For those of us who experienced the decade, football for Ole Miss was rough sledding. The final SEC tally for those ten years was 29 wins and 35 losses. However, the talent was definitely there. In fact, selecting my first team both on offense and defense was extremely difficult trying to choose from among so many outstanding players.
The brightest light of the decade occurred in 1975 when the Rebels (under Ken Cooper) finished 5-1 in the league. And this was coming off a 0-6 record in 74. So here goes, the case now goes before the jury, HottyToddy’s great readers.
OFFENSE
Quarterback Archie Manning
OL Worthy McClure
OL Chuck Wood
OL Art Bressler
OL Skip Jernigan
OL Don Leathers
TE Butch Veazey
WR Floyd Franks
Slot Riley Myers
RB Greg Ainsworth
RB Randy Reed
Honorable Mention…Ken Toler, Vernon Studdard, Jim Poole, Curtis Weathers, Buddy Mitchell, Terrence Walker, Norris Weese, Tim Ellis, John Fourcade, Paul Hofer, Chuck Commiskey, Buford McGee, James Reed, Michael Sweet,
James Storey and Rick kimbrough.
DEFENSE
DL Ben Williams
DL Lawrence Johnson
DL Charlie Cage
DL Gary Turner
DL George Plasketes
LB Paul Dongieux
LB Kem Coleman
LB Jim Stuart
DB Harry Harrison
DB Charlie Moss
DB Gary Jones
Honorable Mention…Crowell Armstrong, Dennis Coleman, Stump Russell, Bob Bailess, Pete Robertson, Elmer Allen, Steve Burkhalter, Reggie Dill, Bob Grefseng, Ray Heidel, Gary Hall, Danny Hooker, John Fabris, George Nasif and Brad Pittman.
Special Teams
Placekicker Hoppy Langley
Punter Jim Miller
It goes without saying that if the aforementioned had all been in Oxford at the same time, several more national championship banners would grace Vaught-Hemingway. Hotty Toddy!
Steve Vassallo is a HottyToddy.com contributor. Steve writes on Ole Miss athletics, Oxford business, politics and other subjects. He is an Ole Miss grad and former radio announcer for the basketball team. Currently, Steve is an active Economic Development Consultant working with communities globally who live in Oxford with his wife Rosie. You can contact Steve at sovassallo@gmail.com or call him at 985-852-7745.
