WATCH: UGA shares archival footage of trip to 1943 Rose Bowl
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Georgia shares footage of trip to 1943 Rose Bowl
On Tuesday, the Georgia football team traveled to Southern California ahead of its game against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl. It’s just the second time in UGA history the Dawgs have made the trip westward for the Rose Bowl, with the last trip to Pasadena coming almost 75 years ago in 1943.
Amazingly, there is color footage from Georgia’s trip out west and the game itself, which Georgia won 9-0 over the UCLA Bruins. The footage — released by the University of Georgia’s Twitter account courtesy of UGA Libraries — features the Bulldogs arriving in California by train as well as highlights of Heisman winner Frank Sinkwich and his Dawgs’ win against the Bruins. This extended footage also shows the teams’ trip to Paramount Studios, where they met stars of the time such as Bob Hope, Spencer Tracy and Ginger Rogers.
But the most striking thing about the footage, in my opinion, is the silver helmets. I had heard about the silver hats UGA wore in from the ’40s until Vince Dooley was hired in the ’60s, but this was my first time seeing them in action, in color. And, I must say, they look sweet as hell. After Georgia wore those atrocious alternate uniforms against Boise State in 2011, I thought I add sworn off all alternate Georgia helmets. But after watching the ’42 Dawgs sporting the silver, I could get on board with throwback silver lids to match the traditional silver britches.
After 75 years, UGA returns to the Rose Bowl 🌹https://t.co/Fy0SiuW3Pf#UGAvsOU #RoseBowl #TBT pic.twitter.com/zutBnIak6w
— UGA (@universityofga) December 21, 2017
‘A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’
Maybe it means something and maybe it means nothing, but many of Georgia’s national champion football players (and one Rose Bowl winner) see plenty of similarities between themselves and the current Dawgs. Chip Towers of DawgNation caught up with a handful of former Dawgs, such as Buck Belue and Frank Ros, to see what they think about this team.
You should of course check all that out. But in light of the above section about the 1943 Rose Bowl, I thought this anecdote from Charley Trippi, a member of that team, was entertaining.
Halfback Charley Trippi received the “Helms Award” as the game’s outstanding player after rushing 27 times for 115 yards in the victory over the Bruins before 90,000 people. The Bulldogs also blocked a punt for a safety for their other score.
Trippi turned 96 years old on Dec. 14 but remembers that trip to Pasadena as if it were yesterday. He said one of the keys to the Bulldogs’ victory was taking the game seriously.
“That was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Trippi said. “It took us three days to get there on a train, but that’s because Coach [Wally] Butts would have it stop every day and we’d get out and practice, or just run. We had fun, but we went out there with a purpose. We went there with the intention of winning the game. And we did.”
Yante Maten named SEC Player of the Week
Yante Maten was named SEC Player of the Week in the wake of outstanding performances in wins over Georgia Tech and Temple. The senior forward averaged 27 points and 9 rebounds in the two wins, including a season-high 30-point outing against Temple. Maten is living up to the considerable hype he entered the season with and is currently averaging a career-high of 20.2 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game. Georgia is 9-2 and begins SEC play on New Year’s Eve with a trip to Lexington to face the Kentucky Wildcats.
• avg 27 pts and 9 reb in two wins
• season-high 30 pts vs Temple
• ascended into Georgia’s top-10 career leaders for points and rebounds@UGABasketball's Yante Maten is the #SECMBB POTW. pic.twitter.com/rzFIgH0Hhe— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) December 26, 2017
Odds and ends
- Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated on Kirby Smart potentially being the Nick Saban protegé who has the most in common with his former boss.
- Ivan Maisel of ESPN on the tyranny of expectations and why this is as good as it gets for Georgia football fans for the foreseeable future.
- Connor O’Gara of Saturday Down South on why the SEC and Big 12 stereotypes may actually prove true in the case of the Rose Bowl.
- Ian Boyd of SB Nation on what Georgia’s defense must do to stop Baker Mayfield and the Oklahoma offense.
Dawgs on Twitter
✈️ in style.#ATD / #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/Dvwv0BtHIj
— Georgia Football (@FootballUGA) December 27, 2017
The @universityofga ‘Dawgs on the way to the @rosebowlgame Fun fact: the #747 they’re flying has flown the last 2 National Champs. #GoDawgs! pic.twitter.com/ZxIPBgl6Wm
— Atlanta Airport (@ATLairport) December 26, 2017
3️⃣ Legends.#GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/G8LVNAHU8q
— Georgia Football (@FootballUGA) December 26, 2017
Good dog
To be fair, I didn’t like his singing much either.
This dog can't stand his dad singing Christmas songs. (Listen with sound! 🔊) pic.twitter.com/ncBz3sbuhs
— The Dodo (@dodo) December 26, 2017
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