•     Home
• About Buck
• Scouting Report
•    Clinics
• 1980 Season
•   Photos
•   Blog

As we reported for preseason practice, there was all this hype surrounding the arrival of freshman running back Herschel Walker. Needless to say, we were anxious to see what kind of impact he was going to make. And the annual conditioning test gave us all something to talk about.

For the veterans, they challenged us to two, 1-mile runs, back-to-back. We were divided into position groups, so the offensive backs and receivers ran with the defensive backs. The time to beat in the first mile was 5:30 and the second was 5:45, which was run after a short break. The key was to keep a good pace. Scott Woerner was the pacesetter for our group. Just stay close to Woerner and you’d make the time. So, that’s what I did. Only a couple of guys didn’t make it. And they looked silly trying to sprint to the finish line unsuccessfully. Coach Dooley looked at them with disgust.

The freshmen were asked to run a mile. The backs time was something like 6:15. The bear jumped on Herschel’s back as he began the 4th lap around the UGA track that morning. The vets were there watching. It was obvious Herschel wasn’t going to make the time. He was struggling at the 220 mark. That’s when senior OT Nat Hudson ran over to join him. Nat encouraged him to finish and jogged with him around to the finish line. We all cheered.

That was a great example of the quality leadership we got that season. Hudson had his back. Later the guys would have some fun with Herschel about that. Herschel would smile and mention something about only having to run 100 yards on the football field. Anyway, camp was underway.

George Haffner had replaced Bill Pace as the OC and QB coach that spring. He made the jump from FSU, with some new ideas for our I-Formation. We all thought he was going to mix in the pass a little more. Or maybe that was just me.

The offense was full of veterans. The O-Line featured 4 seniors (Hudson, Morrison, Nall, and Harper) and a junior (Blakewood). We had 2 experienced FBs (Womack & Stewert). At receiver, Lindsay Scott and Amp Arnold were vets and playmakers. This was my 3rd year of getting snaps with the #1 offense at QB. Rex Robinson was the best kicker in CF so that was a strength. The only place we were young at was tight end, where talented sophomore Norris Brown was stepping in. Norris took control of that position in camp.

The only real issue was at tailback. We needed a physical runner to get the most out of our offense. Willie McClendon in ’78 was outstanding. We needed a big back like that.

Erk Russell was running his famous Split-60 defense for what was to be his final season at Georgia. There were 7 senior starters (Miles, McShea, Ros, Woerner, Welton, Hipp and Fisher). Weaver and Payne were monsters on the D-Line, and Creamons and Crowe were tough, physical players too. Sophomore Nate Taylor stepped in next to Ros at LB and made a huge impact, by being a physical tackler. So, there were no issues really on defense.

We had a team that was capable of competing for the SEC Title, if Herschel emerged.

Two-a-day practices were rough and tough. Coach Dooley had a lot of “competitive reps” planned for each day in pads. That’s the #1 offense going against the #1 defense. Those periods amped up the energy level of practice. And we were fortunate there were no big injuries. I really enjoyed that competition. Coach Dooley did a nice job of keeping a good balance too. Don’t want to do this too much, because it might divide the team a little, with all the intense competition.

Herschel picked up the system quickly. Coach Mike Cavan did a nice job of getting him ready. He looked good running it, but I didn’t see greatness until game day rolled around.

I really enjoyed practice because that’s when we throw the ball around. And believe me, it was fun throwing it to Lindsay Scott, Amp Arnold and Norris Brown. They could go get it. And they were working against Scott Woerner, Mike Fisher, and Dale Williams at cornerback. These were some good battles.

And the inside drills, where the #1 OL and #1 DL were going at it got nasty. That competition was always high intensity. And it was good for the team. Those guys were ready to go, when we got to Knoxville.

A year earlier, our conditioning test set us back. They had us sprinting quarters or “440s”, and then go immediately to running 20-25 sprints. We had guys going down with pulled leg muscles left and right. This time around, we were pretty healthy starting the season.