I TOLD GEORGE THAT WE WERE VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE BEEN AT UK DURING THE GLORY DAYS OF UK SPORTS [LATE FORTYS AND EARLY TO MID FIFTYS] GEORGE SAID THAT HE HAD NEVER LOOKED AT IT LIKE THAT BUT TOTALLY AGREED WITH ME–

BASKETBALL WAS GREAT THEN–FOOTBALL WAS VERY GOOD–GEORGE PLAYED FB WITH WAH WAH WHO WAS ALSO A BASKETBALL STAR–UK WAS PLAYING THE PHILLIPS OILERS FOR THE SAY SO IN THE 48 OLYMPIC GAMES[TO SEE WHO THE HEAD COACH FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES WAS--IT TURNED OUT TO BE THE PHILLIPS OILERS HEAD COACH WITH COACH RUPP AND COACH LANCASTER AS ASST. COACHES--

GEORGE WAS REPLACED AT QB FOR THE UK FB TEAM BY BABE PARILLI AND THE CATS ROLLED ON--MEANWHILE GEORGE WAS PLAYING FOR THE BEARS [EVEN PLAYED 1 SEASON AS A LB]

MEANWHILE THE BASKETBALL TEAM ROLLED ON[SLIGHT HIC UP IN 52-53 SEASON WITH PROBATION--THEN CAME BACK IN THE 53-54 SEASON UNDEFEATED--TOP RANKED BUT TURNED DOWN THE NCAA BID WHEN HAGAN--TSIROPOLOUS--RAMSEY WERE BARRED FROM PLAYING AS FIFTH YEAR GRAD STUDENTS THOUGH PREVIOUS PLAYERS ELSEWHERE PLAYED AS FIFTH YEAR GRAD STUDENTS???

YES--THOSE WERE THE GLORY DAYS OF UK SPORTS--AND THANKFULLY I FULLY ENJOYED EVERY MOMENT SINCE I WAS ON THE SCENE A LOT IN THOSE DAYS--LOOKING BACK IS NOT A PROBLEM BUT A JOY--

THE GLORY DAYS OF UK SPORTS RAN FOR SOME 10 YEARS IN THE LATE FORTYS TO THE MID FIFTYS--I NEVER MENTIONED BILL SPIVEY AND HIS BB ABILITY--BILL MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE BEST PLAYER EVER BUT GOT BANNED FROM THE NBA FOR SOMETHING NEVER PROVEN [SPIVEY GOT A SETTLEMENT FROM PODOLOF AND THE NBA WITH THE RECORDS FROZEN]

A LOT OF GREAT ATHLETES CAME THROUGH THOSE DOORS IN THOSE DAYS FROM THE FABULOUS FIVE PLUS 2 OR 3 MORE TO SPIVEY–SHELBY LINVILLE–BOBBY WATSON–JIM LIONS AND MANY MANY OTHERS–

ON THE FB SIDE BOB GAIN WHO WAS ALL PRO FOR THE BROWNS FOR 7 OR 8 YEARS IN A ROW–BLANDA PLAYED IN THE NFL AND AFL WHICH BECAME PART OF THE NFL FOR 26 YEARS WHILE LAYING OUT 2 YEARS OVER A SALARY DISPUTE BUT WAS STILL PLAYING AT THE AGE OF 48–

ALL AMERICANS STEVE MEILIENGER [2 TIMES] WAS ALL SEC AT 3 DIFFERENT POSITIONS[THE ONLY ONE TO EVER DO SO]BOB FRY–WAS OFFENSIVE TACKLE AND OFFENSIVE CAPTAIN FOR THE RAMS FOR 8 YEARS BEFORE GOING TO THE COWBOYS IN THE EXPANSION DRAFT WHERE HE PLAYED 4 MORE YEARS–THEN COACHED IN THE NFL FOR SOME 20 YEARS BEFORE BECOMING SCOUT FOR THE BILLS FOR YEARS–DICK SHATTO PLAYED AT UK IN 52 AS A REPLACEMENT FOR PARILLI–THEN WENT TO CANADA THE NEXT SEASON AND PLAYED FOR YEARS AND YEARS[NAMED THE MVP OF THE CANADIAN LEAGUE 2-3 TIMES--

PARILLI WAS A 2 TIME ALL AMERICAN AT UK AND A 3 YEAR STARTER AT UK--PLAYED IN THE NFL FOR 17 SEASONS--THEN COACHED FOR ANOTHER 25 YEARS--

LOU MICHAELS CAME TO UK IN THE FALL OF 54-FRESHMEN WERE NOT ELGIBLE THAT YEAR] WAS A 2 TIME ALL AMERICAN–PLAYED IN THE NFL FOR 15 SEASONS–LED THE LEAGUE TWICE IN SCORING AS A FG//XTRA POINT KICKER–

AL BRUNO PLAYED BOTH FB AND BB AT UK–PLAYED FB IN CANADA FOR YEARS THEN COACHED FOR YEARS[SPENT HIS LAST 15 YEARS AS A HEAD COACH IN CANADA--

WHAT I DIDN'T MENTION IS THAT THE INCOMING FB FRESHMEN IN 52 NEVER LOST A GAME TO THE VOLS--A TIE IN 52 AT KNOXVILLE--A WIN IN 53 AT STOLL FIELD--A WIN IN KNOXVILLE IN 54[14-13]

A BIG WIN AT STOLL 23-0 IN 55 AFTER A BAD A–KICKING IN NASHVILLE BY VANDY– I HAD JOHNNY MAJOR’S JERSEY FROM THAT GAME AND THE 13 SENIORS HAD A PICTURE TAKEN IN THE DRESSING ROOM AFTER THE GAME WITH MUD–BLOOD–AND TEARS IN THE MIX–I WAS COERCED INTO GIVING THAT JERSEY OF MAJOR’S TO BOB HARDY OUR QB WHO CAME BACK FROM A SERIOUS CONCUSSION IN THE VANDY GAME TO LEAD US IN THE VOL WIN–
THERE ARE NOT MANY LEFT OF THAT 13 SENIORS IN 55–THOUGH BOTH CO-CAPTAINS ARE STILL KICKING–

THE PROBLEM WITH WRITING THESE ARTICLES IS THAT YOU MISS SO MANY DESERVING INDIVIDUALS –THEREFORE I APOLOGIZE NOW FOR MY SINS

YES–THOSE WERE THE GLORY DAYS–MAN–HOW I DO MISS THEM–I THOUGHT LIFE WOULD ALWAYS BE THAT WAY–

AS I SAID EARLIER IT IS HARD TO PAY RESPECT TO ALL THOSE DESERVING–

JIM MACKENZIE IS A NAME SELDOM MENTIONED–YET JIM WAS A GOOD FB PLAYER–NAMED TO THE COTTON BOWL ALL TIME TEAM FOR HIS PLAY VS TCU IN JAN 1952–JIM DROPPED OUT OF MY SIGHT AND TURNED UP IN THE MID TO LATE SIXTYS IN FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS AS AN ASST. LINE COACH[I WAS WORKING IN THE AREA AND VISITED JIM AT SPRING PRACTICE] –THEN WAS AN ASST. LINE COACH UNDER CHUCK FAIRBANKS FOR THE SOONERS–WHEN FAIRBANKS LEFT FOR THE BOSTON PATRIOTS HEAD COACHING JOB JIM MACKENZIE WAS NAMED TO REPLACE HIM–JIM DID A GOOD JOB FOR THE SOONERS BUT AROUND HIS THIRD YEAR HE DIED OF A HEART ATTACK WHILE ON A RECRUITING TRIP–

HOWARD SCHNELLENBERGER WAS AN OUTSTANDING FB PLAYER AT KY–STARTED HIS THIRD GAME AS A FRESHMAN AND EVERY GAME THEREAFTER–LEAD THE TEAM IN MINUTES PLAYED FOR ALL 4 YEARS–LEAD THE SENIOR CLASS THAS WAS NEVER DEFEATED BY THE VOLS–A SOLID–HARD NOSED FB PLAYER THAT CAME TO WIN AND WAS WILLING TO SACRIFICE WHATEVER IT TOOK TO WIN–

RAY CORRELL FROM SOMERSET WAS AN OUTSTANDING FB PLAYER[LINEMAN--ALL AMERICAN] GOT OFF SO FAST ON THE SNAP OF THE BALL FOR PUNTS THAT RAY WAS DOWN FIELD WAITING FOR THE OTHER GUY TO CATCH THE BALL BEFORE RAY GROUNDED HIM–VERY FEW RUN BACKS WHEN RAY CORRELL WAS IN ON THE COVERAGE–

UK NEEDS A LOT OF PLAYERS LIKE JIM MACKENZIE — HOWARD SCHNELLENBERGER–AND RAY CORRELL

HONDO2

UNFORTUNATELY I HAVE OVERLOOKED A LOT OF GOOD SOLID FB PLAYERS AT UK

COACH BRYANT CAME TO UK FROM MARYLAND IN THE SPRING OF 46–COACH BRYANT WAS A “WORKAHOLIC” AND EXPECTED EVERYONE AROUND HIM TO DO THE SAME–

WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE RETURNING OR COMING TO COLLEGE FROM THE SERVICE AFTER WW2, A LOT OF PLAYERS WERE CLOSE TO COACH BRYANT’S AGE[IN FACT HE HAD ONE PLAYER OLDER THAN HIM]

A LOT OF PLAYERS CAME INTO LEXINGTON FOR TRYOUTS[GEORGE BLANDA WAS ALREADY THERE--HE CAME IN 45]GEORGE WAS A BIG TIME PUNTER–QB IN THE OLD T FORMATION FROM WHICH THE QB WAS A BLOCKER–ALSO PLAYED DEFENSE–IN FACT GEORGE PLAYED LB FOR THE BEARS ONE SEASON–

BABE PARILLI CAME TO TOWN WITH A BUDDY WHO WAS RATED A BIG TIME QB[PARILLI WAS A FULLBACK IN HS]ERMAL ALLEN TRIED BOTH OUT–WAVED THE QB AND TOOK “BABE”

IN THE SPRING OF 53 AND 54 A LOT OF PROSPECTS CAME INTO TOWN FOR TRYOUTS[BANNED TODAY] A COUPLE OF COACHES WOULD WATCH FROM SOME 30 YARDS AWAY BUT WAS NOT INVOLVED–THAT WAY IT WAS NOT ILLEGAL–

