As we approach mid-season let's see what was happening on Southern gridirons 50 years ago this week.

A Look Back

Reigning National Champion LSU opened the season ranked No. One. Although Syracuse, led by the great Ernie Davis, would eventually overtake the Bengal Tigers for the AP National title, LSU held on to the top spot until November 2 when Tennessee scored a 14-13 upset. The week before saw one of the greatest games in college football history. LSU's eventual Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon fielded an Ole Miss punt at his own 11-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Breaking three tackles, Cannon raced 89 yards for the game's only touchdown. Tiger Stadium went berserk as LSU held on to win 7-3.

The final polls were taken at the conclusion of the regular season before the bowl games in those days. Ole Miss would gain revenge by upsetting LSU 21-0 in the Sugar Bowl on New Years Day, 1960.

We are getting ahead of ourselves, however. What happened in Southern Football on October 3, 1959?

South Carolina 30 - Georgia 14 - Warren Giese's Gamecocks held the vaunted Georgia passing attack of QBs Fran Tarkenton and Charley Britt to only one yard in the first half. The Dawgs rallied to score twice through the air in the second half, but four turnovers doomed Georgia to its only defeat in 1959. Carolina FB Phil Lavoie scored 3 TDs and a two point conversion. The final AP poll of December 7 ranked Georgia at No 5. The Dawgs beat 18th-ranked Missouri 14-0 in the Orange Bowl. There were only seven bowl games then. A good S.C. team (6-4) stayed home for the holidays.

Georgia Tech 16 - Clemson 6 - Ranked seventh at the time, the Yellow Jackets coached by Bobby Dodd defeated Frank Howard's Tigers in Atlanta after a flu epidemic swept through the Clemson team. Manchester, Georgia, native Bill Mathis shook off flu symptoms to run back a kickoff 99 yards for Clemson's only score. The Tech defense led by All-American LB Maxie Baughn stopped Tiger drives at the Jackets' three- and five-yard lines. Clemson finished the regular season at 8-2 and defeated seventh- ranked TCU in the inaugural Bluebonnet Bowl 23-7. The Tigers were No. 11 in the final regular season poll. Georgia Tech stumbled after the Clemson win finishing the season 6-5 including a 14-7 loss to Arkansas in the Gator Bowl.

Vanderbilt 7 - Alabama 7 - The game between these SEC rivals ended in a tie for the third consecutive year. Bear Bryant's second Bama team finished the season 7-2-2 with a loss to Penn State in the first-ever Liberty Bowl. Vandy finished unranked at 5-3-2 while the Crimson Tide became Bryant's first Top Ten team at No. 10.

Other scores on October 3, 1959, in Dixie were:
Auburn 35............................ Hardin-Simmons 12
Florida 55........................................... Virginia 10
Duke 24...................................................... Rice 7
Miami 7...................................................... FSU 6
LSU 22................................................... Baylor 0
Ole Miss 43........................................ Memphis 0
North Carolina 20...........................N.C. State 12
Texas A&M 7............................. Southern Miss 3
Tennessee 22.....................................Miss State 6

In 1959 players played both offense and defense. The South boasted 3 of the eleven consensus All-Americans: C/LB Maxie Baughn (Georgia Tech), FB/DB Charlie Flowers (Ole Miss), and Heisman Trophy winner HB/DB Billy Cannon (LSU).

Five of the first picks in the pro football draft were also from the South: Cannon and HB/DB Johnny Robinson (LSU), OT/DT Lou Cordileone (Clemson), HB/DB Tom Moore (Vandy), and C/ LB Jackie Burkett (Auburn).

Four wire services actually picked once-beaten Ole Miss as National Champion over Syracuse, but the AP poll taken before the bowl games was generally recognized as the final word in 1959.

Now lets get back to the present and see who Claude picks to win the grudge matches in Dixie this week. A Look Forward
Florida over LSU by 12 S.C. over Kentucky by 8 Alabama over Ole Miss by 6 Houston over Miss State by 5 Va. Tech over Boston Col. by 8 Wake Forest over Md. by 13 N.C. over Ga. Southern by 10 S. Miss over Louisville by 10 East Carolina over SMU by 5

Georgia over Tennessee by 9
Vandy over Army by 27
Auburn over Arkansas by 3
Georgia Tech over FSU by 10
N.C. State over Duke by 9
Miami over Fla. A&M by 27
Virginia over Indiana by 4
Tulane over Marshall by 2