Smith: Big wins show Donnan's recruiting skill

Successful seasons in football often make it challenging for the forthcoming incumbent. If you win a championship, the headlines and success carry forward with respect to media hype and forecasts.

It becomes routine to suggest that if a team is good enough to win a title in a particular year, it ought to be good enough to compete for it the next year. Sometimes the prognosticators fail to take into account that the best team doesn't always win the championship. The team that plays the best usually wins, and when you win a championship, it is difficult to trump yourself.

Georgia was very good in 1966 and won the SEC title with a collection of young players, including Bill Stanfill, Jake Scott, Tommy Lawhorne, Kent Lawrence, Kirby Moore, and Billy Payne, among others. The team would be more experienced in 1967 and therefore the prevailing view was that the Bulldogs were championship-worthy. However, they lost by nine points to Ole Miss in Jackson and then experienced back-to-back one-point losses to Houston in the Astrodome (15-14) and Florida in Jacksonville (17-16).

Losing three games by 11 points spoiled the season even with closing victories over Auburn and Georgia Tech, all of which had the Bulldogs playing in less than an upbeat mood in the Liberty Bowl, where N.C. State and quarterback Jim Donnan upset Georgia 14-7.

That would not be the last time Georgia would hear of Jim Donnan. When his name surfaced the next time, he was introduced as Georgia's head coach, in 1996.

He won a national championship in Division I-AA at Marshall, and this surely influenced the thinking of the honors court, which this week selected him for the Football Championship Subdivision Hall of Fame. But with his exciting multiple offense, he won some big games at Georgia, two of which were signature victories - over Florida 37-17 in 1997 and LSU in Baton Rouge 28-27 in 1998.

Florida, sixth ranked in 1997, was favored over the Bulldogs who had lost only once (to Tennessee in Knoxville), but Hines Ward and Robert Edwards were determined to break the Gators' winning streak in Jacksonville.

Ward, one of the most versatile players ever at Georgia, ended the day with seven receptions for 85 yards, five rushes for 21 yards, two pass completions for 27 yards, and two kickoff returns for 70 yards. He would finish his Georgia career with more than 1,000 yards in three categories: rushing, receiving and passing.

All Edwards did was score four touchdowns. The Bulldogs enjoyed a dominating afternoon with Donnan lining up Ward all over the field.

A year later in Baton Rouge, quarterback Quincy Carter led Georgia to one of its finest road victories. Donnan's staff had pointed to this game, reaching the pregame conclusion that they had a comprehensive "fix" on the Tiger defensive tendencies.

That game demonstrated why Donnan wanted defensive back Champ Bailey to take the field in critical offensive situations. Carter hit Bailey on a scoring pass that was classic execution, a play known as 796 Wide Shallow.

Donnan called on Bailey again, late in the game, and the Folkston native caught a first-down pass that enabled Georgia to run out the clock. Donnan's son, Todd, the quarterback coach, says he never experienced a more perfect execution of a game plan than that night in Baton Rouge.

It helps when you have talent like Carter and Bailey in the lineup, and that is a reflection of Donnan's ability as a recruiter. He brought a number of players to Georgia who were outstanding in the NFL, led by Ward who is still at it with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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