IN THE FALL OF 53[COACH BRYANT'S LAST SEASON AT KY] OVER 150 PLAYERS GOT ON 4 BUSES IN LEXINGTON HEADING FOR 2 WEEKS AT MILLERSBURG MILITARY INSTITUTE IN MILLERSBURG, KY–

BEDDED DOWN IN MMI HOUSING WITH 6 PLAYERS PER ROOM IT WAS NOT UNUSUAL TO GO TO BED WITH 5 ROOMMATES AND WAKE UP ALONE THINKING IN HORROR THAT YOU HAD OVERSLEPT MORNING PRACTICE, ONLY TO LEARN THAT THE OTHER 5 HAD LEFT IN THE NITE–

OVER THE HILL IN THE MORNING TO “DEATH VALLEY” WHERE PRACTICE WAS HELD TWICE A DAY[CALLED "2 A DAYS"]

IT WAS MORE A SURVIVAL THAN IT WAS FB PRACTICE–

2 WEEKS LATER 73 PLAYERS GOT ON 2 BUSES HEADING BACK TO LEXINGTON FOR SCHOOL REGISTRATION AND THE END OF “2 A DAYS”
2 OF THE 73 PLAYERS QUIT ON THE WAY BACK TO LEXINGTON[WHY I DON'T KNOW] SO WELL OVER HALF THE ORIGINAL NUMBER QUIT–

PLAYERS IN THOSE DAYS USUALLY PLAYED BOTH WAYS[OBVIOUSLY QB'S DIDN'T FOR FEAR OF INJURY]

FRESHMEN[ROOKIES]USUALLY PLAYED ON OFFENSE IN THE BACKFIELD BUT SELDOM ON DEFENSE THERE–FRESHMEN USUALLY PLAYED ON DEFENSE ON THE LINE BUT SELDOM ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE–

REASON–PLAYING IN THE DEFENSIVE SECONDARY AND OFFENSIVE LINE WAS HARDER TO PICK UP THAN THE OPPOSITE–

SO ABOUT 60% OF THE PLAYERS PLAYED BOTH WAYS–

44 MAN SQUADS WAS THE USUAL TRAVELING SQUAD THAT DRESSED FOR AWAY GAMES[THERE WAS USUALLY 47-48 TOTAL TRAVELING SQUAD WITH 3-4 PEOPLE NOT DRESSING[FOR INSTANCE IF A QB WAS INJURED AND QUESTIONABLE HE WOULD TRAVEL BUT NOT DRESS--BUT WOULD COUNCIL WITH THE QB'S PLAYING AS THE GAME PROGRESSED--

IN 54 BOB DAUGHERTY WHO HAD TRANSFERRED FROM UNIV CINN AFTER 2 YEARS IN THE ARMY[IN A TANK IN KOREA]TRAVELED WITH THE TEAM ALL YEAR ON THE ROAD[I ROOMED WITH BOB ON THE ROAD] BOB PLAYED AT UK IN 55 AND 56–THEN PLAYED FOR THE BRONCOS AND THE RAIDERS AS A LB–

COACH BRYANT LEFT UK ON APRIL 3RD OR FOURTH IN 54 AND COACH COLLIER CAME–ADJUSTING WAS HARD SINCE SPRING PRACTICE HAD NOT BEEN HELD AND MUST START IMMEDIATELY[IT DID--WITH ONLY 2-3 COACHES--NO OFFENSE--NO DEFENSE]

BUT COACH COLLIER WAS A GREAT OFFENSIVE COACH[HE BROUGHT THE CLEVELAND BROWNS OFFENSE WITH HIM COMPLETE WITH GREAT PLAY BOOKS WHICH WERE GOLDEN]

COACH COLLIER HAD PROBLEMS ADJUSTING TO THE RECRUITING WORLD OF COLLEGE FB BUT DID SO WITH GOOD ASST. COACHES–

CHARLEY BRADSHAW CAME TO UK WITH THE RIGHT IDEAS BUT WRONG TECHNIQUES–AND SO IT WAS–

HOPEFULLY JOKER RIDES THIS TRAIN DOWN THE TRACK TO GLORY–HE HAS THE RIGHT IDEAS–THE RIGHT TECHNIQUES–HOPEFULLY THE RIGHT RESULTS

JOKER’S BIGGEST PROBLEM IS OVER EXPECTATIONS BY A “SO CALLED FAN BASE” WHO COMPARES THE UK FB PROGRAM TO CAL’S BB PROGRAM–

ON ON UK

WITH COLLEGE FB STARTING SOON–WITH NFL EXHIBITION GAMES ON NOW–WITH SOME HIGH SCHOOL GAMES PLAYED——————————

IT’S TIME TO LOOK AT THE LONG BLUE LINE OF FB AT UK——————–

GOING BACK TO THE DAYS OF SHIPWRECK KELLY WHO MARRIED A RICH SOCIALITE AND LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER TO TODAYS FIRST TEAM UNDER JOKER[2010] WE SALUTE YOU ALL–

