida and current South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier. Goff had a 2–2 bowl record.^[20]

Jim Donnan took over as head coach in 1996 and coached the Bulldogs until 2000, posting a 40–19–0 record (.678 winning percentage). Donnan's teams produced no conference titles and were 1–4 against Tennessee, 2–3 against Auburn, 1–4 against Florida and 2–3 against Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs lost to all four of these rivals in 1999 and only posted a win against Tennessee in 2000. Donnan had a 4–0 bowl record.^[17]

Mark Richt era: 2001–current

The current head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs is Mark Richt, who joined the Bulldogs in 2001 after serving as the offensive coordinator of the Florida State Seminoles under Bobby Bowden.^[21] Since Richt's head coaching tenure began, Georgia has won two SEC championships--2002 and 2005--and five of their 6 SEC East Division Championships--2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2011.^[13] (Georgia represented the East in the SEC Championship Game in four of those seasons--2002, 2003, 2005, and 2011.) Including bowl games, Richt’s record, as of December 31, 2010, was 96–34–0. His bowl record through 2010 is 7–3. Richt has been a fixture in the recruiting world ending up with top 5 classes the past 3 years.On October 8, 2011 Richt won his 100th career game as UGA's coach against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium with a score of 20 to 12.

Under Richt, Georgia is 7-4 against Tennessee (as of 2011), 3-8 against Florida (as of 2011), 7-4 against Auburn (as of 2011), and 10-1 against Georgia Tech (as of 2011). In 2011, under Richt, Georgia defeated all four of these rivals in the same season for the first time since 1981.

Conference affiliations

Georgia was a founding member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA), one of the first collegiate athletic conferences formed in the United States. Georgia participated in the SIAA from its establishment in 1895 until 1921. Durings its tenure in the SIAA, Georgia was conference co-champion in two years, 1896 and 1920.^[22] In 1921, the Bulldogs, along with 12 other teams, left the SIAA and formed the Southern Conference.^[23] During its time in the Southern Conference, the team never won a conference championship. In 1932, the Georgia Bulldogs left the Southern Conference to form and join the Southeastern Conference (SEC), where Georgia has won the third most SEC football championships, with 12, behind Alabama (22) and Tennessee (13).^[13]

Nicknames

It was not until 1920 that the nickname "Bulldog" was used to define the football team, a name bestowed by sportswriters. On November 3, 1920, Morgan Blake of the Atlanta Journal wrote a story about school nicknames and proposed:

The Georgia Bulldogs would sound good because there is a certain dignity about a bulldog, as well as ferocity.^[24]

Shortly thereafter, another news story appeared in which the name "Bulldogs" was used several times to describe the Georgia team and the nickname has been used ever since. Prior to that time, Georgia was simply known as the "Red and Black." In more recent years, the Bulldogs have been referred to by fans as the "Dawgs."

Traditions

• Uga (pronounced UH-guh) is the name of a lineage of white Bulldogs which have served as the mascot of the University of Georgia since 1956. There is currently no active Uga mascot, since the previous mascot, Uga VIII, died of lymphoma on Feb 3, 2011.^[25] Deceased Ugas are interred in a mausoleum near the main entrance to Sanford Stadium. Georgia is the only school to bury its past mascots inside the football stadium.^[26]
• Glory, Glory is the fight song for the Georgia Bulldogs and was sung at football games as early as the 1890s. The fight song was arranged in its current form by Georgia professor Hugh Hodgson in 1915.^[26]
• The ringing of the Chapel Bell after a Georgia victory started in the 1890s when the playing field was located near the Chapel and freshmen were compelled to ring the Chapel's bell until midnight to celebrate the victory.^[24] Today, freshmen are no longer required to do the chore, with students, alumni, and fans taking their place.
• "How 'Bout Them Dawgs" is a slogan of recent vintage that first surfaced in the late 1970s and has become a battle cry of Bulldog fans.^[24] The slogan received national attention and exposure when Georgia won the national championship in 1980 and wire services proclaimed "How 'Bout Them Dogs!"
• Silver Britches – When Wally Butts was named head coach in 1939, he changed the uniform by adding silver-colored pants to the bright-red jersey already in use. The "silver britches" became very popular, and were a source of multiple fan chants and sign references over the years, the most well-known being "Go You Silver Britches!" When he was hired in 1964, Vince Dooley changed Georgia's uniform to use white pants, but reinstated the silver pants prior to Georgia's 1980 national championship season. Georgia's use of the "silver britches" continues to the present day.^[26]
• The "Dawg Walk" is a tradition that features the football players walking through a gathering of fans and the Redcoat Band near the Tate Student Center as they enter Sanford Stadium. Vince Dooley began the tradition, originally leading the team into the stadium from the East Campus Road side. Ray Goff changed the Dawg Walk to its current location in the 1990s, but eventually discontinued the practice altogether. Mark Richt revived it starting with the 2001 season, and it continues to the present day.^[27]

Uniforms

Georgia's standard home uniform has not significantly changed since 1980, and consists of a red helmet with the trademarked oval "G", red jerseys, and silver pants.^[26]

Wally Butts first introduced the "silver britches," as they are colloquially known, in 1939. When Vince Dooley became Georgia's head coach, he changed the team's home uniform to include white pants. The uniform was changed back to silver pants prior to the 1980 season, and has remained silver ever since. ^[26]

Georgia's earliest helmet was grey leather, to which a red block "G" logo was added in 1961. The shirts were usually red, sometimes with various striping patterns. Georgia's uniform in the pre-World War II years varied at times, sometimes significantly. Photographic evidence suggests that black shirts, vests, and stripes of various patters were worn at times over the years.

