TABLE OF CONTENTS 12 I A PERFECT SEASON 4 2 THE EARLY DAYS 3 SOUTHERN CHAMPIONS 4 DOOLEY CHANGES EVERYTHING 5 LEAN YEARS 18.24.30 6 LOOKING FOR A WINNER.36 TIMELINE 42 QUICK STATS 44 QUOTES ANECDOTES 45 GLOSSARY 46 MORE INFORMATION 47 ONLINE RESOURCES 47 INDEX 48 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 48
Running back Herschel Walker tore up the SEC as a freshman in 1980
1 A PERFECT SEASON THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL EXPERTS THOUGHT THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA WOULD HAVE AN IMPROVED TEAM IN 1980 THE BULLDOGS WERE RANKED NO 16 IN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PRESEASON POLL BUT NO ONE COULD HAVE PREDICTED THE IMPACT THAT A NEW FACE IN ATHENS GEORGIA WOULD HAVE ON THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL WORLD THAT YEAR The Bulldogs had generally been a strong team throughout coach Vince Dooley's time at Georgia But in 1979 the offense was inconsistent and the team stumbled to a 6 5 record For the second time in three years the Bulldogs were not invited to a bowl game Looking to change its fortunes Georgia began the 1980 season with a game at Southeastern Conference SEC rival Tennessee The Georgia coaches used a few different running backs in the first half One was a freshman from Wrightsville Georgia named Herschel Walker None of them had much success as Tennessee took a 9 0 lead into halftime