NAMES LIKE GEORGE BLANDA–WAH WAH JONES–BOB GAIN–AL BRUNO–BILL MOSELEY–BABE PARILLI–EMERY CLARK–DOUG MOSELEY–JOHN GRIGGS–STEVE MEILINGER–FRANK FULLER–RAY CORRELL–GENE DONALDSON–HOWARD SCHNELLENBERGER–BOB DAUGHERTY–LOU MICHAELS–GLEN ED SHAW–CALVIN BIRD–IRV GOODE–RICK NORTON–RICK KESTNER–RODGER BIRD–JEFF VAN NOTE–DERRICK RAMSEY–ART ???[PLAYED FOR THE CHIEFS] AS DE–CENTER FOR THE STEELERS–CROUCH–AND MANY MANY OTHERS TOO MUCH TO REMEMBER FROM MEMORY–I SALUTE YOU–
{I APLOGIZE FOR ALL WHO I OVERLOOKED AND DID NOT NAME–I DID NO RESEARCH]

HOPEFULLY YOU HAVE PASSED ON THAT GREATNESS IN BLUE AND WHITE TO PLAYERS LIKE LOCKE AND RANDALL COBB–ANY MANY OTHERS ON THIS TEAM AND ON MANY TEAMS TO COME–WE ARE ANXIOUSLY WAITING–

TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ACHIEVE GREATNESS IN BLUE AND WHITE BUT ACHIEVED THAT HIGHEST POSSIBLE AWARD”A PLAYER WHO ACHIEVES THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE PERFORMANCE” –I SALUTE YOU–

3 PLAYERS COME TO MY MIND[THERE ARE OTHERS]

#1–DICK MALONEY–CAME TO UK IN 52–PLAYED A LOT AS A FRESHMEN AT RB AND DEFENSIVE CORNER[BOTH WAYS] PLAYED HARD–HIT HARD–DIDN’T LIKE TO LOSE–STARTED AS A SOPH–JUNIOR–SENIOR–A TRUE TEAM LEADER

#2–IVAN CURNUTTE–CAME IN 53–140 LB RB FROM ASHLAND TOMCATS–IVAN WAS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF A PLAYER WHO LAID IT ALL OUT THERE EVERYDAY–RAN THE PITCH INTO THE SHORT SIDE OF THE FIELD WITH ABANDON–FAST–QUICK–LIKED TO RUN INSIDE AS WELL–

#3–TOMMY SIMPSON–CAME TO UK AND PLAYED UNDER CHARLEY BRADSHAW–TOM PLAYED EVERYWHERE–ALL OVER–THE OTHER TEAM KNEW WHO HE WAS–AND WHERE HE WAS–HE LAID IT ON THE LINE EVERY DOWN–EVERY QUARTER–EVERY HALF–EVERY GAME–HE DID NOT LIKE TO LOSE–

I SALUTE YOU ALL[AND THE ONES I DIDN'T LIST]

SO FROM THE OLD DAYS OF “DEATH VALLEY” UNDER COACH BRYANT AT MILLERSBURG TO TODAY’S TWO A DAYS AT THE PRACTICE CENTER, A LOT OF GREAT FB PLAYERS HAVE COME AND GONE–HOPEFULLY THEY CONTINUE TO COME IN LARGER BUNCHES THAN THE LAST FEW YEARS–AND OUR RECORD PROVES IT–

FOOTBALL IS CRITICAL TO BOTH THE STATE OF KY–UK–UK STUDENTS–UK GRAD’S–AND THE SEC–

I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO IMPROVEMENT–I WANT A “WINNER”–I CAN’T WAIT TOO LONG–

MAKE ME HAPPY THIS YEAR–NEXT YEAR–AND THE NEXT[ALL I HAVE IS A 3 YEAR OUTLOOK TODAY]

Rice played much better than expected. Their offense was dynamite, they moved the ball up and down the field against our defense which had played very well except the Miss. St game.

The Rice qb threw the ball well on the move or kept the ball and ran with it and gained a lot of yardage. In fact the rice coach said this was their best game to date and Rice had played LSU to a 20-20 tie earlier. Their receivers and ends were very good even with their all american end on the sidelines due to injury.

Our offense played very well. We mixed up the run with the pass, we ran the pitch or toss into the short side of the field and rice couldn’t handle it.

All in all Ky. played pretty good with no major injury’s.

1955 story.
Rice brought their a game on offense. Their quarterback was very good. He sprinted out and threw on the run, kept and ran or pitched to his hb. The rice qb was not flashy but very efficient and took good care of the ball.

Rice’s receivers were very good down around the 12 yd marker with quick outs and an occasional hook blended in with a crossing pattern now and then. Rice moved the ball on us very well.

Ky’s offense was very good. Our game plan was to run the ball about 60% and pass 40% which our qb had just about on the number.

We got great running out of our backs Ivan Curnutte, Don Netoski, Billy Mitchell, Dick Moloney, Bobby Walker and Bob Dougherty.

Rice was a good football team, much better than their record showed. Rice had tied LSU 20-20 earlier in the season.

Upcoming game Ky vs Vanderbilt in Nashville.

Vandy is a dangerous team, they have lost 2 games to date. At Georgia 14-13 and to Ole Miss 13-0. They have been hard to score on this season. They have a couple of great running backs. 1 back King plays both half back and full back. A big hard running back with great bursts of speed and power. We will have to stay on him and not let him get rolling.

