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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781633199262 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Triumph Books |
| Publication date: | 09/01/2017 |
| Series: | Bucket List |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 224 |
| File size: | 11 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
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CHAPTER 1
Spanning the Eras
Know the Beginnings
To look back at the beginning of Georgia football, one must look up the East Coast to a well-known medical school called Johns Hopkins, which would become well-known as a dominant force in the sport of lacrosse. But a certain person attending Johns Hopkins in the late 1800s helped become the catalyst for the beginning of American football at the University of Georgia.
Dr. Charles Herty was born in Milledgeville, Georgia, on December 4, 1867. He'd stay in the state for his undergraduate academic pursuits in the field of philosophy, electing to attend the University of Georgia. After graduating, Herty pursued his doctorate at Johns Hopkins and concluded it in 1890. When Herty was wrapping up his doctorate in chemistry, Johns Hopkins' upstart football program had been around for nine years.
Herty, who would go on to become an internationally respected chemist, had a long love for athletics. Once his studies were done at Johns Hopkins, Herty moved back to Georgia and served as an assistant chemist at the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station. By 1891 he was a chemistry instructor at the University of Georgia and spent the next decade in such a role.
This is where his athletic pursuits at UGA began. Although he would become renowned in the field of chemistry for his work in the turpentine and forestry industries, it was what he did in the early 1890s with the Georgia athletics department that is at the top of his legacy at the university. Herty helped organize an athletics agency on campus, which included raising money, forming an intramural sports league, and, most notably, organizing the first football team ever at Georgia. Herty did so and became the coach as well, which gave him the moniker of the "father of Georgia football."
"I'll never forget the first practice," George Shackleford, a football player on that first team, once said. "Dr. Herty simply tossed the football in the air and watched us scramble for it. He selected the strongest looking specimens for the first team."
The first game Georgia ever played, which was on what would be known as Herty Field on North Campus, was against Mercer on January 30, 1892. Georgia won that game in blowout fashion, defeating Mercer 50–0. The next Georgia football game would be set up by Herty and his friend and classmate at Johns Hopkins, Dr. George Petrie, who was at Auburn University. Herty and Petrie set the game up to be played in Atlanta. It would be Georgia's second and Auburn's first, and Auburn won 10–0. That would go down as the first meeting in what's now accurately called "the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry."
Herty would serve as Georgia's football coach for one season, which only consisted of two games. But that would be the start of a longstanding Georgia football career, one that would go from crowds of 2,000 to almost 93,000.
Ernest Brown and Robert Winston coached the Georgia teams in 1893 and 1894, respectively, before a figure, who would go down in fooball lore, came to Athens to coach the university's program. In 1895 and 1896, Glenn "Pop" Warner, who became responsible for a lot of the aspects of the modern game of football, came to Georgia to coach the football team. Among his innovations were the single and double-wing formations, as well as the three-point blocking stance technique. Warner's coaching career began in Georgia for those two years with the then-young head coach compiling a 7–4 record, which included going 4–0 in 1896. Interestingly enough, Warner also coached Iowa State at the same time because the two schools' seasons didn't overlap. After the 4–0 season in 1896, Warner's alma mater at Cornell came calling to bring him back to be its head coach. With two years of overlap at Iowa State still to go, Warner eventually became the head coach at Cornell only in 1904.
A slew of coaches would occupy the head of the football team in years to follow. Charles McCarthy, Gordon Saussy, E.E. Jones, Billy Reynolds, M.M. Dickinson, Charles A. Barnard, W.S. Whitney, Branch Bocock, J. Coulter, Frank Dobson, and W.A. Cunningham were Georgia coaches from 1897 to 1919. Then Georgia got a coach who would deliver the university its first conference championship.
The turnover rate in coaches was a reflection of the lack of success they were able to have — at least until Cunningham took over in 1910. Although Reynolds went 5–7–3 in two seasons, he was liked among the student body, which gave him a cigar box and a pipe as a parting gift. Barnard, however, was none too liked by his players or Georgia's fans after a 1–5 campaign in 1904.
Cunningham then became Georgia's first coach at the helm for more than two years. He brought respect to the program as the wins began to pile up. Cunningham coached Georgia's first All-American in Bob McWhorter and George "Kid" Woodruff. During 1917 and 1918, Georgia didn't field a football team with World War I going on. Cunningham actually joined the Army during the war before coming back to coach the 1919 season. After compiling a 43–18–9 record over nine seasons, Cunningham re-entered the Army and eventually reached the rank of general.
In 1920 H.J. Stegeman took control and put Georgia at a spot it had never been before. Stegeman, who played college ball for Amos Alonzo Stagg at Chicago, was an assistant under Cunningham before his promotion. It was also during this season when Georgia officially adopted the nickname Bulldogs. The stars aligned, and Georgia went 8–0–1 in Stegeman's first season. It was capped with a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship. Stegeman coached two more seasons but also coached Georgia's basketball, baseball, and track programs. He remained at Georgia for 18 years as the university's athletic director. Georgia's basketball home, Stegeman Coliseum, is named after him.
