Georgia football: 5 best seasons in program history

You can’t have one without the other. Georgia’s first national championship came in 1942 under head coach Wally Butts. Georgia went 11-1 that season, going 6-1 in SEC play. Though the Dawgs’ lone blemish that year was vs. the Auburn Tigers in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, Georgia was never worse than a top-five team throughout the year.

Dropping to No. 5 in a neutral-site affair in Columbus vs. Auburn only helped set up the Dawgs for their most impressive victory of the season. Georgia shut out in-state rival No. 2 Georgia Tech at Sanford Stadium 34-0 to go to the Rose Bowl. The Dawgs then shut out UCLA in its own building 9-0 en route to being named national champions.

Of Georgia’s 11 victories that season, six were by shutout, including a 77-0 killing of Florida in Jacksonville. Georgia beat three ranked teams that year, No. 3 Alabama at Grant Field in Atlanta (weird), No. 2 Georgia Tech in Athens and No. 13 UCLA in Pasadena. Carrying them every step of the way was their dynamic backfield of Frank Sinkwich and Charley Trippi.

While Trippi was the star of the 1946 team, Sinkwich became Georgia’s first Heisman Trophy winner in 1942. Though his professional career was far less impressive than Trippi’s Sinkwich remains an SEC legend by being the first player from this conference to ever win the Heisman. Though Ohio State was named the No. 1 team in the final AP poll, Georgia still claims this title.