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Friday. October 5,1984
The Red and Black
Page 7
l
Dean Looney
The 56th meeting between the Georgia Bulldogs and the
Alabama Crimson Tide this weekend at Birmingham's
Legion Field will mark the first time these two football
powers have met in seven years, when, in 1977. Alabama
toppled Georgia 18-10 in Tuscaloosa. Ala.
Allhough the games between the Dogs and the Tide seem to
be few and far between in recent times, there is an intense
rivalry between the two schools which dates back to 1895
Alabama leads the series 31-20-4, but it took four games
before a Tuscaloosa team could beat the Bulldogs That win
came in 1904. when Alabama won 16-5 Previous to that
game, Georgia led the senes 2-0-1
There were many close, low scoring games between the
two schools in the first half of this century, with scores 0-0,6-
6.13-9 and 3-0 being posted in the early 1900s
There were also some blowouts in'those early years, with
Alabama administering most of the punishment The 1920s
-eemed to be the decade of the shutouts, as between 1920-29
there were six shutouts, all but two going in Alabama's favor.
Of all the many exciting games played between Alabama
and Georgia, three years stand out as especially meaningful
- 1942, 1965 and 1976 All three games resulted in Georgia
victories, of course (which is one reason they're so
memorable >
On Oct 21. Frank Thomas undefeated Tide rolled Into
Grant Field in Atlanta (yes. that's nghti to take on Georgia,
also unbeaten, then under coach Wallace Butts In fact!
Georgia hadn t lost a game since 1941, a 27 14 defeat to none
other than Alabama'
Georgia was led by future Heisman Trophv winner Frankie
Sinkwich. but for the most of that fall afternoon the tough
Tide defense proved too impenetrable for the star halfback to
be very effective
W ith Georgia trailing 10-7. the versatile Sinkwich. unable
to do much on the ground, started throwing the ball
On scoring drives of 72 and 62 yards, Georgia took the lead
14-7, with both touchdowns being the result of Sinkwich to
George Posehner passes To add insult to injury. Bulldog
defensive back Andy Dudish picked up an Alabama fumble
late in the game to score a final Georgia touchdown
The 21-10 upset victory placed Georgia at No. 1 in the
Associated Press poll for the first time ever, although by the
end of the season the Ohio Slate Buckeyes had claimed the
top spot Georgia finished the regular season No 2
The 1965 Bulldogs were the second team under Vince
Dooley Over in Alabama, the late Paul "Bear" Bryant was
beginning his seventh year as head coach of the Crimson
Tide
In the nationally televised '65 season opener, Georgia
stunned Alabama, the defending national champions. 18-17 in
Sanford Stadium
The year before. Alabama had w hipped the Bulldogs 31-3 in
Tuscaloosa, which made the victory especially sweet
Georgia jumped to an early 10-0 lead, but Alabama came
back to lead 17-10 late in the fourth quarter
With two minutes to play Georgia successfully completed a
flea-flicker touchdown play which, combined with the two-
point conversion that followed, gave the Bulldogs the winning
margin
Here is how the late Ed Thelenius. voice of the Bulldogs
before the days of Larry Munson, described the Kirby Moore
to Pat Hodgson to Bob Taylor flea-flicker:
"Second down and eight for the Bulldogs at their own 27
Moore has Hodgson wide out to the left drops hack, looking
for Hodgson — throws it is complete! Hodgson laterals the
ball off to Taylor Taylor 's around to the 50, the 40. the 35. the
30. the 20, the 15, the 10, the 5 Georgia TOUCHDOWN! One
of the oldest plays in football, the flea flicker pass!"
Alabama went on to win the rest of its games that year and
capture a second straight national championship, but that
particular day belonged to the Bulldogs
The most recent highlight of the Georgia Alabama series
again took place in Athens, this time in 1976
The Tide came between the hedges favored by a touch
down. but Georgia fans didn't believe it The week before the
game signs like "Round the bowl and down the hole, roll Tide
roll’ " could be seen hanging along Milledge Avenue
One game day the railroad trustle was packed with rowdy
fans i this was before the East end-rone was added to Sanford
Stadium) as a sellout crowd of over 61.000 (small by today's
standards i filled the stadium
The oddsmakers proved wrong, as the underdogs from
Georgia, led by quarterback Matt Robinson, soundly
defeated Alabama 21-0
Once again the Pachyderms were sent packing
This weekend’s game will be the first matchup between the
two schools in the 1980s
Alabama, now under coach Ray Perkins, is struggling to
maintain the winning traditions established during the
Bryant years
The Tide will be hosting, before a national television
audience, a young Georgia team that is still trying to seek an
identity for themselves
If past games are any indication of the future, it should be a
-very interesting afternoon in Birmingham
Dean Looney is on Assistant Sports Editor for The Red and
Black.
