One Old Dawg: One Old Dawg on the 1966 VMI game, Nichols State, and meeting a UGA grad and country music legend

One Old Dawg received tickets to the Georgia Dome opening game for his birthday this year. Though One Old Dawg’s wife is a big Dog fan, she had previously committed to the Decatur Book Festival last weekend, so he took his fabulous grandson with him. And since his son was already going, well, could there have been anything better?

Oh, wait. Georgia won. That’s what made the night complete.

All arthritic afflictions seem to have left One Old Dawg, as he appears to be strutting around the house in renewed vigor. Something about a Georgia win does that to him.

“What a glorious night at the Dome! A typical first game, with a few mistakes and miscues, but we played tough in the face of adversity; we stayed after them and closed the deal. I was already excited about our prospects for this year but after Saturday night, I’m ecstatic. One down, eleven to go. Come on Dawgs, let’s finish the regular season like we started it, at the dome.”

Speaking of Georgia wins, back in that 1966 championship year, the second game of the season was away against the Keydets of Virginia Military Institute, part of the Harvest Bowl series at Victory Stadium in Roanoke.

The Harvest Bowl committee awarded Ronnie Jenkins the Most Valuable Player award for his 133 rushing yards, but back at Georgia, Martin Mechanical Contractors also gave One Old Dawg a Most Valuable Player award. The plaque has a few dings after fifty years, but he still has it―the only MVP award he ever received.

One Old Dawg recalls:

“This was a special game for me as it was the first action I had seen since an injury sidelined me in the middle of the 1965 season. The game did not start out quite as expected. We got the ball first and drove to the VMI 30 but turned it over on downs. They took over on their 29 and failed to get a first down but Kent Lawrence (Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons) fumbled on the punt return and they recovered on our 18. Eight plays later, they were leading 7-0. I sure dreaded going to the sidelines. The coaches were hot! I don’t remember what was said, but it seems I do remember some mention of holding a practice at half-time to get us motivated. Whatever the coaches said, it worked: Kent Lawrence redeemed himself by taking the kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown. They got one first down on their next possession and then punted to our 26. Eight plays later, we were ahead 14-7 and for all practical purposes, the game was over. We continued to romp for a 43-7 victory.

"We learned an important Biblical truth that night, though I doubt any of us realized it was in the Bible. The lesson is repeated over and over, but two verses stand out to me: Proverbs 16:18: Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 18:12: Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor. Every year several big schools get beat by some smaller school underdog. You can warn players about pride and failing to take every opponent seriously, but they still do it. Most of the time game events and the coaches can shake it out of them, but every now and then pride leads us to that terrible embarrassment of losing to the underdog. Thankfully that didn’t happen in Roanoke in 1966.”

This weekend as the 2016 Bulldogs face off against Nicholls State University from Thibodaux, Louisiana, One Old Dawg has this to say:

“Not only can I pronounce it, I know right where it is, 115 miles southwest of Bogalusa, where I was born. Did I mention I have Cajun roots? My last name used to be spelled Varnadeaux. The Colonels haven’t had a winning season since 2007 with a 3-8 record last year. In case you are getting over-confident, let me remind you that in 1961-1963 the Dawgs had three straight losing seasons. But we turned it around in 1964 finishing 7-3-1, including a win over Texas Tech in the Sun Bowl.

“Nicholls should not present a real challenge to the Dawgs, but that doesn’t mean we can look ahead to Missouri. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and we’re just the opposite and that makes for a dangerous situation. So stay focused Dawgs, buckle up those chin straps, get ready, think of nothing but winning this game. Don’t worry about running up the score; the Colonels will have a big check to salve their bruised egos on the long trip back to Thibodaux. Geaux… Dawgs! Sic ‘em.

“By the way, let’s pray and do what we can for our neighbors in Louisiana, they are still reeling from the record floods last month. During the game my cousin from Baton Rouge texted that his brother-in-law lost his house, furniture, everything but the clothes on his back, and he is certainly not the only one.”

Next week One Old Dawg will be right here talking about the 1966 South Carolina game, and as usual, he’ll be holding court on this year's Georgia matchup against Missouri.

In the mean time, here’s a One Old Dawg moment:

One Old Dawg’s wife invited him over to the Decatur Book Festival to hear legendary country music singer, Bill Anderson, speak. One Old Dawg had just been talking about him the day before remembering when he performed at a UGA game, but couldn’t remember the date. Almost first in line at the book table, One Old Dawg’s wife told Anderson he played on the ’66 SEC championship team, and One Old Dawg asked Anderson if he remembered the year when he sang at the game.

Anderson flipped open Bill Anderson, an Unprecedented Life in Country Music from the University of Georgia Press. He pointed to a picture of himself singing at a Georgia game with the date―November 4, 1972.

Then the inevitable happened. Anderson, a UGA graduate, asked One Old Dawg what he thought about the Dogs this year. Of course, he offered an opinion. Then the man next in line chimed in. Much to the dismay of the fifty people still waiting to get their books signed, these three proceeded to have a lengthy discussion on the matter.