One Old Dawg on Tumbling Tech

Lots of preparations going on here at One Old Dawg’s house as he does much of the cooking at Thanksgiving. For that, One Old Dawg’s wife is SO grateful. He smokes the turkey and makes the dressing to the delight of his whole family. So good!!

 

Wearing his Georgia apron, he takes a break from chopping onions, green peppers, and celery for the dressing to talk about the Georgia Tech game―both this weekend’s and the one in 1965.

 

“I said this last year and I’ll say again, I can’t believe football season is over, it seems like it just started. But here we are getting ready for the last game of the season against that North Avenue Trade School.  Last year we were both 9-2 so a lot was riding on the outcome besides state bragging rights, like priority bowl games and national rankings. It would seem the game would not be such a big deal this year since they are 3-8 and we are 8-3. But folks, Tech is always a big game regardless of records and rankings. They embarrassed us last year by squeaking out an overtime win between the hedges 30-24; it’s time for payback.

 “In 1965 it was a bit different. We were a disappointing 5-4 and our bowl hopes were gone; but we sure wanted to end with a winning season. They were 6-2-1 and desperate for a seventh win which would land them in a decent bowl game. Tech was gunning for us because we messed up their season the previous year by clipping their wings for a 7-0 win between the hedges. That loss left them a respectable 7-3 season but they still did not go to a bowl game, which they surely would have, had we not beat them.  Did I mention they were gunning for us?’

 When doing the research for this article, we found One Old Dawg’s mama did not save many newspaper clippings from the last games of the 1965 season. Her son was sidelined for many of those games with a back injury. You know how Mama’s are, if her baby wasn’t playing, she wasn’t as interested. One Old Dawg continues.

 “I only have part of one article about the Tech game by Atlanta Journal Sports Editor, Furman Bisher.

 

 

 

"But thanks to my friend Mark Maxwell, who does a lot of archiving for the UGA Athletic Department, I have a written play by play which helped me remember.

“Turnovers were the difference in the game.

“On the first possession of the game we recovered a Tech fumble on their thirty-two. Georgia only took seven plays to cross the goal line and it was 7-0 Dawgs. Early in the second quarter, Lynn Hughes (All SEC, All American) intercepted a Tech pass at our forty and returned it the Tech twenty-five. We couldn’t move the ball so Bobby Etter (Atlanta Flacons, Memphis Southmen)  booted a forty-yard field goal, 10-0 Dawgs at the half. Being a defensive player I can’t help mention that according to the play by play, Tech had zero net yards rushing and forty-nine yards passing at the first half – Glory to Ole Georgia. Erk (Defensive Coordinator, later head coach at Georgia Southern) was surely proud.

“Ridlehuber (Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders,Buffalo Bills, New York Jets) returned the second half kickoff to the Georgia thirty-nine. Ten plays later he scored from the five; 17-0 Dawgs.

“I’m really having fun remembering all of this. Tech was able to mount a drive at the end of the third quarter and scored with thirteen minutes left in the game. Tech launched two more drives. The first ended with a Joe Burson interception at our forty-five. The second ended on the Georgia eleven when Marvin Tootle tackled Lenny Snow for a three yard loss on fourth down. Georgia took over with forty five seconds left to play and ran out the clock for 17-7 victory, how sweet it was.

“After the 1965 season, we were disappointed and felt a bit cheated. We did not receive a bowl invitation yet we had beaten two teams that did, including the reigning national champion that repeated as champion that year. Auburn had a worse recorded than Georgia but they played Ole Miss in the Liberty Bowl. The Sun Bowl picked TCU over us, and they got whipped by Texas-El Paso. Then there was the Tangerine Bowl that picked Maine to play East Carolina. Maine? They were in the Yankee Conference. Ever heard of it? That was their only bowl appearance in history, and they lost 31-0.  We were mad.

“I wish I had known the truth the Apostle Paul discovered and wrote about in Philippians 4:12, ‘I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.’ His context was material provision but the principle has universal application. Our discontent over how the season turned out did not change anything and it kept us from fully enjoying what we had accomplished that year.

“We were only sixteen points short of being 9-1. We were the only team to beat the national champion, Alabama. The nationally televised victory over Alabama together with the well-publicized victory over defending Big-Ten champion, Michigan, in Ann Arbor, reestablished Georgia as a national championship contender. Instead of being disappointed, we should have been content, enjoyed our successes and looked forward to the next year, for which we had established a good foundation. Besides that, I went to the Orange Bowl and saw Alabama beat undefeated Nebraska for the national championship and that was pretty cool for a small town boy.

“Back to those Atlanta Insects.  I hope this doesn’t make anyone mad at me, but I don’t hate Tech like many Georgia fans. It is a State of Georgia institution and a number of my good friends from Valdosta played there. I always pull for Tech except for one game every year. However, because of my friendships, I want you to understand that I really enjoy beating them.  So hunker down you Red Clay Hounds and swat those Jackets. Make them what they sing about - rambling wrecks from Georgia Tech. Sick ‘em dawgs.”

From everyone here at One Old Dawg, we wish you a very blessed Thanksgiving. Go Dawgs!