The Yellow Jackets recovered and went on to a 51-48 victory in overtime -- perhaps the most memorable game in the long, bitter series between the state rivals.
"Misfortune hits all of us," Sanks said with a shrug. "Guys making millions of dollars have to go through the same thing. A bad call is one of those things you can't dwell on. You just have to shake it off." Sanks was involved in another fumble -- this one more legitimate -- that might have cost No. 21 Georgia (7-4) a chance to contend for its first Southeastern Conference title since 1982. Trailing 16-14 to Florida, the Bulldogs were driving for the lead when Sanks lost the ball at the Gators 16. Florida reclaimed the momentum, scoring two touchdowns for a 30-14 victory that began a late-season slide for Georgia. The Bulldogs lost three of their final four games and were fortunate to land a New Year's Day matchup against No. 19 Purdue (7-4). "There's no doubt our team deteriorated after the Florida game," coach Jim Donnan said. "We were 6-1, playing good and had a chance to beat our archrival until that fumble. We didn't play as well after that as we could have." But Donnan has encouraged Sanks to forget the fumbles. After all, this is the same runner who led the Bulldogs in rushing with 896 yards, a durable, powerful back who finally showed signs of fulfilling the hype and hoopla that followed a brilliant high school career. "You're going to make mistakes," Donnan said. "If you dwell on it, you'll drive yourself into complete oblivion with all the misery." Sanks was touted as one of the nation's top players after rushing for 5,043 yards at Carver High School in Columbus, Ga. He drew comparisons to Herschel Walker when he signed with Georgia, which has a running back heritage that includes Garrison Hearst, Terrell Davis, Rodney Hampton, Robert Edwards and Olandis Gary. But Sanks failed to qualify academically, forcing him to spend a year at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia. Finally arriving at Georgia in 1998, he was out of shape and wound up carrying the ball only 10 times during an injury plagued season. So, 1999 was a make-or-break year. "With all the media hype I had coming in, I felt like I had to prove to people that I could still play this game," Sanks admitted. "I think I did enough to prove that I'm capable of being a workhorse back."He became the first Georgia back since Hearst in 1992 to rush for more than 100 yards in three straight games, highlighted by a 27-carry performance against LSU. Sanks also had 26 carries in a 20-17 victory over Mississippi, the only game Georgia won in the final month of the season.
"He's still got a lot of upside," Donnan said. "He's a strong guy. He really improved his blocking. We didn't throw to him as much (six times for 52 yards) as we will in the future." Georgia's other top backs, Patrick Pass and Robert Arnaud, are playing their final college games on Saturday. In 2000, Sanks hopes to give people something to remember other than those two fumbles."I still think I can be one of the premier backs in the nation," he said, "a back who can run for 1,500 or 1,600 yards."
