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Bobby Dodd
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<blockquote data-quote="Deleted member 6494" data-source="post: 913424"><p><h3><strong>CHAPTER 12</strong></h3><p>Georgia Tech opened the 1955 season against Miami, Florida in the first nationally televised football game in color. Tech won the televised game 14-6, and then beat Florida 14-7, SMU 20-7, and LSU 7-0.</p><p></p><p>Auburn eked out a victory, 12-14, in the fifth game of the year, breaking a 14-game losing streak to Tech. Auburn was the only team all year to score more than one TD against Tech. Florida State and Duke were shut out 34-0 and 27-0 in the following games.</p><p></p><p>Tennessee tied us 7-7 in the 8th game of the year, but Tech came back and defeated Alabama 26-2. The last game of the season was a 21-3 victory over Georgia, running Tech’s streak of victories against the Dogs to seven.</p><p></p><p>Then, all hell broke loose in the South. Southern teams had played a few of the Northern teams in segregated stadiums with black players on the opposing squads. There had been no games in the South against black players at that time.</p><p></p><p>Tech accepted an offer to play Pittsburgh in the Sugar Bowl. Joe Paterno, later, told Dodd the Pittsburgh team was the best college team Paterno had ever seen. Not only was Tech to play such a powerful team, but one of Pittsburgh’s best players was black.</p><p></p><p>The governor of Georgia, the State university regents, the Citizen’s Council of New Orleans, and the whole anti-segregationist movement in the South were up in arms and wanted Dodd to withdraw from the game. Some of the State leaders wanted to cut off State economic support for Georgia Tech if they played Pittsburgh in New Orleans.</p><p></p><p>Dodd and his players wanted to play Pittsburgh. Since Atlanta was the big city of the South, this game would become a trial test of the integration of black and white players in college sports in the South.</p><p></p><p>Dodd said, “It is not fair, and it is time the barrier was broken”. Dodd stated, “I have given my word to play the game, and we intend to go through with the contract”.</p><p></p><p>Tech cannot claim to be pure in its student’s behavior. About two thousand students demonstrated in a march to the capitol, tore up historical markers, destroyed parking meters, damaging police cars, smashed doors to get into the capitol building, and trashed the capitol building. The demonstration was in favor of Tech playing in the bowl game.</p><p></p><p>Dodd prevailed, the Board of Regents finally gave Tech permission to play, and the door to college segregation in the South had been broken by Dodd’s insistence to play Pittsburgh in the bowl game.</p><p></p><p>Tech defeated Pittsburgh 7-0. It was Dodd’s 5th bowl victory in a row and gave him an overall record of 7-0 in bowl games. Tech finished the year 9-1-1, lost one game by two points, tied Tennessee, and finished 7th in the national rankings.</p><p></p><p>Tech won the first six games of the next season, 1956, beating Kentucky 14-6, SMU 9-7, LSU 39-7, Auburn 28-7, Tulane 40-0, and Duke 7-0.</p><p></p><p>The next game at Grant field has been called the greatest defensive game ever played in the South. Number 3 Tennessee was matched against number 2 Georgia Tech.</p><p></p><p>Tennessee won on a fluke play when both Wade Mitchell and Paul Rotenberry ran together trying to intercept a pass to Tennessee’s Buddy Cruze. Both players had a chance to intercept the pass but ran together. Cruze caught the pass and ran it to the one-yard line of Tech. Tennessee scored on the next play, and defeated Tech 0-6.</p><p></p><p>Tech finished the season shutting out Alabama, Florida, and Georgia 27-0, 28-0, and 35-0. Tech had just defeated Georgia for the 8th consecutive year.</p><p></p><p>Tech had a choice of the Sugar, Orange, or Cotton Bowls. Dodd surprised everyone by turning the major bowls down to play in the Gator Bowl. Dodd had a group of friends involved with the Gator Bowl, who wanted Tech to help the Gator Bowl gain prestige and become a major bowl.</p><p></p><p>Dodd elected to help his friends and committed to the Gator Bowl. Tech had a rematch with Pittsburgh and beat them 21-14. Dodd had run his consecutive bowl record to six in a row and 8-0 overall. He was declared the “Bowl Master”. Tech’s record for the year was 10-1, and the team was ranked 4th nationally.</p><p></p><p>At the end of the season, Texas interviewed Dodd for the job at Texas. Dodd was making $35,000 per year at Tech. A multi-millionaire from the Texas committee told Dodd he would make Dodd a millionaire, if he would take the job. Dodd eventually turned him down to stay at Tech.