College Football Old School Game of the Week: Georgia Wins SEC East Title on 4th Down TD Miracle

Georgia wide receiver Michael Johnson makes the game-winning touchdown catch to give the Bulldogs the 2002 SEC East title.

There are many plays that are etched in the minds of Georgia Bulldogs fans: Herschel Walker running over Bill Bates for a touchdown against Tennessee in 1980, Lindsay Scott's 93-yard catch-and-run to beat Florida later that same season, and Vernon Haynes' "Hobnail Boot" touchdown against Tennessee in 2001.
Another one of these legendary Georgia plays occurred in the Bulldogs' 2002 contest with the Auburn Tigers that would go down as the most memorable play in a championship season.
The Dawgs entered the Auburn game ranked #7 in the country with a 9-1 record, needing a win against the #24 ranked Tigers to clinch the SEC Eastern Division title and earn Georgia a trip to the SEC Championship Game for the first time in school history.
But a loss coupled with a Florida win over South Carolina later that night would mean the Gators would be the SEC East Champions as they held the head-to-head tiebreaker over Georgia thanks to 20-13 win over the Dawgs.
While the team still had quarterback David Greene and All-American defensive end David Pollack for the game, the Dawgs were missing two of their leading receivers as Terrence Edwards was out  with a separated left shoulder and Damien Gray who was out with a leg injury.
To make matters worse, sophomore receiver Fred Gibson was playing with a cast on his left thumb, meaning that junior wide receiver Michael Johnson would start along Gibson, despite having caught only 11 passes during the season.
Before the day was over, every Georgia fan would know who Michael Johnson was.
 Auburn got the ball to start the game as they drove from their 20-yard-line to the Georgia 15-yard line thanks to a pair of catches by running back Ronnie Brown that accounted for 33 yards as well as 20 yards on three carries by the redshirt sophomore.
However, the Tigers would turn the ball over when quarterback Jason Campbell overthrew a pass intended for tight end Robert Johnson and was intercepted by Georgia safety Sean Jones, whose 58-yard return gave the Georgia offense the ball at the Auburn 33-yard-line.
But the Dawgs were unable to convert the turnover into points as Billy Bennett missed a 45-yard field goal, giving the Tigers the ball back at their 28-yard-line.
Auburn drove to their 47-yard-line until they faced a 3rd & 1 when Brown busted through the middle to go untouched for a 53-yard touchdown to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 6:29 left in the first quarter.
It looked like that the Tigers were going to have a great chance to increase their lead after they forced the Dawgs to punt on their ensuing possession as Roderick Hood returned the Georgia punt 34 yards to the Dawgs' 38-yard-line, only to have Hood lose the football after a hit by Georgia defensive back Burt Jones which was picked up by Sean Jones, who returned the fumble 11 yards to the Georgia 49-yard-line.
An 19-yard pass from Greene to tight end Benjamin Watson would set up a 43-yard field goal by Bennett which cut the Auburn lead to 7-3 with 2:34 left in the opening quarter.
Auburn got the ball back at their 30-yard-line but on the first play from scrimmage, Sean Jones made another big play as he intercepted Campbell on a pass intended for Cooper Wallace to give the Dawgs the ball at the Georgia 42-yard-line.
But the Auburn defense would force the Dawgs to punt the ball back to Auburn who took over at their 20-yard-line as the first quarter came to an end with the Tigers leading 7-3.

Georgia safety Sean Jones would intercept two passes and recover a fumble in the first quarter alone.

Both teams would trade punts throughout the second quarter until the Tigers got the ball at the Georgia 45-yard-line following a 36-yard punt return by Hood, setting up a seven-play drive which had Campbell ran for 35 yards on two carries and throw a two-yard touchdown pass to fullback Brandon Johnson to extend the Auburn lead to 14-3 with exactly 100 seconds left in the first half.
Georgia could not mount a drive in the waning moments of the first half as they went into the locker room facing their largest 1st half deficit of the season at 14-3 after managing only 63 yards of total offense compared to the Tigers' 223 yards.
If Georgia was going to back in the game, they needed to score more points on their first drive of the second half as they were set to receive the second half kickoff.
The Dawgs got the ball at their 33-yard-line but were in Auburn territory after just two plays as Greene found Michael Johnson for 14 yards to put Georgia at the Auburn 39-yard-line.
Then on 3rd & 7 from the 36-yard-line, the Dawgs converted were able to pick up a 1st down on a 3rd down situation for the first time in the game as Greene ran for 10 yards to the Auburn 26-yard-line.
Two plays after Greene hit Gibson for 18 yards on 3rd & 6 from the 22-yard-line, the redshirt sophomore quarterback snuck it in for a one-yard touchdown to cut the Auburn lead to 14-10 with 10:46 left in the third quarter.
The Tigers would respond with a 10-play, 54-yard drive that culminated with a 21-yard touchdown run by Campbell to push the Auburn lead back to 11 points at 21-10 with 5:45 left in the third quarter.
It seemed like it wasn't going to be the Dawgs' day especially on the first play of their ensuing possession as Greene was sacked for a nine-yard loss by Tigers defensive end Reggie Torbor setting up a 2nd & 19 situation from the Georgia two-yard-line.
That is when Greene handed it off to Smith, who ran for 32 yards to give Georgia not only a 1st down at their 34-yard-line, but some much needed momentum.
The next two plays netted a loss of two yards setting up 3rd & 14 when Michael Johnson began to make his presence felt.
Johnson would give the Dawgs a 1st down as he made a 20-yard catch on 3rd & 14 to put Georgia at the 50-yard-line, which was followed by a 11-yard catch for another 1st down at the Auburn 39-yard-line.
Then on 2nd & 5 from the 34-yard-line, Johnson caught a 31-yard pass to give the Dawgs a 1st & goal at the Auburn three-yard-line.
Two plays later, the Dawgs averted disaster when Greene lost the football on a quarterback draw, only to have offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb recover the fumble in the end zone for a Georgia touchdown which help cut the lead to 21-17 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter.

