The Georgia Bulldogs come into this game 7-1, having lost only away to Mississippi by 4 points, and ranked Number 7 in the nation. The Florida Gators come in 6-1, having lost only to North Carolina by 3 points in a neutral-site game in Tampa -- An omen? -- and ranked Number 10. The game was nationally televised on ABC.
Florida led at halftime, 27-13. Georgia closed to within 27-20. With 4th-and-1 on their own 29-yard line, Florida coach Doug Dickey went for the 1st down instead of punting, and his team was stopped short. Georgia then scored 3 unanswered touchdowns, and won 41-27.
Dickey admitted, "We were not outplayed. We were outcoached. I made some dumb calls." Georgia fans and sportswriters have called it "Fourth and Dumb" ever since.
Florida lost the next week, too, away to Kentucky. They had beaten another of their rivals, Florida State; and went on to beat their other main rival, the University of Miami. They finished 8-3, and went to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, where they lost to Texas A&M.
Georgia ran the table, winning the Southeastern Conference Championship, and beating their other major rival, Georgia Tech. They finished 10-1, and went into the Sugar Bowl ranked Number 4. Had they won, they had a shot at being voted the National Champions, since their opponents, the University of Pittsburgh, were ranked Number 1. But Pitt beat Georgia.
It was the 3rd SEC title for Georgia coach Vince Dooley, and he would eventually win 5, including the 1980 National Championship. In 1989, he was succeeded as head coach by his 1976 quarterback, Ray Goff. Dooley died on October 28, 2022.
Dickey, who had grown up in Gainesville, and had been Florida's quarterback, had coached the University of Tennessee to 2 SEC titles, but could not do the same at his alma mater. As of November 6, 2022, he is still alive.
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November 6, 1976 was a Saturday. These other notable college football games were played that day:
* Number 1 Michigan were upset by Purdue, 16-14 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. This would be Michigan's only loss in the regular season, as they won the Big Ten Conference title.
* Number 2 University of Pittsburgh beat Army, 37-7 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh. An independent at the time, Pitt, with Heisman Trophy-winning running back Tony Dorsett, were invited to the Sugar Bowl, where they beat Georgia, completed an undefeated season, and won the National Championship.
* Number 3 UCLA beat Oregon, 46-0 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. But they lost their rivalry game to USC, and blew the Pacific-Eight Conference title, and shots at the Rose Bowl and the National Championship.
* Number 4 USC beat Stanford, 48-24 at Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California. USC won the Pac-8 title, went to the Rose Bowl, and beat Michigan.
* Number 5 Texas Tech beat Texas Christian University (TCU), 14-10 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.
* Number 6 Maryland beat the University of Cincinnati, 21-0 at Byrd Stadium (now SECU Stadium) in the Washington suburb of College Park, Maryland. Maryland won the Atlantic Coast Conference with an undefeated regular season.
* Number 8 Ohio State beat Illinois, 42-10 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. But a loss to Michigan cost Ohio State the Big 10 title. With the Big 10 finally having dropped their dumb rule of only going to the Rose Bowl, Ohio State were invited to the Orange Bowl, where they beat Colorado.
* Number 9 Nebraska beat Number 13 Oklahoma State, 14-10 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. But they lost their next 2 games, and blew the Big Eight Conference title.
* Number 11 Notre Dame lost to Georgia Tech, 23-14 at Grant Field in Atlanta.
* Number 14 Colorado lost to Number 16 Missouri, 16-7 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. But losses by Missouri and Nebraska allowed Colorado to back into the Big 8 title.
* Number 19 University of Houston beat Number 20 Texas, 30-0 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. Houston won the Southwest Conference title, and then beat Maryland in the Cotton Bowl, ending Maryland's undefeated season and its longshot hope at the National Championship.
* Navy beat Syracuse, 27-10 at Archbold Stadium in Syracuse, New York.
* Air Force beat Arizona State, 31-30 at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.
* And in New Jersey, Rutgers, Princeton
Baseball season was over. There were 7 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Golden State Warriors, 112-111 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
* The New York Nets lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 101-93 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Washington Bullets beat the Boston Celtics, 109-103 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. Elvin Hayes led all players on the day with 36 points.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Atlanta Hawks, 110-105 at The Omni in Atlanta. John Drew scored 35 points for the Hawks.
* The Buffalo Braves beat the Houston Rockets, 117-102 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* The Denver Nuggets beat the Milwaukee Braves, 105-103 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Indiana Pacers, 113-94 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.
There were 4 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 3-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* The New York Islanders beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 11-3 at the Montreal Forum. Steve Shutt scored 3 goals. Guy Lafleur had 2 goals and 2 assists.
* And the St. Louis Blues beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at the St. Louis Arena.
There were 3 games played in the World Hockey Association:
* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Birmingham Bulls, 6-5 at
* The Cincinnati Stingers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 7-3 at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati.
* And the San Diego Mariners beat the Houston Aeros, 4-1 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).
Also on this day, Pat Tillman was born. The Arizona Cardinals safety left the NFL to enlist in the U.S. Army after the 9/11 attacks, and was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2004.
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