Post by TheShadow on Sept 2, 2008 15:56:43 GMT -5
www.towntalknews.com
By Rich Pagano
This column is part 3 of a six-part article I wrote about John Rauch on November 5, 2003. John, truly one of the great athletes from our county, passed away just recently.As a freshman, John Rauch started at quarterback in every game for the University of Georgia during the 1945 football season.
Playing for Coach Wally Butts, John learned a lot about offensive football. He remembered how meticulous Butts was in drawing patterns and explaining what he wanted.
John recalled, "When you went on the field, if you were the quarterback, you directed the offense and you knew what he wanted. When I went into the game, I was taking Coach Butts' mind and putting into action out there. When I went into pro coaching and college coaching, I tried to coach my quarterbacks the same way. I would maybe have three sheets of paper with what we would do on first and ten, what we would do on long yardage, and on the goal line. If I could get that across to them in three days of meetings when they would go on the field they would know my mind and they would directt the offense accordingly, and I think that's important to a quarterback.
"One of the most important jobs for a coach no matter whether it's high school, college or professional football is to school a quarterback to tune into the right formation and the right play."
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Bill Hartman, a former player for Butts and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, stated, "Coach Butts had an inventive and creative mind. He could fill a yellow legal pad with diagrammed plays with so much detail that it was difficult to practice them and then run them successfully in games."
However, John was a perfect fit in Butts' offense and led by example. Columnist Loran Smith wrote, "Rauch was tough, he stood in the pocket without flinching or worrying about anybody hammering him. With his quick release, he could get the ball off in most instances, but it didn't matter. He was tough-minded and a very physical quarterback."
After John led Georgia to an 8-2 record in 1945, the Bulldogs were selected to play Tulsa in the Oil Bowl in Texas on New Year's Day. With Rauch and Charlie Trippi leading the way, Georgia was victorious, 20-6. The Bulldogs finished the season eighth in the final Associated Press National Poll.
In 1946, the Bulldogs outscored their opponents 372 to 100 and finished with a 10-0 mark. It was Trippi's final year of eligibility, and he ran wild the entire season.
Also that season, Butts designed a few plays which made his quarterback a receiver.
John remembered, "Coach Butts and the coaching staff were taking the things that Charlie Trippi did well in a single wing and what he did well in the T-formation. One of them was having that direct snap. Every once in a while I would stagger my left foot and they would snap the ball to Charley and I became eligible to go out for a pass. This formation made me a single wing blocking back, but I was an eligible pass receiver.
"In 1946, I caught four touchdown passes on a direct snap to Trippi, and I'd go through the line, by the safety man or wherever I found an open spot. Trippi would hit me with the ball."
That season, Georgia won all eleven of their games, and the Southeastern Conference Championship, including a victory over Coach Carl Snavely's North Carolina squad in the Sugar Bowl, 20-0. The Bulldogs were the only major undefeated, untied team in the nation.
However, the Rauch and Trippi led Bulldogs took a back seat to Army and Notre Dame in the final Associated Press national rankings. Notre Dame and Army were both undefeated, but also had a tie on their record. The scoreless tie came from when they both met one another in "The Battle of the Century" in Yankee Stadium.
Coach Butts always maintained to the end that his Bulldogs were every bit as great as Army or Notre Dame.
In 1947, Georgia finished the regular season with a 7-4 record and played Maryland to a 20-20 tie in the Gator Bowl.
The following season, John's senior year, the Bulldogs went 9-1 in the regular season, defeating L.S.U., 22-0 and Alabama, 35-0. They again captured another S.E.C. title, and John was honored as the M.V.P. in the conference.
After a 41-28 setback at the hands of Texas in the Orange Bowl, the Bulldogs were ranked as the eighth best team in the country by the Associated Press.
When the season ended, the honors came pouring in for John. After throwing for a school record 14 touchdown passes, he was chosen the top signal caller by the Birmingham Quarterback Club and the Atlanta Quarterback Club. He was also selected on the 1948 All-American first team with players such as: Doak Walker, Jackie Jensen, Chuck Bednarik, Leon Hart and Emil Sitko.
In a four year period (1945-48), John led Georgia to four bowl games and a 36-8-1 record. He started in 45 consecutive games, averaging 51 minutes a game.
In my research, I could not find any other player in collegiate football history to start every game of his career, plus four bowl games. There are a few players who started every game during their career but did not have John's bowl record. He also went both ways, playing cornerback on defense, which is another reason why his record as a starter for four years and four bowl games is even more remarkable.
