Kirk Herbstreit’s claim to fame is being one of the foremost experts on college football because of his long association with ESPN’s “College GameDay.” But he also is known as the only Ohio State quarterback to have played against Georgia.
OK, “known as” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. But, the fact is, Herbstreit was quarterbacking the Buckeyes the only time they have faced the Bulldogs on the gridiron. That came in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 1, 1993. Georgia emerged victorious, 21-14.
“I wish I would’ve played better,” Herbstreit said in a Zoom call Tuesday. “It was not a great game for me personally. Not that it’s not a great memory. It was kind of like a New Years Six game back then.”
Indeed, the Citrus Bowl was a fairly big deal in those days. It generally matched teams that finished just shy of national-championship consideration. That was the case following the 1992 season. The Bulldogs were led by Heisman Trophy finalist tailback Garrison Hearst, quarterback Eric Zeier, wide receiver Andre Hastings and a kind of no-name defense that could at times be fairly stout.
Coach John Cooper’s Buckeyes were similar, led by an elite tailback of their own in Robert Smith and the heady senior quarterback from Centerville, Ohio -- Herbstreit. Ohio State came up short in its bid to win the Big Ten, tying rival Michigan in the regular-season finale to go to the Citrus Bowl with an 8-2-1 record.
“Mitch Davis on defense, that’s the guy I remember most,” Herbstreit said. “He was chasing me around all day. What a talented guy he was.”
Davis, an edge rusher for the Bulldogs, had five tackles and two sacks, and he forced a fumble that played a big part in the final outcome. Herbstreit finished with 110 yards and an interception on 8-of-24 passing, Hearst ran for 163 and two scores, and Zeier was 21-of-31 passing for 242 yards. The win gave the Bulldogs a 10-2 record, and they finished the season ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press poll.
Georgia co-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp actually played safety for the Bulldogs that season. However, as a freshman walk-on, “played” is probably too strong a word. He was on the team and present in Orlando.
Muschamp joked that he knew UGA was going to win when he saw Herbstreit throw a signed football across the room at a fan event the week of the game. It was an unimpressive throw, to say the least.
“They were only allowed to throw the ball on third down,” Muschamp quipped. “They are night and day different now from what they were then. It was I-formation; they got tricky and got in twins. Totally different.”
Back in the Benz
Georgia will be playing at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the third time this season. The Bulldogs opened the season there against then-No. 8 Oregon in a Chick-fil-A Kickoff game and won 49-3. They returned Dec. 3, at which time they defeated LSU 50-30 to claim the SEC championship.
No. 1 Georgia will seek to go 3-0 for the season Saturday night when it faces No. 4 Ohio State in a College Football Playoff semifinal. Playing 65 miles from campus in a venue with which they’re very familiar would seem to be a decided advantage for the Bulldogs. But don’t bother bringing that up to them.
“I don’t think I want to dive in too much on that being an advantage,” center Sedrick Van Pran said. “I mean, every stadium is unique. The simple fact is you’ve got to go out and play your style of ball. I don’t think you can get too caught up in, you know, the stadium you’re playing in. At the end of the day, this is a playoff game, and Ohio State’s going to come in there and give it everything they have. In a game like this, those things tend to even out, and it’s going to come out to who executes the most.”
Impact of tight ends
Georgia has two great tight ends in Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington. But Ohio State thinks it has some pretty good ones, too, especially when it comes to offensive captain Cade Stover. A 6-foot-4, 255-pound senior, Stover ranks third among Buckeyes with 35 catches for 399 yards and five touchdowns. He can be a devastating blocker as well.
Stover was asked if he felt like his unit was being overlooked in comparison with the Bulldogs.
“That’s a good question,” Stover said. “I’m not getting caught up in what’s being said and what’s not being said. It really doesn’t matter at the end of the day. We’re just trying to win this game.”
Bowers, a 6-4, 230-pound sophomore, won the John Mackey Award as the nation’s best tight end. After setting a school record for the position with 56 catches for 882 yards and 14 touchdowns as a freshman last season, Bowers has come back with 52 for 726 and nine scores this season.
Georgia often pairs Bowers with Washington, a 6-7, 270-pound junior who ranks fifth on the team with 417 yards on 26 receptions and two touchdowns. Always a dominant blocker, Washington has enhanced his receiving game this season.
Stover believes tight end play is undergoing a resurgence nationwide.
“It’s a very key piece to a good offense,” he said. “You’ve got a guy who can be an offensive lineman and a receiver. If you’ve got a guy who can do both well, it can really add some elements to your offense. I think overall that’s brought the tight end position back to life, people realizing that you can do a lot with it.”
Bloody Tuesday
Asked a question about Georgia’s “Bloody Tuesday” tradition of having extremely physical, full contact practices on that day every week, Muschamp and the three Georgia players with him on the podium at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel all spoke out in spontaneous unison.
“It’s today!” they said at once.
And indeed it was. Never mind tapering off in anticipation of Saturday’s national semifinal. The Bulldogs are still going at it full bore in practice.
“It’s basically our hardest day in practice,” senior safety Christopher Smith said. “That’s when we get after it the hardest. We feel like that’s what this program is built on, bloody Tuesday.”
“If you don’t like contact, Georgia’s not the place for you,” Muschamp added.
Georgia balanced their afternoon session at Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a fairly packed bowl schedule. They visited patients at Scottish Rite Hospital late in the morning, then heard messages from U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young and football coach Bill Curry at Ebenezer Baptist Church in the evening. Later Tuesday night, they were scheduled to compete in a basketball shooting challenge at the team hotel.
On Wednesday, the schedule calls for more press conferences, practice and then a bus trip to Marietta to test their driving skills at Andretti Indoor Karting.
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