Vandy has a very good qb that runs the offense under control, doesn’t do anything crazy, has very few fumbles and doesn’t throw very many interceptions. Hes very good faker with the ball. is a drop back passer but not much of a runner.

Vandy’s defense is very good, Good tackles and ends, 3 better than average linebackers. Their defensive secondary is very good on the run, can be beat on quick out passes and an occasional crossing pattern. The defense mixes up their signals a lot and will rush a linebacker here and there.

This will be a tough game for Ky.

Well folks this auburn team is a powerhouse, a perfect example of power football at it’s best. With 2 great tackles, a great full back and a great kicker. Throw in 2 very good ends, 2 very good guards and a very good blocking center. Their other backs and receivers are good blockers who occasionally catch short passes and carry the ball about 1/3 of the time. Their quarterback is very good handling the football and is accurate on short passes, seldom throws deep unless to James. Seldom intercepted and takes care of the ball.

But this team’s game is running the fullback between the ends and make you stop it defense.

Auburn with those 2 all American tackles is tough to run on inside, their ends are hard to get outside of, their linebackers close well and try to crowd the line and their corners support the run well. In short this team will be hard to run on

This will be a great exhibition of power football against against a well balanced offense like we ran against ole Miss. Auburn has more power than ole Miss but not as much overall speed.

It will take an effort like we had against ole miss to come out on top in this one.

Game Rules

#1–take care of the ball don’t short field our defense.

#2–execute–execute–execute

#3–no penalty’s

It is my opinion that this will be a low scoring game played in the heat of the afternoon with a late field goal being involved in the outcome. Whether that field goal is successful or not will decide the winner.

We need this game bad. It will be a test of endurance and hopefully our tackles play well and offset auburn’s 2 big horses.

The wrap Auburn game

The Auburn game was 2 well matched teams offensively but with totally different offenses on a hot afternoon in Birmingham. Auburn ran inside mostly because they could since their line was a great blocking line, anchored by 2 great tackles, with a great fullback to run behind that great line–they lacked a lot of speed at their receivers so they were not deep threats except for James a burner.

Kentucky had to run a more rounded offense because of those 2 big Auburn tackles which pretty much sealed things up inside. Sure we ran inside some, we didn’t gain a lot of yardage there but we had to keep them honest inside. We also threw a lot on first and second down. Ran some on third down just to keep auburn’s defense off balance.

Both teams played great football on both offense and defense with Auburn scoring late in the first quarter and Kentucky in the middle of the second quarter. 7-7 at halftime.

Auburn scored late in the third quarter and Kentucky scored early in the fourth quarter with both teams driving a long way to score.

Late in the game auburn drove down just short of Kentucky’s 20 yd line. Kentucky called time out and got a blow, talked things over. We put a rush on auburn’s qb and fb and got a couple of stops. Auburn then completed a short pass well short of first down and attempted a 38 yd field goal which was wide. Kentucky got the ball but time ran out before we could score.

14-14 tie. 2 very good teams.

Mississippi St. is coming to town next week end. This team has won their last 3 games after losing their opener to Florida. This is a dangerous team, especially offensively. They have a sprint out quarterback that throws on the run or pitches out to speedy backs that can get outside. Their quarterback also keeps the ball and runs with it very well, but he is most dangerous throwing the ball down field. Totally different from Auburn

Our defense will be tested our offense should be able to move the ball on this team.

Our game plan is to play run pass defense and execute–execute–execute and of course take care of the ball.

#2–We lost to a team that we felt we should have defeated

#3–We defeated ourselves with mistakes and poor execution

Pretty hard for a team heavy with seniors and juniors that were experienced. We turned the ball over, We gave them short field position to score from, we got a lot of penalty’s called that killed our drives and helped our opponents drives. Our kick coverage was poor which ended our chance for a comeback.
We got behind early and let the crowd bother us but still this game was much closer than the score would indicate.

We got behind 13-0, then in the second half we marched down the field and scored 7. We were back in the game and good kick off coverage and a stop by our defense which had been playing well would give us the ball around our 35-40 yard line with plenty of time left to march down and score and win this game.

We got poor kickoff coverage and LSU ran it back for a long td. Game over, no alibis, no complaints, we lost that one. It would be a long ride back to bluegrass field.

The coaches were also in shock trying to figure out just where the problem was but they would have to look at and grade the film to know just what went wrong. Well it was mistakes and poor execution that did us in. That big tackle named Legget didn’t help either he was a load.

We got back to Lexington and everyone was in shock like zombies. I called 10-12 of the seniors and juniors in to write my weekly column–it went like this.

Inside the huddle the wrap.

The loss at LSU was very disappointing. It was the result of poor execution on our part. We turned the ball over. We gave LSU short field position to score from. We had a lot of penaltys that stalled our drives and a few penaltys on defense that helped LSU’s drives. Our kicking coverage was inadequate and cost us a chance to get back into the game. In the end we lost a game that we should have won, a very poor way to start a season.

Our only bright spot was that our defense played well enough to win and that we had marched down the field and scored 7 in the second half to get back into the game.

