BEHIND THE SCENES: Georgia Bulldogs Rush The Field Against Florida in 2007
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JACKSONVILLE - It was a moment in college football history few will forget.
After watching the hated Florida Gators win the 2006 national championship, and with Tim Tebow still leading the Gators in 2007, the Georgia Bulldogs rushed the field on their opening touchdown drive in 2007.
No matter where you were, every Georgia fan remembers that moment. It was one of shock, disbelief, and excitement.
But let’s back up a little bit.
Coming into the 2007 game, it’s safe to say Florida had Georgia’s number. The Bulldogs did beat the Gators three years earlier in 2004, but Florida had the top program in college football and were dominating the series for the last decade and a half.
Georgia, led by the talented Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno on offense, were ready for the series to take a turn. Not as much as the Bulldog seniors, though.
Georgia needed to win this game for a lot of reasons. They were a program on the rise, they were consistently losing to Florida, and they needed to change the momentum in the series.
Head coach Mark Richt had a crazy idea going into the 2007 game. To rush the field if the team scored the first touchdown. Dawg Post spoke with two former Bulldogs on that team, linebackers Marcus Howard and Marcus Washington, who shared their memories of the 2007 game.
“The week of the Florida game coach Richt brought all the seniors together on Thursday and told us that he wanted to spice things up,” Howard said. “He told us that if we scored first that he wanted the entire team to run onto the field. We didn’t think he was serious at first, but he said he wanted to change the momentum of this ballgame and how this series has been going”.
“The seniors got together and we decided then that was going to be the plan”, Washington told Dawg Post. “Coach Richt wanted us to get so excited out there that the refs had to throw a penalty. The seniors tried to tell the rest of the team what to do, and they weren’t buying it at first until we made it clear it was happening.”
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Richt was right. Even though he led Georgia to a victory in 2004, the former coach knew he had to start winning that game in Jacksonville more often.
“Of course, when the game starts, we did score first, and for a split second everyone on the sideline started looking at each other”, Howard added. “Then before you knew it, half the guys on the sideline just ran on the field. It was a great experience and I’ve never witnessed anything like that in college football before. It will never be forgotten.”
“We got back to the sideline and said, alright y’all, we were just acting a fool out there, we can’t lose this game now!” Washington said. “It was a big sigh of relief in the locker-room. We were overwhelmed with joy. We were excited, jumping around, celebrating together. There is no Georgia/Florida curse. It’s just football.”
So who was the first to rush the field? Howard thought it was his good friend and senior defender, Kelin Johnson.
“I think Kelin Johnson may have been the first guy to run out there”, Howard said. “He was really outspoken. I do remember Trenton Sturdivant do the little dance out there. (Demarcus) Dobbs and Fernando (Velasco) were out there dancing. I celebrated from the sideline man. I was conserving my energy, haha.”
That was a good idea. It was a high-scoring game, but the Bulldog defense had a plan to rattle Tim Tebow, and that’s what happened as the Bulldogs defeated Florida 42-30.
The Bulldogs have had some big victories over Florida in the last 30 years. 1997 was a big deal. 2004 was a monumental victory. Aaron Murray leading Georgia to victories in 2011 and 2012 were a BIG deal at the time. 2013 wasn’t pretty, but Georgia got the job done.
Of course, Georgia’s had their way with Florida recently, winning four out of the last five games against their biggest rival.
Still, no win may have been bigger than the 2007 game. That game had everything, including a “rushing the field” moment that Georgia fans will never forget.