Counting the Days – Day 97

Dave McMahon and Patrick Garbin

Welcome to our daily countdown! Our countdown to the Bulldogs’ opening game began recently and, today, we’re at 97. In 97 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 that we hope will relive memories of why that particular number is special to the Dawgs. Raymond Babbitt once told you that 97x was the future of rock and roll, but we will tell you about memories of the past instead. So, sit back and enjoy the ones we came up with for “97,” and if there are others that you can think of please mention them at The Dawgvent.

97 – by Dave McMahon

3 – The 1996 season was the first for Jim Donnan as Georgia’s head coach. He lost his first two games to Southern Miss and South Carolina. And, game three against Texas Tech, Georgia trailed 12-7 with 2:57 remaining until quarterback Mike Bobo and the Bulldogs marched down the muddy field and scored on a 10-play, 97-yard drive, taking 1:12 to score. Bobo connected on a 22-yard pass to Juan Daniels for the game-winner. Leading by a point, Hines Ward then scored on an end-around flip in the end zone for the two-point conversion, giving Donnan his first victory at Georgia by a 15-12 score.

2 – One of Georgia’s most feared defensive lineman of the 1990s was Marcus Stroud. Stroud wore number 97 for the Dawgs, and looked good wearing it. In 43 games with Georgia from 1997 to 2000, starting 29 of them, he made 142 tackles, including 57 his senior season. In 2000, Stroud also pressured the quarterback 24 times and batted down eight passes. He was the 13th overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2000 NFL Draft. Stroud played ten seasons in the NFL for the Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills, and made three Pro Bowls. My favorite Marcus Stroud moment was when he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated during high school wearing a Florida Gator jacket, but had it opened to show a Georgia Bulldog t-shirt.

1 – Terrence Edwards is near the top of almost every receiving category at Georgia, as well as the SEC, but this stat is more than just of the "receiving" type... Like the year 1998, when Georgia played two bowl games in the year 2000 due to a January 1st bowl game following the 1999 season, and a December 24th bowl game following the 2000 season. In the 2000 Outback Bowl, Edwards had eight receptions for 97 yards. In the 2000 O’ahu Bowl, Edwards had eight receptions once again, but this time for 79 yards, but he had 97 yards rushing on five attempts, including a 40-yard touchdown in the first quarter. The 97 yards rushing was his career-high but, as I mentioned in other articles, bowl stats did not start counting until 2002, so that is not his “official” high. Edwards also had 70 yards rushing in the other bowl game I mentioned in 2000, but that doesn’t count either. His official career-high in rushing yards is merely 11 against Kentucky in 2000.

97 – by Patrick Garbin

3 – 97 are the number of tackles made by roverback-safety John Little 30 years ago during his senior season of 1986. Little added three interceptions and four passes broken up during a campaign in which he was named First Team All-American by both the Walter Camp Foundation and Football News. This accomplishment followed a junior year in which Little was named First Team All-American in 1985, as well.

2 – Dave spoke of stats that don’t count… 97 are the number of yards Buster Mott returned a kickoff for resulting in a touchdown at New York University in 1931 which isn’t included in the UGA records, I guess, because it happened so long ago (although it’s arguably the greatest kickoff return in Bulldogs history)? Leading 6-0, NYU’s Jim Tanguay kicked off to begin the second half. Shielding his eyes from the glaring sun, Mott received the kick at his three-yard line in the left corner of the field. He quickly moved behind a wedge formed by a number of Bulldog blockers. Around the 35-yard line, an accumulation of both teams’ players seemed jumbled around the ball. Suddenly, Mott broke out of the mass escorted by four teammates. At midfield he sped through his blocking and left the chasing Violets behind, headed towards the sideline, and into the end zone for a thrilling 97-yard kickoff return. “Catfish” Smith’s ensuing made PAT provided what would be the winning margin in a 7-6 Georgia victory.

1 – A couple of days ago, I mentioned that I’m “big” on what Georgia players wore which jersey numbers—from the most renowned players to the obscure. And, No. 97 Keith Hall’s career as a Bulldog was certainly obscure, especially at first. Hall was a walk-on at Georgia in 1978 but, after blocking a punt in practice a year later, was given a scholarship literally on the field by head coach Vince Dooley. Still, as late as a junior in 1980, he remained a member of the Bullpups’ junior varsity squad. However, Hall would make the best of his senior year—and, how. That spring, he was rewarded the team’s Best Spirit award and the acclaimed Coffee County Hustle Award, along with having the squad’s best times in the mile and two-mile runs. Finally, in his last season as a Bulldog in 1981, Hall worked his way up to second-string left defensive end behind standout Dale Carver. Playing in all but one of Georgia’s games that year, he had 16 tackles, or the total number of stops he recorded for his entire varsity career.