One Old Dawg is back! He’s holding court and raring to go
for the fiftieth anniversary of the 1965 University of Georgia football team.
Vintage news accounts are spread all over the dining room table, and there have been
quite a few jogs down memory lane. So here we go with another year of more
mostly true Bulldog lore.
We begin with one of the most amazing wins Georgia has ever
had.
When One Old Dawg is asked what the average Georgia fan would
have said in pre-season 1965 if they had been told that the Bulldogs would
beat reigning National Football Champions Alabama in the opening game, he declares, “They would
have said no way.”
Alabama, coached by the legendary Bear Bryant was a
powerhouse in the SEC and in the nation. Georgia had lost the last five match
ups against Alabama and not by a little. By a lot. In fact, as mentioned last year in One Old Dawg, when Vince
Dooley’s first team at Georgia, the 1964 Bulldogs, deboarded the bus in Tuscaloosa,
a senior Georgia player said, “Alabama always beats us by thirty points.” And
in this player’s memory they always had. No one imagined that this young Georgia
team in only the second year of Vince Dooley’s tenure would garner front page
headlines in the Sunday edition of The Atlanta Journal and Constitution,
“BULLDOGS STARTLE TIDE, 18-17.”
In the first half, After a field goal, George Patton
(All SEC, All American, Atlanta Falcons)
returned an interception 55 yards putting the Bulldogs ahead 10-0.
But the win wouldn't come easy. It was hot that day in Sanford
Stadium. When players returned to the locker room during half time, One Old
Dawg says his feet squished in his shoes. “Trainer Dick Copas (later
Hall of Fame UGA Golf Coach) was about to have
a fit. He was doing all he could to cool us off. They
had to lay us out on benches and training tables and drape ice cold towels over
us to try and get our body temperatures down.”
In the third quarter, Alabama scored twice bringing the
score to 17-10. Next, three Georgia players pulled off a play that has gone
down as one of the greats in UGA football history.
News accounts laud Kirby Moore, Bob Taylor,
and Pat Hodgson (All SEC, Washington Redskins, Coach at San Diego Chargers, New
York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets) for the Flea Flicker.
One Old Dawg got a little pre season press himself in 1965 along
with his good friend Larry Kohn (All SEC) in the Atlanta Constitution.
And here they are in an emotional greeting at the 1964
Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration.
In fact, news reports quote assistant coach Jim Pyburn (Baltimore
Orioles, Washington Redskins) as saying One Old
Dawg played the best he’d ever played in that Alabama game. But at a price.
During the game he received a severe hit in the back. It would result in problems for
weeks to come and eventually lead to back surgery at the end of the season.
Spiritually speaking, One Old Dawg draws this conclusion from that celebrated 1965 opener, “It’s like I said last year when we talked about the 1964 game in Tuscaloosa. It was a day of "small beginnings" (Zechariah 4:10). And beating Alabama in 1965 was the culmination of that. We had a small beginning last year. We reduced our loss from 30 points to 28. But something happened in that game. We began to gel as a team and believe in each other. That small beginning in 1964 resulted in a big win in 1965. We beat the reigning National Champions.”
The AP poll would again name Alabama as national champion in 1965. Their only loss? To a team that believed what they had been taught by young Coach Vince Dooley―that they could win. And win they did.
And now back to 2015 and who will win the Bulldogs’opening
game against the University of Lousiana at Monroe. One Old Dawg says, “The
Bulldogs, of course. I believe we have a high quality team that that
has the potential to be a great team. And ULM should present no serious threat.”
We’ll see everyone here next week for One Old Dawg’s account of
another startling win in 1965.
And in the meantime, Go Dawgs!
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