We began this week’s One Old Dawg on a
sad note. Bill Stanfill, (All American, Miami Dolphins, Super Bowl Team)
,
who Vince Dooley called “one of the greatest linemen to ever play the game” and
a key player in the 1966 Southeastern Conference Championship is at this moment
hospitalized and in very serious condition according to a family member we
spoke to earlier today. We invite you to join us in prayer for Bill and his
family. We couldn’t help but remember the picture above taken during the
100 Years of Georgia Football Celebration when our son, Aaron, was just a baby.
So, as we look back to the 1966 SEC championship year, we
are closing in on the championship SEC title, and the Auburn win was the final
significant step toward that accomplishment.
One Old Dawg remembers, “When we stepped on the turf of Jordan-Hare
stadium fifty years ago, Georgia was riding high with a 7-1 record, our only
loss to non-conference Miami 7-6. Auburn was struggling with a 4-4 record,
three of those losses to SEC teams.
“But we were smart enough to know that in this oldest
rivalry of the Deep South, records and statistics mean nothing. Vince Dooley,
and
several other coaches on our staff had played and coached at Auburn. In
Dooley’s first two seasons as head coach, we were unable to get the victory over
Auburn and getting that first win over his Alma Mater was serious business. This
was our last SEC opponent, so Auburn was the only thing standing between an SEC
championship and us.
“On the other side a win over Georgia would keep the Tigers
from the humiliation of a losing season. Both teams had serious motivation. It
was a beautiful sunny day, but it had rained for four days prior, so the field
was soggy and slippery. At the half, we looked like we had been mud wrestling.
“They came out roaring and clawing, and before you could say
“Go Dawgs” we were down 13-0, and it was still the first quarter! Then an
interception gave them the ball on our twenty-six, but our defense held,
forcing a field goal attempt. Thankfully, defensive end Gary Adams got a hand
on the ball, forcing it wide, or our deficit at half time would have been 16
instead of 13. We were moving the ball
up and down the field but penalties, fumbles and interceptions ended every
drive pointless. I don’t remember what was said at half time but something
turned things around.
In the Atlanta Constitution, Furman Bisher described the
results of the second half as a “stirring, dramatic, frenetic victory.”
One Old Dawg continues, “Georgia’s
defense, which had shutout the Auburn offense in the second quarter, did the
same in the third and fourth. Meanwhile the Dawg offense went to work. Brad
Johnson made an inspiring twenty-four-yard run in heavy traffic to Auburn’s
seven-yard line and on the next play covered the last seven yards for the
score. Etter’s (Atlanta Falcons, Memphis
Southmen) PAT made
it 7-13.”
Furman Bisher noted One Old
Dawg’s contribution to the game, “After Jerry Varnado broke Tiger hearts,
throwing Quarterback Loran Carter for an eleven yard loss, Georgia rushed back
again like touchdowns might go out of style at sundown. In five swift plays,
they made it in the end zone from their thirty-four-yard line.”
Georgia 14, Auburn 13.
“The Tigers quickly responded with a
twenty-nine-yard pass completion but the receiver fumbled at the Georgia forty and
Larry Kohn (All SEC) recovered. Georgia then launched a time-consuming sixty-yard
drive. Fullback Ronnie Jenkins bullied
in for the score from the four-yard line. Etter kicked his third extra point of
the game and the score was 21-13 with six minutes left on the clock. The
defense held, ending Auburns hopes of upset when Terry Sellers (All SEC,Cleveland Browns) intercepted a final desperation pass at midfield.
 |
| Pictures from Atlanta Journal Constitution |
“The Georgia Bulldogs, under the leadership of soon to be
legendary coach Vince Dooley, had made a dramatic move from the cellar to the
pinnacle of the SEC in just three seasons. As I think about those days, I
remember Coach Dooley’s first talk to the team; he told us if we would do three
things, we would win our share of the football games: work hard, conduct
ourselves in a way that would honor our families, our school and state, and
care about one another. We worked on doing those three things for three years and
as Proverbs 14:23 says, “In hard work, there is always something gained . . . “
We did in fact win our share of football games. I don’t remember what all was
said in the aftermath of that great victory, but I do remember how I felt.
Keeping in mind that we were a bunch of nineteen to twenty –two year old young
men, most of whom had not yet experienced things like true love, marriage and
the birth of children, I think I must have said, ‘It just doesn’t get any
better than this!’”
One Old Dawg weighs in on this week’s University of Georgia
match-up with Auburn. “This year’s teams have plenty of motivation as in 1966.
An SEC title is not at stake for the Dawgs, but it might be for the Tigers. Yes,
Auburn has two losses but they are still ranked number nine. These Tigers don’t
just roar; they know how to claw and bite. They have won six in a row, five of
them SEC teams, two of which beat us. We must be at the top of our game this
week.”
If they beat us and then Alabama, they go to the Dome on
December 3. For us, getting that sixth win would make us
bowl eligible. So, Glory, glory to old Georgia! Sick ‘em Dawgs!
“On a more serious note, a prayer request: Bill Stanfill, our outstanding defensive tackle on the 1966 team (All
American, Miami Dolphins, Super Bowl Team) broke his leg this
week and then had a heart attack at the hospital. Please keep Bill and his
family in your prayers.”
Indeed, we will keep Bill Stanfill in our prayers.
One Old Dawg will be taking next week off, but be sure and
join us for the Georgia Tech game, and later, to cap off the season, he’ll be
sharing his memories of the 1966 team’s Cotton Bowl Championship.
So, there’s still more mostly true Bulldog lore to come!!!
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