Blue4ever
06-20-2006, 07:49 AM
In the book "The Last Coach" by Allen Barra, Barra describes the lead up tothe 1951 Sugar Bowl:
Chapter 4 (pp. 133-134) By the tenth game (UK was 10-0) the Wildcats had clinched the SEC title, the first in their history. Many around the country thought the Wildcats were better than just the best team in the Southeast; many thought they were the number-one team in the nation. They already had, in Bob Gain the most highly touted lineman in college football and, in Babe Parilli, perhaps the best drop-back passer. It was Kentucky's dream season.
But then came the Tennessee Volunteers and General Neyland. In four seasons against Tennessee, Bryant's Wildcats had suffered three close, hard defeats and managed one tie. This seemed to be the year Bryant would break the Tennessee jinx. But playing in a near blizzard in Knoxville.....the Vols managed to escapewith a 7-0 victory, the fourth time in five years theWildcats had failed to score against the Vols and fourth time in five years they had lost to them by either six or seven points.
Unable to establish any consistent running or passing attack on the slippery turf...Bryant called his favorite trick play, the tackle-eligible pass, three times (the offensive tackle checks in with the official as a receiver and then lines up a step back from the line of scrimmage, technically in the backfield). Three times Babe Parilli completed the pass. Three times Kentucky gained a huge chunk of yardage. Three times the officials called a penalty on the play and put Kentucky in a deep hole. Three times, according to most observers on both sides, the officials blundered. (Bryant had alerted them each time before the play that his tackle would be an eligible receiver, just as the rules dictated).
The loss was devastating. Kentucky still beat out Tennessee for the SEC title and nothing could take that away, but the Wildcats' first shot ever at a national championship had vanished in the flutter of an official's flag. Nearly a quarter of a century later, Bryant's recollection of the game was still fresh. "To this day he said in Bear I would tell General Neyland or anybody in the state of Tennessee that the officials took that one. I'm trying to be more humble and all now, but they took it from us....
"but they took it from us" How many years can we say that?
Chapter 4 (pp. 133-134) By the tenth game (UK was 10-0) the Wildcats had clinched the SEC title, the first in their history. Many around the country thought the Wildcats were better than just the best team in the Southeast; many thought they were the number-one team in the nation. They already had, in Bob Gain the most highly touted lineman in college football and, in Babe Parilli, perhaps the best drop-back passer. It was Kentucky's dream season.
But then came the Tennessee Volunteers and General Neyland. In four seasons against Tennessee, Bryant's Wildcats had suffered three close, hard defeats and managed one tie. This seemed to be the year Bryant would break the Tennessee jinx. But playing in a near blizzard in Knoxville.....the Vols managed to escapewith a 7-0 victory, the fourth time in five years theWildcats had failed to score against the Vols and fourth time in five years they had lost to them by either six or seven points.
Unable to establish any consistent running or passing attack on the slippery turf...Bryant called his favorite trick play, the tackle-eligible pass, three times (the offensive tackle checks in with the official as a receiver and then lines up a step back from the line of scrimmage, technically in the backfield). Three times Babe Parilli completed the pass. Three times Kentucky gained a huge chunk of yardage. Three times the officials called a penalty on the play and put Kentucky in a deep hole. Three times, according to most observers on both sides, the officials blundered. (Bryant had alerted them each time before the play that his tackle would be an eligible receiver, just as the rules dictated).
The loss was devastating. Kentucky still beat out Tennessee for the SEC title and nothing could take that away, but the Wildcats' first shot ever at a national championship had vanished in the flutter of an official's flag. Nearly a quarter of a century later, Bryant's recollection of the game was still fresh. "To this day he said in Bear I would tell General Neyland or anybody in the state of Tennessee that the officials took that one. I'm trying to be more humble and all now, but they took it from us....
"but they took it from us" How many years can we say that?