Re: Atlanta radio host and former UGA QB Buck Belue: "Barrett Jones overrated"
You know how even the best teams need a certain degree of luck to win a national title? That certainly was true for one of the worst teams to ever win a championship. From the "Lindsey Scott, Lindsey Scott" TD catch that season (his only TD catch that season) to having the greatest freshman running back in history, the 1980 Georigia Bulldogs won despite Buck Belue, not because of him. Some quarterbacks win games through talent, some through a combination of talent and leadership, some are just "game managers," and an occasional is hugely fortunate to have a player in the backfield so amazingly talented that no matter how poor a player the QB is, his team still wins. Buck Belue was the perfect example of the latter. Some of his season stats have already been posted. How about this bit of info from the Bulldog victory for the national championship over Notre Dame:
Passing
UGA: Belue 1-12-0, 7 yards (Yes, that is SEVEN whole yards)
Rushing
UGA: Walker 36-150, 2 TDs
Don't let anybody tell you that Belue was ever a great quarterback. His career as a performing football player reached its apex at Valdosta High School where he failed to lead any team to a state championship. He was a pampered child who made a career on the back of Herschel Walker.
He did play a bit better in the loss to Pitt in the 1982 Sugar Bowl. Here's his stat line from that game:
Passing
UGA: Belue 8-15-2, 83 yards (Note that of his 10 passes that were caught, 20% were by the opposing team. Thank goodness for Dan Marino, a truly talented quarterback who denied Georgia a second title.)
To be fair, Buck Belue must be taken seriously when he speaks of overrated players. One would be hard-pressed to find a more overrated player in the history of SEC football. Much like the recent lottery winners, Belue was in the right place at the right time. His lucky ticket had one number: 34.