One Old Dawg moving on and getting the game ball

One Old Dawg’s comments last week were eerily on target. “Every year several big schools get beat by some smaller school underdog,” he observed and then said, “They have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and we’re just the opposite and that makes for a dangerous situation.” A dangerous situation, indeed. Georgia barely squeaked out the win 26-24.

One Old Dawg says, “The only good thing about last Saturday is we got a W; it wasn’t pretty but it’s still a W. I received a text from my Louisiana cousin, whose son is a Nicholls alum, and he politely abstained from gloating, but I could sense that inside, he was mighty proud. He said, ‘We Cajuns call Nicholls, Harvard on the Bayou,’ so those Thibodaux Colonels are not only tough but also smart. We found that out.

“You might try what I did― watch the replay of the North Carolina game to clear the Georgia mind of bad memories. The apostle Paul tells how he dealt with unpleasant things in the past in Philippians 3:13:  ‘But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead’. This is not true just in spiritual matters; it has a general application as well. If we are not careful, yesterday’s miscues can contribute to tomorrow’s failure. We need to forget about last Saturday and move on to the preferred future that is ahead.”

Now to the third game in the season against South Carolina back in that 1966 SEC championship year.

“We are going to have to play our best game in order to beat them,” Coach Vince Dooley said in an interview leading up to the game. In several news reports, apprehension was expressed about the match up as in this vintage account.

 

One Old Dawg remembers, “I feel I have to remind you young’uns that the Gamecocks were in the ACC not the SEC back in those days. However, we had played them regularly since 1900, so the rivalry was intense. They had lost their first two games to LSU and Memphis State so I guess we were favored― but not by much. The game was a slugfest. Our offense moved the ball up and down field, amassing 247 yards rushing but bad breaks and mistakes kept us out of the end zone.

"We held the Gamecocks to 115 yards rushing and 80 passing but more impressively, we shut them out. Kirby Moore and our offense rose to the occasion and drove it in late in the game for a touchdown, and we won the game 7-0. It was a memorable game for me for two reasons: I was named defensive captain for the first time in my career and at a team meeting the next week, Coach Erk Russell Defensive Coordinator (later head coach at Georgia Southern) gave me the game ball; pretty dawg gone special.”

Jack Davis was the offensive captain for the game. Later, news reports highlighted Kirby Moore, Craig Elrod, Bill McWhorter, Edgar Chandler (All American, Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots ), Donald Hayes, Ronnie Jenkins, and Jack Davis on offense. On the defense, Happy Dicks, (All SEC, All American) Larry Kohn (All SEC), Dicky Phillips, Jerry Varnado, Jimmy Cooley, Bill Stanfill (All American, Miami Dolphins, Super Bowl Team) , and George Patton (All SEC, All American, Atlanta Falcons) made significant contributions to the win.

In fact, another Atlanta Journal article began, “’. . . you are a real All American football player.’ The speaker was Georgia end Jerry Varnado. The complement directed to George Patton.”

One Old Dawg has always been a big Patton fan.

The article continues with Patton’s response, “We all did it out there tonight.”

Dooley agreed when he was quoted in another Atlanta newspaper article after the game, “I want you to know that it took a fine effort to beat that South Carolina team.”

One Old Dawg offers his prognostication about this week’s upcoming game against Missouri.

“This Saturday we have to walk into the Missouri Tigers den which is a dangerous thing to do, even though we have been very successful at skinning these tigers in their own backyard. Since Mizzou joined the SEC, we are 2-0 in Columbia and 1-1 at home. This year they lost at West Virginia 26-11 but then walloped Eastern Michigan 61-21at home. At 2-0 with a win over a ranked team, I guess the Dawgs get the nod, but we all know none of that matters when you start barking in the Tigers ‘den. But I’m confident these young Dawgs are growing fast and at the end of the day their bite will prove to be as bad as their bark and Uga will have another Tiger skin to adorn his doghouse. Gooo… Dawgs! Sic ‘em.”

So that’s it for this week’s One Old Dawg, but we’re here again next week for the both the 1966 and 2016 games against Ole Miss, both the fourth game in the season.

A few pictures from this past week’s 1966 reunion events:

Happy Dicks and Jerry Varnado

Larry Kohn and One Old Dawg, Jerry Varnado

Wayne Ingle, Terry Osbolt, Jerry Varnado
 

 Go Dawgs!!

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.

 

 

When Old Dawg left, it was Bill Anderson who stuck out his hand and shook One Old Dawg’s paw. “Very glad to meet you,” he said.

Those Old Dawgs just love getting together.

 Til next time, again we say it, Go Dogs!!!

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!