’Bama devotion is eternal
When I was a youngster growing up in the
west central Georgia border city of
Columbus. Alabama football was all there
was
Strange as it may seem that a Georgia
community held its devotion for a team
across the Chattahoochee River, it must be
remembered that it was the 1970s (an ex
cuse in itself) and Alabama was the most
devastating football juggernaut this side of
the Pittsburgh Steelers It must also be
remembered that they had "the Bear," Paul
W Bryant
Coach Bryant was a Joe DiMaggio, Tarzan
and Sam Huff figure rolled into one. He was a
hero, a deity, holier than the Pope They said
that he could walk on water When he wasn't
doing that, people worshipped the ground he
walked on
Though his sainthood is in doubt, the deeds
he did accomplish are astounding indeed Six
national titles and 13 conference cham
pionships are impetus enough to inspire
devotion
Mine started early The first 'Bama game
that 1 remember was a turning point of sorts
for Alabama football, a 17-10 victory over a
powerful Southern California team in 1971
The Tide had just come off four disap
pointing campaigns following the 1966
national championship season Johnny
Musso. Robin Parkhouse. John Hannah and
Terry Davis were the first collegiate stars I
knew
Although Bama took a 38-6 thrashing by
an awesome Nebraska squad, following the
Tide and, most importantly, following Coach
Bryant, because my annual fall preoc
cupation
Watching the games wasn't what
ingrained the Crimson and White into me so
much. It was a coach 1 had back when I
played Pop Warner football and Little
League baseball His name was Dan Pate
Dan was a disciplinarian. He was of the
school of thought that believed the more
sweat you poured during practice, the more
games you would win He was a winner And
he worshipped "Bear" Bryant
Dan would run our 11-year-old butts
ragged every day with windsprints, crab-
walks, head-on-head tackling drills I nobody
carried a football, just contact) or anything
that he thought would make us a "winner "
However, he had a peacefully curious ritual
he would perform for us after our two hours
or so of torture on the practice field He
would pull out a bound copy of “Bear,”
Bryant's autobiography, find a selection with
his Seventh Day Adventist bookmarker and
read passages to us.
Like the Bible, Dan would read in
spirational text which pertained to our up
coming game. Silly as it may seem now, we
ate it up ft was like the "Bear" himself were
reading to us Dan's trick always worked. We
were motivated every lime and never lost a
game
One time l piled into Dan’s Capri which
functioned as transportation and a traveling
sporting goods store, for it was always filled
to the brim with football cleats, baseball
spikes, balls, bats, kicking tees, books and
Gatorgum I didn't see anything particularly
valuable, so I sat myself right down. I heard
a slight tearing sound and immediately
popped up I had put a small tear In the paper
cover of "Bear." Dan's eyes bugged out and
he lost himself for a minute He turned a pale
shade of blue then became somewhat
composed
"Just, just put it in the back seat," he
muttered
I thought he was going to hand me my
head
The fanaticism I saw down Columbus way
didn't stop there. There was an ad
vertisement run on the local television
stations that offered chunks of astroturf from
Bryant-Denny Stadium “where the Tide
never lost a game on this turf " Yahoo I
know people who bought it
One thing that might be noted about an
Alabama fan is that he is not of the fair
weather variety. Even while the Tide had
some down years and Georgia was
dominating the Southeastern Conference
during the Herscliel Walker Era, my
Alabama buddies would counter my
braggadocious behavior with, “Shoot, you
ain't gonna win the national championship
again, you ain't even gonna win the SEC,
because we're gonna win it."
So for all of you making the trek to Bir
mingham this weekend, please don’t expect
a lame bunch of losers Despite the 1-3
record. Alabama still has its pride And its
fanatics.
