Know Your Opponent: Georgia

Before 1952, Georgia had won 23 of 29 games against Florida.
Head coach Bob Woodruff started to turn things around for the
Gators, winning the '52 contest 30-0. Since Woodruff began
his third year, Florida has held a 36-26-1 advantage in the
series (incidentally, this aligns with the date Florida's
population surpassed Georgia's). The Seminole

This Halloween, the Gators play their oldest rival, the Bulldogs of the University of Georgia. As is tradition in the rivalry, the Gators and Bulldogs will play at a neutral location in Jacksonville, Florida. The Georgia state legislature began preparing for the establishment of a state university in 1785, shortly after the end of the Revolutionary War. However, it wasn't until 1799 that the board of trustees settled upon where to build the future school; it was decided that the university would be developed on the western bank of the North Oconee River. The first classes at Franklin College (named in honor of Benjamin Franklin) were held in 1801 while the town that grew around the young school was named Athens (after the city of Plato and Aristotle). The University of Georgia became the first state-chartered university in the United States. The university now enrolls over 35,000 students and almost 27,000 undergrads. Georgia’s school colors are red and black.

The Georgia Bulldogs possess one of the oldest and most successful traditions in the history of college football. Georgia's first team was fielded in 1892. The teams were simply known as the "Red and Black" until 1920, when the nickname "Bulldogs" was adopted. The bulldog had been a symbol of Georgia football since the turn of the century, anecdotally a tribute to Yale alumnus and UGA founder Abraham Baldwin. Georgia was a founding member of the Southern Conference in 1921 and later, in 1933, was a charter member of the Southeastern Conference. Georgia has won 12 SEC championships (behind only Alabama and Tennessee), winning its first in 1942 and its most recent in 2005. The Bulldogs play home games “between the hedges” in Sanford Stadium, which can seat around 93,000 fans.

Georgia claims two national championships, although only one was awarded by the AP. Despite losing 27-13 to Auburn late in the season, the 1942 Bulldogs were selected as national champion by several polling services (the AP chose Ohio State that season). Unlike many other teams, Georgia had gotten by with relatively few players enlisting or being drafted before the 1942 season. As a result, Georgia made short work of many opponents on their way to an 11-1 record; notably, the Bulldogs bowled over the war-depleted Florida Gators by a score of 75-0 (the largest margin of defeat in the history of the series). The 1980 national title squad finished its season with a perfect 12-0 record and a victory over Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. Earlier in the season, playing Florida, the Bulldogs were on their own seven-yard-line and trailing the Gators 21-20 with time running out. Suddenly, Georgia’s quarterback found receiver Lindsay Scott wide open near the 25-yard-line. Scott improbably managed to sprint past Florida’s defenders, completing the 93-yard play, and winning the game for Georgia, 26-21. Georgia has produced two Heisman winners, Frank Sinkwich in 1942 and Herschel Walker in 1982; both were star halfbacks for Georgia's national champion teams. Sinkwich was an outstanding ballplayer and the first ever Heisman winner from a Southern school, but Walker was a sensation. Over his three year career, he ran for 5,259 rushing yards, won three SEC titles, and lost just three games. Never have the Bulldogs ever enjoyed a greater three-year stretch than that with Herschel Walker.

Walker's coach was none other than Vince Dooley, the greatest head coach the Bulldogs ever had. A former quarterback for rival Auburn, Dooley became the longest-tenured and winningest head coach to ever serve the Red and Black. In his 25 seasons at Georgia (1964–1988), the Bulldogs went 201-77-10, won at least part of six SEC titles (1966, 1968, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982), and captured the consensus national championship in 1980. Dooley led 20 teams to a bowl game and had just one losing season (1977).

Coming into the game with a three-game losing streak
against a Georgia team favored by two touchdowns, no one
expected the 2014 game to turn out as it did. A shocked crowd
of over 83,000 watched the Gators run roughshod over the
Bulldogs, rushing for 418 yards while passing for only 27 in
route to a 38-20 triumph. BRANT SANDERLIN / AJC

Before Dooley arrived in Athens, Georgia Tech had led their series against the Bulldogs 27-26-5; he turned the tide in the rivalry, posting a 19-6 record against the Yellow Jackets. For this Dooley is most fondly remembered by Georgia fans, as Tech ranks among the Bulldogs' most hated rivals (the moniker for the series is "Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate"). The in-state rivalry is highly contentious throughout Georgia and particularly in the city of Atlanta. Despite Georgia Tech being located within the city, Yellow Jacket fans are outnumbered by Georgia fans even there. Georgia and Georgia Tech have met in 109 contests, first in 1893 and every year since 1925 (Georgia currently leads the series 64-40-5). However, the Jackets are not the Bulldogs' oldest rival. That distinction belongs to Auburn, as the two school share the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. Georgia and Auburn first played in 1892 and have met almost every year since. Excluding three years during the World Wars, the Bulldogs and the Tigers have played annually since 1898 in a total of 118 contests. The rivalry has been extremely competitive throughout history; today, each team has 55 wins against the other while eight games have ended in ties.

The Gators and Bulldogs first met on the gridiron in 1915 and have played almost every year since (annually since 1926, barring the war year of 1943). Florida and Georgia have played a total of 92 games against one another; Georgia is Florida’s most frequently played opponent while Florida is Georgia’s third most frequent opponent (after Auburn and Georgia Tech). For many fans of both schools, this is their team's most important rivalry. Georgia leads the series with 49 wins, while Florida has 41 victories and two games ended in draws. The rivalry was dominated by Georgia throughout its first 75 years. By 1989, Georgia was leading this series with a commanding 43 wins and only 22 losses. However, in the succeeding two decades, Georgia would only win three games to Florida’s 17. Steve Spurrier lost just one game to Georgia during his 12-year tenure as Florida head coach (the next two coaches, Zook and Meyer, would also lose just one game each to the Dawgs). Will Muschamp matched the combined loss total of his three predecessors, losing his first three games against his alma mater, but won his last game against Georgia in a shocking upset.

The Florida-Georgia rivalry is among the few in major college football to be traditionally played at a neutral site. On every occasion except twice since 1933, the Gators and Bulldogs have met in Jacksonville, Florida (the exceptions being 1994 and 1995, when the new stadium was being built in Jacksonville). The rivalry had previously been known as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” until both schools agreed to suppress the use of the moniker.

Although Georgia's official fight song is the original "Hail to Georgia", the Georgia band is more well know for their repetition of “Glory, Glory”, a simplified version of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".