Smith: 1931 Georgia-Florida game one for the books

Prior to 1931, Georgia and Florida had played 10 times. These previous games took place in Athens, Macon, Savannah, Tampa and Jacksonville, with school officials underscoring strictest due diligence with respect to gate receipts and expenses.

The '31 game was scheduled for Gainesville for the first time.

The Bulldogs, having won the first seven games (six of those victories were shutouts, and the Gators had scored only nine points in the series), had seen the pendulum of victory swing Florida's way for three successive seasons.

The Gators won back-to-back games in 1928 (26-6) in Savannah and 1929 (18-6) in Jacksonville.

In 1930, there was a 0-0 tie in Savannah, but Florida considered it a victory.

There was considerable excitement accompanying the 1931 game, with Georgia partisans wondering how the Bulldogs could get back into the win column against the Gators.

It was Florida's homecoming and guess who came to town in support of the Gators?

According to one report, it was the entire student body from the Florida State College for Women in Tallahassee.

Those were the days when FSU was an all-girl school, and those who showed up in Gainesville were bent on helping Florida conquer the invaders from the north.

Georgia arrived in Gainesville having defeated everyone on the schedule, including both Yale and North Carolina on the road.

The Bulldogs had given up only 13 points in four games and would go on to defeat (after Florida) NYU, Auburn and Georgia Tech.

They would stumble against Tulane in Athens (20-7) and Southern California in Los Angeles (60-0), but were primed for a peak performance in Gainesville.

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