University of Tennessee Knoxville - Volunteer Yearbook (Knoxville, TN)

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, FIRST ROW; LE1 'y-RIGHT: GaryKreis. And; Bennett, Gordon . James Woodyi omxie Drurnm Turnaget Don Denbo. D unis Chadw k, Stem Trot't fem Callaway, V 1 l l ' . :1, Richard Callaer m petoe 63on 7 ds Curt Watson. ,Carl Johnson 33 w ' id Logan Ronnie 7 . a . nney, Bobby Scott , 1 foe Thompson ' yf 1 a j a 1, ' wLeary, Jimmy .108 Balthro'p, 1 Thomas, Tim 7 ' n Weaver, Lanny PeatCet George Sitvey rYanossy Jim Mess Chip Kelly Ben Baas, Dav l'rc'ywne, Bubba Dueley; THIRD ROW: Ken Frere, David Beckter DeLonggy Lester MeCEain, Tom 13m , Ranye'ttRes, George Hunt, Keller. ' Dickey decided to move Chip Kell to center, Denbo to KelPs position, and that moved me up to the starting team to take Denbols place. This starting job pleased tne very much. I also did not want to let Coach Dickey down since he was putting his trust in me. And I knew that if I could play a really outstanding game there was a strong chance that I could possibly be a starter for the remainder of the season. We knew Mississippi was a good team who was capable of blowing a game wide open at any time. To win, we had to play etrorless ball. But there wasnlt a doubt in any of our minds that we wouldnlt win. l explained earlier that for a team to beat us they would have to catch us on a bad day and play errorless ball. Well, Mississippi did just that. We couldnlt do anything right, and they couldntt do anything wrong. To give an example of how bad things went for us, at the very start of the game they were ahead of us by 21 points, and we had only run four offensive plays. The final score was 38-0 and the game was every bit as bad as it sounded. lt was also a disappointing game for me as well, as I didntt play too well. Like Dickey told us, we all had to start getting down to business. I think one of the big reasons for our loss to Mississippi was that we had not been hitting enough in practice the previous week or two. Sometimes it seems like when things go wrong for a team they go wrong all the way. Not only had we lost to Mississippi and blown a chance at a perfect 10 and 0 record, and dropped in the ratings from third to tenth, but our bid for the Orange Bowl was turned down and we ended up getting in the Gator Bowl. I'm not knocking the Gator Bowl, but no matter how you look at it, the Gator Bowl is no Orange Bowl. Everyone on the squad was feeling lousy about it. In preparing for our next game, against Kentucky, we had many key injuries to contend with. People like Watson, Don McCleary, J 0e Balthrop, Ray Nettles, Reynolds and Young were hurt. Against Mississippi our pride was hurt. We not only had to regain the respect of UT, but of the entire nation as well. And we had to do it at Kentuckyls expense. But 13

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We won 17-3, but the score could have been worse had it not been for the penalties and the muddy turf. I thought I played well this game although I didnit play as much as I usually had up to this game. Curt Watson was again outstanding as he set a record for most yards gained in a single game. Coach Trail told us that this was our best game, but that we still had room for improve- ment. In preparation for our game with South Carolina we worked on fairly basic stuff. Since this game came right after Georgia and right before Mississippi, we were in good position for being upset. I think Coach Dickey expected a let-down from us, despite the fact that this week was Homecoming. Homecoming is a good time of the year, but more so for the fan than the player. Homecoming helps us get psyched for a game, but it also tends to serve as a distraction. South Carolina, who was in first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference before our game, came to Knoxville ready to play some football. They had a real good game plan. But we won 29-14. I think ifs the mark of a good football team that can win when it has a bad day. We had a bad day and won. The big story this game, I think, was the good job our substitutes did in replacing injured first-stringers such as Steve Kiner and Bill Young. Tim Priest, J ack Reynolds, and Wayne Spain all played good games. After the South Carolina game we were all feeling rather bad because of our sub-par performance. Coach Dickey told us in the locker room that we didnit play too well, but we were still undefeated and that made us feel better. As I said earlier our next game was against the University of Mississippi, and that game proved to be a very important game because 1 found out during Mondayis practice that I was going to start. It would be my first starting game in my college career. There was no big deal about it. Coach Trail just came up to me and said iiYou got it this week? The reason for my starting was also nothing out of the ordinary. Mike Bevins, our center was injured against South Carolina and he would not be able to play this week. So Coach 12

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Kentucky was going to be no push-over as they had beaten Mississippi earlier in the year. During the entire week of practice we really worked hard. The coaches did not bear down on us any harder, it was just that we were out to prove to everyone how much pride we did have. We all knew we were still a great team. On the last day of practice that week Coach Dickey told us that if anybody wasnit proud to be a Tennessee Volunteer then not to show up at the airport when we left for Kentucky. Everyone went to Kentucky, and we won 3126. Kentucky went after us this game, the way every team has gone after us this year. Our defensive secondary reacted very slow, especially in the latter part of the game as Kentucky gained over 400 yards passing. But we shut off their running game completely. This was a disappointing game for us in that we really didnt get back in the kind of groove we were hoping for. We wanted to humiliate Kentucky, but as it turned out we were lucky to be alive. Kiner, Reynolds, and Gary Kreis, all played outstanding games. Kreis caught 11 passes as a matter of fact. J ack Reynolds, 1 would say, was the most consistent player on the team. Week in, week out he turned in good, solid games for us. Reynolds was robbed when he wasnlt named to the All-SEC Team. For our final game of the year we played Vanderbilt, and we knew we were in for a difficult game. Although Vandy wasnit a powerful team, they were beginning to mold into a real fine squad. Besides the fact we were playing at home, we had one small thing going for us. With a victory over Vanderbilt we could win the SEC title. We beat Vanderbilt with a final score of 40-27. The game wasnit as close as the score might have indicated as they scored their last two touchdowns off our second-string defense. All of our players were really psyched up for this game. Watson, Bobby Majors, and Young played particularly well. 1969 was a very good year for us. Considering some people thought we would finish no higher than sixth place in the SEC, I would say we did rather well. That is, if you consider winning the SEC with a 9-1 record and going to the Gator Bowl good. I wouldnit want to pick out a player-of-the-year for our team because in every game a different player stood out. This year was simply a team effort. Anything good that happened was a result of team-work. I guess our most outstanding characteristic was our desire. We worked hard and we learned to execute. This was a good year and I suppose Pm glad it is over. But, just between you and me-I canit wait until next year.! 14l