Three Pioneers & an Artful Dodger (VIDEO)

The Dogs got the best of Tennessee and its "Artful Dodger" in '73, 
but a loss to the Vols the year before is just as noteworthy.    

Georgia's 35-31 victory in 1973 over Tennessee in Knoxville is rather memorable.  The win by the Bulldogs, who entered as an 11-point underdog, is one of the bigger upsets in the modern era of UGA football.  The game-winning touchdown – quarterback Andy Johnson's 8-yard touchdown rush with just over a minute remaining after grabbing a bounced fumble by teammate Glynn Harrison – is considered one of the greatest plays in Bulldog history, and radio calls by the legendary Larry Munson.

 

However, the meeting between the two teams just a season before and 40 years ago – ironically, a 14-0 loss by Georgia at home – is actually more historic of a moment in Bulldog lore.

 

Building upon the recognition of this year marking the 40th anniversary of the first appearances by African-American varsity football players at UGA, the 1972 Georgia-Tennessee game in Sanford Stadium is a notable footnote during the era of integration in southern college football.

 

The Volunteers were led by sophomore quarterback Condredge Holloway, or "The Artful Dodger," who had recently become the first African-American quarterback to start for an SEC school earlier that year.  He and his Tennessee teammates would be facing a newly-integrated Bulldog varsity team, which featured three black players – all sophomores – of the original "Five Pioneers."

 

For the 1972 season, Larry West was a co-regular at the right cornerback position and, two weeks prior to the Tennessee contest, had returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown against Vanderbilt.  Versatile tailback-wingback Horace King would finish the year ranking fourth on the squad in rushing, fourth in scoring, third in receiving, and second in kickoff returns.  For most of the season, Chuck Kinnebrew was a worthy reserve at the defensive guard position.

 

Alas, against the Volunteers that season, few Bulldogs were very worthy in a game that exhibited two Holloway scoring passes – both in the second quarter –  as the historical contest's lone touchdowns.

 

For a memorable moment in Georgia football history, I recommend watching highlights from the Bulldogs' win over the Vols in 1973.  However, the Georgia-Tennessee game from exactly four decades ago (despite West having to run down a Vol ballcarrier, King mishandling a kickoff the one time in the game he touches the ball, or Kinnebrew merely making a tackle, all while The Artful Dodger defeats our Bulldogs), is a moment in the annals of Bulldog football that is as historical as they come: