Georgia heads over to Tuscaloosa for a mammoth clash on Saturday night against the Crimson Tide. It’ll do so against first-year Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer, but this won’t be the first time for the Dawgs against a coach easing into his first year as Bama’s head coach.
The first instance that may be thought of is 2007, when Georgia took an overtime win against Alabama in Nick Saban’s first year on the Tide sidelines.
But another comes to mind. That was back in 1990, when new Alabama head coach Gene Stallings matched with another new head coach at a school he had previously assisted – Georgia’s Ray Goff.
The Bulldogs won a 17-16 thriller that day, handing Alabama an 0-3 start with each loss by a combined eight points.
A new regime on both sides carried plenty of excitement for both teams on that hot day Between The Hedges. Ray Goff had been handed the keys to the Georgia program, putting the former quarterback and assistant coach as the Top Dog. For Alabama, there were hopes that Stallings could do what his predecessors in the post-Bear Bryant era – win at a high level. Bill Curry and Ray Perkins won games for Alabama, but not enough. The hope was that Stallings, a previous assistant to Bear Bryant, could surpass his predecessors.
The game broadcast itself was also of note. For those of you watching on TV, your likely muted broadcast with Larry Munson on the radio had CBS’ young at the time Brad Nessler in the TV booth with Mike Joy, one of the mainstays of NASCAR TV broadcasters today, on the sidelines for in-game updates.
As for the game itself, Alabama broke an early 3-3 tie, driving to lead 10-3 early in the second. Georgia rallied, nearly tying things up before settling by a 19-yard chip-shot field by John Kasay as the Bulldogs trailed 10-6. The Crimson Tide inched their lead to 16-6 in the second half before a mix of new and experienced players stepped up. With Preston Jones in at quarterback after Greg Talley started, a mix of receivers helped get things in gear with the emergence of Andre Hastings. On the ground, Larry Ware and Garrison Hearst offset one another, and that balance keyed a 73-yard drive capped by not just a Ware touchdown, but two-point conversion pass to Chris Broom, shrinking the Alabama lead to 16-14 with 5:53 left.
Georgia fed off the energy, getting a three and out and keeping the next offensive drive alive on third down on a run by Hearst, setting up Kasay’s would-be game-winning field goal.
It produced one of Larry Munson’s trademark calls:
“Dogs lead for the first time…we’ve been behind for 17 hours!!”
Alabama drove near midfield but bot no further as Chuck Carswell’s interception sealed the win to set off not just a mob scene, but Georgia head coach Ray Goff showing off his vertical leap in celebration.
It was unofficially the highest vertical leap celebration by a Georgia coach…until Kirby Smart in Indianapolis
Both team’s fortunes sailed in different directions after that afternoon in Athens. While Georgia would limp to a 4-7 record and just one more SEC win that year, the Crimson Tide wouldn’t lose another SEC game in 1990, falling only to Penn State and later to Louisville in the Fiesta Bowl.
Both had extraordinary good fortunes in 1992. While Alabama won the national championship, Georgia was very much in the running to face the Crimson Tide in the inaugural SEC Championship, tying Florida for first place but losing the tiebreaker.
This day will always be fond for a personal reason. At ten years old, this was one of the first Georgia games I saw live. The crowd reaction that seemed to go on forever after Carswell’s interception felt, at the time, like one of the most deafening crowd reactions I had ever heard.
Here’s to more deafening reactions of victory for the Dawgs both home and on the road.
Go Dawgs!