Ole Miss was coming to town and would be ranked #1 or #2 when the rankings came out on Monday. This was a great football team and it would take an error free effort to play with them. They were loaded with great rangy athletes that looked like a measuring tape had selected them. They ran a sprint out run pass offense with split ends and wide receivers. The quarterback threw on the run or kept the ball if the linebackers and corners came up. The quarterback would also slip the ball to the fullback who stayed in which froze the middle linebacker. They ran a well greased, well organized offense. They had speed at all the receivers including the ends. Their backs were fast, could get outside or power inside. Play action offense at it’s best.

Their defense was textbook, good linebackers, good corners, good safety’s and a very good line. They would be hard to run power stuff at

The common feeling of our seniors and juniors is that this will take a great effort to play with Ole Miss. At the same time this group feels that this will be exactly what Kentucky brings Saturday. Better get your tickets. Don’t miss this one it could very easily be the game of the year.

My prediction Kentucky 20 Ole Miss 14.

Getting ready for LSU now opening away from home is always tough but to open at tiger stadium in Baton Rouge is especially tough. 75,000 screaming cajuns, mostly well oiled with liquor for the last 10 days[or longer]makes for an unfriendly setting. The seniors and juniors had been there before. The sophomores never had and it would be a shock for the sophomores.

We had scouted the tigers spring game but little new was shown. This is what we expected the crowd noise would be deafening. We would probably have to go off the center’s snap since the tackles and ends would not hear the qb signals. The tigers defense would be very aggressive especially when “the Chinese Bandits” were in. Linebackers shooting the gaps, later called “red dogging” and today called “blitzing”. Tackles and ends pressuring, we would have to run some draws, screens, maybe the “shovel pass” and a few quick slants to freeze the linebackers.

The offense was pretty unknown, a lot of sophomores. A quarterback with play action passing who would run and throw. They would run inside and outside with a lot of speed in the backfield and at the receivers. Alot of speed on kick returns.

We feel that we can move the ball on this team consistently. We feel that our defense will match up well against the tigers.

Key points of interest.
Crowd noise and play calling.
Tigers defensive aggressiveness.
Tigers speed at receivers, backfield and kick returning.

Defensive coverage in the backfield don’t get suckered on the play action pass and let the receiver get by you.

Our game plan was to take care of the ball, no fumbles or interceptions. Don’t beat ourselves make the tigers drive 70+ yards to score. Don’t give them a short field to score on with a turnover. Give our defense a chance to stop them with that 70+ yard drive to the goal line. No foolish penalty’s.

We expect a low scoring game, with good defense on both sides. A hard played game.

Our prediction Ky 14-LSU 10.

The 44 man travel squad flew out of Bluegrass field with the coaches and some sportscasters, sportswriters on board. A new sportscaster named Cawood Ledford was on board for his first trip with a Ky team. We arrived in Baton Rouge in late afternoon then went to tiger stadium and had a very lite work out under the lights. Mostly just loosening up and getting familiar with the field and lighting. We then had a team dinner, went to a movie and returned to our rooms. Curfew 10:00pm no exceptions.

The next morning team breakfast then around 10:00am a meeting with all players and asst. coaches was called, it went like this.

Coach Ermal Allen called all plays and signals from sideline.

Listen up pay attention this is very important. When you are on the sidelines pay attention at all times, watch whats happening on the field and on the sidelines in front of you, forget whats behind you, stay together with your group. Ends together tackles and guards together backs together quarterback’s on the phone table. Things get wild down there so if you stay with your group we can find you if we need you or your whole group if we need to make an adjustment during the game. Be ready to go in all the time, keep your shoes on and laced up and your helmet handy. Don’t go wandering around, if we need to send you in and we can’t find you, you just cost us a delay of game or caused us to waste a timeout to keep from getting a delay of game penalty. That’s just like getting a penalty on the field or much worse.

If the noise gets bad and you can’t hear the snap signal by the quarterback give him the signal and start going off the snap. We have practiced all this.

Don’t make a bunch of mistakes, run the plays right, don’t give the opponent any short fields to score on. Make them march 70+ yards and we win.

The best way to quiet the crowd is to get in front early and stay in front.

We have 44 players here. We selected each of you to come because we felt you could and would help us win this football game. That’s what we’re here for. Stay alert and have a good game.

The players then went to a short meeting with their position coaches.

In the afternoon around 4:00 pm the pre game meal was held and then off to tiger stadium for dressing, warm ups and the kickoff.

The 55 team did not have a “special teams coach” as such, several coaches coached the various special teams. We had kick off and punt teams usually the same team unless some one was injured. We had return teams for both kick offs and punts the same team. We had a team that ran the field goal and extra points the same team.

This team is vital. I just saw where UK was ranked #8 in special teams last year. I remember when Guy Morris had a very good special teams coach. Very good and “special teams”go together don’t they???

Successful play calling by the quarterback and successful defensive signal calling by the MLB is a very complicated process and goes far beyond just one player getting out in front of 10 of his teammates on the field and through the use of numbers, letters and signs in an effort to get his team mates to join him in a common effort against the day’s opponent on the next play don’t guarantee success. It’s complicated, it involves hours an hours of work by the coaching staff scouting teams, watching game film and preparing a game plan. It involves meetings, practice, game input from the sideline coaches and the coaching box upstairs. It involves the situation at hand, line of scrimmage, first down marker, and down marker as well as present score especially if it’s late in the game. And yes it demands confidence. Confidence that the next play//signal you call will be the right one for the play coming up. All this churns around the play clock and if it’s late in the game the time clock. Tough task and not a lot of players can handle this job.

