By: Joe Delaney

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

In 1980 the Georgia Bulldogs had a very good football team. They also had an emerging superstar in Hershel Walker.

Who can forget the Georgia Tennessee game to open the 1980 season. Georgia trailed 15-0 when Vince Dooley decided it was time to see what the big freshman running back could do. The rest is history.

“My God, a freshman!” was the legendary Larry Munsons’ call on Walkers first touchdown run in which he ran completely over Bill Bates the Vols safety and scored.

The Dawgs would go on the win 16-15 and a legend was born. Vince had said a few weeks before that he felt Herschel was just a big stiff back. Never was he so wrong.

Fast forward two months and the Dawgs sat at 8-0 with scintillating wins over Clemson and South Carolina. They also held the #2 ranking in the nation. Next up were the hated Gators. The Gators were 6-1 and nationally ranked.

Georgia had run the table with a ground-oriented attack featuring Walker. They did however have a very good offense with Buck Belue, Norris Brown, Nat Hudson, Lindsay Scott and others.

Defensively they were stout with Tim Parks, Eddie “Meat Cleaver” Weaver, Jeff Hipp, Scott “Woerner the returner”, and others.

The kicking game boasted probably the best kicker in the country in Rex Robinson.  All the parts were there.

On a sun-drenched Autumn Day in Jacksonville the Dawgs struck first with Walker taking a pitch and blasting 72 yards for the score. He would go on to rush for 238 yards on 37 carries for the day.

Georgia led 20-10 well into the second half when the Gators came back with two scores to take a 21-20 lead with time running out. With little more than a minute to play the Dawgs found themselves 93 yards from the endzone. What happened next was probably the greatest play in Georgia football history and the greatest call by the legendary Larry Munson.

Buck Belue was chased out of the pocket and threw on the run to Lindsay Scott at the 25-yard line. From there Lindsay took it the 75 yards for the touchdown and the lead.

The Gator Bowl went crazy. I can remember Lindsay running down to the corner of the endzone where I was 25 rows up and it was pandemonium. It literally began raining as people threw their cocktails up in the air.

On the Florida sideline there was stunned silence where the Florida players had been dancing the “funky chicken” a minute before.

Munson’s call on the play started with. “Buck back….third down on the eight.”  “In trouble, got a block behind him.” “Gonna throw on the run.”

It ended with….“26-21 DAWGS on top!” “We were gone, I gave up, you did too!” “We were out of it and gone……MIRACLE!”

Georgia would go on to win the National Championship taking out Notre Dame 17-10 in the Sugar Bowl.

But the greatest play and call came on that wonderful November day by the St Johns River.