Vols-Cats 1965
- Thread starter BillVol
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They were huge and fast , for the times, Sam Ball, 1st round and Doug Davis, 3rd round, both weighed 245# or more (yes, pretty huge at the time), Rodger Bird was fast, All American on both offense and Defense (but several played both ways from necessity) and also a #1 draft pick, Rick Kestner, Seiple, Mcgraw, several great ones but the reason they played both ways was because Bradshaw ran half the team off, you lucked out and got to play the "Thin Thirty".
I watched the Freshmen class in 62 play TU's (your team) freshman team with Frank Antonino scoring about 6 TDs win that game 72-0 (maybe 73-0) and thought we were finally going places, but that class never beat TU in the four years they were at UK.
The main reason you beat us in 65 is because Rick Norton, the vital QB, #1 pick in the draft by Miami, was injured against Houston and the QB for your game was Deaton, the starting Halfback on D (no CBs in those days), thanks to Bradshaw's idiocy. But then he didn't play on D so we only lost him on offense, LOL.
I watched the Freshmen class in 62 play TU's (your team) freshman team with Frank Antonino scoring about 6 TDs win that game 72-0 (maybe 73-0) and thought we were finally going places, but that class never beat TU in the four years they were at UK.
The main reason you beat us in 65 is because Rick Norton, the vital QB, #1 pick in the draft by Miami, was injured against Houston and the QB for your game was Deaton, the starting Halfback on D (no CBs in those days), thanks to Bradshaw's idiocy. But then he didn't play on D so we only lost him on offense, LOL.
Don't think it was Deaton who played QB in that game, he played for Curci. May have been Terry Beadles.
Terry Beadles was starter in Tenn game in 1965. But, the "Thin Thirty" was the 1962 team and UK won 12-10 on Clarkie Mayfield kicked winning FG. He died in the terrible fire at Beverly Hills Club. Supposedly, was trying to get others out.
The freshman 70-0 win over UT was 1963, Bradshaw's 2nd team. Norton, Bird, etc. was on 1962 team.
The afore mentioned Frank Antonini was a RB from Pa who did indeed score something like 6 TDs in that 70-0 frosh game. Unfortunately he fractured an ankle as a soph and never contributed after that.
In the early '60s the two programs were equals on the field, actually egually bad. UT was trying to make the change from single-wing to the T-formation. They had lost 2 good in-state QB products, Steve Spurrier and Steve Sloan, to UF/Bama respectively partly because of their hard headed desire to stay with the single-wing in the early '60s. They hired Doug Dickey and committed to good football while UK committed to mediocrity with the likes of Charlie Bradshaw, John Ray, et al.
BTW, I knew some guys who were around the UT team at that time. Dickey liked to shower with the team and had a nick used by many, although not to his face. The nick? The Dick. Not because he was a tough taskmaster but because nature had been very generous to him.
I was at that game. Frank Antonini ran over UT like they were a high school team. Just can't recall any of the other freshmen who like Frank that contributed the next year! Might have been a big tight end from Penn.--anyone remember? Charlie took the job believing he was going to be the next Bear Bryant. I thought he had a very quirky personality. Clarkie Mayfield played for a small school in Harlan County and I was told by a couple of his teammates that Bradshaw was always degrading him and trying to goad him into quitting.
My dad would have been a senior on the 65 UK team but suffered a career ending injury his Freshman year in 1962. I was born in 1966 and I remember every year as a kid we would go to all the home games and to Knoxville every other year for the UT game. That one game seemed more important than all the others combined. It just doesn't feel right playing UT anytime but the last game of the season to me.
The older UT fans I know look at Kentucky as a rival of ours second only to Alabama. Johnny Majors is one who definitely feels the same. To a man, when we are talking football, they say that Kentucky should concentrate recruiting on Pennsylvania, the East, the Midwest, and clean up in Kentucky. Just like we have great fans in basketball (5th in attendance this year nationally for a suck team), Kentucky has great fans in football. Kentucky has all the pieces to be a great football program. I've heard the new Commonwealth Stadium is fantastic.
I was in school during the Bradshaw era. The main rivalry we had was UT as far as I can remember. I wish a knee jerk decision to ban the beer barrel had never happened. That was after the terrible football tragedy during a hunting trip. Your dominance over us changed what was a great SEC rivalry to emphasis of UK-UofL.
We are emphasizing football in every sense of the word. But, becoming competitive is a slow movement where every element of achieving success is a step by step process. It is my sincere hope I can once again watch UK-UT play competitive football.
Looks like you were right, but I had the most informative and knowledgeable source you can imagine for Deaton another poster on here, LOL. Looks like Beadles was in his first year on the team (sophomore, no fresnmen played then) and he was like 7 for 13 for 55 yards for the year, so it was probably the first time he played on the varsity. The 62 instead of 63 was just a typo, the 62 class had Bird, Norton, Davis, Ball, Kestner, etc etc. Seiple was another star from the 63 class, and Windsor was on the 65 team but I think he transferred in. And right on about Western Pennsylvania being great recruiting grounds for UK, especially under the Bear, most of his All Americans were from there.
I think the 65 team was still way behind in players and depth, I'm not sure why Bradshaw was able to get anyone to commit to UK, I know my high school coach said he loved Collier but would NEVER send a player to play for Bradshaw.
If I am not mistaken ,Mike Deaton was backup to Derrick Ramsey in 1977. When Ramsey got injured prior to UT game,Deaton took the team down the field on final drive . They pût Ramsey in to put it in for touchdown. Won the game.
Yes, you're correct about Deaton. That UK-UT game of which you speak...a very bad UT team took a late lead. Ramsey had sustained a shoulder injury the week before vs UF and really couldn't throw. Deaton entered the game and hit on a clutch throw to I think Felix Wilson near midfield. Ramsey reentered the game and drove his team down the field for the eventual winning TD. But the game didn't end there. UT drove deep into UK territory but the great Art Still, the best UK player I've seen in my lifetime, forced a UT fumble that was recovered by I think Kelly Kirchbaum to seal the win.
Mike Deaton had great potential but eventually had a rotator cuff injury to his shoulder that ended his career.