Painting the Town Red



Staying with a thorough-thrashing-of-Clemson theme...

 

I was looking through some old photos on my PC over the weekend and discovered the above sent to me by Ken Helms several months ago.  The photo depicts some offensive line play during Georgia's 35-7 rout of Clemson in 1975.  Playing center for the Bulldogs, Helms (No. 53) is joined by guard Hugh Hendrix (No. 64) and tackle Steve Wilson (No. 75).     

 

Upon receiving the photo, I recalled a story I once read regarding the lead up to the '75 Clemson game.  The Wednesday night prior to the contest, a group of UGA students ventured to Clemson and painted a good portion of the campus red.  Not to be outdone, several Tiger students returned the next night and retaliated -- and how. 

 

Tiger paws, "Clemson," and "Tigers" were painted in orange all across our beautiful campus.  The orange paint job was so thorough, UGA's Physical Plant had to resort to sandblasting the paint off instead of using customary steaming equipment.  The plant estimated it would take a whopping 200 man hours to remove all the paint.

 

On the field, the game was won by the Bulldogs primarily because of their play in the trenches.  Georgia's offensive line paved the way for 366 rushing yards, including rare 100-yard individual performances by teammates.  Bulldog backs Kevin McLee (23-103) and Glynn Harrison (16-107) each passed the century mark on the ground.  Sophomore McLee, who tied a school single-game record with four touchdowns in just his fourth varsity game, declared, "You got to give 100 percent credit to those lineman."

 

Georgia's big guys up front were handed the ultimate compliment when offensive line coach Jimmy Vickers was given the game ball following the victory.  Pessimistic Coach Dooley added, "I was honestly surprised at the way our offensive line handled Clemson."

 

As far as the painting efforts by the students of the two schools, the Bulldogs would prevail in that aspect, as well.  The UGA students who painted the Clemson campus red were never caught.  On the contrary, the Tiger painters -- four males between the ages of 20 and 22 -- would eventually be arrested for not only criminal damage to property, but also defacing an auto tag. 

 

Following their painting, the Clemson quartet was apparently heading out of town back home, when they were stopped at a road block on the edge of Athens for the tape which remain covered over their car's license plate.  Ah, the value of a good Clemson education...