Welcome to our countdown, and we have less than seven weeks before the first game! Each day leading up to the season opener, Patrick Garbin and I will each show three unique and creative ways why we feel that number is special to the Dawgs. Cornershop was a British group that started in the 1990s. Their biggest hit was “Brimful of Asha,” which peaked at No.16 in the United States, and No. 1 in the United Kingdom. The song’s lyrics of “Brimful of Asha on the 45” are memorable, but so are its lyrics, “Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow.” Somehow, while growing up, I recalled the second lyric a little more than the first (hmmm). Anyway, I also recall these Georgia football moments in regards to the number 45:

By Dave McMahon; Twitter @dave_mc_stats

3 – The Georgia Bulldogs have played in 51 bowl games—a total tied for the fourth-most of any school. Their 29 bowl victories are the third-most. In all of its bowl appearances, ironically, the most points Georgia has ever scored was 45 in the 2013 Capital One Bowl against Nebraska; however, the most points the Dawgs ever allowed in a bowl game was also 45 in the 1969 Sun Bowl against, of all teams, Nebraska.

2 – No. 45 Rodney “Boss” Bailey was the third of three Bailey brothers to play for Georgia. He had very good freshman and sophomore seasons before the unthinkable occurred. Bailey injured his knee on the opening kickoff of the 2000 season opener, and had to miss the entire season. In 2001, he returned, and made five of his six career interceptions. In 2002, Bailey led the SEC Champion Bulldogs in tackles with 114. During his senior campaign, he also had three big-time blocked field goals (against Tennessee, Ole Miss and Georgia Tech)—not bad for a player with a previously injured knee. In 2002, Bailey was named All-American and was a semi-finalist for the Butkus Award.

1 – Another player who injured his knee in the first quarter of the season opener of his junior season was Malcolm Mitchell (2013 vs. Clemson). Regardless, Mitchell still ended his career, statistically, as one of the best receivers in school history (and, just think, if it wasn’t for a short stint at cornerback to begin 2012, he would have had even better receiving stats). Mitchell ended his offensive career with 174 receptions for 2,350 yards and 16 touchdowns. His biggest catch might have been in his sophomore season. With Georgia leading by one in the fourth quarter of the Cocktail Party, Mitchell received a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. However, a few moments later he caught a short pass, broke some tackles, and scored a 45-yard touchdown as the Bulldogs defeated the Gators 17-9.

By Patrick Garbin; Twitter @PGarbinDT

3—From 1945 through 1948, quarterback John Rauch started every one of Georgia’s 45 games under center. His 45 career starts by a Bulldog signal caller was a school record for 56 years before broken by David Greene in 2004. Rauch still ranks third all time at Georgia:

2—John "Roy" Smith, a freshman left end from Winder, Ga., contributed little during the Red and Black's eight-game campaign of 1913—that is, until the Clemson contest at Augusta's Georgia-Carolina Fair. With Georgia trailing 15-6 in the final quarter, the 150-pounder became one of the Bulldogs’ greatest “One-Game Wonders” of all time, first catching a 30-yard touchdown pass from Bob McWhorter, and then later snaring a 45-yard game-winner from the All-American halfback. Not long after scoring his two momentous touchdowns in Georgia's 18-15 comeback victory, by all accounts, Smith, who was majoring in “Commerce,” departed the school for reasons unknown.

1—One of the best running backs in the state coming out of Atlanta’s Woodward Academy in 1970, No. 45 Keith Harris was transformed to the primary punter on the 1971 UGA freshman team, followed by Georgia varsity’s starting weakside linebacker from 1972 to 1974. After ranking second on the team in tackles in 1973 (101), he was Georgia’s leading tackler as a senior in 1974 (148). It was during his final season that Harris, who would be recognized by a UGA football panel of experts as one of the top four linebackers for the Bulldogs during the decade of the 1970s, had a real head-banging experience. At Kentucky—a game in which he helped clinch a 24-20 victory by forcing a fumble recovered by Tom Saunders—according to Harris, he was accidentally kicked in the back of the head by a teammate going for a tackle, and played the rest of the game with a concussion. Because of the concussion, he doesn’t remember details from that particular game at all. But, he does recall flying back home on the plane while some of his teammates ribbed him, asking, “Hey, Harris, what was the final score of the game?” Too much in a haze from the concussion, he couldn’t even tell them the final score. The teammates would inform Harris it was a 24-20 final, wait a couple of minutes, and then ask him again, “Hey, Harris, what was the final score of the game?” According to Harris, “And, again, I couldn’t tell them the final score. This went on and on…”