Tennessee quarterback Dewey Warren led the Vols on a dramatic scoring drive to beat UCLA in Memphis in 1965. He capped the 37-34 comeback victory by running for the winning touchdown on fourth down.
However the Tennessee-UCLA game might go Sept. 1 at the Rose Bowl, it is unlikely it will measure up to the 1965 game, played at the new Memphis Memorial Stadium. It was a "made for TV game," in the days before there were such things. Bob Woodruff and UCLA athletic director J.D. Morgan had rolled the dice and scheduled the intersectional series.
If the game were played today, Dewey Warren's visage and the game tape would be all over Sports Center. The game would be on "ESPN Classic" the next night, with the "talking heads" having a field day.
The passage of time has not dimmed the memories of quarterbacks Dewey Warren and Gary Beban and head coaches Doug Dickey and Tommy Prothro, in a game Vol broadcaster George Mooney dubbed the "Rosebonnet Bowl." That appellation stemmed from the post-season destinations of the two teams, UCLA against Michigan State in the Rose Bowl, Tennessee versus Tulsa in the Bluebonnet Bowl. UCLA came in No. 5, Tennessee No. 7.
Woodruff called the Memphis venue a "neutral site," but Prothro dissented. "Neutral site? Playing Tennessee in Memphis is like playing Notre Dame in Rome!" he said. Woodruff always laughed heartily when recalling Prothro's comments.
The game came Dec. 4, linebacker Frank Emanuel's 23rd birthday. Over the years, the Vols have won games by any number of scores, but not quite the way they did this one. The final tally was 37-34, Tennessee, a score that shocked Vol fans who learned their football at Bob Neyland's knee.
The teams zipped up and down the field in the Bluff City, and no lead was safe until the final gun sounded. The game showcased excitement, big plays, drama, and the requisite amount of controversy.
The Vols had given up 30 points or more only 14 times in 476 games between the start of the 1915 season and the Vanderbilt game in 1965 and lost every one. Seven of Neyland's teams gave up 34 points or fewer for an entire season.
No one probably thought to check out Neyland's final resting place, Section Z in Knoxville's National Cemetery, just to make sure everything was in order.
It came down to a memorable finish among the lengthening shadows, UCLA leading 34-29. Do or die time. The Vols had the spheroid some 65 yards away.
"I came to the sideline to Coach Dickey, but he didn't say too much," Warren recalled. "I remember going back to the huddle and saying, 'This is it. We have one last shot. You guys block and I'll throw, and let's go down the field and go win the game.' "
Despite having two pulled groin muscles, Dewey led the last-ditch drive, making the big completions to Johnny Mills, who had a school-record 10 on the day, and Walter Chadwick.
Finally, Tennessee had the ball a yard away from the Promised Land. It was fourth down.
Warren rolled left and lumbered in for the score on a run that appeared to take an eternity. He was recently asked if he actually scored.
"Did the official raise his hands?" Dewey replied.
Defensive back Bob Petrella intercepted a desperation pass by Beban, the 1967 Heisman winner, to cinch the verdict, but was knocked cold in front of the UCLA bench for his efforts.
Prothro, a Memphis native, went ballistic about the officiating and outcome, to the point of saying, "For the first time in my life, I am ashamed to be Southerner." Some called his outburst "churlish." Others weren't so polite.
From that point on, however, the series has been hard-fought and is a keeper, with Tennessee leading 7-4-2.
What was the impact of this game on future Vol fortunes? No one knows for sure, but there was an early indicator on signing day a week later.
The Vol performance that day (and the entirety of the 1965 season) must have had a positive impact on prep prospects in Tampa, Cincinnati, Kingsport, Jackson, Johnson City, Nashville, and Oliver Springs. That's where the some of the top prospects for the 1966 freshman class were from, and the Vols signed them all: Steve Kiner, Jack Reynolds, Vic Dingus, Don McLeary, John Rippetoe, Mike Jones, and Gary Kreis.
The Vols also inked Jim McEver, a second-generation famous name from Davidson, N. C., the son of Gene McEver, the legendary Vol tailback who helped start all this madness in 1928. Jim played well on the freshman team, then left school.
A couple of high school sophomores, probably heralded prospects even then, Phillip Fulmer in Winchester and Curt Watson in Crossville, also had to be watching that season's proceedings closely.
It was an amazing afternoon of football. The crowd was in the 40,000 range, but probably twice that many Vol fans now claim to have been in attendance.
Tom Mattingly is the author of "The Tennessee Football Vault: The Story of the Tennessee Volunteers, 1891-2006" (2006), to be published in second edition in 2009, and "Tennessee Football: The Peyton Manning Years" (1998). He may be reached at tjmshm@comcast.net . His News Sentinel blog is called "The Vol Historian."
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Comments » 15
gwdun#212337 writes:
I was at that game. I was 14 years old and my dad took me and a friend. I remember walking out of the game and overhearing a man say that was the best game he had ever seen.
beachvol1 writes:
Yes, it was a thriller, as I was there and can remember it vividly...Coach Prothro was irrate after the game and felt as if they were cheated...People that weren't there, missed one of the historic Vol victories of all time...especially when UCLA had an all-american qb named Gary Beban...and he lived up to his billing..not sure if the "Swamp Rat" actually scored on that last drive, but it was signaled TD and that's the way it was...If I recall, it appeared that one of the bench players helped in the tackle on the last interception by Petrella...crowd looked more like 65,000 to me....