NEXT WEEK: John Rauch becomes head coach of the Oakland Raiders.
By Rich Pagano
This column is part 3 of a six-part article I wrote about John Rauch on November 5, 2003. John, truly one of the great athletes from our county, passed away just recently.As a freshman, John Rauch started at quarterback in every game for the University of Georgia during the 1945 football season.
Playing for Coach Wally Butts, John learned a lot about offensive football. He remembered how meticulous Butts was in drawing patterns and explaining what he wanted.
John recalled, "When you went on the field, if you were the quarterback, you directed the offense and you knew what he wanted. When I went into the game, I was taking Coach Butts' mind and putting into action out there. When I went into pro coaching and college coaching, I tried to coach my quarterbacks the same way. I would maybe have three sheets of paper with what we would do on first and ten, what we would do on long yardage, and on the goal line. If I could get that across to them in three days of meetings when they would go on the field they would know my mind and they would directt the offense accordingly, and I think that's important to a quarterback.
"One of the most important jobs for a coach no matter whether it's high school, college or professional football is to school a quarterback to tune into the right formation and the right play."
Advertisement
Bill Hartman, a former player for Butts and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, stated, "Coach Butts had an inventive and creative mind. He could fill a yellow legal pad with diagrammed plays with so much detail that it was difficult to practice them and then run them successfully in games."
However, John was a perfect fit in Butts' offense and led by example. Columnist Loran Smith wrote, "Rauch was tough, he stood in the pocket without flinching or worrying about anybody hammering him. With his quick release, he could get the ball off in most instances, but it didn't matter. He was tough-minded and a very physical quarterback."
After John led Georgia to an 8-2 record in 1945, the Bulldogs were selected to play Tulsa in the Oil Bowl in Texas on New Year's Day. With Rauch and Charlie Trippi leading the way, Georgia was victorious, 20-6. The Bulldogs finished the season eighth in the final Associated Press National Poll.
In 1946, the Bulldogs outscored their opponents 372 to 100 and finished with a 10-0 mark. It was Trippi's final year of eligibility, and he ran wild the entire season.
Also that season, Butts designed a few plays which made his quarterback a receiver.
John remembered, "Coach Butts and the coaching staff were taking the things that Charlie Trippi did well in a single wing and what he did well in the T-formation. One of them was having that direct snap. Every once in a while I would stagger my left foot and they would snap the ball to Charley and I became eligible to go out for a pass. This formation made me a single wing blocking back, but I was an eligible pass receiver.
"In 1946, I caught four touchdown passes on a direct snap to Trippi, and I'd go through the line, by the safety man or wherever I found an open spot. Trippi would hit me with the ball."
That season, Georgia won all eleven of their games, and the Southeastern Conference Championship, including a victory over Coach Carl Snavely's North Carolina squad in the Sugar Bowl, 20-0. The Bulldogs were the only major undefeated, untied team in the nation.
However, the Rauch and Trippi led Bulldogs took a back seat to Army and Notre Dame in the final Associated Press national rankings. Notre Dame and Army were both undefeated, but also had a tie on their record. The scoreless tie came from when they both met one another in "The Battle of the Century" in Yankee Stadium.
Coach Butts always maintained to the end that his Bulldogs were every bit as great as Army or Notre Dame.
In 1947, Georgia finished the regular season with a 7-4 record and played Maryland to a 20-20 tie in the Gator Bowl.
The following season, John's senior year, the Bulldogs went 9-1 in the regular season, defeating L.S.U., 22-0 and Alabama, 35-0. They again captured another S.E.C. title, and John was honored as the M.V.P. in the conference.
After a 41-28 setback at the hands of Texas in the Orange Bowl, the Bulldogs were ranked as the eighth best team in the country by the Associated Press.
When the season ended, the honors came pouring in for John. After throwing for a school record 14 touchdown passes, he was chosen the top signal caller by the Birmingham Quarterback Club and the Atlanta Quarterback Club. He was also selected on the 1948 All-American first team with players such as: Doak Walker, Jackie Jensen, Chuck Bednarik, Leon Hart and Emil Sitko.
In a four year period (1945-48), John led Georgia to four bowl games and a 36-8-1 record. He started in 45 consecutive games, averaging 51 minutes a game.
In my research, I could not find any other player in collegiate football history to start every game of his career, plus four bowl games. There are a few players who started every game during their career but did not have John's bowl record. He also went both ways, playing cornerback on defense, which is another reason why his record as a starter for four years and four bowl games is even more remarkable.
NEXT WEEK: John Rauch becomes head coach of the Oakland Raiders.