The 1966 College All-Star Game
It
was John Sauer’s first year to become head coach of the collegians,
taking over a position Otto Graham had held for the last eight years.
Sauer had worked as All-Star assistant coach to Graham since 1959, which
gave him some experience to deal with the job at hand on August 5, 1966
before a crowd of 72,000. Sauer had been a former assistant on the staff
of the Los Angeles Rams and, while at West Point under the command of
Col. Earl Blaik, was named All-Star head coach. On the team that year
were quarterback Gary Lane (MVP) of Missouri, 1965 Heisman Trophy winner
Mike Garrett of Southern California, Donny Anderson of Texas Tech,
Johnny Roland of Missouri, Tommy Nobis of Texas, Steve Sloan of Alabama
and Doug Buffone of Louisville.
But,
not since 1949 had the All-Stars taken such a trouncing. They lost the
game 38-0, the exact score of the 1949 Philadephia Eagles in their win
over the All-Stars. Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers had lost to
the All-Stars in 1963 and were not about to do so again. Scoring early
and often, the Packers began by recovering an All-Star fumble on the
first play of the game. Starr drove his team from the All-Star 33-yard
line using his favorite target, Boyd Dowler and hitting him with a
10-yard pass for a touchdown. The Packers scored three more times in the
second quarter and Don Chandler kicked a field goal in the third. In
that same period, Jim Taylor scored his second touchdown of the game on
a 13-yard run. The Packers’ Willie Wood had the longest punt return in
the series’ history with a 69-yard run in the second period, which
helped set up a score.