Yours truly wrote this some 6 years ago commenting on 50th anniversary of the UR 1968 team win v Ohio in the Tangerine Bowl.
“…Those guys in the pic look like one rugged bunch who at the line of scrimmage would likely kick our asses today.
If you think about this collection on the team you have to be amazed at the raw recruiting abilities how Frank Jones and his coaches could assemble such talent.That season Frank ran the power I with at least Gillette and Livesay as WRs.Both of those guys were long and fast.RPO for O’Brien was not in the playbook although he did score against Ohio on a QB keeper by not pitching to one of his trailing running backs.
The basement level of Millhiser Gym was the football office.The practices were held where the Weinstein Health center and that parking lot sits as you use to walk down a gravel,bumpy road to get there.No River Road fields,no Robins stadium, no Robins Center,no flashy locker rooms.No Queally Athletic Center,only City Stadium and many away games.Frank Soden was our Bob Black.
The school never won any beauty contests back then(although it was a great looking place even then) nor did it even have 50% of the buildings it has today.There were Saturday classes.You didn’t need 1350 on your SATs to gain admittance.Our endowment was paltry,literally nothing compared to the $3.2 Billion today.
The school was in financial trouble.
The frosh dormitories were army barracks which sat where the Law School parking lot is today.The dining layout of Brunet Hall consisted of 1 single line of extremely limited dining options.Lots of green beans and jello.It was all edible but far from the multiplicity and spaciousness of the menu options experienced at D Hall today.Fraternity life was quite active and involved back then.Not so much today.
We were at very different place back then but with those many fine professors and coaches I wouldn’t trade it for anything…”
richmondspiders.com
