A Remembrance of 1964 Dawg Seniors and Getting Ready for Mississippi State

This week we take on the other Bulldogs in the SEC, but before we get to that, we thought it appropriate to remember the seniors who served our Bulldogs well in 1964 but have left this life for the next. (If we have overlooked any senior on the 1964 team, please let us know, and we will add to a future edition of One Old Dawg.) 

Team Doctor Marion Hubert checks Fred Barber, Danny Garrett Student Trainer (Center)

Danny Garrett, a student trainer when One Old Dawg arrived at Georgia, did much to keep the team healthy and help them heal when hurt. He remained a loyal Bulldog and for years served as a volunteer in the operation of the Lettermen’s Club facility at Sanford Stadium.

Ray Crawford, Columbus, GA

Ray Crawford was an outstanding player at Georgia, earning a starting position at left end as a true sophomore in 1962. Unfortunately, a serious shoulder injury limited his playing time the next two years. But he continued to do what he could to help the team as a back-up and One Old Dawg remembers him as a great friend and teammate.

Leroy Dukes, Patterson, GA

Leroy Dukes came to Georgia after serving a stent in the Air Force. A few years older than the rest of the team, at times One Old Dawg recalls affectionately referring to him as Grandpa, and writes he was a tough, hard-nosed linebacker and a great team leader as well as jovial, fun-loving friend to all. He remained in Athens and became a great leader for the Georgia Football Lettermen’s Club.

Pat Hunnicutt, Lagrange, GA

Pat Hunnicutt, son of a legendary Georgia high school coach, was a student of the game and a valuable part of the 1964 team. He is most remembered for a hard hit on the Georgia Tech running back that resulted in a fumble which was recovered by Leroy Dukes to assure the team of a win in a close game and bid to play in the 1964 Sun Bowl.

Ray Rissmiller, Easton, PA

Ray Rissmiller, an outstanding offensive tackle, made the All-SEC squad in 1963 and 1964 and All-America in 1964. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted him in the second round of the 1965 NFL Draft. He later played for the New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills.

Jim Wilson, Pittsburgh, PA

Jim Wlson, the other of our dynamic duo of offensive tackles, was all SEC and All-America in 1964 and voted most valuable lineman in the 1964 Sun Bowl. The San Francisco 49ers drafted him in the fourth round of the NFL draft. He later played for the Atlanta Falcons and Los Angeles Rams before retiring for medical reasons. In 2001 he was inducted into the State of Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

Many thanks to all these great men who helped propel the Georgia Football program into the winning tradition we now enjoy.

NOW, about those Mississippi State Bulldogs. One Old Dawg says, "They have not fared well recently, posting a 5-7 record in 2023 and they are off to a 1-4 start in 2024. They are at the bottom of the SEC. We have every reason to expect an easy afternoon of it, but in response I would say, remember the Commodores. Who would have ever dreamed Vandy could take down Alabama? It has been my experience over sixty-two years in the SEC that you should never assume anything. You can never take a break unless you have an open date and even then, as Coach Smart says, better never rests. So, let’s hunker down Dawgs and get ready for a fight, prepare as though they were the best in the conference and give our best shot Saturday. Gooooo Dawgs! Sic’em, woof, woof, woof!"

Who is One Old Dawg?

Jerry Varnado played defensive end at the University of Georgia on Vince Dooley’s first three teams, which included an SEC championship in 1966, placing Georgia fourth in the nation. He helped coach the UGA football team while in law school, and practiced law for over a decade. Later, after a series of tragedies, he gave his life to Jesus Christ. After much soul searching, he left his law practice and has preached the gospel for forty years. He’s still at it every Sunday.

Inducted into the Valdosta/Lowndes County Sports Hall of Fame, he is also the recipient of the Athens Athletic Hall of Fame Fosky Henderson Award for community service. He is a past president of The Athens Touchdown Club and is now the chaplain. He has been an FCA chaplain for the Athens Academy Football Team for ten years.

He is the proud father of four children, and one sweet girl now with Jesus, as well as Bapa to two of the best grandkids ever.

Check in every Wednesday through football season or better yet sign up to receive these posts in your inbox HERE. You don’t want to miss any of his mostly true Bulldog lore. 

One Old Dawg on unknowns

As One Old Dawg predicted last week, a wildcat was not a problem. He’s been all smiles since the Kentucky game.

About this time in 1964, an article appeared in The Atlanta Journal entitled, “Bulldogs: A Team of ‘Unknowns.’” Writer John Logue  pointed out that before the 1964 season began most fans could name only two or three players on the Georgia team, Pat Hodgson, Ray Rissmiller, and Jim Wilson. “Beyond that,” he says, “you had to be either a father or a fanatic to be able to identify all the Georgia gentlemen who lined up for the opening kickoff with Alabama and for ensuing kickoffs . . .”

But somehow that team of unknowns managed to assemble a 4-1 record at that point in the season, a record only exceeded by the unbeaten team that went on to become National Champions that year—Alabama.

