Yale vs. UGA Football Ticket

When Steadman Vincent Sanford became the president of the University of Georgia, one of his main goals was to make a name for Georgia football. He knew that in order to make UGA a well known team, he had to create the “best football stadium in Dixie” (Lukacs). In 1911, he moved the football field from Herty Field to Sanford Field, which was more extensive and centrally located. This change satisfied Sanford until the UGA football team lost to Georgia Tech in 1927. After the devastating defeat, Sanford vowed he would make a more impressive stadium than all the other football stadiums in the south. This led to the creation of Sanford Stadium Field in 1929. The first game played at Sanford Stadium Field was Yale vs. UGA in 1929, and more than 30,000 people filled the stadium in anticipation to see it in all its glory. This particular game was significant at the time because it was the “largest crowd to ever witness a southern college football game”; even the governors from all the southern states attended the game (Lukacs). It was also at this game when the phrase “between the hedges” began. When Sanford was figuring out how to make the University's stadium stand out from the rest, Charles E Martin, the business manager in the athletic department, suggested to border the field with rose bushes. He formed the idea when he attended the 1926 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and saw rose bushes at the edge of the field. Sanford loved this idea, but the horticulturists informed the president that rose bushes could not be grown in the Georgia soil. Sanford and his team went back and forth until they decided to plant Ligustrum bushes around the field. This was such a last minute decision that the Ligustrum was shipped to the University of Georgia the night before the game. The landscapers worked throughout the night and finished the hedges just in time for the game. Looking back on that day, it was a significant turning point for UGA because the football game and the new stadium created a new reputation for the University.

Sources

Lukacs, John. “A journey back ‘between the hedges.’” ESPN, 12 Oct. 2009,

     http://www.espn.com/college-football/news/story?id=4552978. Accessed 25 Oct. 2018.

Yale vs. Georgia football game ticket. 1929, Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Georgia.