Counting the Days – Day 72
Dave McMahon and Patrick Garbin
Welcome to our countdown! We are more than quarter of the way through, and UGA football will be here sooner than you think… In 72 days, Georgia will be facing North Carolina at the Georgia Dome. Each day leading up to the season opener, Patrick Garbin and I will show three unique and creative ways why we think that number is special to the Dawgs. Back in ‘72 was the sixth studio album released by Bob Seger, featuring the original version of “Turn the Page.” He also had a song on that album named, “Back in ’72.” The song mentions Baton Rouge; however, it does not mention Athens! I have good memories of both towns (but, a lot more of Athens). So, here’s hoping you have good memories as well…
By Dave McMahon
3 – One of the biggest plays in Georgia football history was the “Hobnail Boot” play against Tennessee in 2001. But, for anyone remembering the entire game, it was the special teams which played a major part in the Bulldogs' victory. One of the biggest plays was a 72-yard punt return for touchdown by Damien Gary, whereby he broke some tackles, made a few moves, and finally flipped into the end zone for a touchdown (Georgia got a celebration flag but, as I questioned before, are the Bulldogs the only team which gets these type flags?). After the extra point making the score 14-10 in favor of the Volunteers, the game went back-and-forth before ending with a face getting crushed up in Knoxville by a Hobnail boot. For his career, Gary returned two punts and one kickoff for touchdowns, but none were bigger than his 72-yarder against the Vols:
2 – In 2012, Georgia’s offense seemingly scored at will. In fourteen games, the Bulldogs had 72 touchdowns, breaking the record of 54 set the season before (and in 1942). Georgia would score 58 touchdowns in 2013, and 70 in 2014, but the 72 touchdowns in 2012—that’s over five per game—is still the school record. Eighteen different Dawgs scored at least one touchdown, and nine scored at least three. Leading the way was Todd Gurley’s 18 touchdowns (17 rush, 1 receiving), while Keith Marshall and Tavarres King each had nine. Six different Bulldogs scored on the ground, and 11 receiving. Georgia scored two touchdowns on defense, and one on special teams. While in the red zone, the offense scored a touchdown in 33 of 45 chances (73%). But, unfortunately for Bulldogs fans, the one scoring chance they maybe remember the most from 2012 was the one against Alabama in the SEC Championship on the game’s final play, which didn’t result in points.
1 – One player responsible for the Georgia offense scoring a lot was another big factor in the “Hobnail Boot”—David Greene. In 2001, Greene started as a redshirt freshman and never looked back. He ended up with 72 touchdown passes for his career (technically 73, but his 2001 Music City Bowl touchdown does not count according to NCAA rules). Greene’s 72 touchdowns broke Eric Zeier’s school record, and would last until Aaron Murray broke it less than a decade later. His 72 resulted from 17 touchdowns passes his freshman season, 22 as a sophomore, 13 more as a junior, and 20 as a senior. The most touchdowns Greene passed for in a single game were five in the 45-16 rout in Athens over LSU in 2004. In games in which he had two or more touchdown passes, Georgia had a 20-1 record.
By Patrick Garbin
3—72 is for the 72-yard touchdown run scored by sophomore TRON “THE ELECTRON” JACKSON against Temple in 1983. Leading the Owls only 10-7 in the third quarter, Jackson took a pitch from quarterback John Lastinger and headed down the sideline for the long touchdown. In the 31-14 win over Temple, the 72-yard run allowed Jackson to have a 100-yard rushing game—105 yards on seven carries, to be exact—which is significant. Consider that from the season finale of 1979 against Georgia Tech to the 1983 Sugar Bowl versus Penn State—a stretch of 37 games—Georgia produced a 100-yard rusher in 32 games. However, during the 15 games which followed, beginning with the 1983 season opener through the first three games of 1984, the Bulldogs featured just one 100-yard rusher: Tron “the Electron” Jackson, and thanks in large part to his 72-yarder.
2—72 (72.45) is for Georgia’s scant RUSHING DEFENSE average in 1981. Of the Bulldogs’ 11 opponents that season, nine were limited to anywhere between 11 and 69 rushing yards. The other two opponents: Clemson (101 rushing yards) wound up winning the national championship, whereas Auburn (283) ran the run-oriented wishbone offense. Georgia’s 72.45 rushing defense average ranked second in the country in 1981, and remains the lowest average allowed by a Bulldog defense in the last 74 years since 1941.
3—72 is for a Georgia player who actually hardly played, and perhaps one you never even heard of, yet he was undoubtedly a “DGD,” who paid the ultimate sacrifice, No. 72 LOUIS SUTERA. Sutera was born weighing roughly four pounds, suffering with yellow jaundice, and from a mother who did not want the baby, but fortunately he was adopted—one of eight adopted children belonging to Sutera family of Miami, Fla.—and was able to receive adequate care. Eighteen years later, Sutera had grown into a 6-foot-2, 240-pound All-City prospect, and earned a football scholarship in 1964 to Georgia, whereupon it was reported that when the massive tackle shook your hand, “you wonder how many fingers he’s going to keep.” Sutera played sparingly in 1964 and 1965 with few highlights, which did include blocking a punt against Clemson as a member of the freshman Bullpups squad. In 1966, he enlisted into the U.S. Army even before being drafted, becoming one of the few UGA athletes to serve in the military during the Vietnam War. As a sergeant serving as a forward observer in reconnaissance work, Sutera deployed to Vietnam with the 25th Infantry Division, “Tropic Lightning,” in February of 1967. On December 30 of that year, near Hua Nghia, SGT Louis Sutera, Jr. sustained injuries from sniper fire and eventually passed away at only 22 years of age.