Logue highlighted several of those unknowns who were playmakers, seven who had only moved up from the B-team. In addition to Hodgson (All SEC, Washington Redskins, Coach at San Diego Chargers, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets), Rissmiller (All-American, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills), and Wilson (All SEC, All American, San Francisco 49rs, Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Rams), Logue listed Harold Steely , Jimmy Denny, Lynn Hughes (All SEC, All American), Jerry Varnado, George Patton (All SEC, All American, Atlanta Falcons), John Glass, Joe Burson, Pete Dickens, Wayne Swinford, Frank Richter (Denver Broncos) , Glenn Creech, Leroy Dukes , Fred Barber , Bob Taylor , and Preston Ridlehuber (Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets) .

It seems appropriate that team of “unknowns” was coached by a man who was also an “unknown” when he came to Georgia—Coach Vince Dooley . (Can we ever forget the newspaper headline, “Vince Who?”) Together, this coach and these players fought their way to a 7-3-1 record and into the Sun Bowl.

About this, Old Old Dawg says, “In retrospect it was true we were “unknown.” But we didn’t really think about that, we were just a bunch of regular guys who wanted to play football and win games. We were making ourselves known and that was part of the fun. By mid season the student body and fans ‘knew”’ us and other teams didn’t take us for granted. That was enough.

“In Genesis 16:13, Hagar had been put out of the household. She was alone, and unknown. Then God came to her. ‘She answered God by name, praying to the God who spoke to her, “You’re the God who sees me!’”(Genesis 16:13 The Message).  

 

We all want to be seen or known. It’s not that we have to be famous, but we have an inborn need to know others and to be known by others. Be assured that God has seen us and knows us and earnestly desires we know him.”

One Old Dawg makes his prediction for the upcoming Auburn game, “Now the dogs have skinned two tigers and a wildcat, and I’m believing that this Saturday, we’ll make a sweep of our feline opponents—cats drool, dogs rule.”

And to that we can only add, “Go dogs!”

One Old Dawg on Gamecocks, the General, Butt Drills, Ties, and Sacking Spurrier

When the 1964 team played South Carolina , it was not their second game of the season, but their third. They’d come off a 7-0 win against Vanderbilt.

Dan Reeves  quarterbacked for South Carolina and would later play for the Dallas Cowboys. He would end his college career as leading passer in Gamecock History and participate in more Super Bowls as a player and coach than anyone else in NFL history including his appearance with the Atlanta Falcons at the Super Bowl in 1999.

It’s good Georgia had lineman like George Patton (All SEC, Atlanta Falcons).

Dubbed the “General" by Dan Magill, Jerry remembers, “It was great to play with George Patton. We were close friends and did a lot of things together off the field. George was so tall, he could cover a lot of ground, which made my job as a defensive end a lot easier. My job was to turn everything in. Our opponents couldn’t push George around. He could stand strong, and he could cover a large area. We’d played together enough we could read each other’s mind. Very seldom would we have a mix up on play calls or stunts. It was a joy to play with George.”

South Carolina was an opponent to be reckoned with, but this young Georgia team believed they could beat them—a belief instilled in them in part by legendary defensive co-coordinator, Erk Russell. “Everybody loved Coach Russell from the start,” One Old Dawg says. One of the ways Russell won over the players was by participating in “butt drills.”

In the pre-game warm-up, players took turns in the middle butting the shoulder pads of three players in the circle. Russell would step in to take a turn without a helmet, leaving blood streaming down his bald head.

The match up with South Carolina proved to be a back and forth struggle. With Lynn Hughes (All SEC, All American) and Preston Ridlehuber (Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets) alternating at quarterback, Hughes got the ball to Bob Taylor who scored first for Georgia. However, South Carolina soon matched them making the score 7-7. All the points were scored in the second quarter, but neither Georgia nor South Carolina were able to break the tie during the second half. Other players who received press were Ray Rissmiller (All-American, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills),George Nowicki, Bob Etter (Atlanta Falcons, Memphis Southmen), Mack Faircloth, Leon Armbrester, Ken Davis, Fred Barber, Vance Evans , Joel Darden, Wayne Swinford (San Francisco 49rs), Jerry Varnado, and of course George Patton.

When asked what he thought about tie games, One Old Dawg said, “A tie is like taking a shower with a raincoat on. You don’t accomplish anything. Neither team suffers defeat or experiences victory. It all comes to nothing. I hate ties. I don’t know why we didn’t have the good sense to put in an overtime rule like we have now, so that we could resolve the game and have a winner.”

About this time in the '64 season, One Old Dawg says, "We were beginning to gel as a team, becoming friends, and realizing our need for each other. Ecclesiastes 4:12 comes to mind. 'By yourself you're unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three stranded rope isn't easily broken' (The Message)."

One Old Dawg predicts Georgia is going to win this Saturday.  “I read Texas A& M handed the Gamecocks their first loss in eighteen games in Williams Brice stadium. No tie game this weekend. The Dogs will beat South Carolina in regular time. The Gamecocks will come out fighting, but I believe we’re strong enough to beat them soundly on their own turf.”

Just for fun, we're including a couple of pictures which a fan had colorized from the Florida Times-Union and later gave to One Old Dawg. They now hang on our walls and are from the 1966 Georgia-Florida game where One Old Dawg had a chance to sack then Florida quarterback, now South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier.

Here Jerry, 88, comes after Spurrier.

And he's got him.

Go Dawgs!

Remember, you can always count on us at One Old Dawg for the finest, mostly true, Bulldog lore.