1956: ‘Unbeaten Giants—Something Had To Give’
By Tom Mattingly
Looking at this year’s Vol football schedule begs an important question for us old timers.
Where the heck is the “Rambling Wreck,” AKA Georgia Tech? It’s been 37 years since the Vols and Tech last played (Oct. 24, 1987, Tennessee 29, Tech 14), excepting the 2018 season opener on Sept. 2 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Games were often played with national rankings on the line, in even years in Atlanta on Grant Field, in odd years in Knoxville on Shields-Watkins Field.
You could go back to 1955 (a 7-7 tie), 1956 (Tennessee, 6-0), 1957 (Tennessee, 21-6), 1959 and 1960 (Georgia Tech, 14-7), 1961 (Tennessee, 10-6), 1964 (Tennessee, 22-14), and 1965 (Tennessee, 21-7) for examples.
This was always a great series overall. The games had a special “feel” to them, not only weather-wise, but with the Tennessee orange and white matched against Tech’s old gold and white.
Adding to the mystique were the coaching battles between Bob Neyland protégés Bobby Dodd at Tech and Bowden Wyatt at Tennessee and later battles between Vol head coach Doug Dickey and Dodd, then in the twilight of his Hall of Fame career.
In his first season in Knoxville, Wyatt had posted a 4-2 record going into the 1955 game. Tech was No. 8 in the country, losing only to Auburn, and favored by 7. It ended up a deadlock, with Tennessee outplaying the favored Techsters. A Vol TD pass late in the game was called back by an ineligible receiver penalty, a decision the Vol faithful protested to no avail.
Wyatt was unbowed: “It was tied before we started. We wanted to win.”
The 1956 game was named the No. 2 game in collegiate history by UPI in 1961, surpassed only by the 1935 Ohio State-Notre Dame game. With Tech ranked No. 2 and Tennessee No. 3, the two teams battled intently all day.
The only tally that day came after two passes by All-American tailback John Majors to All-American end Buddy Cruze, followed by fullback Tommy Bronson’s dive into the north end zone. Life Magazine (11-19-56) covered the game with a full-page article, a story titled “UNBEATEN GIANTS—SOMETHING HAD TO GIVE.”
There was a moment highlighting Wyatt’s competitive spirit after the game. When it was fourth-and-4 at the Vol 28 early in the game, Dodd elected to punt.
“Why didn’t Dodd go for it?” one media type asked.
“Because he wouldn’t have made it,” Wyatt responded.
In 1957, Tennessee showed some T-formation that afternoon, perhaps to Wyatt’s surprise. With a minute or so to go in the first half and the ball on the Vol 2 at the south end, tailback Bobby Gordon went under center and fell on the ball three times while being “protected” by wingback Bill Anderson, Bronson and blocking back Stockton Atkins. Russ Bebb reported that the play had been rehearsed in Gordon’s dorm room.
Anderson, who became John Ward’s analyst on the Vol Network 11 years later, was co-captain that season (with guard Bill Johnson) and remembered very little about the game. “I had been bothered by a pinched nerve in my neck for some time, and I was almost out cold. They told me I kept on playing and later scored on a 45-yard reverse. I remember taking a shower after the game when I finally regained my senses. I even had to ask the score.”
The two teams split decisions in 1960 and 1961, with the 1961 game being a major upset on Dodd’s 53rd birthday. Billy Williamson returned a kickoff 93 yards for a score in 1960 that was a key to Tech’s victory. Mallon Faircloth had a 22-yard TD pass to John Bill Hudson the next season, and Gary Cannon had a 31-yard field goal, highlighting a defensive struggle.
In 1964, Tennessee was a heavy underdog and trailed 14-3 in the final period before rallying for the victory. Quarterback David Leake led the comeback, tossing a TD pass to Al Tanara and leading a drive culminated by a Jack Patterson touchdown run. Linebacker Doug Archibald had an interception return for the final score. That gave the Vols a 4-2-1 record, before the team’s offensive inadequacies became glaring in the final three games, all losses.
In 1965, the Vols were in the aftermath of the deaths of three assistant coaches, yet playing inspired football. Sophomore quarterback Charlie Fulton led an offense that racked up 251 yards rushing, 101 passing. Harold Stancell had an interception return for a score, Fulton hit Hal Wantland for another, and Stan Mitchell got a third. That victory helped convince Vol fans that Dickey was building a team to be reckoned with, one that finished in the Top 10 after a Bluebonnet Bowl victory against Tulsa.
These games against Georgia Tech were something special, with enough “angles” for the most hardened fan and/or sportswriter. It was a great rivalry. Was there the concept of “immediate gratification” in those days?
If so, it was pretty immediate… for both sets of fans and the media.
