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No. 5 Dickey’s 4th Down Decision (1976)
Winning Streak Prior to Game: Georgia (two)
Effect on SEC Race: Huge
Effect on National Landscape: None
What Happened:
This meeting between Florida and Georgia featured a Top-10 matchup between one-loss teams. The Gators (6-1) were ranked tenth and the Bulldogs (7-1) were above them at seventh.
Florida took a 27-13 lead into the half, but in the third quarter began to unravel. After a Georgia score cut it to 27-20, Florida head coach Doug Dickey thought it’d be a strategically good move to go for it on fourth down and one from his own 29-yard line. He called an option play that the Bulldogs snuffed out, and the momentum shifted.
Georgia scored on their ensuing drive, and ultimately won the game 41-27. Dickey’s decision became forever known as “fourth and dumb”. The loss would have a profound effect on Florida. They finished the season 8-4 with a 23-point loss in the Sun Bowl.
As for Georgia, they won the SEC and made it all the way to the National Championship at 10-2. There they would fall to Pittsburgh by a score of 27-3.