Vince Dooley was the first to incorporate a red helmet into the uniform 1964, adopting the oval "G," a white stripe, and white facemasks. Anne Donaldson, who graduated from Georgia with a BFA degree and was married to Georgia assistant coach John Donaldson, was asked by Coach Dooley to come up with a new helmet design to replace the previous silver helmet. Coach Dooley liked the forward oriented stylized "G" Mrs. Donaldson produced, and it was adopted by him. Since the Georgia "G" was similar to the Green Bay Packers' "G" used by it since 1961, Coach Dooley cleared its use with the Packer organization. Nonetheless, Georgia has a registered trademark for its "G" and the Packers' current, redesigned, "G" logo is modeled after the University of Georgia's redesign of Green Bay's original "G" logo. The helmet change was part of a drastic uniform redesign by Dooley, who also replaced the traditional silver pants with white pants that included a black-red-black stripe. The jerseys remained similar to the pre-1964 design, however, with a red jersey and white numbers.

Prior to the 1980 season, the "silver britches" were re-added to Georgia's uniform with a red-white-black stripe down the side. Since the 1980 season, Georgia has utilized the same basic uniform concept. The sleeve stripes, trim colors, and font on Georgia's home and away jerseys have varied many times, but the home jerseys have remained generally red with white numbers, and away jerseys have remained generally white with black numbers.

The most recent trim redesign occurred in 2005, when sleeve stripe patterns were dropped in favor of solid black jersey cuffs on the home jersey and solid red cuffs on the away jersey. Matte grey pants have also been used at times instead of "true" silver since 2004, mainly because the matte grey pants are of a lighter material.

Alternate uniforms

One of the things that makes Georgia's uniform unique is its relative longevity, and the fact that it has very rarely changed over the years. There have been occasions, however, when alternate uniforms were worn for one game during a season.

• Red pants were used instead of silver as part of Georgia's away uniform at various times during the 1980's.
• Black facemasks and a white-black-white helmet stripe were worn during the 1991 Independence Bowl.
• Black pants were used instead of silver as part of Georgia's away uniform during the 1998 Outback Bowl and the 1998 Florida game.
• Black jerseys were worn instead of red as part of Georgia's home uniform in games against Auburn and Hawaii during the 2007 season, and in 2008 against Alabama.
• A unique away uniform was worn during the 2009 Florida. This uniform included black helmets with red facemasks, a white stripe, and the traditional oval "G" logo; white jerseys with black numbers; and black pants.
• During the 2011 Chick-fil-A College Kickoff against Boise State in the Georgia Dome, Georgia wore a Nike Pro Combat Uniform that was significantly different from the traditional home uniforms. The Nike Pro Combat uniforms used a non-traditional matte-finish red color, and included the following:
  • Silver helmets with a large red stripe and traditional oval "G" logo
  • Black facemasks with a large red stripe in the middle, mirroring the red stripe on the helmet
  • Two-tone red jerseys with black sleeves, trim, and numbers
  • The word "Georgia" on the back of the jerseys instead of players' names
  • Red pants

Rivalries

The Bulldogs have three main rivals, Auburn, Florida, and Georgia Tech. All three rivalries commenced over 100 years ago. With long rivalries, it is not surprising that there is some disagreement over the records between the schools. For example, Georgia discredits two games in 1943 and 1944 against Georgia Tech, both UGA losses, because some of their players were in the war. Georgia also credits a game against Florida in 1904 (a Georgia win) that Florida does not count because allegedly it did not have a football program at that time.

Georgia has long-standing rivalries with other schools as well, with over 50 games against five additional teams. Since the formation of the Eastern Division in 1992, Georgia has an emerging rivalry with the Tennessee Volunteers.

Seasons

As of the end of the 2009 season, the Georgia Bulldogs had played 116 seasons with an all-time record of 735–390–34 (a .646 winning percentage). A complete decade by decade list of game results can be found at Georgia Bulldogs football (all games). Note: Georgia was also the only Division I FBS program to win at least 8 games every season from 1997 to 2009.

Bowl games

The Georgia Bulldogs have played in 46 bowl games and have a record of 26–18–3. On the all-time lists, the Bulldogs are sixth for bowls appearances^[28] and tied for third for bowl game victories.^[29]

Current Coaching Staff

Team awards and records

National championships

Years in which the Bulldogs finished with a number-one ranking in at least 3 of the final national polls recognized by the College Football Hall of Fame and included in the official NCAA Football Record Book:^[11][30]