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July 3, 2007

Mark Richt's Unusual Streak in Knoxville


Random tidbit / factoid for the day. As you know, Mark Richt has lead the Georgia Bulldogs to 3 victories in a row vs Tennessee in Knoxville.

The only other coaches to ever win three in a row in Knoxville:
    5 in a row - Bear Bryant (Alabama) '72-'80
    4 - John Vaught (Ole Miss) '60-66
    3 - Frank Thomas (Alabama) '33-'37
    3 - Bear Bryant (Alabama) 62-'64
    3 - Gene Stallings (Alabama) '90-94
    3 - Mark Richt (Georgia) '01-'05
Coaches who never did it despite multiple chances include:
    -- Steve Spurrier (UF/SC) 4-3 record in Ktown
    -- Shug Jordan (Auburn) He came close going 2-0-1 once
    -- Vince Dooley (Georgia) Also went 2-0-1 once
    -- Bobby Dodd (GT)
    -- Frank Howard (Clemson)
    -- Pat Dye (Auburn)
The Sewanee football team also hit the trifecta by winning in Knoxville during the 1903, 1904 and 1906 seasons, but I have no way of knowing if that was 1 coach or not. Back then coaches changed frequently.

If Steve Spurrier wins this year at Neyland, he would accomplish the feat with an asterisk. The Gators beat UT in 2000 (UF) and the Gamecocks won in 2005. A win this year, would make it three in a row for Spurrier, but not with a single team.

Regardless, Richt is in rare company when it comes to success in Neyland.

As for the flip side of this equation. The longest single coach consecutive win streaks against the Dawgs in Athens belong to:
    4 - Bobby Dodd (GT)
    4 - Phil Fulmer (UT)
    4 - Pat Dye (AU)
    3 - Terry Bowden (AU)
    3 - Shug Jordan (AU)
    3 - Harold D. "Red" Drew (Alabama)
    3 - John Heisman (Clemson) 1900-1903
Note: Bear never did it. You can also see that Auburn has always done really well in Athens. Conversely, Richt (2-1), Donnan (2-1), Goff (1-1-1) and Dooley (7-5-1) faired pretty well at Auburn.

See Also:
-- All stats compiled using College Football Data Warehouse

PWD

(If I omitted something on either side, send me a link with the years and teams)

16 comments:

JasonC said...

Ahhh, those were the days when Tenn was Bama's bee-yatch!
Heck, any time when Tenn is anyone else's whipping boy is a good time (save Florida maybe).

Unknown said...

Correction?

Was Fulmer the coach in the UGA vs. UT game in 1992? Or was Johnny Majors?

That was the transition year. So Fulmer's streak may only be at 3.

Anonymous said...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but those wins under Fulmer are credited to him and not Majors. I think that's right. We didn't deserve to win the 1992 game with 6 turnovers, losing by 3. That might have been the only year in the 90's where we were the better team. They are a bit fortunate that we became annual rivals while they were so up and we were so mediocre.

Anonymous said...

Fulmer was the Coach in the 1992 game. Fulmer coached first 3 games and then the bowl. Can you believe that from 92-95 Tennessee played Uga in Week 2 and Florida in Week 3? What fool came up with that schedule?

Richt's streak is also impressive when considering that 2 of those 3 Vol teams were pretty good (01 was 11-2, 03 was 10-3). Bear's streak is a little skewed b/c TN just wasn't that great at the time.

Unknown said...

When folks say the 50s and 90s were two of our worst decades EVER, they aren't kidding.

AU, UA and GT all hung big winning streaks on us in Athens in the 50s and AU and UT did the same thing in the 90s.

Pat Dye is the only person to hang a big streak on us in Athens in one of our "up" decades (the 80s).

JasonC said...

Yes, we gave that 92 game away. Hastings running with the ball like a loaf of bread- oh, it's a fumble! That and the heartbreaking loss to Florida in the Monsoon Bowl, kept us from a possible SEC title and even a run at the National Championship.

Unknown said...

The Monsoon Bowl (aka "Timeout Florida) was '93.

The '92 Gator game had great weather. Frank Harvey broke off a LONG run early and Garrison Hearst did the Heisman pose.

92 was 26-24
93 was 33-26

Anonymous said...

AND in 1992, Georgia's albatross Ray Goff only ran Garrison Hearst (approximately) seven times the whole damn game. The dude should have won the Heisman, and the idiot ran him less than ten times.

On a side note, Garrison Hearst now works out regularly at the Forum in Lenox Mall in Atlanta where I have had the pleasure of meeting him recently. Nice guy.

JasonC said...

Thank you, you are correct. I got my disappointing losses mixed up.

Anonymous said...

Frank Harvey went 80 on the first play from scrimmage in 92. AWESOME.


On another note, Does anyone know when they will release the roster (#'s etc.) with all the freshman included?

Anonymous said...

Anon, try this link.. never posted a link in a comment thread so you may need to copy/paste..

http://www.dawgrun.com/message_board/georgia/2007/June/6/489446.php

Anonymous said...

e/6/489446.php

Anonymous said...

The '92 UGa team was the best since '82 and still managed to lose to a good, but not great Gator team. Same with the Vols. We dismantled OSU in the Citrus Bowl and if not for all those damn turnovers, could have easily played for the NC.

Another point, most elite programs (which includes UGa) have really good teams every 5 yrs or so. For us - '71, '76. '80-82, '87, '92, '97, '02, and '07 perhaps. Maybe '08 but we're getting close to that benchmark.

Safe to say, the '92 team was possibly the best pure offensive squad we've ever had when you consider the balance. The D was pretty good but couldn't stop two enemy QB's when it really counted. I think we're about to see a resurgence of really good Georgia offense which when combined with our defensive-minded staff could spell very good things (knock on wood).

JasonC said...

'92 was a great offensive team. I remember coming into UGA with a decent 91 season and then the great 92 season (w/ 2 blemishes) and thinking that we were going to be awesome and get that NC w/ Zeier. Alas, the wheels fell off. Of course, Hearst and Hastings leaving hurt, but I think 2 guys who graduated that really hurt us were Jack Swann (C) and Mac Strong (FB). They were definitely unsung heroes. Harvey had some great skills, but when you look at Stong's longevity in the NFL, it was easy to see he was a great all-around FB. Swann was the leader of the OL.
And most of those highly recruited OLs that came in with Zeier, never were the dominating guys they were supposed to be.

Anonymous said...

Bryant only played at Athens 6 times, surprisingly.

Anonymous said...

I would say that the 1983 team was a much better team than the 1992 team was. That team played 4 teams that finished in the top 10 and went 2-1-1 against them. With the lone loss being a 6 point loss to eventual SEC champ Auburn.

1992 was a great offensive team with tremendous balance and just had a lousy day with TO's against the Vols. But the defense and the overall attitude is what sets 1983 apart from 1982. 1983 team had a chip on its shoulder and went out and proved that that senior class was much more than just Herschel Walker, which it was. To finish #4, lose to #3 by 6, and defeat a team that would've otherwise been national champs in the Cotton Bowl was all about attitude. The 1992 was a favorite, but the kind of championship calibur team that 1983 was.

 
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