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PAGE 6B
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2016
A history of Georgia bowl games
Georgia has one of the most
successful bowl histories of any
school, but today a team with
mediocre suc
cess, even on a
long-term basis,
can find its way
into a bowl game.
The NCAA
has sanctioned,
as of this year
41 bowl games,
including the
playoff games
which take place
at traditional
bowl sites.
There are so
many bowls now that the rules
have had to be adjusted so that
teams with a losing record could
compete in holiday bowls.
You win five games, in some
cases, and you get invited to
a bowl. Rewarding a team for
losing!
Sometimes, there is good rea
son to question the judgment
of the NCAA. Just too many
bowls.
There is plenty of incentive
for teams to play in bowl games.
It looks good on the record of a
coach to go to a bowl game every
year even when they get thrashed
by their opponent.
Your recruiters can go out and
tell prospects, “We have been to a
bowl game every year for the last
15 years.” or “Our school
has played in 18 bowls the
last 20 years.”
It is not to be overlooked
that a team playing in a
bowl game, gets anoth
er three weeks of practice
for its inexperienced play
ers, no small thing with the
development of your young
er players now that spring
practices are being limited
to fewer and fewer days.
Coaches are being honest
when they suggest that to
adequately teach the fundamen
tals of the sport, that you need
more time on the field.
Everything is restricted today
right on down to the number of
hours you practice in a day or
a week.
If you get in a couple of weeks
of extra practice during bowl
preparation, that has to be a pos
itive for player development.
Coaches, for sure, take that posi
tion.
Georgia’s first bowl game
was the Orange Bowl following
the 1941 season.
The Bulldogs missed out on an
opportunity to play in the Rose
Bowl in 1927 when the Bulldogs
were upset in the final game with
Georgia Tech.
That was the straw which
broke the camel's back. Geor
gia had played its main rival on
Grant Field for over two decades.
The idea was to play where there
would be the best attendance and
Grant Field had a greater capac
ity than Sanford Field (the old
baseball field) in Athens.
During this time, the Bulldogs,
nonetheless, posted a 7-10-2
record, never having the home
field advantage.
Following the loss to Tech
in 1927, Dr. Steadman Sanford
was so incensed (rumors were
that even with a rainy week,
Tech added water to the play
ing surface which brought about
a muddy surface which slowed
down the Bulldogs" small, but
very fast backs.) Sanford cam
paigned to raise enough money
that Georgia would have the
classiest stadium in the South
land.
He succeeded, and in alternate
years, home field advantage was
enjoyed by the Red and Black.
Revenge against Tech would
come 14 years later when the
Bulldogs were ranked No. 1
but lost to Auburn in Colum
bus, 27-13. The Rose Bowl then
announced that the winner of
the Georgia-Georgia Tech game
between the hedges would be
invited to Pasadena. It was a
blow out, the Bulldogs pummel-
ing the Jackets, 34-0.
Georgia, like all other teams,
had long aspired to get into the
bowl business, but even with
good teams, there wasn't enough
gloss on its record and an accu
mulation of wins to warrant a trip
to the West Coast or to one of
the new startup bowls in Miami.
New Orleans and Dallas.
In 1937, Coach Harry Mehre
left Athens for Ole Miss. Two
years later, Wallace Butts became
the head football coach in Athens.
Butts set about recruiting the best
players in the country, reaching
into Ohio and Pennsylvania for
talent. He soon would have in
his backfield Frankie Sinkwich
and Charley Trippi who would
become two of the greatest play
ers in college history.
Georgia, in short order, would
be in the bowl business. First it
was the Orange Bowl with Frank
Sinkwich earning national head
lines as a single wing tailback
who played with a broken jaw,
never missing a game.
In 1942, the Bulldogs got that
coveted Rose Bowl invitation
which brought euphoria to Ath
ens.
The Bulldogs traveled, by train,
to Pasadena where they defeated
UCFA, 9-0. Then everybody
went off to war.
After World War II, the Bull
dogs picked up where they left
off, receiving bowl invitations in
1946 (Oil). 1947 (Sugar). 1948
(Gator) 1949 (Orange) and, in
1950, the Presidential Cup.
