Dave McMahon and Patrick Garbin

Welcome to our countdown! We are more than quarter of the way through, and football will be here probably sooner than you think… In 74 days, Georgia will be facing North Carolina at the Georgia Dome. Each day leading up to the season opener, Patrick Garbin and I will show three unique and creative ways why we feel that number is special to the Dawgs. One of my favorite bands when I was in college was The Connells. They were very big in the South, having many popular songs, including “Stone Cold Yesterday” and “Get a Gun.” Another song, “’74-’75,” hit No. 14 on the UK Singles’ chart. They opened up for such renowned bands like Def Leppard, but still brought me good memories of the times they played in Athens. Speaking of memories in Athens, here are some good memories of Georgia football relating to the number 74:

By Dave McMahon

3 – If you read my bio under the section marked “About Us” above, you will see that I grew up in South Florida. So, the two teams I saw the most growing up were the Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes. Both teams were very “pass happy,” and their quarterbacks put up some pretty big numbers. I was shocked to see that former Georgia head coach Ray Goff was far from pass happy when he played quarterback, attempting just 74 passes, completing 37, for his career at Georgia. Yes, he split time with Matt Robinson but, still, I thought that was crazy! With that being said, Goff was a very good runner, rushing 273 times in his career for 1,434 yards. In the 1976 Cocktail Party against Florida, he threw just enough for a victory. The Dawgs trailed the Gators 27-13 at halftime before Goff led Georgia to a 41-27 comeback. For the game, he passed for two touchdowns to go along with three touchdown runs. For the 1976 season, Georgia won the SEC title while Goff earned SEC Player of the Year honors.

2 – During the 2000s, Sean Bailey was a very solid receiver for the Bulldogs. For his career, he caught 75 passes for 1,269 yards and 12 touchdowns. So, if he had 75 receptions, why didn’t I write about him yesterday? In the 2005 SEC Championship game against LSU, Sean Bailey had two receptions, both for touchdowns, totaling 74 yards. His two scores—45-yard and 29-yard receptions from D.J. Shockley in the first quarter—helped the Bulldogs defeat the Tigers, 34-14. After the game, Bailey injured his knee in bowl practice, and did not play in the Sugar Bowl, and would also miss the entire 2006 season. But, in 2007, he came back to lead the Dawgs in receptions, yards receiving, and touchdown receptions.

1 – If you’re in your, say, 30s and older, a Georgia player you’re likely familiar with is Craig Hertwig, or “Sky” as most fans knew the 6-foot-8 lineman from 1972 to 1974. He first started at tight end for the Bulldogs before moving to the offensive line, whereupon he donned jersey No. 74. As a senior in 1974, Hertwig was a team captain and a First Team All-American offensive tackle. After playing in the NFL, he moved back to Athens where he bought and ran several successful bars, including The 5th quarter, Sky’s Place, and Nowhere Bar. In 2012, Sky passed away at the age of 60.

By Patrick Garbin

3—74 is for PATSY ROCCO, who not only is likely a member of Georgia’s all-time “All-Name Team,” but would also be considered part of the program’s all-time Off-To-A-Blazing-Start Bulldogs squad. Playing in just the second game of his first varsity season of 1949, the sophomore halfback returned a Chattanooga punt 74 yards for a touchdown, capping the scoring of a 42-6 Georgia victory. Only the week before against Furman—his first varsity game—Rocco had returned an interception 79 yards for a score in a 25-0 Bulldogs win. Notably, by the end of the 1949 season after playing sparingly, Rocco had gained 178 all-purpose yards on only eight touches, including the two long-distance touchdowns.

2—Speaking of Georgia’s all-time teams, 74 is for No. 74 GUY McINTYRE, a tight end-turned-defensive tackle-turned-tight end-turned-offensive tackle, who would certainly be a candidate for the Bulldogs’ all-time Side-Switching team. The only freshman to be a starter along Georgia’s defensive line in Vince Dooley’s first 19 seasons as head coach, McIntyre’s performance in 1979 against Florida remains one of the best defensive outings by a true freshman in the history of the Georgia-Florida series. Eventually switching to the other side of the ball, he earned All-SEC honors at offensive tackle as a junior in 1982 and senior in 1983. In McIntyre’s rookie season of a 13-year NFL career, in which he won three Super Bowls and appeared in five Pro Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers, he switched sides yet again during the 1984 NFC Championship Game, becoming who was believed to be the first linemen in the modern era of the NFL to be used as a blocking back/fullback.

3—74 is for big No. 74 MAX JEAN-GILLES, a standout offensive lineman for the Bulldogs during the mid-2000s. Hailing from Miami, Fla., Jean-Gilles was ranked as the nation’s top lineman by SuperPrep when he signed with Georgia in 2002. After playing a reserve role as a true freshman, he started every one of the Bulldogs’ 39 games from 2003 through 2005—14 at offensive tackle, 25 at offensive guard. Jean-Gilles achieved the rare feat of earning all-conference honors for every season he started; plus, as a senior in 2005, he was a consensus First-Team All-American.