Georgia football: 5 most underrated players in Georgia Bulldogs history

Of all the superstar running backs who have made RBU…well, RBU, we hardly ever mention the four-year run Lars Tate had in Athens during the mid-1980s. Tate played for the legendary Vince Dooley in his final years as the Dawgs’ head coach. Though never Herschel Walker, because who is ever going to measure up to him, Tate proved to be an incredible running back for Georgia, too.

In four years, Tate had 615 carries for 3,017 yards and 36 rushing touchdowns. As a junior in 1986, Tate nearly broke the 1,000-yard threshold with 954 yards on the ground on 188 carries and a career-high 16 rushing touchdowns. In his final college season, Tate had 1,016 rushing yards on 208 carries and 14 rushing touchdowns.

Tate would go on to be a second-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1988 NFL Draft. Though he never rushed for 1,000 yards in any of his three NFL seasons, Tate led Tampa Bay in rushing during both years he played for them in 1988 and 1989. He retired after one season with the Chicago Bears in 1990.

Dawg fans identify with the marquee tailback they saw while they were in school. For me, that’s Knowshon Moreno and later Todd Gurley. Though stars like Walker, Garrison Hearst, Gurley and Nick Chubb were transformative players we’re always going to talk about, we’re doing a disservice by not mentioning Tate for what he was: A legendary Georgia running back from the mid-1980s.

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