One Old Dawg on a collage of feline hides

One Old Dawg couldn’t stop smiling during the Kentucky game. The win was a balm for his Bulldog soul.

 

As he takes a break from watching the SEC network tonight, he turns his thoughts toward the Auburn game this weekend as well as his memories of the 1965 Auburn game. “Well, we had a good, solid game against Kentucky. Is it weird that we beat them by the same score Florida beat us? Anyway, it felt good to get another W but we can’t waste much time patting ourselves on the back; we have a big game in front of us―another Tiger. You might be thinking, what’s the big deal? Both teams are already out of the SEC and national playoff pictures.  Auburn vs. Georgia is the longest rivalry in the South and the fifth longest in the nation. We’ve played Auburn every year since1892 except for five years: 1893, 1897, 1917-18 due to WWI and 1943 due to WWII. That’s 118 games in the last 123 years and its all tied up 55-55-8. There’s more than one year of bragging rights at stake on this game.

 

“It was also a big game in 1965 not even considering the long-standing rivalry. Our head coach was the head freshman coach at Auburn just two years before and he and several of our assistant coaches played at Auburn. We were 5-3, 3-2 SEC, and Auburn was 4-3-1 but leading the conference at 3-0-1. Keep in mind there were only nine bowl games available in those days so another loss would pretty much end our hopes of playing in one of them. This was a big game and we felt we had the edge since we were playing between the hedges.

 

“The teams seemed evenly matched, and that is the way the game played out. Auburn scored a touchdown in every quarter except the fourth and we scored a touchdown in every quarter except the third. Auburn had blocked the extra point kick on our first touchdown forcing us to go for a two-point conversion on the second touchdown, which failed. We got a touchdown late in the fourth quarter and made the PAT to make the score 21-19. We held Auburn on their next possession but they punted us down to our own sixteen yard-line. However, our offense blasted off with a forty-five yard run from Preston Ridlehuber (Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets).

 

Preston Ridlehuber, George Nowicki, Jerry Varnado, Pat Hodgson

“Then, Kirby Moore threw a twenty-two yard pass to Frank Richter (Denver Broncos) . Some tough running got us down to the three yard-line. We were just a heartbeat away from victory but it ended in heartbreak. Our great fullback Ronnie Jenkins was hit hard at the goal line, the ball came loose and Auburn recovered. We did get the ball back with a couple of minutes left in the game but were not able to mount another drive and the game ended 21-19.

 
 “Heart break hotel.”
 

As always, One Old Dawg looks for the greater lesson in his football experience. “I wish I had been walking with Jesus in those days so I would have known Psalm 55:22, “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.”  I know football is just a game but try to tell that to a twenty-one year old who had already pictured himself playing in a bowl game on national television. That was a big deal in 1965. In two years, only two of our games were televised, the Sun Bowl and Alabama of that year. This was a bitter pill to swallow. I was discouraged and felt like we had failed.

 

“When I looked through my Biblical Cyclopedic Index this week, I saw a list of causes of discouragement. One caught my eye: apparent failure. Something that looks like failure but really isn’t. That reminded me of Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” God will turn any supposed failure into something good, if we’ll let Him. Yes, we had lost four games and it appeared our season was for naught. But that was not reality.

 

“We had beaten the national champion on national TV and the Big Ten Champion in their own backyard. Before injuries riddled our team, we were ranked number four in the nation. In just two years, we had elevated the Dawgs from the SEC cellar to the hallowed halls of title contender and a significant player on the national stage of college football. Failure? Depends on how you look at it. We learned and grew through the heartache and the core of this team returned in 1966 to become SEC champions and number four in the nation.”

           

One Old Dawg casts his prediction for this weekend’s game. “Here we are fifty years later loading up the bus to make the trek to Auburn, Alabama. Statistics indicate we should beat them, but for this game, you can throw statistics and records in the trash, they do not mean a thing. The Tigers will be growling Saturday looking to have Bulldawg for lunch; we best be ready for a fight. As I mentioned last week we are doing well against felines this year, having already skinned a Jaguar, a Tiger and a Wildcat.  Hunker down folks; Uga needs one more tiger skin to finish his collage of feline hides for his Dawghouse rug.  Sic ‘em Dawgs.”

 

At the Kentucky game, we sat behind sports agent, Tommy Sims, who was there looking at a few of our players. A South Georgia native, he started at defensive back for the University of Tennessee, and co-captained both the 1985 SEC championship game and the 1986 Sugar Bowl Game. We’ll forgive him all his Rocky Top ways, because he’s Dad to the gorgeous and brilliant, Camille Sims, Miss Fulton County and runner up in this year’s Miss Georgia Pageant (That Miss Georgia went on to be Miss America, and of course we crowned another at a Georgia game a few weeks back). We just love the folks we meet at UGA games.

 

Until next week, Go Dawgs!