It’s the week of the Super Bowl, but I don’t care who wins. I watch the NFL for entertainment and do not have a favorite team. I often mildly root for the team with the most former Georgia Bulldog players on their roster. I wanted to see the Rams in this year’s Super Bowl because Mathew Stafford, their quarterback, played for Georgia between 2006-2008, but alas, the Rams fell short in Seattle where they also battled the referees. The only sports team that I passionately favor is the Georgia Bulldogs football team. Most sports fans, and even Georgia Bulldogs’ fans don’t know how Georgia earned the nickname–Bulldogs. Here is the story of how that happened.
Before 1920 the Georgia football team was simply known as the Red and Black. During 1893, just their 2nd season, some fans did call them Bulldogs, but the name didn’t stick. By 1920 the press started calling them the Wildcats, however Georgia earned the nickname Bulldogs when they were playing Virginia on the road. Virginia athletic rules at the time didn’t allow freshmen to play, and 3 of Georgia’s star players were freshmen. Despite this handicap, Georgia held Virginia to a scoreless draw. The game included 2 goal line stands by Georgia, and a sportswriter by the name of Cliff Wheatley wrote Georgia “bulldogged Virginia at the goal line.” Georgia has been known as the Bulldogs ever since.
Georgia won the Southern Conference (precursor to the SEC) in 1920, and 1 pollster ranked them number 1 in the nation. They destroyed every team except Virginia and Alabama. The game against Alabama was an exciting classic, but unfortunately there is no film of it. Note how short the season was. Just 2 months.
The 1920 Georgia Bulldogs had a strong line. They were so good, Georgia started scheduling games against Ivy League powers the next year. The Ivy League still dominated college football during the 1920s.
The 1920 Georgia Bulldogs were a great team, finishing 8-0-1 in the Southern Conference, precursor to the SEC. The Berryman Quality Points Rating System rated them number 1 in the whole nation 70 years later, but official polls at the time gave the national championship to California and Princeton. Georgia destroyed most of the teams they played that year. Too bad, they didn’t play Georgia Tech that year because the Yellow Jackets also finished undefeated. The most exciting game of the year was against Alabama. Georgia took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, but Alabama fought their way back into the game. With 2 minutes left Alabama attempted to drop kick a short field goal that would have probably won the game, but Georgia’s Kirk Whelchel blocked the kick, and Buck Cheves returned it 87 yards for the winning touchdown. Descriptions of the play are sketchy because sportswriters at this time were a bunch of incoherent drunks, and there is no film of it. Football was not widely filmed yet. Georgia’s coach, Herman Stegeman, coached for 2 more seasons and later became athletic director and scout for the football team. The next year, Georgia began scheduling traditional Ivy League powers that were still considered the best teams in the nation during the 1920s.
Reference:
Smith, Loren
Between the Hedges: 100 Years of Georgia Football
Longstreet Press 1992
GeorgiaBeforePeople 