Georgia is back in the Sugar Bowl, a game that has seen the Bulldogs play in 10 times. There have been some storied battles in the Sugar Bowl involving the Dawgs and some incredible memories of contests featuring other schools.
A look back before Georgia faces Baylor.
Georgia and Baylor have met on four previous occasions, all in the regular season. The Bulldogs have won all four: 1972 (24-14), 1978 (16-14), 1985 (17-14), and 1989 (15-3).
Georgia in the Sugar Bowl:
Jan. 1, 1947, defeated North Carolina, 20-10
Jan. 1, 1969, lost to Arkansas, 16-2
Jan. 1, 1977, lost to Pittsburgh, 27-3
Jan. 1, 1981, defeated Notre Dame, 17-10
Jan. 1, 1982, lost to Pittsburgh, 24-20
Jan. 1, 1983, lost to Penn State, 27-23
Jan. 1, 2003, defeated Florida State, 26-13
*Jan. 1, 2006, lost to West Virginia 38-35
Jan. 1, 2008, defeated Hawaii, 41-10
Jan. 1, 2019, lost to Texas, 28-21
* played in Atlanta due to Hurricane Katrina
Many recaps are taken from the Sugar Bowl site, which credits the book “Sugar Bowl Classic: A History” by Marty Mulé, who covered the game and the organization for decades for the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
1981: Georgia 17, Notre Dame 10
It was an ugly stat: in a game when Georgia needed air-support to keep defenders off tailback Herschel Walker, quarterback Buck Belue was 0-for-11 passing. With 2:05 to play, and the Bulldogs trying to protect a precarious touchdown lead, Belue was looking at a third-and-seven at midfield. He dropped back, looked, finally let loose, and completed his first – and only – pass, seven yards to Amp Arnold. That allowed Georgia to run out the clock, and secure its first consensus national title. Walker finished with 150 yards, 55 in the second half. His individual total may have been the most impressive rushing performance in Sugar Bowl history, considering his separated shoulder and the fact that his total was 30 yards more than his team’s. Take away Walker’s 36 carries and Georgia amassed a minus 30 yards of offense, partly due to four sacks of Belue. No winning team ever had such paltry figures in the Sugar Bowl.
1982: Pitt 24, Georgia 20
Georgia’s lead was the result of two Herschel Walker touchdowns, and five turnovers against the Bulldogs’ opportunistic and elastic bend-but-don’t-break defense. Georgia led 7-3, the Panthers took two leads, 10-7 and 17-13, but the Bulldogs found an answer each time and went ahead 20-17 on a leaping six-yard catch of a Buck Belue pass by tight end Clarence Kay with 8:13 to go. Pitt took over at its 20 with 3:46 remaining. By the time the Panthers reached the 33, they had almost run out of downs and time. Timeout was called. While Dan Marino and Jackie Sherrill were deciding on 69-X as the best chance of picking up the first down on fourth-and-five, Georgia defensive coordinator Bill Lewis called for an all-out blitz. Marino took the snap. His backs picked up the on-coming linebackers. The other receivers adjusted and went deep against Georgia’s single coverage. Instinctively, Marino took a deeper step than usual and signaled out John Brown, a former wide receiver turned tight end, who was breaking down the center of the field. There was the touchdown, and there was the Sugar Bowl.
1983: Penn State 27, Georgia 23
Georgia could only inch beyond its own 45 twice in the first half – though both times the drives resulted in points. The Bulldogs, though, closed the gap to 20-17 on the first series of the third quarter, going 69 yards in 11 plays with Herschel Walker scoring from the 1. Suddenly, the Sugar Bowl was up for grabs – and Penn State’s national championship could be down the drain. When Todd Blackledge got the ball back, in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, with a first down at the Bulldog 47, and Georgia in two-deep coverage and playing the run, Blackledge called “six-43,” a routine play-action fake while four receivers streak downfield. Flanker Greg Garrity flew past freshman cornerback Tony Flack and made a diving, skidding catch in the end zone. The only turnover Penn State would commit that night, a fumbled punt return by Kevin Baugh, made things close to the end. Bulldog quarterback John Lastinger pushed Georgia from the Nittany Lion 43 to the 9, where he scrambled and then threw back across the field to tight end Clarence Kay for a touchdown with 3:54 remaining. A two-point conversion would put Georgia – with one of the nation’s best kickers in Kevin Butler – in position to win with a field goal. But Walker was stopped short, leaving the score at 27-23.