When Bob Hardy was in at quarterback he called about 60% of the plays on the field, no cheat sheets. The other 40% of the calls came from the sideline by substitutes, timeouts, or signals. With back up qb’s in more calls were made from the sideline.

When Dave Kuhn was in at mlb he called about 60% of the defensive signals from the field I don’t recall any cheat sheets.About 40% came from the sideline by subs, timeouts, and signals–with backups in that number called from the sidelines went up.

The 54 team struggled with the play calling process, a new staff, a new offense and defense and everything was slow which resulted in.

#1–Delay of game penalty’s which killed a lot of drives and ended up losing possession of the ball.
#2–Wasted timeouts to prevent delay of game penalty’s.
#3–Poor selection by the signal caller due to being rushed
#4—More play//signal calling

After the problems in 54 with play and signal calling asst. coach Ermal Allen created a process, a strategy, a system that gave the person on the field and the coaches up stairs a 12 second earlier notice over what they had received in the past. This cut back on

#1–Delay of game penalty’s
#2–wasted use of valuable timeouts to prevent delay of game penalty’s
#3–rushing of the signal callers and coaches upstairs to make calls in order to beat the play clock–
#4—In 55 i don’t know if 2 way radios were around I couldn’t afford one anyway. I don’t exact know when cell phones came in or text messaging and now twitter.

I don’t know what is being used out there today to transmit information quicker and more reliable and after all that’s part of the play and signal calling process to find out what the line of scrimmage is and how much more to go for a first down or td isn’t it??? There has to be a way to give me and my team that 5 second edge on play calling every down.

Take a stop watch when the guy with the ball goes down start the clock, when the ball is marked and the down marker/line of scrimmage stick is moved stop the clock. How much time did you get??? That’s what you’re working with–saving 5 seconds off that dead time is money in the bank–

It worked for us but wasn’t widely known or discussed. Ii don’t think anyone ever picked it up after coach Allen left for the Cowboys. I am not sure what system was used though coach Bradshaw did talk to me once about it but i wasn’t around much in those days.

Play calling today is even far more complicated than it was in 55. The expanded use of the “spread offense” and use of changing defenses to defend them makes it a new crap shoot entirely. Coach Collier brought the Cleveland browns offense to Ky in 54. It was on the edges of the “spread offense” with wide outs and slot backs and splitting the ends out.

Sid Gilman, head coach at Cincinnati had created a offense that later became known as the “west coast offense” and many people have been credited with it’s invention including the Forty Niner’s coach who won a couple of super bowls with Joe Montana using it, but it was Sid Gilman who created it and it was a beginning strain of “the spread offense”.

In the summer of 55 I was asked by the majority owner, publisher, and editor of what was probably Kentucky’s largest weekly newspaper, to write a weekly article on the 55 Ky. football team as they went through the season. The publisher wanted something that the Courier Journal did not have, a inside view–sort of a one up situation.

I was concerned about my writing skills since my English 1a and 1b grades were less than superior but the publisher said you get the info together and I will edit it if that’s ok”??? I agreed–and away we went–

The predictions listed in the upcoming series are those made in that column every week. So stay tuned it should be fun. If it isn’t blame it on bill he asked me 6 times.

Those weekly predictions were not just mine but the team’s predictions.

Each week the seniors and about 10 juniors would get together and write the article. I would do that by asking “how do you see this game”??? The answers were very good, deep thinking on everyone’s part. Then I would say “so you are saying this is going to be a hell of a ball game”??? This will be a “take no prisoners game???” An all out brawl??? Score predictions?? Opponents strengths, never list weaknesses.

Then I would write the comments with the prediction and have it picked up at a store in Chevy Chase on Wednesday for publication on Friday.

Background
The team was lead by 13 seniors and a large talented junior class. The senior class came in 52 except one player who came in 51. That senior class had played a lot of minutes along the way. The junior class came in 53 during coach Bryant’s last season at Ky and had played a lot of minutes also. The sophomore class was large but untested in any way. Freshmen were not legible for varsity play in 54, the last year for that was 53. Lou Michael’s looked good in spring practice and would play several minutes. Several other players had possibilities. Some would have to step up and play. so freshmen were not legible in 55.

About 60% of the players would go both ways. Obviously qb’s would not play on defense due to injury risk. A number of soph lineman would play on defense but few would play on offense due to complicated blocking schemes and play learning. A number of sophmore backs would play on offense but few on defense due to pass coverage and play reading problems.

Leadership we had 13 seniors and a talented junior class. Senior bob hardy at quarterback was a 5 year man who had spent 3 years under coach Bryant and 54 under coach Collier, seldom got rattled, seldom made mistakes was in command, called “paddle foot” but now and then picked up a few on the run when other things were shut down. Co-captain and leader.

