The Georgia-Auburn series has a lengthy history. Probably more often than in its other rivalries, Georgia has an obscure player seem to come from nowhere to star. Granted, Auburn has had its fair share of these type of performances in the rivalry as well, but Georgia's have been near legendary.
Counting down from ten, the following is my opinion of the top performances by unheralded Bulldogs in the “Deep South's Oldest Rivalry” during the modern era. Although the names of some of these Georgia players may be forgettable, their performances in this storied series are quite memorable.
No. 10—Joe Dupree (1990): We start the countdown with the only top-10 performance that resulted in defeat for Georgia. Joe Dupree, who previously had appeared only briefly in two games during the ’90 season, entered the contest on Georgia’s fourth possession, with his team already trailing by double digits. Still, the true freshman quarterback would essentially be the lone bright spot for an offense that totaled just 221 yards in a 33-10 loss. Although Dupree passed for only 11 yards, he rushed for a game-high 119 yards on 18 carries against the Tigers. He also suffered the game’s only injury, taking a hit to the chin in the third quarter. It required six stitches. From '76 to the present, a span of 518 games, Dupree’s performance remains one of only two occasions when a Georgia quarterback produced a 100-yard rushing outing.
No. 9—A Three-Headed Quarterback (1944): Georgia had newly implemented the T-formation, in which the quarterback primarily passed the football (as opposed to the tailback in the old single-wing formation). The war-torn Bulldog squad of 1944 entered its game against Auburn in neutral Columbus, Ga., expected to have its hands full against the Tigers. Instead, the quarterbacking trio of Billy Hodges, Ken McCall, and George Skipworth—all first-year Bulldogs who had been too young to enter the war’s draft—combined to complete 14 of 20 passes for exactly 300 yards, five touchdowns and one interception in a 49-13 blowout victory. The total yards passing, albeit considered unofficial, marked Georgia’s first 300-yard passing game in program history. If recognized as official, the Bulldogs’ five touchdown passes would have stood alone as a school single-game record until equaled during the 2002 season.
No. 8—Paul Gilbert (1970): Entering with a disappointing 4-4 record and as a 20-point underdog, Georgia was given little chance to upset Auburn on the road in 1970. Nonetheless, quarterback and Athens native Paul Gilbert, who had played off and on in three years, including a few starts, was said to be the difference—in "control of the team and the ball"—in a 31-17 win over the 8th-ranked Tigers. Completing just 4 of 11 passes for 73 yards while rushing for 25 yards on 15 carries, unsung Gilbert's performance under center was far from flashy. But it certainly got the job done in what remains the Bulldogs’ second-biggest upset in the modern point-spread era (last 60 years).
No. 7—Brad Johnson (1966, 1968): Through his first eight games as a member of Georgia's varsity in 1966, fullback Brad Johnson had been regarded as simply a good blocker and a suitable backup to standout Ronnie Jenkins. However, in a 21-13 win over Auburn, the sophomore reserve nearly equaled his rushing yardage for the season entering the game. Helping capture Coach Vince Dooley's first SEC championship, Johnson rushed 13 times for 99 yards and a touchdown. After missing the 1967 Auburn game with an injury, he again starred against the Tigers as a senior, gaining 91 of the Bulldogs’ 147 rushing yards in a 17-3 win over the 12th-ranked team in the country. Consider that of Johnson’s 714 combined rushing yards for the 1966 and 1968 campaigns, 190 of them were gained in championship-clinching victories on the road at Auburn.
No. 6—Tra Battle (2006): Battle was certainly no obscure Bulldog. Still, no one would have predicted the impactful performance the two-year starting safety would deliver for Georgia, which entered as an 11-1/2-point underdog, on the Plains in 2006. Tying a modern-day school record, Battle picked off as many Tiger passes (three—all in the first half) as he had corralled all season. What's more, he intercepted just one pass fewer than Auburn completed the entire game (four), while spearheading a Georgia defense that limited the Tigers to a paltry 171 total yards. Battle’s second interception was returned for a 30-yard touchdown, giving the Bulldogs a 24-0 lead while essentially icing one of the bigger upsets by Georgia in more than 30 years.
No. 5—Lauren Hargrove (1951): Lauren Hargrove, or the “Fabulous Phantom of Fitzgerald,” entered the 1951 Auburn game having rushed for roughly 350 yards in almost two entire seasons at Georgia before a record-establishing performance in Columbus against the Tigers. Lining up at both halfback and fullback in a 46-14 rout, Hargrove rushed for 167 yards on 14 carries, including a 79-yard scoring jaunt off left tackle, and made a 30-yard reception. Notably, the Phantom’s 167-yard effort would stand as the school’s single-game record for most rushing yards by an individual until Glynn Harrison rushed for 172 yards against Vanderbilt nearly a quarter-century later in 1974.
No. 4—Sylvester Boler (1973): Although Sylvester Boler only appeared in the final five games of the 1973 season, the linebacker’s freshman campaign remains arguably one of the top single-season performances by a Bulldog newcomer. After coming off the bench and defensively dominating against Tennessee and Florida, Boler got his first start against Auburn in Athens—and he certainly made the most of it. Following what was initially reported as a 30-tackle effort in a 28-14 win over the Tigers (coaches' film later revealed he officially recorded 18 tackles), Boler began to be considered by some UGA assistants as the greatest linebacker ever at the school—based on merely a three-game college career.
No. 3—Don Porterfield (1962): Halfback Don Porterfield wasn't expected to make much of an impact, if any at all, when a 2-3-3 and 11-point underdog Georgia squad played at 6-1 Auburn in 1962. In the games the little-used sophomore had appeared in during the season, he mostly saw spot duty. However, in a 30-21 upset win—the biggest victory during the three-season Coach Johnny Griffith era—Porterfield caught touchdown passes of 15, 13, and 4 yards, and also made a 31-yard non-scoring reception from quarterback Larry Rakestraw. The sophomore's three-touchdown performance against the Tigers equaled half the number of scores he would total for his entire three-year varsity career.
No. 2—Wayne Johnson (1986): Entering the ’86 Auburn game, reserve quarterback Wayne Johnson had played sparingly since starting the first few games the season before as a redshirt freshman. Only a few hours prior to kickoff against the 8th-ranked and 11-point favored Tigers, news of the passing of first-stringer James Jackson's grandmother gave Johnson the starting nod. In a 20-16 upset win, the sophomore signal-caller completed all but one of his seven pass attempts and was responsible for both of Georgia's touchdowns. Because of his performance in engineering the Bulldogs to the improbable victory, Johnson received the starting nod for the regular-season finale against Georgia Tech as well.
No. 1—Michael Johnson (2002): With receiving standouts Terrence Edwards and Damien Gary out with injuries, split end Michael Johnson was not only starting his first game of the 2002 season versus Auburn, but became quarterback David Greene's primary target in the Bulldogs' 24-21 comeback win over the Tigers. Having made just 18 career receptions in 21 games as a Bulldog, Johnson remarkably caught 13 passes for 141 yards. More so, his performance included being on the receiving end of one of the greatest pass plays in UGA football history—a game-winning 19-yard touchdown catch on fourth down with 1:25 remaining, which helped Georgia capture its first-ever SEC East crown.
