It was the pre-game show of the 1981 Sugar Bowl, and the bands for the University of Georgia and University of Notre Dame took the field together at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
The plan was for the bands to spell U-S-A. But some members of the UGA Redcoat Marching Band had another plan.
“They turned that ‘S’ into a ‘G’,” Brett Bawcum, director of UGA athletic bands, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “When you’re a college kid, you’re probably thinking, ‘How can I not do this?’”
Yes, the Band of the Fighting Irish helped spell UGA on the field, though they probably didn’t even realize it. And the Redcoats pulled off the prank in front of not only the packed crowd at the dome, but also two very important guests: President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn.
Carter was in the final days of his presidency, having been defeated by Ronald Reagan in November 1980. A graduate of both Georgia Tech and the U.S. Naval Academy, Carter hadn’t attended college in Athens. But he cheered on the undefeated, underdog Bulldogs to the national championship victory over the Fighting Irish. The Redcoats played “Hail to the Chief” to honor Carter at the game.
On Wednesday, Georgia and Notre Dame will again meet in the Sugar Bowl, 44 years later and just days after Carter’s death at age 100. It’s the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff, and both teams are eyeing the Jan. 20 championship game.
Credit: AJC file photo
Credit: AJC file photo
For Georgia fans, the 1981 game remains a highlight film of its own: As a freshman, Herschel Walker rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns despite separating his shoulder early in the game. The Bulldogs held off Notre Dame in the fourth quarter to clinch the 17-10 bowl win and national title.
The 1980 season had started with a win over Texas A&M, hailed as a team that could compete for the national crown, according to Bill Lewis, who served as the secondary coach for the Bulldogs that season. The Aggies came to Athens, but left with a loss.
“I can remember walking off the field, thinking if we beat that team, we can beat anyone,” Lewis said this week. “It was just an amazing season.”
Lewis spent nine years at Georgia, working alongside the late Coach Vince Dooley, before becoming the head coach at East Carolina and then Georgia Tech. He was later an assistant coach at Notre Dame.
Despite his extensive coaching background, Lewis said that Sugar Bowl remains among the most memorable games of his career.
Lewis said neither the coaches nor the players knew ahead of time that President Carter would be attending. The Bulldogs were focused on the game, Lewis said, which meant avoiding media reports and other distractions — including the president.
“The first time that I saw he was there was when they put him on the Jumbotron,” Frank Ros, a UGA team captain, told the AJC.
Ros, then a senior and middle linebacker, remembers seeing the Carters just before the coin toss.
“I remember walking out and they showed him and Rosalynn,” Ros said.
The president may have been a lucky charm: The Bulldogs won the coin toss, electing to kick off to start the game.
Even Claude Felton, who had been sports information director for just over a year, said UGA had little to do with the planning for Carter’s trip to New Orleans. Those details were likely handled by the U.S. Secret Service.
But Felton still remembers the excitement of the day.
“The thing that I remember about the game was the fans running on the field after the game,” he said. “It was chaos for sure.”
When the two teams meet again Wednesday night, the college bands will perform separately at halftime and no antics are expected, Bawcum said. The Redcoats and Georgia fans are hopeful the game is as magical as the 1981 Sugar Bowl.
“I will root very hard for the Bulldogs,” Lewis said.
SUGAR BOWL
Who: Georgia (No. 2 seed) vs. Notre Dame (No. 7)
When: 8:45 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Caesars Superdome, New Orleans
