Top Sports Moments At The Georgia Dome Part 3

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Super Bowl 28-Dallas Cowboys vs. Buffalo Bills


Super Bowl 28For
the first time in the history of the Super Bowl the two teams that met
the previous year in the championship game would meet again for the
Vince Lombardi Trophy. In Super Bowl 27 the Dallas Cowboys destroyed the
Buffalo Bills 52-17 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. In January 1994, the Bills were looking to avoid becoming the first and only National Football League franchise to lose four consecutive Super Bowls while the Cowboys were looking
to become the first team since the San Francisco 49ers in 1988 and 1989
to repeat as Super Bowl Champions. The Bills lost the three previous Super Bowls by a combined score of 109-61 and they were out to change that.

In
the first half the Bills defense was able to slow down the Cowboys
powerful running attack led by running back Emmitt Smith. The Bills took
a 13-6 advantage to the dressing room at halftime, but little did they
know that the roof was about to cave in on them.

In the third quarter
the Bills were driving when running back Thurman Thomas committed the
first of his two costly fumbles. The ball was recovered by Cowboys
defensive back James Washington who returned the pigskin 46 yards for a Dallas
score which knotted the score at 13.

The Cowboys entered the game
favored to defeat the Bills by 10.5 points and they began to play like
the heavy favorites that they were while Buffalo lived up to the hype
that surrounded them as underdogs. The Bills would not score in the
second half as they fell to the Cowboys 30-13.

The game would mark
the last time that the Bills would make the Super Bowl while the
Cowboys would win it all again following the 1995 NFL season as they became
the first franchise in the Super Bowl era to win three championships in
four years.

2007 NCAA Men’s Tournament Championship Game-Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Florida Gators


Ohio State-FloridaFor
the 2006-2007 college basketball season the expectations were high for both
the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Florida Gators. The Buckeyes began the
season ranked seventh in the country while the Gators were the top
ranked team in the land and they were also the defending national champions. The two
teams met on December 23, 2006 in Gainesville, Florida where the Gators
smoked the Buckeyes 86-60 and there was a possibility that they could
meet again during the NCAA Tournament.
Both Ohio State and Florida had navigated through
the 2007 NCAA Tournament and they made it to the Final Four in Atlanta
at the Georgia Dome. In the national semifinals Ohio State would get
past Georgetown 67-60 while Florida would take care of UCLA 76-66 which
would set up Monday night’s championship game.
The Gators
experience would be the difference in the first half as they took a
40-29 lead to the locker room at halftime, but Ohio State wasn’t ready
to throw in the towel.
In the second half Ohio State head
coach Thad Matta called upon his freshman duo in center Greg Oden and point
guard Mike Conley Jr. The Gators were unable to slow down Oden who
finished the game with 25 points and 12 rebounds while Conley Jr. had 20
points and 6 assists. But every time the Ohio State appeared poised to
take the lead the Gators were able to respond. Florida forward Al
Horford finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds while sharp shooting Lee
Humphrey would finish with 14 points including knocking down four
three-point shots.
The Gators would win the game 84-75 and they
became the first school since the Duke Blue Devils in 1991 and 1992 to
win consecutive Division 1 men’s basketball national championships.

2008 SEC Championship Game-Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Florida Gators

2008 SEC ChampionshipSince
its inception in 1992 the SEC Championship Game has been dominated by the Florida Gators and the Alabama Crimson Tide. The two schools met in
four of the first five SEC Title Games and they have combined to win the event 11
times. In recent years the SEC Championship Game has also served as a de
facto national championship game semifinal game and that was once again
the case in 2008. 
Entering the game Alabama was the top
ranked team in the Bowl Championship Series standings while the Gators
were ranked fourth. But the Associated Press had Alabama and Florida
ranked first and second respectively and the game would live up to the
hype.
After two years as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins,
Nick Saban had returned to the college ranks in 2007 to become the head
ball coach at ‘Bama. Under Saban, the Tide went 7-6 in 2007, but they returned to being a national powerhouse in 2008. Alabama entered the 2008 SEC
Championship Game with an unblemished record of 12-0 while the Gators
came to Atlanta with a record of 11-1.
It didn’t take Florida
that long to get things going as quarterback Tim Tebow found wide
receiver Carl Moore midway through the first quarter to put the Gators
ahead 7-0. Alabama would quickly respond as they marched 82 yards for a
touchdown on just two plays when running back Glen Coffee scored on an
11-yard touchdown run. It was a defensive battle between both sides
until late in the first half when Tebow found wide reciever David Nelson
for a five-yard touchdown pass that gave the Gators a 17-10 halftime
lead.
The Crimson Tide would dominate the third quarter and
take a 20-17 lead into the final frame. But just like he had done for
his entire career, Tebow would rally the Gators.
The Gators
capped an 11-play, 62-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run from
running back Jeff Demps with just over nine minutes left in the game.
Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson was a cool customer for three
quarters, but he was consistently under pressure in the fourth quarter
from the pesky Gators defense. The Gators were able to get the football
back and Tebow led an eight-play, 65 yard drive that culminated in the
beloved quarterback finding wide receiver Riley Cooper for a five-yard
touchdown pass with just under three minutes left in the game to put Florida up 31-20. 
The Gators would win the game by that exact score and they would go on to win their second BCS Championship in three years.

1994 SEC Championship Game-Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Florida Gators

1994 SEC ChampionshipThe
first two editions of the SEC Championship Game were played played at
historic Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama before being moved to the
Georgia Dome in 1994. The venue may have changed but the participants
were still the same from the first two SEC Championship Games as it
would be the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Florida Gators clashing once
again from the conference crown.
The Tide entered the game
ranked third in the country with a record of 11-0 and they were looking
for a chance to play for a national championship. The Gators entered the
season as the top ranked team, but a home loss to Auburn along with a
tie against Florida State changed that. The first two SEC Championship
Games that featured Alabama and Florida were decided by a combined 22
points, but their tango in 1994 would be a little bit tighter.

The first half would go the way of the Gators as quarterback Danny Wuerffel accounted for two touchdowns (one passing and one rushing). The Gators took a 17-10 lead to halftime, but they were far from being out of the woods against the Tide.

The Defense dominated the third quarter as all the scoring for the frame came on two Alabama field goals.

Midway through the fourth, quarterback Alabama linebacker Dwayne Rudd picked off Wuerffel and returned the ball 23 yards for a touchdown that would put ‘Bama up 23-17. Alabama head coach Gene Stallings could see the finish line and another chance to play for a national title, but Wuerffel and the Gators were not ready to go away quietly. Wuerffel led Florida on a drive that culminated with him finding wide receiver Chris Doering for a two-yard touchdown pass with under six minutes remaining. Led by defensive tackle Ellis Johnson, the Gators defense would hold off Alabama quarterback Jay Barker and the Tide’s offense to win 24-23.

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By | 2014-07-31T01:17:34+00:00 June 16th, 2014|Categories: College Basketball, College Football, National Football League, NCAA|0 Comments

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