The GT-Bama Rivalry Revisited
by BirdGT on May 2, 2010 8:00 AM EDT
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PrintThis rivalry revolves around the most epic coaching dual in Southern Football History: Dodd versus Bryant. From 1958-1964, the two coaches squared off 7 times. This rivalry was cited by Bobby Dodd multiple times as a factor for Tech leaving the SEC. He felt Bear and other SEC coaches treated their players poorly through over recruitment. Dodd only recruited players if he knew he had scholarship room for them. Bryant and other SEC brethren would over-recruit and cut players during Summer workouts voiding their athletic scholarships. Dodd brought this up numerous times in SEC offseason meetings but the SEC paid no heed.
For most Tech fans, the most memorable game against Bama was the 1962 game in Atlanta. The Tide came to town 8-0, ranked #1 in the country. They hadn't lost in 26 straight games, a streak that stretched over three seasons. Joe Namath was the superstar sophomore quarterback of the Tide facing Tech's own sophomore QB Billy Lothridge. To make a long story short, Tech led all game 7-0. In the waning seconds of the game, Namath finally drove Bama down the field and scored a TD. Instead of taking the tie, Bear went for 2 and the 2 point conversion was intercepted preserving Tech's lead and the eventual upset of the juggernaut Crimson Tide.
Another memorable game for Tech fans was one of the last of the Dodd-Bryant Era. In 1961, Tech had punted to Bama returnman Billy Richardson. Richardson signaled fair catch and all of the Tech coverage unit relaxed at the signal. Alabama's Darwin Holt didn't stop playing and blindsided Tech running back and coverage man Chick Granning. Granning suffered a broken jaw, 5 missing teeth, a broken nose, blood in his respiratory system, and a severe concussion. After the game, Dodd demanded an apology from Bryant and disciplinary action for Holt, which Bryant refused. The 1964 game was the last of the Dodd-Bryant series.
Whenever Tech fans think of the Bama-GT rivalry, they think of the glory years of Bobby Dodd and Tech's dominance in the SEC. They also recall the trips to Birmingham as Tech only played Bama in Tuscaloosa once (1902).
Anyone else care to fill us in on any memorable Dodd-Bryant or GT-Bama memories?
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1981
It was first game of Curry’s second season, Mike Kelley’s last, and Robert Lavette’s first.
Tech had gone 1-9-1 the year before, the sole highlight being a 3-3 tie against Notre Dame at home. Alabama had been 10-2 in 1980. The game didn’t look promising.
Instead, Tech rallied late, behind the passing of Kelley and the running of Lavette, to pull of the amazing upset, 24-21. It was incredible. We were all beside ourselves with joy. This helped erase, at least for a short time, the horror of 1980.
Alabama recovered, not losing again until they faced Texas in the Cotton Bowl.
Tech, though, was done. Opposing defensive coordinators must have figured out how to stop that toss sweep to Lavette, because Tech did not win again. The low point point of Curry’s short career* was a loss to lowly Memphis State, the only team beaten in 1980.
For one short week Tech fans thought the bad days were gone.
*The loss to Furman was still in the future (1983).
My first game as a Freshman
We thought the Golden Days of Dodd were back. Boy were we wrong.
In 1982, didn’t Furman tie us, and then beat us in ’83? Too many brain cells ago.
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on May 2, 2010 6:57 PM EDT up reply actions
The tie with Furman was 1986
In 1985 Tech beat Georgia for the second year (Dooley was still in Athens but Herschel was not), finished in the Top 20, and won a bowl game. The only blemishes were losses to Virginia and Auburn and a tie with Tennessee.
Surely now the program had turned the corner. Now Tech was winning again.
Until the first game of the next season when the team tied Furman and Curry’s two year string of winning records (three overall) was over.
The season ended well, though, when Alabama hired Curry. Bobby Ross was hired, and the team won a national championship four years later.
Thanks again, Bama!
since you guys are so enjoying the schadenfreude
here’s the blow-by-blow account of that era of alabama football.
Roll 'Bama Roll: The Champagne of 'Bama Blogs.
No, it's not what happened at Alabama with Curry;
It’s what happened at Tech without him.
If Bama hadn’t hired him I’m sure he would still be at Tech. Everyone seemed to have given up on football. He had two one-win seasons and a three-win season in his first four, yet he kept his job. He was a great guy, though, and that was apparently enough. They weren’t going to fire him no matter what.
Once he left, though, we got Ross, we got a taste with a National Championship, and people woke up. Now winning seven or eight games a year isn’t good enough.
If Alabama had not hired Bill Curry there’s no way Tech would be where it is today.
We could've gone the way of Tulane
…I can see why no one was content with Chan.
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
Curry was 1-2 against Tulane
just to keep things in perspective. They were another annual opponent we dropped during the Curry years, although I think that was more to fit in the ACC schedule, as opposed to dropping Auburn, which was done to increase the odds of getting a win.
I miss the Tulane series. A road trip to New Orleans was easier to justify with the game as an excuse.
Baffled
was I over this win. It was almost as if Alabama threw the game to Tech. I still cannot understand it.
by Atlanta's original team on May 2, 2010 9:43 PM EDT up reply actions
I went to this game with my dad. I was only 10 and my memory may be a little fuzzy
but it seems like GT was driving late in the game and had no timeouts. With just seconds left in the game Tech gets inside the 30 and the kicking team runs onto the field. Without any timeouts it looks like the clock will expire before they can get a kick away. BUT! BUT! Bama calls a timeout!
GT is able kick the winning FG.
I remember everyone bitching and moaning about the timeout being called and later Bryant says the player that called the timeout thought he saw a Bama coach on the sideline signaling for a timeout.
I may have this game and scenario confused with some other Bama moment from the early 80s but I think this was the Tech game of 81.
Ordinarily, I'd whip your nuts with a car antenna for that kind of callous attitude
we touched on this in the other thread
while georgia tech has never played at bryant denny stadium the yellowjackets did play alabama in tuscaloosa in 1902 in a game held on the university quad.
Roll 'Bama Roll: The Champagne of 'Bama Blogs.
woops
fixed
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
no worries
as for recollections of the rivaly… my dad is a tech alum and he constantly regales me with the story of the 1963 game that the yellowjackets fought back in the third quarter to pull within a field goal of the alabama lead…. then bryant put the injured namath in and the tide pulled away for the win. even today i’m not sure he’s totally over it.
and although it’s a bit ancillary to this discussion, you might want to check out the piece T Kyle King from Dawg Sports did for us earlier this week. it deals with the lawsuit bryant and georgia coach wally butts brought against the saturday evening post… something that likely never would have come to pass if not for furman bisher’s slam job on the Alabama program in that same publication a few years prior.
Roll 'Bama Roll: The Champagne of 'Bama Blogs.
this is a historic and legendary rivalry
lost for yet a few more years in the history books
by Winfield Featherston on May 2, 2010 1:11 PM EDT reply actions
The Holt-Granning incident
took place in 1960 if memory serves me.
1960 was the "we got 'em where we want 'em" speech
the granning hit was in the 1961 game.
Roll 'Bama Roll: The Champagne of 'Bama Blogs.
woops
corrected…
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
1960 clips
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
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