College Football Old School Game of the Week: Pollack's Incredible Pick-Six Leads Dawgs to Win over Gamecocks

David Pollack(47) makes his legendary interception agianst South Carolina in 2002.

On September 14, 2002, Georgia Bulldogs defensive end David Pollack produced a highlight for the ages with an interception that still leaves many college football fans amazed to this day.
But that play is just the tip of the iceberg of what the sophomore defensive end did that day in a SEC showdown with the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Georgia entered the game ranked #9 in the country, coming off a 31-28 win over Clemson to begin head coach Mark Richt's second season in Athens.
The Bulldogs had high expectations for the 2002 season as they were picked by many to win their first SEC championship since 2002.
If the Dawgs were going to win the SEC, they needed to pick up a win in Colombia, South Carolina against the South Carolina Gamecocks, a team that had defeated them two years in a row.
The Gamecocks were led by former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz who was in his third season in Columbia and had led the Gamecocks to a 17-7 record and back-to-back Outback Bowl championships in his first two seasons.
The Bulldogs received the opening kickoff and quickly were in scoring position as sophomore quarterback David Greene hit Fred Gibson for a 52-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage, giving the Dawgs a 1st down at the Gamecocks 12-yard-line.
However, the South Carolina defense held the Georgia offense out of the end zone and forced the Dawgs to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Billy Bennett that put Georgia ahead 3-0 just 2:06 into the game.
The Gamecocks begin their opening possession at their 25-yard-line and drove 21 yards to their 46-yard-line where the game was suspended because of lightning in the area, delaying the game for 52 minutes.
When the game resumed, the Gamecocks failed to convert on 3rd-and-13 from their 46-yard-line, forcing them to punt the ball back to the Dawgs.

Georgia quarterback David Greene completed 11 of 19 passes for 169 yards, but could not get the Bulldogs offense into the end zone.

It took Georgia three plays to drive into South Carolina territory as running back Musa Smith ran for 15 yards on back-to-back carries, which was followed by a 22-yard pass from Greene to Gibson, to give the Dawgs a 1st down at the Gamecocks 47-yard-line.
The drive stalled as Greene was sacked on 3rd-and-9, forcing the Dawgs to punt the ball back to South Carolina.
On the ensuing punt, Georgia was called for illegal procedure leading Holtz to accept the penalty and force the Dawgs to rekick.
The decision backfired for the Gamecocks as South Carolina punt returner Chavez Donnings fumbled the punt, which was recovered by Georgia's Ryan Davis to give the Dawgs a 1st-and-10 at the South Carolina 12-yard-line.
But on the very next play from scrimmage, Gamecocks defensive end George Gause knocked the ball loose from Georgia running back Tyson Browning, forcing a fumble that was recovered by safety Jonathan Martin at the South Carolina nine-yard-line.
Following the excange of fumbles, both teams traded punts into the second quarter when the Gamecocks drove from their 41-yard-line to the Georgia two-yard-line where they had a 1st-and-goal.
That is when Pollack made his first big play of the game as he recovered a fumble following a hit by linebacker Tony Gilbert on running back Andrew Pinnock, giving the Dawgs the ball at their three-yard-line with 6:19 left in the first half(double-click to play).

The Dawgs drove from the three-yard-line to their 39-yard-line until Gibson fumbled the ball after a catch, which Martin recovered for South Carolina at the Georgia 38-yard-line.

