Photo courtesy of UGA.
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It is Georgia policy to celebrate and recognize teams in anniversary dates that end in “0” or silver 25-year editions.
[su_spacer size=”20″] “Unfortunately we have lost a couple of guys over the last couple of years,” says standout starting rover Chris Welton, one of Georgia’s illustrious seniors of 1980. “We didn’t want to wait five more years to get together. This is a special group.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] So the champions of 1980 will be gathered to celebrate their incredible accomplishment and all that went into it, and they’ll cheer the current edition of the Bulldog in Nashville via big screen televisions.
[su_spacer size=”40″] There are so many stories, so many memories, books and documentaries have been written and produced and there are still untold stories to be heard.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Passionate Georgia fans remember, perhaps still nervously, how many games could have gone the other way? But this band of Bulldogs found a way each and every time out. When the offense struggled, the defense and special teams delivered. If the defense was struggling, the offense and kicking game came through.
[su_spacer size=”40″] As the great, beloved legend Erk Russell said, “We’ve just gotta find a way to do it one more time.” And the Dogs did.
[su_spacer size=”40″] It was the greatest senior class in Georgia history, littered with iconic names: Scott Woerner, Rex Robinson, Nat Hudson, Hugh Nall, Tim Morrison, Captain Frank Ros, Amp Arnold Jeff Hipp, Pat McShea, Jeff Harper, Jimmy Womack, Welton and so many more.
[su_spacer size=”40″] It was the greatest freshman class in Georgia history, featuring Herschel Walker, Terry Hoage, Freddie Gilbert, Tommy Thurson and so many more.
[su_spacer size=”40″] There were a lot of standout players in between.
[su_spacer size=”40″] With legendary head coach Vince Dooley, the great bald icon and a stellar staff including numerous former star players Bill Hartman, Mike Cavan, Steve Greer Joe Tereshinski and Charley Whittemore.
[su_spacer size=”40″] There was Larry Munson and Dan Magill.
[su_spacer size=”40″] There were so many people that this meant so much to.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Whereas nothing went right the previous year, as the Bulldogs limped to a 6-5 record, low lighted by a 31-0 loss to Virginia. The Bulldogs of 1980 were a good team made great by the infusion of freshman, most notably of course Herschel. The togetherness and camaraderie of this team, combined with the talent formed an aura of intangibles and a belief that every time out they would find a way to win.
[su_spacer size=”40″] As great as Herschel was, his humility and humble nature were as important to the closeness of the team.
[su_spacer size=”40″] There wasn’t a hint of jealousy from any of the upperclassmen, most notably the celebrated senior class and quarterback/wide receiver duo of Buck Belue and Lindsay Scott.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “We were all sitting around watching television, there were only three or four channels then, when they broke in announcing that Herschel had signed and was coming to Georgia,” Welton reflected. “We all said ‘big deal,’ he’s just a freshman, change the channel, let’s move on.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] When Walker and the freshmen arrived on campus, he quickly made a great impression on the veterans before he put on his pads. In those days, freshmen came in a couple of days before the upper classmen.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “It was one of those rites of passage and initiation deals that when the upperclassmen arrived, the freshmen would take our bags up to our rooms at McWhorter Hall,” Welton recalls. “Herschel was the first one down there. He grabbed more bags and made more trips than anyone. That got our attention. We knew right away he was no prima donna.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] En route to the perfect, dream season, Walker put together the greatest freshman campaign in college football annals, rushing for a rookie record 1,616 yards, earning Sugar Bowl and SEC Most Valuable Player honors and finishing third in the Heisman Trophy voting.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “That season, everything just came together,” said Cavan, who recruited Walker to Georgia and is now a senior advisor in the athletic administration at Georgia. “We had a lot of good players, and then Herschel was that final piece to the puzzle.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] Russell said once that after the 17-10 Sugar Bowl victory over Notre Dame on January 1, 1981 that he wished everyone could have just sat down on the Super Dome floor, lit up a big victory cigar, and soaked it all in.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Figuratively, the great man’s wish not only came true, it is done time and time again every day. Whenever that greatest of Georgia teams is remembered by the players, coaches or fans, whatever the small memories and details may be, smiles come to the faces of the sons and daughters of the red and black.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The memories of the 1980 Bulldogs are a perpetual victory cigar.
[su_spacer size=”40″] That team made the ultimate Georgia dream come true.
[su_spacer size=”40″] For more articles like this, including player and fan photos as well as videos, check out Bulldawg Illustrated’s latest issue online:
[su_spacer size=”40″] Bulldawg Illustrated
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