1959 Georgia Bulldogs football team

1959 Georgia Bulldogs football
SEC champion
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 14–0 vs. Missouri
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 5
APNo. 5
Record10–1 (7–0 SEC)
Head coach
Home stadiumSanford Stadium
Seasons
← 1958
1960 →
1959 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Georgia $ 7 0 0 10 1 0
No. 3 LSU 5 1 0 9 2 0
No. 2 Ole Miss # 5 1 0 10 1 0
No. 10 Alabama 4 1 2 7 2 2
Auburn 4 3 0 7 3 0
Vanderbilt 3 2 2 5 3 2
Georgia Tech 3 3 0 6 5 0
Tennessee 3 4 1 5 4 1
No. 19 Florida 2 4 0 5 4 1
Kentucky 1 6 0 4 6 0
Tulane 0 5 1 3 6 1
Mississippi State 0 7 0 2 7 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • # Berryman, Billingsley, Dunkel, Sagarin national champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1959 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the University of Georgia as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1959 college football season. Led by 21st-year head coach Wally Butts, the Bulldogs compiled an overall record of 10–1 with a mark of 7–0 in conference play, and finished as SEC champion.[1]

The Bulldogs won nine games in the regular season and lost only once, an early-season non-conference loss to South Carolina. Georgia's perfect conference record of 7–0, combined with conference losses by pre-season favorites LSU and Ole Miss, was enough to give the Bulldogs the Southeastern Conference championship. They also earned a trip to the Orange Bowl, where they defeated Missouri 14–0.

The highlight of the regular season was a come-from-behind win over Auburn to clinch the championship. Trailing the Tigers 13–7 with less than 40 seconds left in the game, The Bulldogs scored on a fourth-down fourteen-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Fran Tarkenton to End Bill Herron. Kicker Durward Pennington converted the extra point and Georgia won the game by a score of 14–13.

  1. ^ "1959 Georgia Bulldogs Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 8, 2023.