Senior end Howard Schnellenberger played both ways. Started the third game as a freshman and every game since. Lead the team in minutes played in all 3 years to date and was expected to do so again in 55. Co-captain and a great leader.

The team was organized and confident not cocky the seniors and juniors were experienced and had been through the wars. There were no superstars on this team but instead a group of hard practicing and hard playing group of “blue collar players” who wanted to win and played hard.

The 55 coaching staff had settled in and adjusted-,the full offense and defense had been installed in spring practice.

The 54 season had been “helter skelter” for the team and staff thru no fault of their.

Coach Bryant had suddenly departed in early April 54 for Texas A&M. Coach Collier came on board around April 20th or so and started assembling a staff, but spring practice had not been held and it had to start and quickly coaches or no coaches. So spring practice started and coach Collier continued to hire coaches but there was no other choice than to revert back to the 53 season for offense and defense.

The summer came and then fall practice started. Coach Collier had a full staff of good coaches but several didn’t know the players they would be coaching. 2 a days started with the introduction of a new offense and new defense was attempted but it didn’t mix well with 2 a days and hot weather. So back to the old system with a plan to slowly introduce new plays as we went along. This cost the team a lot of problems and probably at least 1 loss in early season but by mid season everything was pretty much in and the team started cooking. The record in the second half of 54 proves it and the players liked the new offense.

If we are going to play the “blame game” here we probably must blame coach Bryant for not departing in Dec 53 after the season ended or in early 54 after the bowl games. Seldom does a major college football coach depart after late January of any given year.

But 54 was now in the rear view mirror and it’s 55 and looking forward.

Every year all college teams have a few holes to plug due to losing starters and backups so departing starters must be replaced as well as back-ups. I remember a couple of years ago when Locke was #5 on the depth chart at the start of the season but by the 7th or 8th game he was starting you have to be ready.

Incoming classes have to be inducted. They have a hard time adjusting to the speed and agility of the seasoned players.

So the sophomore class of 55 was untested, untried and some of them would have to step up.

Known soft spots.

#1–Back ups at quarterback, some talent but untested and unproven.

#2–Defensive backs, ome sophomores would have to step up. Scary

#3–Back ups at end. We had 3 solid both way ends. We lost one solid 2 way end due to an off campus incident. There was 4-5 sophomores there who were not impressive in spring practice. A couple had to step up.

It is very hard to get “rookie” sophomore players to step up at the following positions.

#1–Defensive secondary–pass coverage and run support.

#2–Offensive line–blocking schemes and various calls.

#3–Kick coverage of any kind “rookies” get over anxious, get out of their lane,lose their spacing instead of staying home. That’s how they run the big one back on you. Unless you have a kicker who kicks the ball a mile high and a cover guy that is a track man who arrives the same time as the ball and creates a fumble,.Stay at home, keep your spacing andstay under control. You’ll get your shot and you won’t have egg on your face and the opponent points on the scoreboard.

The hardest positions to fill.

#1–Defensive backs–most people want to be a quarterback.

#2–Quarterbacks–a mouth full to swallow.

#3–MLB//signal caller–another mouthfull

Toughest position to play.

#1–Quarterback–key to the offense–hours and hours and hours of study and practice.

#2–MLB//defensive signals–key to defense–about 80% of quarterback hardness

#3–Defensive backs–you either get it or you don’t–must have great reaction and agility–you gotta want to play it baby.

So lets try to name some of the multi-sport athletes at UK.

#1–Has to be Ermal Allen. Was all conference in football, basketball, track, and golf. Later played for the Browns backing up Otto Graham. Then was asst. coach at UK for several years. Then asst. head coach for the Cowboys. This will be hard to top.

#2–Wah Wah Jones. All conference end in football. All American in basketball and baseball (all conference in both) played for the Indianapolis Olympians in the NBA.

#3–Al Bruno. played football and basketball on both national championship teams in 1950 (only player to accomplish that) played and coached football in the Canadian league for some 40 years–

#4–Frank Ramsey. Played basketball and baseball. All American basketball in basketball and played for Celtics for years. Was the original 6th man in NBA–

#5–Bill Evans. Played basketball and tennis at UK. Played on the great 53-54 team with Ramsey and Hagan. Played on the 54-55 and 55-56 teams with Bob Burrows and was captain of the 56 Olympic team that won the gold. Was all SEC and SEC men’s champion in tennis.

#6–Lou Michaels. Two time All American football player. Played in the NFL for years. In the college football hall of fame. Played some baseball and threw the shot put in college (very good).

#7–Allen Feldhouse–played basketball and baseball at UK.

#8–Dom Fucci. Played both football and baseball at UK and was All American in both. Played several years for the Lions (kicker). Played pro baseball (catcher) in triple AAA. ) Couldn’t hit the hook. Was an asst coach at UK.

#9–Ralph Beard. Played basketball and baseball. Was Mr. Basketball in 1961.

#10–Randy Embry. Played basketball and baseball. Randy also won a state title in baseball at Davies Co. and is the only Mr. Basketball to coach a Mr Basketball (Branden Davenport 1997).

#11–Cotton Nash. Played Basketball and baseball. Three time All American in basketball and all SEC three times. Played basketball for the Lakers, SF Warriors and the Colonels in the ABA. Played minor league for the White Sox and Twins.