It was perhaps the late Larry Munson’s greatest radio call and came in the final moments of the 2001 game between Georgia and Tennessee.
David Greene was a redshirt freshman and starting at quarterback for Georgia, and the Bulldogs had lost nine of their previous 10 games against Tennessee. In Knoxville, Georgia and rookie head coach Mark Richt were unranked and facing the No. 6 Volunteers, who led 24-20 with only 44 seconds left in the game.
But Greene marched Georgia to the Tennessee 6-yard line with 10 seconds left.
Greene said Richt then called the play “P-44 Haynes,’’ where the fullback Vernon Haynes runs through the center of Tennessee’s defense and then turns around in the end zone. He was wide open, and Greene hit him on the numbers for the win.
Munson, meanwhile blurted out, “My God Almighty, did you see what he did? David Greene just straightened up and we snuck the fullback over! We just dumped it over! 26-24! We just stepped on their face with a hobnail boot and broke their nose! We just crushed their face!’’
Said Greene, “It wasn’t until the next week and everyone started talking about Larry’s call. It is a simple play. Tennessee had a tendency to play a quarters’ coverage in the red zone and this play only works against quarters. Essentially, we take our outside receivers and run corner routes to occupy the corners and safeties. It is a play-action pass, and the fullback goes to the left and the tailback to the right. Vernon went straight for the end zone and turned around and was wide open as the linebacker was flat-footed. Coach Richt told me he would be wide open, and it was just a matter of executing the play.’’
By the way, what is a hobnail boot? Actually, it is worn to gain traction on icy and rocky surfaces, and the sole of the boot has small nails that project from it.
Munson never was really clear where the use of “the hobnail boot’’ came from, but said in his autobiography: “I think I was thinking about those German army boots and how those guys would walk in unison down the street after they had conquered somebody. Maybe I was thinking about jackboots and the hobnailed thing just came out.’’
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