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The Red and Black/Between The Hedges • Friday, October 12, 1990 • 3
1980 Bulldogs set standard
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By SPENCE SHORES
Sports Writer
What a difference a decade
makes.
The year is 1980 and the Univer
sity of Georgia football team is 4-0
entering a date with the Ole Miss
Rebels. The Dogs won that game
28-21 and went on to win the na
tional championship.
Ten years later, the Dogs enter
this Saturday’s clash with the Re
bels at Sanford Stadium with a 3-2
record after being manhandled by
the Clem son Tigers a week ago.
It may seen unfair to compare
any team to the national
Scott Woerner: Had five in
terceptions in 1980.
championship team, but, as the
1980 team reunites this Saturday
at halftime, one has to wonder if
the Dogs will ever again capture
the national crown.
Though the 1990 Dogs fall short
of the standards set by the ’80
team, it is still interesting to look
at the two in a comparative sense.
The 1980 team had six seniors,
four juniors, two sophomores, and
one freshman starting on offense.
This year’s squad has three se
niors, six juniors, two sophomores,
and no freshman starters. The
numbers seem similiar but just re
member just who that one 1980
freshman starter was — Herschel
Walker.
In three years with the Dogs,
Walker rushed for 5,259 yards and
scored 49 touchdowns, both of
which are school records. Of
course, Walker had help.
Though on average the 1980 of
fensive line was 20 pounds lighter
(271-251) than the ’OO line, the
championship team had three se
nior starters on the line. This
year’s line has no seniors besides
part-time starter at tight end Chris
Broom.
“Our team was different back
then,” said offensive coordinator
George Haffner, who arrived at
Georgia in 1980. “You have to re
member how it was in those days.
There were more scholarships,
more redshirt possibilities, and ba
sically, just more depth. For the
speed our offensive line lacked in
’80, we had Herschel to compen
sate.”
Walker also had a talented sup
porting cast with Jimmy Womack
at fullback, Lindsay Scott at split
end, and Amp Arnold at flanker.
One player who has had an imme
diate impact as a freshman this
year is tailback Garrison Hearst.
“Garrison Hearst has the poten
tial to be the next Herschel Walker
at Georgia,” said East Carolina
head coach Bill Lewis. Lewis was
the defensive coordinator at
Georgia from 1980-88.
What about the quarterbacks?
Buck Belue was looked upon as a
team leader on the championship
squad. The bottom line is that he
seldomly made crucial mistakes.
“We were good because it wasn’t
just one guy,” Belue recalls. “We
were just a well-rounded team with
great coaching. As a matter of fact,
I think that we had the best
coaching staff in the country at
that time.”
This year’s two-quarterback
tandem of Greg Talley and Preston
Jones has drawn criticism for its
effect on offensive production. The
two have combined for just 553
passing yards and have only
thrown one touchdown pass com
pared to six interceptions.
Within the last year, the 1980 of
fense has been the subject of sev
eral academic inquiries. Last
Herschel Walker: Holds Georgia Bulldog records with
5,259 career rushing yards and 52 career touchdowns.
Belue was a winner
winter, U.S. News and World Re
port stated in an article that
Georgia failed to graduate 75 per
cent of its offensive starters. In ad
dition, none of the team’s black
offensive starters earned degrees.
“I think just a few of our players
were isolated and they failed to
look at the team as a whole,"
Haffner said. “Thev say the
dropout rate among all college stu
dents is about 50 percent. So why
is it news when it’s discovered that
one small group has trouble?”
Added Belue, “I think that inves
tigation was unfair because the
way the writer went about inter
viewing us made it sound like it
was going to be a positive article. I
was surprised to see the informa
tion in tnat context.”
The championship team had a
senior laden defense which un-
doubtlv had an impact on the suc
cess of that team. The champs had
eight seniors compared to just two
on Goffs *90 Dogs.
The difference in size of the two
lines is noticeable. The average
weight of the 1980 defensive line
was 244 pounds compared to this
year’s average weight of 268
pounds. But experience weighed
more as the ’80 Dogs sacked op
posing quarterbacks 21 times, ac
counting for 13 more sacks than
the Dogs have nfter five games this
season.
On the defensive side of the ball,
the ’80 team had all the right stuff.
This year, the defense has been a
surprise. After losing seven key
players, the defense has displayed
a “bend but don’t brake” style of I
play. Before lost Saturday’s loss,
the defense had allowed just 16.5
points a game. The ’80 team al
lowed a scant 11.5 points a game. |
The defensive line of the 1980
Dogs was made up of two sopho
mores and one junior. This year’s
line has two sophomores and one
freshman. This is the area that this
year’s group was hit hardest with
academic problems as four key con-
tributers were dismissed for aca
demic reasons or injury.
Linebacker was a strong posi
tion for the 1980 team. Frank Ros
and Nate Taylor provided effective
play at the inside linebacker posi
tion while Pat McShea and Robert
Miles were the defensive ends. The
defensive backfield was a likewise
a successful unit on the
championship team. All four
starters were seniors and this
group was led by one of the legends
in Georgia football history, Scott
Woerner. This year, the group is
young but has plenty of potential.
The loss of David Hargett to a
Please See CHAMPS. PAGE 7