Woodruff then took over as Georgia's head coach in 1923 and went 30–16–1 in five years. One of the key elements Woodruff brought to Georgia was the "Box 4 shift" offense. He did so after seeing Notre Dame dismantle Georgia Tech with this style of attack. Woodruff even brought in some assistants who coached under Notre Dame's Knute Rockne — Frank Thomas, Harry Mehre, and Jim Crowley — to implement the system. It was not only an introduction of the Box 4 shift to Georgia, but to southeastern football as a whole. Woodruff famously took a salary of only $1 a season due to the money he made in the business arena. Woodruff's 1927 team went 9–1. Georgia was ranked No. 1 entering the final regular-season game against Georgia Tech. But Georgia was upset 12–0, which cost the Bulldogs a chance at an undisputed national championship. Although Georgia still claims a national championship that season because two polls (Boand System, Poling System) ranked it No. 1, Illinois would go on to be the team that historians consider college football's national title team that season. The aforementioned three assistants he brought to coach under him all became head coaches in their own right. Thomas went on to lead Alabama, and Crowley took the reins at Michigan State.
Mehre, however, became Georgia's head coach after Woodruff stepped down. In his second season in 1929, the same year Sanford Stadium opened up, Mehre's Bulldogs upset Yale 15–0. Famed player Catfish Smith scored each point. Although Mehre never won a conference title, his teams were very much in contention in 1930, 1931, 1933, and 1934. Mehre wound up leaving Georgia to become the head football coach at Ole Miss in 1938 but is still a revered man around Georgia, as his name is part of the Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall that houses the Bulldogs' football program. He compiled a 59–34–6 record during his 10 years in Athens.
With Mehre gone, Georgia hired Joel Hunt to become its 19 football head coach. Maybe it was due to the success Mehre had before him, but the fans and alumni didn't care much for Hunt in what would be his lone season in 1938. Hunt left but saw an assistant he brought along stay behind to follow as Georgia's 20 head football coach.
His name was Wally Butts.
The Tragedy of Richard "Von" Gammon
Georgia football was in its infancy — only in its sixth season — when Richard "Von" Gammon was a sophomore. A talented athlete from Rome, Georgia, Gammon was one of Georgia's standout players on its 1897 football team.
Georgia only played three games that season with Virginia being the last. During the game Gammon recorded a tackle on a Virginia player and sustained a serious head injury. When the bodies piled up on the play got up, Gammon remained motionless on the ground. As the story has been told, two doctors attending the game in the stands rushed to his aid. After he was helped to the sideline, Gammon began to throw up before losing consciousness. With the game being played at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Gammon was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital.
Unfortunately, Gammon died the next day on October 31, 1897, at the age of 17. A funeral was held the next day at First Presbyterian Church.
In the aftermath Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Mercer stopped playing for the remainder of the year. The Atlanta Journal headlined a story on the subject called the "Death Knell of Football." As news spread throughout the state, the Georgia legislature decided to spring into action and crafted a bill to ban football at all statewide public universities. It passed by a vote of 91–3. After also passing in the Georgia Senate, all that was needed was for Georgia Governor William Y. Atkinson to sign the bill into law.
Gammon's mother, however, was not in support of this piece of legislation. Rosalind Burns Gammon wrote the following letter to a local representative urging the state lawmakers to not place a ban on the sport her son loved dearly.
It would be the greatest favor to the family of Von Gammon if your influence could prevent his death being used for an argument detrimental to the athletic cause and its advancement at the University. His love for his college and his interest in all manly sports, without which he deemed the highest type of manhood impossible, is well known by his classmates and friends, and it would be inexpressibly sad to have the cause he held so dear injured by his sacrifice. Grant me the right to request that my boy's death should not be used to defeat the most cherished object of his life. Dr. Herty's article in the Constitution of Nov. 2d is timely, and the authorities of the University can be trusted to make all needed changes for all possible consideration pertaining to the welfare of its students, if they are given the means and the confidence their loyalty and high sense of duty should deserve.
Atkinson was made aware of this letter and vetoed the bill on December 7, 1897.
Relax at Herty Field
Named after the football team's first coach, Dr. Charles Herty, Herty Field opened in the fall of 1891 and became the location for the University of Georgia's home games. Located on North Campus, the field was initially used as a marching ground for the university's ROTC. But under Herty's direction, the field became a place for football games and practices, as well as intramural events. It was originally named Alumni Athletic Field.