Georgia is among the few
schools to have played in the
five oldest bowls: Rose, Sun,
Orange, Sugar, Cotton and Gator.
Not many are aware that the sec
ond oldest bowl is the Sun Bowl
where the Bulldogs have played
twice.
When it comes to bowl histo
ry, Georgia has one of the most
impressive records of any team.
Some ole-timers wonder what
might have been, had World War
II not taken place.
The consensus was that Butts
might have developed a long
running dynasty.
Loran Smith is a sports colum
nist for the Barrow News-Jour
nal. He is co-host of the Uni
versity of Georgia football radio
pre-game show.
loran
smith
Encouraging signs
for Georgia
As Georgia gets set to
officially wrap up
a thoroughly dis
appointing season
next week with a
glorified exhibi
tion against TCU.
the Bulldogs got
much-needed good
news on several
fronts last week.
Among the devel
opments was the
surprise announce
ment that star run
ning backs Nick
Chubb and Sony Michel
will put off their shot at the
pros for one more year and
return to Athens for their
senior seasons, giving Geor
gia’s offense an obvious boost
for 2017. For good measure,
linebackers Davin Bellamy
and Lorenzo Carter will also
be back another year, which
should benefit that unit tre
mendously and lend more
support to the team’s veteran
core next season.
But less than 24 hours
after those four players’
announcement, the team got
another jolt that could very
well have much bigger long
term implications. That came
when 5-star offensive lineman
Isaiah Wilson announced
his intentions to sign with
Georgia, giving the Bulldogs
another critical addition to
what is shaping up to be an
elite class — probably its best
in several years, especially up
front.
While Kirby Smart’s first
year as head coach left plen
ty to be desired, he is prov
ing himself to be an excel
lent recruiter. And given his
coaching history, he seems
to have a good grasp of what
it will take to turn Georgia
into a championship-caliber
program in the coming years:
a dominant offensive line.
Along with Wilson, four
4-star linemen and a 3-star
recruit have all signed, and the
six prospects average north
of 320 pounds. It’s not set in
stone that all of them will pan
out, but Georgia is heading in
a much better direction than
it has been in for a long time.
You can point to many rea
sons for Georgia’s 7-5 record
this year, which included
home losses to Vanderbilt and
Georgia Tech and a near-ca
tastrophe against FCS oppo
nent Nicholls. But one of the
main ones was an offensive
line that did not consistent
ly perform at a high-enough
level for the team to have
success.
The Bulldogs had to rely on
a fifth-year, gradu
ate school transfer
from Rhode Island
to be its left tackle
and was woeful
ly thin across the
board in terms of
depth.
It was a direct
result of for
mer coach Mark
Richt's inability
to bring in enough
top-notch line
men and failure
to secure numerous top-rated
ones from the Peach State in
recent years.
Georgia’s inferiority on the
lines of scrimmage to the likes
of Alabama and Ohio State
has been noticeable and it’s
one of the primary reasons the
team has not been in the SEC.
much less national, champi
onship discussion more often
over the last decade.
With a weak offensive
line, the running game was
watered down and proved
to be ineffective in several
games.
That only added pressure to
a hue freshman quarterback
with a slate of receivers who
straggled to catch the ball and
block well on a consistent
basis.
With all that in mind, it’s
little wonder how the offense
straggled so mightily at times
to score points.
As bad as it was at times,
there’s still no guarantee
things will be much better
in 2017. Three starters will
be gone off Georgia’s offen
sive line, meaning younger
guys who weren’t ready this
season will have to step up.
While junior college signee
D’Marcus Hayes is an early
projection to start at left tackle
next season, Wilson could be
a solid bet to earn the right
tackle spot if he turns out to
be as good as advertised, or
if there’s no one better to fill
the void.
It may be 2018 before the
line is at a level Smart and
offensive line coach Sam Pit
tman want it. but this is an
encouraging sign that Smart
“gets it.” As Georgia fans
should know by now, nothing
is ever as good as it seems.
But the Bulldogs already
appear to be heading into
2017 in a much better position
than initially expected.
Scott Thompson is editor
of the Barrow News-Journal.
He can be reached at sthomp-
son@barrowjoumal.com.
scott
thompson
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