Georgia Football's Top 10 Individual Game Performances Since 1980

The University of Georgia has a rich tradition on the football field with coaches and players.

Some games, players tend to take over a game with their individual performances and lead the Dawgs to victory.

Over the last 30 years, there have been many of these occasions. I have compiled a list of 10 player performances that will go down as some of the greatest days in Georgia history.

Many Georgia fans, if they were lucky enough to witness these games, still talk about them today.

10. Robert Edwards vs. Auburn (Nov. 16, 1996)

Georgia and Auburn played for the 100th time in the "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry" and it was a game for the ages.

Auburn was ranked No. 20 and the Dawgs were nowhere near the top 25.

Edwards had been benched and had to watch from the sidelines as his Dawgs were down 28-7 going into the fourth quarter.

After the Dawgs tied the game with an amazing comeback to send the game into overtime, Coach Donnan decided to put Edwards in the game.

During the four-overtime period, Edwards would catch three passes for 37 yards, run the ball 10 times for 67 yards, and score three touchdowns.

Of the 100 yards the Dawgs would gain, Edwards accounted for 97 of those yards and the Dawgs would defeat Auburn 56-49.

9. Eric Zeier vs. Southern Miss (Oct. 9, 1993)

During the 54-24 thumping of Southern Miss, Eric Zeier would go down as the greatest passer in Georgia history.

Zeier would set five Georgia records and one SEC record in this one game alone.

Zeier's final stats in this game are as follows: 30 completions out of 47 attempts, 544 yards passing with four touchdowns.

No other quarterback that has worn the Georgia uniform has even come close to matching Zeier's performance that day.

8. Kevin Butler vs. Clemson (Sept. 22,1984)

In this game, Clemson was ranked No. 2 in the country, while Georgia was ranked No. 20.

Georgia trailed 20-6 at the half with the Dawgs only two scores being Kevin Butler field goals.

After halftime, the Dawgs would find the end zone twice and Butler would kick another field goal to bring the score to 23-23.

With 11 seconds left on the clock, Coach Dooley sent Butler out on the field to attempt a field goal from the 50 yard line.

Butler would nail the SEC record-tying 60-yard field goal for his fourth of the game and Georgia defeated the No. 2 Clemson Tigers 26-23.

7. Scott Woerner vs. Clemson (Sept. 20,1980)

Early in the 1980 season, Georgia and Clemson would face one another in one of their many slugfests.

Herschel Walker was young and did not have a good day running the ball, but one of his fellow Dawgs would have the game of his life.

Scott Woerner returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown and returned an interception 98 yards to set up another touchdown.

Georgia would defeat Clemson 20-16 and without Woerner, they would have never finished undefeated and won the 1980 National Championship.

6. Herschel Walker vs. Vanderbilt (Oct. 18, 1980)

Really in this game, Vanderbilt did not have a chance, losing to Georgia 41-0 in Athens.

In just his fifth start as a freshman, Herschel Walker would set an SEC and Georgia record with 283 yards rushing on only 23 carries.

Yes, that is 12.3 yards per carry.

I guess to really put this performance in perspective, Herschel gained 283 yards, and Vandy only rolled up 228 yards as a team for the entire game.

5. DJ Shockley vs. Boise State (Sept. 3, 2005)

This game was supposed to be an upset according to most of the experts. Instead, it was DJ Shockley's coming out party.

In the first quarter, Shockley ran for a 14 yard touchdown and tossed a 40 yard score.

In the second quarter, Shockley threw a 20 yard touchdown and went into halftime with a 24-0 lead in his first career start.

Shockley started the third quarter just as fast as he did the first half. He threw touchdown passes of 56 yards, 31 yards, and five yards.

Shockley finished 16 of 24 for 289 yards as well as ran the ball five times for 85 yards.

He totaled six touchdowns, five passing and one rushing, as the Dawgs pounded the Broncos 48-13.

4. Keith Henderson vs. Florida (Nov. 9, 1985)

This was the first time Florida entered a game against Georgia being ranked No. 1 in the polls.

Keith Henderson ran the ball only a total of nine times, but he gained 145 yards taking two to the house on 76 yard and 32 yard runs.

The Dawgs defense held the Gators to only three points and left Jacksonville with a stunning 24-3 upset victory.

3. David Pollack vs. South Carolina (Sept. 14, 2002)

With Georgia riding a two game losing streak to the Gamecocks, David Pollack had one of the most memorable defensive performances in Georgia history.

With 14 minutes left in the game, up only 3-0, Pollack hit Carolina quarterback Jenkins in the end zone. While hitting Jenkins Pollack blocked the pass and intercepted the ball for a touchdown.

With the Dawgs up 13-7 and Carolina inside the 5-yard line, Pollack hit Jenkins again forcing a fumble that sealed the Dawgs victory.

Pollack would finish the game with 14 total tackles, an interception, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a touchdown.

2. Robert Edwards vs. South Carolina (Sept. 2, 1995)

Robert Edwards came to Georgia as a defensive back, but he was converted to tailback before the 1995 season.

In the first half of his first start, Edwards had only amassed 46 yards and the Dawgs trailed 14-7.

After Carolina opened the second half with a field goal to extend their lead to 17-7, Edwards broke the game wide open.

Within a seven minute span in the third quarter, Edwards would haul in a 45 yard touchdown and run for two more.

Edwards finished the game with 169 yards rushing on 30 carries and scored a total of five touchdowns leading the Dawgs to a 42-23 victory.

1. Herschel Walker vs. Notre Dame (Jan. 1, 1981)

Notre Dame entered the Sugar Bowl ranked No. 7 feeling very confident they would beat the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs. They felt Georgia's regular season was filled with a lot of lucky wins.

With Georgia losing 3-0, Herschel took his first hand off and got crushed.

His shoulder was dislocated.

Walker talked the doctors into letting him play. So they reset his shoulder and Herschel entered the field.

Herschel would score on one yard and three yard touchdown runs to seal the 17-10 victory for the 1980 National Championship.

Herschel finished the game with 150 yards on 36 carries and two touchdowns.

All this after dislocating his shoulder on his first carry. That, my friends, is what separates legends from the great ones.