The Gamecocks drove to the Dawgs' 19-yard-line until they brought on Daniel Weaver to attempt a 37-yard field goal.
But Weaver's kick was wide left and the score remained 3-0 in Georgia's favor as the first half came to a close.
After both teams would punt on their opening possessions of the second half, South Carolina drove from their 10-yard-line to the Georgia 33-yard-line where they faced a 4th-and-10.
With the wet conditions, Holtz decided to forgo a 50-yard field goal attempt and go for the 1st down, which came up one yard short as wide receiver Michael Ages was tackled after a nine-yard catch by Georgia linebacker Will Thompson, giving the Dawgs the ball at their 23-yard-line.
The Dawgs would drive to the Gamecocks' 36-yard-line when they were faced with a 4th-and-8 as the 4th quarter began.
Richt decided to try and pin the Gamecocks back by punting the ball, which paid off as punter Jonathon Kilgo's punt was downed at the South Carolina four-yard-line.
Quarterback Corey Jenkins hit Ryan Brewer for three yards on 1st down, setting up 2nd-and-7 when it happened.
Lined in the shotgun formation, Jenkins took the snap, rolled to the right where he was met by Pollock in the end zone.
As Jenkins winded up to throw, Pollack hit Jenkins' arm causing the football to go backwards and somehow land in Pollack's left arm as the defensive end was able to make the catch before he landed in the end zone, resulting in the game's first touchdown and increasing the Dawgs lead to 10-0 with 13:58 left in the fourth quarter.

The Gamecocks would respond to Pollack's incredible pick six by driving 65 yards in just five plays as Jenkins completed three straight passes for 59 yards, with the last one being a 25-yard touchdown to Brewer, to cut the Georgia lead to 10-7 with 12:23 left in regulation.
Both teams would trade punts until the Dawgs got the ball at their 49-yard-line with 6:13 to go and drive to the South Carolina 15-yard-line as Smith picked up 22 yards on back-to-back carries, which was followed by a 14-yard run by fullback J.T. Wall.
But after Greene lost two yards and Smith was stopped for no gain, the Dawgs were faced with a 3rd-and-12 at the 17-yard-line.
Greene was able to hit wide receiver Terrance Edwards for 10-yard gain, allowing for Bennett to come on and kick a 25-yard field goal to increase the Georgia lead to 13-7 with 2:54 left in the game.
Even though they had been held to one touchdown, the Gamecocks still had time to drive for the winning touchdown, which almost didn't happen as Brewer lost the football on the ensuing kickoff after a hit by Georgia linebacker Derrick Holloway.

South Carolina quarterback Corey Jenkins accounted for 281 yards of total offense as he threw for 180 yards on 14-of-24 passing and ran for 101 yards on 17 carries.

Fortunately for South Carolina, Brewer recovered his own fumble giving the Gamecocks the ball at their 25-yard-line with 2:49 left and two timeouts in their pocket.
The drive got off to a good start as Jenkins hit Ages for 24 yards on the first play of the drive, but was followed by two incomplete passes and a three-yard catch by Andrea Gause to force a do-or-die 4th-and-7 at the Georgia 48-yard-line with 1:32 left.
That is when Jenkins connected with Brewer for 26 yards and a 1st down at the Georgia 22-yard-line.
Then Jenkins hit Pinnock for 11 yards on a screen pass to give South Carolina a 1st-and-10 at the Georgia 11-yard-line.
It looked like the Gamecocks were on the verge of scoring the go-ahead touchdown but after three straight runs Jenkins picked up nine yards, South Carolina was faced with a 4th-and-1 at the two-yard-line with 20 seconds left.
Still, the odds were in Carolina's favor as they faced the critical 4th down, needing just one yard for the 1st down and two yards for the touchdown.
Jenkins lined in the shotgun, took the snap and was going to pitch it Pinnock, but Pollack penetrated through the line so quickly he forced a bad pitch from Jenkins which Pinnock couldn't handle, leading to a loose ball that was recovered by Georgia safety Thomas Davis with 12 seconds left to preserve the 13-7 win for the Bulldogs.

As the Gamecocks stumbled to a 5-7 season, Pollock's heroics helped pave the way for Georgia to win their first SEC championship in 20 years as the team finished with a 13-1 record and #3 ranking in the final AP and Coaches polls.
As for Pollack, his play in the South Carolina game was the launching pad for a spectacular career at Georgia as his 14 quarterback sacks led the defensive end to winning the SEC Player of the Year award and being named 1st team All-American, an honor which he earned the following the two seasons along with being named SEC Player of the Year in 2004 as he left Georgia as the all-time quarterback sacks leader with 36, a record which he still holds to this day.
Pollack would be selected in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, but his NFL career would be cut short after a neck injury in the 2006 NFL season.
Pollack moved into broadcasting and now serves as an analyst for ESPN's College Gameday.