I’ve often heard about the time that Georgia fans rushed the field at Jordan-Hare following a big win back in the 1980’s, only to be soaked by sprinklers manned by the grounds crew, but it wasn’t until recently that I actually saw how it went down.
In a random YouTube search, I found the entire 1986 game between Auburn and Georgia, and without knowing that it was the game with the famed postgame “hosing,” I skipped to the end to see who won. I was four. I didn’t remember.
With a minute a left, Auburn quarterback Jeff Burger threw an interception in a list ditch effort to get the win. The Bulldogs ended up winning 20-16, sending what looks to be the entire Georgia fanbase that was in attendance onto the field.
The video below starts during Vince Dooley’s postgame interview with a much younger Tim Brando, of ESPN at the time. Watch the crowd of Georgia fans grow and grow behind him until Brando releases Dooley for the locker room. You’ll then hear the deflated Auburn crowd cheer as the sprinklers are turned on the Georgia fans. These weren’t your dad’s sprinklers from your back yard, either. These were like fire hoses from every corner of the field.
It should stand out to you that the on-field celebration seems to go on for minutes after the clock hit zero. Where were the cops? Where were the guys in the yellow jackets that line the field just before the beginning of the 4th quarter of today’s games? Times sure have changed. This is like watching something from another world. Oh, and the ripping up of the logo is especially infuriating. Take a piece of hedge the next time you’re in Athens.
9 comments
Wow, was it that long ago? I was there, and my anger at those nasties on our field suddenly turned into uncontrollable laughter. It was definitely the right thing to do! :-)
Did you notice that hadn’t finished the upper deck on the student side yet?
This and trying to burn down Toomers corner show the “dawgs” true colors. This kind of crap is why I genuinely dislike UGA more than Alabama. Growing up in Georgia in a Tech family probably was a part of that too…
I was there. The ThUGA fans were particularly obnoxious that night. I was 15, so I thought I was 10 feet tall and bulletproof. My best friend and I came real close to taking on the entire Redcoat Marching Band as they got on their bus. Luckily, the band director broke it up & told us to get the hell out of there. Good times.
This one hurt bad. We should have won the SEC that year also. That would have been 4 in a row ’86-’89.
I was at the game in the Auburn student section. I can tell you exactly where the cops were, and there were a LOT of them.
Just before the end of the game, the police from all over the stadium congregated in front of the Auburn student section, facing us, presumably to keep us off the field (why would we want to storm the field anyway?). The Georgia fans were belligerent the entire game, and I think the cops thought there would be trouble if any of them approached our student section. In reality, we were all more stunned about losing the game than anything else. Watching hundreds of Georgia fans pull out huge chunks of the mid-field emblem while throwing them high in the air was particularly infuriating, especially when the cops wouldn’t do anything about it. After several minutes of mayhem down there, the groundskeepers charged with field maintenance finally had enough I guess. The water cannons were completely justified in my opinion, and batons, shields, and K-9’s should have followed. War Eagle.
I to was there. I was a UGA photographer and ON the field that night. It was a hard fought game and our first string QB had just lost his mother or something, so we were running our backup QB…Jackson I think his name was.
Yes, Auburn was looking to win the SEC that year, and yes, GA spoiled it. It became obvious that GA would rush the field at the end and the cops and security people were helping the fans OVER the hedges and fences onto the field… Then something happened.
Yes, the GA fans were tearing up the field, and that was not a good thing to do, but at some point, the cops stopped helping and out came the nightsticks. Students who were just celebrating were then face down on the field and being roughed up. The mood quickly changed and people stared moving off the field quickly.
The water canons were turned on the field and the field quickly emptied as a result…THEN THEY TURNED THE WATER CANONS INTO THE STANDS! I saw an old couple sitting half way up the stands get hit by the canons. They had never rushed the field…and yet the grounds crews i guess felt they posed a threat of some sort.
While I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Auburn as a GA grad since of all the SEC schools, we are more closely related than any others I think (mix of students, coaches (dye/dooley) etc) I think this was a bit of a black spot on the relationship.
Once again, I don’t have a problem with the hosing on the fields, but when they turned the canons into the stands…that was completely wrong!
I was there too… with some UGA friends as well as AU friends… & most have the story fairly accurate.. but the cops didn’t turn the hoses on the student section if that’s what anyone is thinking.. I was at the northeast corner of Jordan Hare with my AU friend Mitch (I’m from So. GA, but have been an AU fan all my life).. when the UGA fans on the field started pulling up the AU logo on the field, the police abandoned the sprinkler (at least in front of us) & rushed the field… Only being an immature sophomore in college at the time, & adding insult to injury having to see my 4 UGA friends pointing & laughing when they saw us, Mitch & I were the ones who turned the sprinklers into the stands… sorry for hitting an old couple, but Chris, Todd, Amy, & Lee had it coming.. I also hate to add that although not now, I was somewhat of a drinker in college.. That said, the 6 of us all had fun together after it was over.. it seemed to always be that way, though.. you hated UGA (or AU) during the game, but later you were best friends again…
I was there and after the game a Georgia fan was so mad, he started a fight with one of our friends and then pushed my bff (girl). Abt 10 Auburn guys jumped on him. Crazy lose but very memorable hosing! War Eagle!