HATE WEEK: Top 10 Greatest COFH Games #4

Ed. Note: Apologies for the tardiness of this post. I was visiting my Grandpa at the VA Hospital in Atlanta this morning. I would also appreciate y'all to keep in your thoughts and prayers.

Background

The year was 1984, and uga had won seven straight. It was miserable. I wasn't even being thought about at that point, but it was miserable. And this year, it looked like it would be more of the same.

georgia was 7-1-0 and ranked eighth in the entire country going into the game and were already thinking about the possibility of another National Championship after winning one four years prior.

To have any national championship aspirations, however, they would need to get past Florida and Auburn. Long story, short, the dwags got crushed by both, losing 27-0 to Florida and 21-12 to Auburn, thus ending any hopes for a national championship that year.

Tech started the year off well, opening with a 16-6 upset victory over Alabama and two more victories over The Citadel and Clemson. However, they would only win two of its next seven games.

The Game

The seven-point favorite dwags kicked off to open the game and took a 3-0 lead after their second drive with a 57-yard field goal from Kevin Butler.

Later in the second quarter, Tech would finally get some points on the board. Robert Lavette ran to the left side of the field to score Tech's first touchdown of the game. And with that touchdown, Lavette became only the second player in the history of the series to score a touchdown in four COFH games, joining Tech-great Eddie Lee Ivery.

Just three minutes later, Tech extended its lead when John Dewberry called an audible at the line of scrimmage from a second-and-nine at uga's 30-yard line. He changed the play to a QB draw. He ran it right up the middle 30 yards for a touchdown.

uga responded with a 14-play, 61-yard drive that ended with a fourth-and-one 34-yard field goal.

Tech, on the other hand, responded much better. After receiving the ensuing kickoff, they marched the ball 80 yards for a touchdown from Dewberry to Gary Lee from 10 yards out.

On their first drive of the second half, Tech drove seven plays and 34 yards up to uga's 31-yard line. Tech handed the ball off to Malcolm King who ripped it straight up the middle all the way for the touchdown. This score gave Tech their 1000th point of the entire series.

A few minutes later, Tech intercepted a pass from georgia's David Dukes at georgia's 17-yard line. A few snaps later, Tech was back in the endzone after Dewberry found Gary Lee again, this time for nine yards, making the score 35-6.

georgia attempted to mount a comeback, but with 33 seconds left in the game, up 35-16 on fourth down, Tech's punter Mike Snow was ordered to down the ball, giving the dwags a safety and the game its final score of 35-18.

The Aftermath

The streak preceding this game didn't just encompass the football series. It encompassed everything. Tech had not beaten uga in anything in the past nearly 1000 days, the last one coming in a 9-7 baseball victory in 1982. Prior to that, Tech had not beaten uga in football since 1977.

And they didn't just win this game, they dominated.

Tech led the way in first downs (19-15) and total yards (373-293). Dewberry accounted for 135 yards. Lavette rushed 27 times for 109 yards. Gary Lee only rushed the ball six time, but picked up 104 yards.