Marvin West: Bring back '67 Volunteers

#26
#26
I was in the USAF in 1967, stationed in Southern California, so I didn't get to see any home games. I was so happy that the VOLS came all the way out there to play UCLA just for me. ;) Several of us rented a bus to take us to the game. I was disappointed in the outcome but so proud of my VOLS.
 
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#28
#28
Frank Emanuel, Bobby Petrella, and Stan Mitchell are just three players of the many on the 1965 Vols roster who might beg to differ about when UT got put back on the map. Mediocre they were not. I partied with some of those guys and I'm here to tell you, they were some tough 'sumbit**es'. "Covered up all the ground they stood on" as my dear Dad used to say.

You're are correct. The 1965 team brought UT back to national prominence. In those days, going to a bowl was a HUGE deal, since there were only 9 of them.
 
#29
#29
It's fascinating how significant that year was to both Tennessee and OU. I am retired from a long career with AnheuserBusch and I've had more than one fun discussion about that game with folks from the AB wholesaler in Knoxville. The name Dewey "Swamprat" Warren is indelibly etched in my memory...so much so that associates of mine who have heard me discuss that game with Vol friends began calling me "Swamprat." That game featured a huge battle between A.A. center Bob Johnson and O.U.'s great middle guard Granville "The chocolate cheetah" Higgins. Our QB, Bobby "the worm"Warmack wasn't too shabby either.
 
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#30
#30
It's fascinating how significant that year was to both Tennessee and OU. I am retired from a long career with AnheuserBusch and I've had more than one fun discussion about that game with folks from the AB wholesaler in Knoxville. The name Dewey "Swamprat" Warren is indelibly etched in my memory...so much so that associates of mine who have heard me discuss that game with Vol friends began calling me "Swamprat." That game featured a huge battle between A.A. center Bob Johnson and O.U.'s great middle guard Granville "The chocolate cheetah" Higgins. Our QB, Bobby "the worm"Warmack wasn't too shabby either.

OK...maybe there were just great nicknames all-around back then. The Chocolate Cheetah! Seriously? That is fantastic!
 
#31
#31
I just noticed my Korean phone changed Liggins to Higgins. "Granny" was an unbelievable middle guard...relatively small but incredibly quick. He was too small for the NFL but had a nice career in the CFL.
 
#32
#32
It's fascinating how significant that year was to both Tennessee and OU. I am retired from a long career with AnheuserBusch and I've had more than one fun discussion about that game with folks from the AB wholesaler in Knoxville. The name Dewey "Swamprat" Warren is indelibly etched in my memory...so much so that associates of mine who have heard me discuss that game with Vol friends began calling me "Swamprat." That game featured a huge battle between A.A. center Bob Johnson and O.U.'s great middle guard Granville "The chocolate cheetah" Higgins. Our QB, Bobby "the worm"Warmack wasn't too shabby either.

I remember the OU middleguard as a beast. However, his last name was/is Liggins.
 
#33
#33
See my last post...my phone changed Liggins to Higgins and I missed it when I sent my comments. Maybe Granny's finest game, albeit his shortest was vs ND in 1966. This was the great Irish team with Hanratty, Seymour, Alan Paige et al. For about a qtr. and a half, Liggins singlehandedly kept the Irish scoreless but the took him out on a trap play and the dam broke.
 
#34
#34
You're are correct. The 1965 team brought UT back to national prominence. In those days, going to a bowl was a HUGE deal, since there were only 9 of them.

Vols beat a very good Tulsa team in the Bluebonnet Bowl. They had a red-hot QB who played in the NFL, but, his name escapes me.... help me out here guys and gals.
 
#36
#36
See my last post...my phone changed Liggins to Higgins and I missed it when I sent my comments. Maybe Granny's finest game, albeit his shortest was vs ND in 1966. This was the great Irish team with Hanratty, Seymour, Alan Paige et al. For about a qtr. and a half, Liggins singlehandedly kept the Irish scoreless but the took him out on a trap play and the dam broke.

The 1966 ND team was one of their best. However, my main memory of that team was HC Ara Parsegian choosing to settle for a tie (10 - 10) with Michigan State and the great Bubba Smith and let the clock run out instead of manuvering for a field goal. I have a good friend who was a sub linebacker for ND and he says Bubba was screaming his head off with every profanity known to man directed at the Fighting Irish. ND was awarded the National championship that year over Alabama. Bear Bryant said "he knew a lot of young men who would be heading to Vietnam and he just hoped none of them would settle for a tie." I had just signed up for Marine OCS at Quantico, Virginia while a student at UTK so his words have always resonated with me.
 
#37
#37
Billy Anderson

Thanks, Thunder, and the great Howard Twilly was his main target. We thumped 'em 27-6, basically shut 'em down. That '65 Vols team was really scrappy on both sides of the ball, very balanced. The guys I knew usually partied at the Clinch Towers apartment where I lived at that time. Magical times, my friends....
 
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