Georgia quarterback David Greene would throw for 232 yards and account for two touchdowns, one through the air and the other on the ground.

Both teams would trade punts as the game went into the 4th quarter with Auburn still ahead 21-17 when the Dawgs fumbled the football when Johnson was hit by Auburn linebacker Mark Brown after an 11-yard reception which was recovered by the Tigers at their 42-yard-line with 9:17 left in the 4th quarter.
The Dawgs would force the Tigers to go three-and-out to get the ball back at their 49-yard-line after Sean Jones returned the ensuing punt 28 yards.
But for the second straight series, the Dawgs would turn the ball over as Greene was intercepted by Tigers free safety Travaris Robinson to give the Tigers the ball back at their 33-yard-line.
But once again, the Georgia defense would force a three-and-out and once again Sean Jones would give the Dawgs good field position as his 23-yard punt return gave Georgia the ball at the Auburn 43-yard-line with 3:16 left in the game.
The drive began with a 12-yard pass from Greene to Johnson but after two incomplete passes and a two-yard run by Smith, the Dawgs were faced with a 4th & 8 from the Auburn 29-yard-line.
That is when Greene threw a screen pass for Johnson, who was tackled for an one-yard-loss to give Auburn the ball back at their 30-yard-line with 2:33 left and a chance to run out the clock if they could pick up a 1st down.
However, the Tigers made a crucial mistake on 1st down as Brown was knocked out of bounds after a three-yard-run, stopping the clock and giving the Dawgs an extra timeout as they had two timeouts left in their pocket.
The Tigers ran the ball two more times but only picked up five yards, allowing the Dawgs to use their final two timeouts as the Tigers were faced with a 4th & 2 at their 38-yard-line with 2:11 to play.
Auburn would punt the ball back to Georgia, who took over at their 41-yard-line after a 16-yard return by Jones, giving their offense one last shot at getting the go-ahead touchdown as they took over with 1:58 left on the clock.
The drive started with a four-yard pass from Greene to Johnson, but on 2nd & 6 Greene fired a deep pass down the left side of the field that was caught by Gibson for 41 yards to give Georgia a 1st down at the Tigers' 14-yard-line.
But three straight incomplete passes and a false start lead to a do-or-die 4th & 15 from the Auburn 19-yard-line with 1:31 left in the game.
That is when Georgia head coach Mark Richt called "70 X Takeoff", a play that called for Gibson and Johnson to run straight toward the end zone and hope one of them could catch a jump ball from Greene.
Lined up in the shotgun, Greene took the snap, pump-faked to his right, and then fired a pass for Johnson in the left corner in the end zone, who outjumped Auburn defensive back Horace Willis to make the catch and then land both feet inbounds to complete the 19-yard touchdown to give the Dawgs their first lead of the game at 24-21 with 1:25 left in the game.
It was Johnson's 13th catch, two more than he had the entire season, for 141 yards.

Now it was up to the Georgia defense to make one more stop to secure the Dawgs' first trip to the SEC Championship Game.
Auburn would take over at their 28-yard-line where it took them one play to get into Georgia territory as Campbell found Robert Johnson for 25 yards and a 1st down at the Dawgs' 47-yard-line.
But a pair of penalties and an incomplete pass lead to a 2nd & 20 when Campbell was sacked by Georgia linebacker Boss Bailey for a seven-yard loss to set up 3rd & 27 from the Tigers' 36-yard-line.
Campbell would run for seven yards on 3rd down to set up 4th & 20 where Campbell connected with Tre Smith for 14 yards, but six yards short of the 1st down, giving the Dawgs the ball at their 43-yard-line with 19 seconds left.
Greene took a knee and the Dawgs not only had a 24-21 win, but their first SEC East title in school history.
The Tigers would recover from the Georgia loss to beat Alabama 17-7 in the Iron Bowl, earning them a trip to the Citrus Bowl where they knocked off the Penn State Nittany Lions 13-9 thanks to a 184-yard and two-touchdown performance by Brown, to give Auburn a 9-4 season and #14 ranking in the final AP Poll.
Two years later, Campbell and Brown, along with a healthy Cadillac Williams would lead Auburn to a 13-0 season.
As for the Dawgs, they would play Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game, which they won easily 30-3 for Georgia's first SEC championship in 20 years.
This earned the Dawgs a trip to the Sugar Bowl, where they knocked off the Florida State Seminoles 26-13 to finish the season with a 13-1 record and #3 ranking in both the AP and coaches poll.