TommyJack writes:
I think Beban went on to win the Heisman. 3 things stick out in my mind. Prothro's statement about being a Southerner, Bobby Petrella had the chit beaten out of him on the UCLA sideline, and Dewey's "sprint". (they had to use an hour-glass to time him) lol
txsvol#372416 writes:
The Old Swamp Rat ran as fast as anybody! He just ran too long in one place! Why he made only 8/10 of our all time QBs is a mystery to me--put him in the top five! His 1967 team won the SEC Championship, after losing a first of the season re-match with UCLA, we won out, until the heartbreaking loss to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. Missed the 1965 game because I was attending basic training in Texas, but Memphis was still talking about the game when I passed back through en route to Europe a few weeks later. Great memory, Tom! SAVol
sevenmaxims#354995 writes:
Footnote to history: Prothro devised the famous " Should we go for the two point conversion " chart the has been in use since the rule was changed allowing that option.
richvol writes:
That was the most exciting game I had ever seen and to this day it compares with any game. What an offensive show...that last drive was magnificent. Johnny Mills was an unbelieveable receiver. He was not fast but managed to get open when needed. He also had the best hands of any receiver I ever saw play. If he got one hand on the ball he caught it.
That game made a star out of Dewey Warren and really put Tennessee on the map nationally. There were so many great players on that team and in the remainder of the Dickey years.
The Oklahoma loss in the Orange Bowl,the following year, was crushing to take. We missed a chip shot field goal. I'll never forget the matchup between the two great all-americans, Bob Johnson and Granville Liggins...what a battle.
drwfocus#660070 writes:
I was a lowly PO 3rd class on a Navy cruiser in the middle of the Atlantic - listened to the game on the ship's PA system as carried by the Armed Forces Network - Lindsey Nelson announcing as I recall. I think our "ole man" was a UT grad! Even then, as today, I was a rabid Vols fan. For some reason the ship's men (there were no women)were pre-dominately pulling for our Vols. Cheers would go up all over the ship with each UT success. I was especially proud of the outcome as I had just recieved my acceptance letter to start classes the next fall quarter(not semester).
coachgarrett#207294 writes:
Someone asked Dewey how far over the goal line he went. Dewey said, "Just far enough."
APPLEJAX555 writes:
Deweys a card, and a great QB! Neverll be another like em!
Let me tell you about another man that was great back in the day..... Mr. Ronnie Milsap!
dma38256#264746 writes:
I was there and trying to film it from the stands on an 8mm....almost impossible to keep up with the "Swamp Rat." Back and forth, back and forth....what a game....no doubt it was a classic....
BillVol writes:
I think George Mooney did the game for the Vol Network. Nelson left quite some time earlier.
hueypilot writes:
My favorite Dewey Warren story was when he was told by Dickey to keep it on the ground late in a game. But in the huddle after a little goading by his teammates to "hum that tater" Dewey pronounced, "Button up your chinstraps boys, we're going topside." It was also my recollection that Petrella was blindsided by a forearm thrown by a UCLA player who stepped off the sideline and hit Petrella very hard breaking his jaw on his run as the gun sounded. A melee ensued with both benches emptying. For years, when Tennessee had an open date, on Sunday in the place of the Doug Dickey or the Bill Battle or the Johnny Majors show, they would air the replay of the 65 Tennessee UCLA classic. And George Mooney was the play by play man.
And Ronnie Milsap put on the best live rock and roll nightclub show I've ever seen. At the Thunderbird in Memphis and for three weeks in 1970 at the King of the Road in Nashville.
jes71130#226731 writes:
I was there for that one! I had a career at the UT Med Units, and we had sold about 1500 student tickets for that game, the first year of Liberty Bowl Stadium. I thought it was going to take Dewey forever to get that one yard. I also remember the UCLA bench clobbering Petrino on the last play of the game.
The best game I ever saw in person! And that includes the 1950 game against Kentucky in the snow. Bryant vs. Neyland
JWilly writes:
I was a freshman in college that year and I hitchiked to Memphis to see that game. I remember it was really cold hitchiking back from the game. My seat was in a corner of the stadium and there were a lot of empty seats around me. The Dewey Warren touchdown was directly below me and I had no doubt that he did cross the goalline. I don't remember a lot of fuss about it at the time. I do remember the T Prothro rant. As I recall, his main beef was he said that UT got an official timeout on the last drive (UT was out of TO's) that aided UT. Another thing, Michigan State got all of the print that year, greatest team ever and all that phooey. UCLA waxed MSU in the Rose bowl that year. I thought it sure made UT look good.
Ralph_Crampton writes:
The game with UCLA in 1965 ranks up there as possibly the top game the Vols have ever won. The Vols beat UCLA and the Bruins defeated Michigan State in the Rose bowl although big underdogs, the Bruins took it to the Spartans. That win over UCLA won over many of the nation's sportwriters..and Southern teams gained a lot of respect around the nation. We were no longer looked upon as a minor-league football teams.
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