2000: Florida State 46, Virginia Tech 29
With a backdrop of a Superdome filled to the rafters with a festive and raucous crowd, FSU’s Peter Warrick caught six passes for 163 yards and set a Sugar Bowl record by scoring 20 points. Michael Vick, Virginia Tech’s redshirt freshman quarterback, guided his team to 503 yards, most ever in a losing Sugar Bowl effort.
1997: Florida 52, Florida State 20
FSU’s Scott Bentley kicked a 45-yard field goal for the first points of the second half, but that was all the Seminoles wrote. Florida took complete command en route to its ultimate 32-point victory – piling up the most points ever scored by a single team in Sugar Bowl history – and the first national championship in Gators history.
2012: Michigan 23, Virginia Tech 20 (OT)
With the game tied, both teams returned to the field for an overtime coin toss. Michigan won the toss and elected to play defense first. David Wilson carried the ball two straight times, gaining two yards and three yards respectively. On third down, Logan Thomas threw a pass into the end zone to Danny Coale. The play was originally ruled a touchdown, but was overturned after a lengthy video review. Justin Myer then lined up for a 37-yard field goal, but pushed it to the right, giving Michigan the ball and the opportunity to win the game with a field goal. Michigan handed the ball to Fitzgerald Toussaint three straight times, which saw runs of three, two, and zero yards respectively. After a Tech timeout in an attempt to ice the kicker, Brendan Gibbons kicked a 37-yard field goal to give Michigan the victory and its first BCS win since the 2000 Orange Bowl
1979: Alabama 14, Penn State 7
If there is a single image that paints the Sugar Bowl picture, it’s this one: Alabama linebacker Barry Krauss, seemingly shot out of a missile silo, zeroing in on Penn State’s Mike Guman at the goal line. On fourth down, the Nittany Lions tried to muscle it in again, but Guman ran into Krauss. “They had called timeout before the fourth down, and they were trying to figure out what they were going to do and what we were going to do,” Krauss said. “We thought they’d go outside or throw because they had run it on third down (to no avail), so I had given myself a little more depth so I could flow to the outside. When he gave it back to Guman, and he came back inside, there was a hole. He saw it, and I did too.” The collision was one that, as Krauss remembers it, made time stand still. “He came over and I was able to hit him,” Krauss said. “After that, I wasn’t sure what happened.”
1973: Notre Dame 24, Alabama 23
The Irish faced third-and-six with 2:12 left. Coach Ara Parseghian told quarterback Tom Clements to go with a long count in hopes of drawing Alabama offsides. Instead, Irish tight end Dave Casper was the one who jumped, pushing Notre Dame back almost to the 2, and making the situation third-and-nine. Trouble was, the player who was supposed to catch the pass, Casper, got hung up in the middle of the field by the Tide defense, forcing Clements to look for his second option, Robin Weber, who hadn’t practiced in two days because of a knee injury and who hadn’t caught a single pass all season. An Alabama defensive back, expecting the run, froze. Weber blew past him and suddenly was all alone. Cutting diagonally, Weber saw Clements let loose with the pass and thought, ‘Oh (bleep), this is one I better not miss.” He didn’t, and Notre Dame had a new set of downs at the 38, from where the Irish were able to run out the clock.
1959: LSU 7, Clemson 0
The 1959 Sugar Bowl featured top-ranked LSU Tigers and Clemson. LSU had already secured the national title, as the final editions of both major polls were released a month earlier in early December. The game’s only score came in the late in third quarter, when Heisman winner Billy Cannon threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Mickey Mangham. Cannon was named Sugar Bowl MVP.
