Five best moments from Florida-Georgia football rivalry
By John Buhler
Florida-Georgia is one of the best rivalries in college football. Here are the five best moments from the Florida Gators and the Georgia Bulldogs’ saga.
It’s not only one of the best rivalries in the SEC, but Florida-Georgia is one of the best rivalries in college football. The Florida Gators and the Georgia Bulldogs absolutely hate each other. The two SEC East schools can’t agree on the all-time series record and refuse to meet at each other’s football cathedral unless they absolutely have to.
This annual rivalry is one of the few neutral site games left in college football. It is played annually at the end of October near Halloween in Jacksonville, first at the Gator Bowl and now at EverBank Field. Georgia claims an all-time series lead of 50-42-2, while Florida believes it to be 49-42-2.
There is no way around it, these two schools view each other as their biggest rival in the SEC. That’s saying something, as both Florida and Georgia have made a ton of enemies over the years with their physical brand of football.
With Florida-Georgia approaching on Saturday, October 29 at 3:30 p.m. ET at EverBank Field in Jacksonville in Week 9, here are the five best moments from this SEC rivalry series.
5. Appleby to Washington
1975 Florida-Georgia game featured two ranked teams and one of the most unbelievable plays in this SEC rivalry series. Florida came into the game at 6-1 and No. 7 in the nation. The Gators were favored over the 5-2 Bulldogs, ranked No. 19.
Florida would go up early on a Tony Green one-yard rushing touchdown, 7-0. The ‘Junkyard Dawgs’ defense of Georgia’s would give up yards between the 20s, but rarely in the red zone. It was a defensive struggle in down in Jacksonville with Florida leading Georgia late, 7-3.
Georgia needed to get into the Florida end zone to upset the Gators. With 3:10 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, Bulldogs head coach Vince Dooley went against his conservative play calling and drew up the greatest trick play this SEC rivalry has ever seen.
On the Bulldogs’ 20-yard line, Georgia quarterback Matt Robinson handed the football off to tight end Richard Appleby on a reverse to the right. Rather than run the ball for a first down, Appleby heaved the ball 50 yards through the air and into the arms of wide receiver Gene Washington for an 80-yard touchdown strike.
This play yielded one of Larry Munson’s iconic calls from the Georgia booth with “the girders are bending!” Florida would have two more possessions to try to overcome the 10-7 deficit, but the ‘Junkyard Dawgs’ defense wouldn’t break. The Gators could execute the snap and hold correctly on its game-tying field goal attempt. Georgia would beat Florida, 10-7 in Jacksonville in 1975.