</p><p></p><p>Dodd recommended Darrell Royal to the committee, and Royall became the Texas head coach for the next 22 years.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Deleted member 6494, post: 913424"] [HEADING=2][B]CHAPTER 12[/B][/HEADING] Georgia Tech opened the 1955 season against Miami, Florida in the first nationally televised football game in color. Tech won the televised game 14-6, and then beat Florida 14-7, SMU 20-7, and LSU 7-0. Auburn eked out a victory, 12-14, in the fifth game of the year, breaking a 14-game losing streak to Tech. Auburn was the only team all year to score more than one TD against Tech. Florida State and Duke were shut out 34-0 and 27-0 in the following games. Tennessee tied us 7-7 in the 8th game of the year, but Tech came back and defeated Alabama 26-2. The last game of the season was a 21-3 victory over Georgia, running Tech’s streak of victories against the Dogs to seven. Then, all hell broke loose in the South. Southern teams had played a few of the Northern teams in segregated stadiums with black players on the opposing squads. There had been no games in the South against black players at that time. Tech accepted an offer to play Pittsburgh in the Sugar Bowl. Joe Paterno, later, told Dodd the Pittsburgh team was the best college team Paterno had ever seen. Not only was Tech to play such a powerful team, but one of Pittsburgh’s best players was black. The governor of Georgia, the State university regents, the Citizen’s Council of New Orleans, and the whole anti-segregationist movement in the South were up in arms and wanted Dodd to withdraw from the game. Some of the State leaders wanted to cut off State economic support for Georgia Tech if they played Pittsburgh in New Orleans. Dodd and his players wanted to play Pittsburgh. Since Atlanta was the big city of the South, this game would become a trial test of the integration of black and white players in college sports in the South. Dodd said, “It is not fair, and it is time the barrier was broken”. Dodd stated, “I have given my word to play the game, and we intend to go through with the contract”. Tech cannot claim to be pure in its student’s behavior. About two thousand students demonstrated in a march to the capitol, tore up historical markers, destroyed parking meters, damaging police cars, smashed doors to get into the capitol building, and trashed the capitol building. The demonstration was in favor of Tech playing in the bowl game. Dodd prevailed, the Board of Regents finally gave Tech permission to play, and the door to college segregation in the South had been broken by Dodd’s insistence to play Pittsburgh in the bowl game. Tech defeated Pittsburgh 7-0. It was Dodd’s 5th bowl victory in a row and gave him an overall record of 7-0 in bowl games. Tech finished the year 9-1-1, lost one game by two points, tied Tennessee, and finished 7th in the national rankings. Tech won the first six games of the next season, 1956, beating Kentucky 14-6, SMU 9-7, LSU 39-7, Auburn 28-7, Tulane 40-0, and Duke 7-0. The next game at Grant field has been called the greatest defensive game ever played in the South. Number 3 Tennessee was matched against number 2 Georgia Tech. Tennessee won on a fluke play when both Wade Mitchell and Paul Rotenberry ran together trying to intercept a pass to Tennessee’s Buddy Cruze. Both players had a chance to intercept the pass but ran together. Cruze caught the pass and ran it to the one-yard line of Tech. Tennessee scored on the next play, and defeated Tech 0-6. Tech finished the season shutting out Alabama, Florida, and Georgia 27-0, 28-0, and 35-0. Tech had just defeated Georgia for the 8th consecutive year. Tech had a choice of the Sugar, Orange, or Cotton Bowls. Dodd surprised everyone by turning the major bowls down to play in the Gator Bowl. Dodd had a group of friends involved with the Gator Bowl, who wanted Tech to help the Gator Bowl gain prestige and become a major bowl. Dodd elected to help his friends and committed to the Gator Bowl. Tech had a rematch with Pittsburgh and beat them 21-14. Dodd had run his consecutive bowl record to six in a row and 8-0 overall. He was declared the “Bowl Master”. Tech’s record for the year was 10-1, and the team was ranked 4th nationally. At the end of the season, Texas interviewed Dodd for the job at Texas. Dodd was making $35,000 per year at Tech. A multi-millionaire from the Texas committee told Dodd he would make Dodd a millionaire, if he would take the job. Dodd eventually turned him down to stay at Tech. Dodd recommended Darrell Royal to the committee, and Royall became the Texas head coach for the next 22 years. [/QUOTE]
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