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Counting the Days – Day 37

"37" is for (L to R) No. 37 Don Soberdash, Herschel Walker's rushes in the '80 Cocktail Party, and the legendary and late Jack Davis.

Welcome to our countdown! We have less than six weeks before the first game. Each day leading up to the season opener, Patrick Garbin and I will each show three unique and creative ways why we think that number is special to the Dawgs. In 2014, there was a three-episode mini-series about the final weeks prior to World War I called 37 Days. It starred Ian McDiarmid, which you may know as the Emperor and the Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in the Star Wars franchise. Anyway, I didn’t see 37 Days, but I did see Star Wars, along with a number of these great Georgia football memories regarding the number 37:

By Dave McMahon—Twitter @dave_mc_stats

3 – Hap Hines officially kicked 35 field goals during his Georgia career, and had two more in bowl games (prior to bowl games counting) for a total of 37. He made a career-high four field goals against Ole Miss in 1999, the latter of which broke a 17-17 tie with 5:24 left for the game-winner. Hines’ final game in a Georgia uniform also resulted in a game-winner, but this time, it was the last play of the game. In the 2000 Outback Bowl, Purdue led by Drew Brees held a 25-0 second-quarter lead before Georgia roared back and tied the game with just over a minute left. Moving into overtime, the Boilermakers missed a field goal on their possession. The Bulldogs then got the ball, and Hines kicked a 21-yard field goal for the victory. That day was also my second-to-last day working as a production assistant at ESPN. The next day, I wrote a good-bye letter to my fellow co-workers, ending the note by listing the top 15 names you couldn’t spell without E-S-P-N. I can’t remember all the names, but they included Homer Simpson, Norm Peterson, Roscoe P. Coltrane and, for No. 1, I named Hap Hines.

2 – Even though you are certainly proud and happy for him, sometimes it is tough to have a successful younger brother. It is even tougher to have two successful younger brothers, as is the case for Ronald Bailey, who is the older brother to both Roland (Champ) and Rodney (Boss) Bailey. This could also work for Cooper Manning, as well, but this is a Georgia article, so we will stick with Ronald Bailey. One of the oldest Bailey’s biggest moments for the Dawgs happened in the 1997 Homecoming Game against Kentucky. The game was tied at 7-7 when Ronald intercepted a Tim Couch pass, returning it 37 yards for a touchdown. The Pick 6 pulled the Dawgs ahead for good as they eventually won, 23-13. By the way, Couch threw three interceptions against the Bulldogs that afternoon with his other two errant throws being corralled by none other than Kirby Smart.

1 – Every Dawg fan knows what happened in the 1980 Cocktail Party: Belue-to-Scott may be the biggest play in Georgia history. Every Bulldog fan remembers that pass, but it’s hard to forget how incredible Herschel Walker was against the Gators as a freshman. Herschel rushed 37 times for 238 yards, including a 72-yard touchdown resulting on the fourth play of the game. The 238 yards rushing was one of nine games in his career in which Walker gained 200 or more yards on the ground. While 37 attempts is a lot (26 was the most by a Georgia player last season – Sony Michel), the following Cocktail Party of 1981, Herschel rushed 47 times against Florida. But, of course, you already knew that from our article 10 days ago. Speaking of “37,” Florida quarterback Wayne Peace attempted 37 passes in the 1980 Cocktail Party, but perhaps some Gator writer is detailing that today…

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By Patrick Garbin—Twitter @PGarbinDT

3—Officially, Georgia played 37 contests at Herty Field on campus from 1892 through 1910, compiling a 22-13-2 home record (including the discovered omitted games, unofficially, a 25-13-2 record in 40 games). The two times the Red and Black hosted Mercer during its first 19 seasons of football happened to be the first and final games it played on Herty Field. Of the 37 contests, Georgia hosted Clemson (seven) the most, followed by Davidson (five).

2—Assuredly a member of the Bulldogs’ all-time “All-Name Team,” halfback No. 37 Don Soberdash was also recognized while at Georgia as the team’s “most reliable and most underrated player”—a role he filled only as luck would have it. Out of Dunbar High School in Pennsylvania, he first attended Maryland, where he captained the “Baby Terps” freshman team of 1955. However, when the school began to de-emphasize football, Soberdash was on the move transferring to Georgia. In three seasons from 1957 through 1959, he did a little bit of everything while only a starter for one year (1958), rushing for 403 yards and a touchdown on 104 carries, catching 16 passes including three for touchdowns (he also caught two two-point conversions), returning seven kickoffs for 150 yards, and the one season he returned punts (1957), he led the team in punt returns. And, Soberdash intercepted three passes as a defensive back. More so, he was elected overall captain of Georgia’s 1959 SEC title team.

1—This “37” is a bit of a stretch, considering he did the cover art for comics MAD Magazine No. 37 (1958) and Tales from the Crypt No. 37 (1953) among countless drawings, but I just had to mention the legendary and late Jack Davis, who passed away yesterday at the age of 91. To UGA fans, Davis is remembered for his drawings during the 1940s for The Red & Black newspaper and The Bull Sheet, an Athens humor publication, his extraordinary drawings of UGA personalities, which began in the late 1940s, and, beginning in the 1970s and appearing on just about anything you can think of, his UGA Bulldog art. As a good friend said to me after hearing the sad news that Jack had died: "We've lost Lewis, Erk, Larry, Dan, & now Jack—the Titans who made UGA what it was to me in my formative years. I'll always be an uber-fan, but with each one that passes I always feel that passion burn a little less bright." Rest in peace, Jack Davis… You were undoubtedly a DGD!

Georgia's first program cover featuring Jack Davis' art--1974 vs. Vanderbilt.
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