Dooley railed Kicky Moore (26) a bull
Georgia-Alabama
was rich tradition
Dogs, Tide attempt
to answer questions
By CHARLES AARON
Kr<l and Kla.k Sufi Wrtlrr
It should've been a revitalization akin to a
resurrection of the Bear ..well, almost.
Alabama's 28 7 trouncing of sixth ranked. 10-
I Southern Methodist Dec. 24, 1983 at the
Sun Bowl, was exactly what stoically disap
pointed coach Ray Perkins and thousands
of Alabama /ootball disci pies had been
looking for A sigh Anything at all to give
the 'Bama faithful reason to believe the
magic lingered The convincing win gave
the suddenly flimsy Tide haughtiness a big
boost Perkins was OK The program was
on the right track.
Well, it's more than nine months and four
games later, and Alabama's season-ending
win is long forgotten. The positive aspects of
the SMU game are lost somewhere in the
rubble of a spluttered 1-3 1984 start. As the
Crimson Tide prepares for this Saturday's
3:50 pm, game with Georgia at Birm
ingham's Legion Field, almost nothing but
negatives remain:
• A defense, which returned nine starters
from this past year's squad that shut out
SMU 21-0 in the first half, is struggling. The
Tide are giving up 24.5 points a game and
have surrendered 30 or more points three
times.
Ricky Moore, who rushed for more than 100
yards in the last six games of this past
season, has rushed 43 times for 146 yards (3.4
yards a carry) in four games this season
Tailback Kerry Goode, the SEC's "Rookie of
the Year" in 1983. was injured in the first
game of the season against Boston College
He's probably out for the season.
• A replacement has still not been found
for Sun Bowl MVP quarterback Walter
Lewis. Alabama's all-time total offense
leader Fifth-senior Paul Fields quit the
team after a hamstring injury, and freshman
Vince Sutton was only 14-of-37 passing
against Vandy this past week. Mike Shula
has shown little.
• With terms such as pitiful and pathetic
being thrown around by Alabama players
following this past week's 30-21 loss to
Vandy. Perkins' position is less than stable.
And for that reason, Perkins has little
sympathy for a Georgia team coming off a
shocking 17-10 loss to South Carolina.
"They don't do anything fancy And they
don't have a Herschel Walker,” Perkins
said “But they're still Georgia."
The Bulldogs, ranked 19th by United Press
International and 20th by Associated Press
this week, played against South Carolina as
if they didn’t know who they were Except
maybe a mediocre, confused football team
"I think we may have been dreaming
about a national championship when we beat
Clemson,” Georgia coach Vince Dooley said.
“But we’re a surviving type of team We're
going to struggle against anyone we play
We'll be outmalined in every game "
One area in which the Dogs may not be
outmanned. at least based on the basis of
Alabama's previous four games, was along
the defensive line The Tide lost two key
starters on its offensive line and two of the
returning starters, guard John McIntosh and
tackle Hardy Walker will not start against
the Dogs Plus, the Tide line has only
managed to open enough holes for Bama
backs to gain 147.3 yards a game.
"We’ve Just got to get out there and play
like we can play," said Mike White, a star
ting guard from Decatur "We've got a
lot of good ability on the line but we’ve got
some guys that just need some experience.”
The Georgia defensive line performed
admirably against South Carolina, but the
Dogs' edge may be dulled a bit by a sprained
neck suffered by Donald Chumley earlier
this week Chumley plans to start at
defensive tackle anyway.
The Alabama defense features possibly the
finest linebacker tandem in the conference in
6-2, 232-pound Emmanuel King and 6-4, 213-
pound Cornelius Bennett But Bama’s
problems in the secondary, where they lost
two starters from a year ago, are obvious.
Boston College's Doug Flutie and Vandy's
Kurt Page had excellent passing days in
their teams' high scoring wins.
Georgia's inability to convert offensively
against South Carolina (two botched drives
al the Gamecocks' two-yard line) was the
obvious key to the loss. Dooley only can hope
for a more effective performance from
quarterback Todd Williams, who has ac
counted for six interceptions, several crucial
fumbles and only two passing touchdowns
this season
Carruth (16) leads the Tide with 261 yards rushing
i -
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Friday October 5,1984 8:00 pm UGA Coliseum
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