The first Georgia football game ever played at Herty Field was against Mercer with the then–Red and Black winning by a score of 50–0 on January 30, 1892. Herty Field would be Georgia's home turf when opposing teams came to town to take on the football team until 1911. Named after former Georgia professor, and later president, Steadman Vincent Sanford, Sanford Field was constructed, and Herty Field was converted into a greenspace where students could study, converse, and socialize. Intramural sports teams and the ROTC would still use the field as well.
In the 1940s, however, Herty Field would be no more. The university elected to create the Herty Drive Parking Lot over what was once the football team's home field. It would remain that way for five decades.
But in 1999 Georgia decided to make it a greenspace again, and it's been that way ever since. Located by the Alexander Campbell King Law Library, Herty Field is now a place for students to study, read, and relax. A fountain exists on the site, adding an aesthetic to the historical site of where the early Georgia football teams used to play. Although the field wasn't as pretty back in those days as it is now, it certainly serves as much more of a reminder of Georgia's football history than a parking lot ever could have.
History of North Campus
Herty Field is one of many historical landmarks located at the University of Georgia's North Campus. What's called North Campus now is where the original campus was located. In 1785 the state's general assembly signed an act that granted a state-supported university. It took some time to build, as it wasn't until 1801 that 633 acres of land in Athens were purchased by the soon-to-be university's board of trustees.
The first building to go up was Franklin College, now known as Old College. Built and named to honor Benjamin Franklin, the three-story brick building still stands today and holds classes as part of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. It's able to do so thanks to a major 2006 renovation.
The entry to North Campus is landmarked with the famous arch on Broad Street, which has been designed as one of the logos the university uses for promotion. The old superstition is that students are not supposed to walk under the arch until they graduate. Instead, they must walk around it. The arch was cast in the 1800s at the Athens Foundry and was made after the state's seal.
Also on North Campus is The Chapel, which was constructed in 1832. This replaced the original 1807 Chapel that caught fire and was destroyed in 1830. The aesthetics of North Campus provide reminders of the origins of a university that launched the advent of higher public education.
Become Part of Wally's World
When Joel Hunt came to Georgia, he brought along an unknown assistant named Wally Butts. Hunt only stayed for one season in 1938, a disappointing 5–4–1 campaign. When Hunt left, Georgia turned to Butts to fill the role. As even the Georgia sports communications staff states in its media information, the best thing Hunt did for the Georgia football program was bring Butts along with him to the university.
Butts was born near Milledgeville, Georgia, on February 7, 1905, and excelled in football, basketball, and baseball as a youth. He accepted a scholarship to compete in all three sports at Mercer. He became an All-Southern Conference end in college and quickly became a coach after graduation. He coached at the prep level and only lost 10 games over a decade's worth of time. This helped him become an assistant at Georgia with Hunt bringing him on the staff in 1938.
It wasn't always easy early on. The one the fans began to call the "Little Round Man" had a tough go at it in his attempt to rebuild the football team into a regional and national power. In his first season, Butts, who also became Georgia's athletic director in his inaugural season, led the Bulldogs to a 5–6 record.
Butts would endure another tough season in year two, though it ended over .500. In 1940 his team finished 5–4–1 with wins against Georgia Tech and Miami to close the year. From there, Butts had the Georgia machine rolling.
His 1941 team, featuring Frank Sinkwich at halfback, steamrolled opponents to a 9–1–1 record. Butts' offense was quite prolific, featuring an 81–0 win against Mercer, a 34–6 win against South Carolina and a 35–0 win against Dartmouth. Butts was renowned for being a coaching genius who would do what it took to win ballgames. His teams played with the kind of tenacity he'd exhibit in practice and on the sidelines in games. At the end of the 1941 season, Butts' team played in its first bowl game, the 1942 Orange Bowl, which saw the Bulldogs defeat TCU 40–26. That set the stage for a big 1942 season, one that Georgia fans, old and new alike, reflect upon fondly. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 9–0 start, which featured a 75–0 throttling against Florida. To date, that's still the largest margin of victory seen in the longstanding rivalry between the Bulldogs and Gators.
Butts' Bulldogs, however, dropped a 27–13 game against Auburn that kept them from being unblemished that season. Still, Georgia went on to finish 11–1 thanks to the tandem of Sinkwich and Charley Trippi. Sinkwich would become Georgia's first ever Heisman Trophy winner in 1942, one year after he was a Heisman finalist. After beating Georgia Tech 34–0 in the season finale, the Bulldogs would go on to defeat UCLA 9–0 in the Rose Bowl.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Georgia Bulldogs Fans' Bucket List"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Jason Butt.
Excerpted by permission of Triumph Books LLC.
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Table of Contents
Foreword by Jim Donnan,
Introduction,
1. Spanning the Eras,
2. What to Do and See,
3. The Players,
4. On the Hardwood,
5. On the Gridiron,
6. Other Sports Greats,
Acknowledgments,
Sources,