Richard Appleby is famous in Georgia football lore for his end-around pass to Gene Washington to beat Florida 10-7 in the Gator Bowl in 1975. But there is much more to his story than that one play. He visits with host Blake Giles to talk about his memories. The African-American community was excited in 1970 when Georgia recruited its first black athletes in football, including Appleby and two other Clarke Central teammates, Horace King and Clarence Pope, along with Chuck Kennebrew and Larry West. He was reluctant to go to Georgia, because Vince Dooley emphasized the running game, rather than the passing attack. Richard was a receiver. But his mother convinced him that he needed to be among the first who opened the door for more blacks to come to Georgia. Before he was recruited, Richard’s knowledge of UGA and its sports was limited to Squab Jones, the “water boy.” He sold soft drinks at the stadium, and he watched, but he did not consider himself a fan of the Bulldogs. Like many young blacks, he cheered for the other black athletes that played against Georgia, like Paul Gipson at Houston and Jerry Levias at SMU. Originally, he considered going to a HBCU. Breaking the color barrier at Clarke Central proved more problematic. There were two, separate worlds then. He remembered Andy Johnson as an excellent basketball player. Richard’s first touchdown pass at Georgia was thrown by Johnson. The two became good friends, and his death greatly saddened Richard. At Georgia, Richard roomed with Steve Taylor, a Washington, D.C., native. The interaction between blacks and whites at Georgia had some rough moments. Some white teammates kept him from getting arrested for stealing a car, when he was just warming it up for someone else. His position coach, John Kasay, pushed him to become better and better. The two also became great friends. It did not take long to discover that Vince Dooley was in charge. He credits Coach Dooley with the successful integration of the blacks into the team. Coach Dooley taught him how to “look a man in the eye.” The first five were united by spiritual leadership, intelligence and non-violence. Larry West was the real spiritual leader. He had to redshirt when he had a detached retina during practice. He found the Georgia fans very receptive to their contribution to the team. Blake and Richard agree that the officials robbed Georgia at Tuscaloosa in 1973. Later he and Gene Washington roomed together and became great friends. Gene could run the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds. Coach Dooley had been impressed with Richard throwing the football in practice, which set up the game-winning play in 1975. That led to some nice $100 handshakes. Before Herschel Walker, there was Sylvester Boler, who could have been a star. Richard discovered Herschel by watching his high school films. Richard is retired and lives in Hawaii.

Link to documentary on the first five at Georgia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9EOpZ56E_k

Host Blake Giles wanted to talk about crinum lilies, but co-host Jim Hardin insisted that they revisit Auburn’s 27-24 win over Georgia. The flow of the game reminded Blake of Georgia’s 1976 visit to Oxford, Miss., the week after a 21-0 shutout of Alabama. The Bulldogs got up on Ole Miss 14-0 and wrongly assumed they were the greatest team in the history of college football. The Rebels came back and won. Georgia’s inability to run effectively was a critical factor in the game. The depth at running back may be the most vulnerable position on the team. But Auburn’s win over No. 1 Georgia was just the tip of the iceberg in a chaotic day. Brigham Young held off Notre Dame, Florida went to Texas and handed the Longhorns their second straight loss, Tennessee did the same to Alabama, and Miami was fortunate to beat Florida State. Ohio State escaped with a narrow win over Indiana. A toe-tap touchdown catch last year saved their undefeated season. The toe-tap failed this year. All the upsets threw college football fans into a frenzy. Would fans have been as engaged if it was a 24-team college football playoff? Time will tell. Who is going to make it to the “last” SEC title game? If the season ended today, it would be Georgia and… Kentucky? It’s still a wide-open race to Atlanta. Another big weekend looms in the SEC with Tennessee at South Carolina, Texas A&M at Alabama, Ole Miss at Texas, and Vanderbilt at Kentucky. South Carolina had a week off. A&M and Alabama are two desperate teams. Texas is trying to keep from losing its third straight game of the year. Welcome to a 9-game conference schedule. Jim’s alma mater, Presbyterian, escaped with a wild comeback (multiple times) win over Stetson. Wait till you hear the details. Blake aims his spotlight at the service academies, which for the most part represent a no-passing zone. And finally, the guys look back at the Back Yard Brawl where Prince Avenue Christian took advantage of a young Athens Academy team. This week features a top-10 matchup when Commerce visits PACS. The winner will most likely win the region.

Hosts Jim Hardin and Blake Giles discuss the big call in the Alabama game. Hey, officials make bad calls all the time, in every game. You will not find any support here for the proposed 24-team playoff apparently coming in 2027. How good is Georgia? Very good. The defense is great, the receivers have quieted the doubters, and quarterback Gunnar Stockton is playing like the best quarterback in the SEC. Don’t forget the impact of kicker Peyton Woodring, the latest in a long-line of great kickers at Georgia. This week the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry re-news. Can it be a rivalry if one team has won nine in a row? There have been many great games in this series. Elsewhere, is Texas merely an average team? And what is the best 2-point strategy in overtime. Kentucky has gone for two in the first OT and won its last two games by identical 35-34 scores over South Carolina and LSU. Oregon’s strange 2-point approach backfired in its loss to UCLA. Speaking of Kentucky and UCLA, are they this year’s “Indiana” or a flash in the pan like Vanderbilt? On the high school front, the bug game locally is the “Backyard Brawl,” featuring Prince Avenue Christian at Athens Academy. Finally, Jim goes home with a couple of pieces of 16-layer chocolate cake—it’s legendary—made by Jan Giles. Get off the sidelines and make some headlines, folks.