Georgia No. 1 -- 1946

My high school football coach at Forest Park High School, Clayton County, played for the 1946 #1 Dogs. . . Al Jeffrey. Slow time of the year, maybe a little history. . . . This is another reason I have a serious distaste for ND. Love UGA football and all that it took to get us to where we are now. Coach Jeffrey meant more to me than I could ever start to put into words. More to football than hugging the pigskin. Go Dawgs!



1946 UGA Bulldogs

Fifty-five years ago, the Georgia Bulldogs had produced only one undefeated football season-and that was in 1896, with just a four-game schedule. Even George \"Kid\" Woodruff's Dream and Wonder team of 1927 had lost its final game to Georgia Tech. And as the summer of 1946 turned into fall, Georgia was still looking for its first undefeated season of the modern era.

In his seven seasons as head coach, Wally Butts had taken Georgia to its first bowl game ('42 Orange Bowl win over TCU), its only Rose Bowl appearance ('43 win over UCLA), its first SEC championship (11-1-0 in '42), and its first national championship ('42). The only laurel that had escaped Butts was an undefeated season.

Perhaps the finest all-around athlete ever to play for Georgia, Trippi (62) was denied the Heisman Trophy in '46 by an Eastern voting block that preferred Army star Glenn Davis.

In 1946, the Dogs were led by senior halfback and future pro football star Charley Trippi, who captained a team that included Herb St. John, Bulldog Williams, Johnny Rauch, Rabbit Smith, and John Donaldson.

The Bulldogs, who were 9-2 the previous year, opened the '46 season with a 35-12 victory over the Clemson Tigers, who had prepared for the game by pasting pictures of Trippi all over their locker room. Clemson held Trippi to only 27 yards rushing, but sophomore Rauch made up the difference with 147 yards and three touchdowns. Georgia rolled over Temple, 35-7, and Trippi scored two touchdowns en route to a 28-13 win over Kentucky. Oklahoma A&M fell to Georgia's powerful backfield, 33-13, and a week later the Bulldogs subjected Furman to 600 yards of total offense in a 70-7 humiliation.

Next up was Alabama, defending SEC and Rose Bowl champs, led by their star quarterback Harry Gilmer. Or was he? Gilmer didn't complete a single pass against Georgia's defense, and Trippi passed for one touchdown and rushed for another, as the Dogs shut out the Tide, 14-0. Georgia continued its unbeaten ways by defeating Florida 33-14, Auburn 41-0, and the Chattanooga Moccasins 48-27.

The Bulldogs were now 9-0, with only Georgia Tech left to play. The Yellow Jackets, who had dashed Kid Woodruff's undefeated hopes in 1927, had lost only once, so Georgia was only a slim favorite. A 66-yard touchdown run by Trippi sealed a 35-7 Georgia victory.

Unfortunately, the pollsters denied Georgia the consensus national championship, though the Dogs did finish first in the Williamson poll. But the snub didn't stop Georgia from defeating North Carolina 20-10 in the Sugar Bowl, as Trippi played all 60 minutes to cap one of the greatest seasons in Georgia football history.

The Williamson Poll was recognized as \"The Poll\" in the 40's.

Thanks so much for that post, Buc.

Those who know my posts on here know that the thing that sticks most in my craw is the '46 \"Army/ND split\" of the national championship. Forget the fact that both Army and ND had tied a game that year. Georgia won more games AND the bowl game. There was a definite bias.

I'll stop fuming. The evidence is above. I think the University (which, classily, does not claim either the '27 NC given us by the Boand and Poling polls -- we lost to Tech -- or the '68 NC -- Vince's first! -- that was given to us by the Litkenhaus poll) should seriously claim the 1946 National Championship. We should fly that flag up there with the '42 and '80 flags in the horseshoe and let everyone know who the best damn dawgs in all of college football were that year!

dapolla, keep fuming. . . . (we wuz robbed).

Know that you are probably aware of the following site, thought I would post it anyway, maybe some of the UGA following here did not know this small tidbit. Love UGA history.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herty_Field

www.uga.edu/columns/990913/front4.html

Double click the photo, get a better view.

dapolla wrote:

Thanks so much for that post, Buc.

Those who know my posts on here know that the thing that sticks most in my craw is the '46 \"Army/ND split\" of the national championship. Forget the fact that both Army and ND had tied a game that year. Georgia won more games AND the bowl game. There was a definite bias.

I'll stop fuming. The evidence is above. I think the University (which, classily, does not claim either the '27 NC given us by the Boand and Poling polls -- we lost to Tech -- or the '68 NC -- Vince's first! -- that was given to us by the Litkenhaus poll) should seriously claim the 1946 National Championship. We should fly that flag up there with the '42 and '80 flags in the horseshoe and let everyone know who the best damn dawgs in all of college football were that year!

I honestly think that the main reason that Georgia did not get more consideration for the 46 national championship is because it was the first football season after the end of WWII. It was the first time in several years that college football could actually be the most important thing on people's minds again, and they wanted to give the title to \"America's Team.\" The fact that the school representing our boys (Army) and the school representing the country's largest religious denomination (Notre Dame) were in the thick of the title hunt made for a storybook season and the chance to crown a champion that would help to unite America in the wake of tragedy. Army and Notre Dame's tie that season was against each other in what, up to that point, was the game of the century. Having them split the title honored the nation's GIs and its faith. Georgia was the odd man out and, though I think the same thing would have happened to a team like Wisconsin if they had gone undefeated, being from the south didn't help.

Oklahoma A&M and Georgia played each other in 1946? I thought this was going to be the first meeting between the two schools.

Oklahoma A&M had its finest season in 1945 going 9-0 against the likes of SMU, TCU, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas Tech. But A&M didn't finish first in a single poll, with Army being the consensus #1. So, historically speaking, I understand the feeling over Army being #1 in 1946.

UGAChemDawg wrote:

I honestly think that the main reason that Georgia did not get more consideration for the 46 national championship is because it was the first football season after the end of WWII. It was the first time in several years that college football could actually be the most important thing on people's minds again, and they wanted to give the title to \"America's Team.\" The fact that the school representing our boys (Army) and the school representing the country's largest religious denomination (Notre Dame) were in the thick of the title hunt made for a storybook season and the chance to crown a champion that would help to unite America in the wake of tragedy. Army and Notre Dame's tie that season was against each other in what, up to that point, was the game of the century. Having them split the title honored the nation's GIs and its faith.

\"Having them win\"? \"Giving them the title\"? Sounds like the 1946 NC was more like a WWE wrestling championship. Was the tie between Army and ND worked? Was Vince McMahon anywhere around?

Then again, I think that all NC polls are in some way fixed. Take a look at USC's so-called \"dominance\" of this decade so far. In their two national championship years, you had two SEC teams right in the thick of it (LSU in '03, undefeated Auburn in '04) but USC didn't have to play either one of them. LSU split with USC in '03 and Auburn, though undefeated, didn't even get consideration the next year. I call BS on that for obvious reasons, so I'd say that the '03 and '04 NCs are nearly as tainted as the \"fixed\" '46 championship.