FAST FACTS: National Championship

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FAST FACTS: National Championship

Herschel Walker, Georgia's legendary Heisman Trophy running back, in the 1981 Sugar Bowl game versus Notre Dame. (Photo from Georgia Sports Communication)
Herschel Walker, Georgia’s legendary Heisman Trophy running back, in the 1981 Sugar Bowl game versus Notre Dame.
(Photo from Georgia Sports Communication)

 
 

Did you know? … Some fast facts about the College Football National Championship, Georgia, and Alabama.

 

GEORGIA

 
Georgia’s perfect 11-0 SEC championship team of 1946 won every game by double digits, including a 20-10 Sugar Bowl victory over North Carolina.

 

In Georgia’s 17-10 Sugar Bowl victory over Notre Dame on New Year’s Day 1981, Herschel Walker ran for 150 yards and Scott Woerner intercepted two passes.

 

Georgia has the rare distinction of defeating both Notre Dame, with 11 consensus national titles, and Oklahoma, which has captured seven national championships, this season.

 

When the Bulldogs won the consensus 1942 national championship, Georgia suffered one loss, to Auburn, and beat UCLA to win the Rose Bowl.

 

The most points Georgia has ever surrendered in a win came on the Plains in a 56-49 overtime victory over Auburn in 1996, one more than the 54-48 Rose Bowl win over Oklahoma.

 

With the win over Oklahoma, the Bulldogs join Alabama, Florida, LSU and Auburn as Southeastern Conference teams playing for the national championship in the 21st century.
 

ALABAMA

 
Amongst Alabama’s great accomplishments of the Nick Saban era, the Crimson Tide is the only team that has appeared in all four College Football Playoffs.

 

From 1977-1979, Alabama composed a record of 34-2, winning a share of the 1978 national title, the undisputed 1979 crown and three straight SEC championships.

 

Under the watch of Paul “Bear” Bryant, Alabama in the 1970s became the first major college football program to win 100 games in one decade.

 

In 2009, the Crimson Tide posted a perfect 14-0 record, winning the national and SEC championships and Mark Ingram became the first Alabama player to be awarded the Heisman Trophy.

 

Alabama won the first-ever SEC Championship Game, defeating Florida 28-21 in Birmingham in 1992 en route to a perfect 13-0 and the national title.

 

Saban’s Tide teams have won national crowns against schools from the Big XII (Texas 2009), SEC (LSU 2011), Independent (Notre Dame 2012) and ACC (Clemson 2015).
 

 


 

 

Recent Articles by Murray Poole

 

 

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Murray Poole is a 1965 graduate of the University of Georgia Journalism School. He served as sports editor of The Brunswick News for 40 years and has written for Bulldawg Illustrated the past 16 years. He has covered the Georgia Bulldogs for 53 years.