SEC Football: 75 Years of Pride and Passion

241 Pages·2008·116.67 MB·English

by  Richard Scott

Years of Pride
75
and Passion

First published in 2008 by Voyageur Press, an imprint of On the front cover: (top row, left to right) Danny Wuerffel,
MBI Publishing Company and the Quayside Publishing Group, University of Florida Sports Information; Louisiana State 2008 BCS
400 First Avenue N, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA champions, AP Images/Nam Y. Huh; Bo Jackson, 1985, AP Images;
Coach Robert Neyland and the Tennessee Volunteers, University of
Copyright © 2008 by Richard Scott Tennessee; (second row, left to right) South Carolina Gamecocks,
Hardcover edition published in 2008. Digital edition 2010. Southeastern Conference; Rafael Little, 2007, AP Images/Mark
Humphrey; Archie Manning, 1968, AP Images; Bear Bryant, Paul W
All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages Bryant Museum; (bottom row, left to right) Uga VI, Phillip
for the purposes of review, no part of this publication may be Faulkner/UGA Sports Communications; Dan McGugin and the
reproduced without prior written permission from the Publisher. Vanderbilt Commodores, Vanderbilt University; Arkansas Razorback
mascot and crowd, Southeastern Conference; Jerious Norwood,
The information in this book is true and complete to the best Mississippi State Media Relations.
of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without any
guarantee on the part of the author or Publisher, who also disclaim On the back cover: LSU players Demetrius Byrd (2), Carnell
any liability incurred in connection with the use of this data or Stewart (71), and others hold the SEC Championship football
specific details. trophy after beating Tennessee 21-14 at the Georgia Dome in
Atlanta on December 1,2007. AP Images/Dave Martin
This publication has been prepared solely by MBI Publishing
Company and is not approved or licensed by any other entity. On the title page: Alabama and Auburn square off at Jordan-Hare
We recognize that some words, model names, and designations Stadium in Auburn, November 19, 2005. Joe Murphy/WireImage/
mentioned herein are the property of the trademark holder. Getty Images
We use them for identification purposes only. This is not an
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Hardcover edition: 978-0-7603-3248-1
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Printed in United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Scott, Richard, 1960-
SEC football: 75 years of pride and passion I Richard Scott.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-7603-3248-1 (hb wi jkt)
1. Southeastern Conference-History. 2. Football-Southern States.
1. Title.
GV958.5.S59S43 2008
796.332'630973-dc22
2008015166
INTRODUCTION It's an SEC Thing 6
CHAPTER 1 The Early Years: Southern Football Makes Its Mark 14
CHAPTER 2 The 1930s: The Birth of a Conference 34
CHAPTER 3 The 1940s: Fields of Glory 56
CHAPTER 4 The 1950s: Dramatic Change, Dynamic Success 84
CHAPTER 5 The 1960s: Opening, Closing, and Knocking Down Doors 110
CHAPTER 6 The 1970s: Power in Numbers 136
CHAPTER 7 The 1980s: Opportunities Abound 162
CHAPTER 8 The 1990s: Exploring and Expanding the Possibilities 184
CHAPTER 9 The 2000s: Sitting on Top of the World 204
APPENDIX The SEC Record Book 226
INDEX 236
PHOTO CREDITS 240
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 240

It's an SEC Thing
T
he astute Marino Casem-who coached at It's not just the week of the big game or the morning
Alabama State University, Alcorn State University, after. It's signing day in February. It's the spring game in
and Southern University during his thirty-year April. It's between pitches at a little league baseball game
career-had it mostly right, with one addendum. He should in May. It's between bites at a Fourth of July picnic. It's
have added the words, "particularly in the Southeastern 365 days a year. (Don't believe it? Just eat Christmas din
Conference" when he mentioned the South. Nowhere is foot ner in a divided house and see what happens.) It's cradle
ball a more vital part of the identity, culture, and economy to the grave.
than in the eight states where SEC football is played. It's been that way from the start, even before there was
In the Southeastern Conference, football is more pur an SEC-back in 1881, when the Knoxville Journal reported,
pose than possibility, more commandment than suggestion. "The game of football is beginning to gain a foothold in
It's more than legendary coaches and players or monumen Knoxville"; in 1899, when the Sewanee "Iron Men" defeated
tal teams and games. It's every walk-on who ever showed five teams in six days; in 1915, when Alabama All-American
up looking for a chance and worked tirelessly and unselfishly Bully Vandegraaff refused to leave a game against Tennessee,
to help his team prepare for a big game. even if meant removing an appendage.
SEC football is about more than season-ticket holders "His ear had a real nasty cut, and it was dangling from
and all-night tailgating. It's about purchasing a recreational his head, bleeding badly," Tennessee lineman Bull Bayer
vehicle, driving it to the stadium days before the game, park recalled. "He grabbed his own ear and tried to yank it from
ing it on campus, and holding court until kickoff. It's 93,000 his head. His teammates stopped him and the managers
fans at Alabama's spring game. bandaged him. Man, that guy was a tough one."
Left: The Southeastern Conference is about historic rivalries-none is more passionate than Alabama vs. Auburn.
7
The SEC is about playing in front of packed houses of rabid fans-like Tennessee's Erik Ainge playing before more than 100,000 fans at
Neyland Stadium.
People from outside the South don't understand. They Grove on the campus of the University of Mississippi, or
can infiltrate the South with sociologists, anthropologists, when the "Vol Navy" drifts down the Tennessee River to
and psychologists and expound on theories connecting the storm the beaches at Neyland Stadium.
South's love of football with a supposed deep-seated regional It drifts on the winds through the parking lots of Tiger
inferiority complex stemming from its bloody loss to the Stadium on the Louisiana State University campus as fans
oppressive invaders during the War of Northern Aggression. stir pots of gumbo, grill Cajun sausages, and growl as the
Maybe so. But they would forget all about Gettysburg and opposing team faces off with Mike the Tiger.
Appomattox, Grant and Lee, when two SEC football teams It takes on mythical proportions at the foot of Bear
draw battle lines in a sacred cathedral on an autumn Saturday. Bryant's statue and in the handprints of Crimson Tide foot
"The folks up north and in other places around the coun ball captains at the Denny Chimes bell tower on the University
try play college football, and they enjoy it," said Pat Dye, who of Alabama campus. It soars with the eagle circling the crowd
played at Georgia, started his coaching career as an assistant at Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium.
at Alabama in 1965, and finished as Auburn's head coach It barks between the hedges at Georgia. It rings like a
from 1981 to 1992. "That's fine. But down here we don't play cowbell at Mississippi State. It craves Gator Bait at The Swamp
college football. We live it. And we live it every day." in Gainesville. It calls the Hogs at Arkansas and crows like a
That life manifests itself in a unique and profound fighting Gamecock at South Carolina. It clings to a healthy
dimension on game days when Ole Miss fans tailgate at the measure of hope and history at Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
8 INTRODUCTION
The SEC is about fanfare and entertainment-here with musical accompaniment by the South Carolina marching band.
The SEC is about tradition and ceremony-such as Ole Miss fans cheering the Rebels as they walk from the Grove to Vaught-Hemingway
Stadium on game day.
IT'S AN SEC THING 9