ESPN Analyst Ranks Georgia Tech Football Among Top Programs Of the 1940s, 1950s

Georgia Tech had some of the best teams in the early era of college football

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Updated:
Jun 15, 2023 6:52 PM EDT
Original:
Jun 15, 2023

In this story:

Georgia Tech has had a storied football program over the decades, but not everyone knows. Today, ESPN analyst Bill Connelly gave a reminder of how good the Yellow Jackets program was when he ranked the 10 best teams/programs of each decade.

Here is what Connelly had to say when discussing and explaining his article before ranking the teams:

"Starting with the 1920s, I looked at which teams most thoroughly dominated the sport from decade to decade, using SP+ percentile averages for each team and each decade. How much do these lists change over the decades? What can these averages tell us about how things have evolved over the past 100 years and how much things are evolving now"

Georgia Tech has a storied football history stretching back decades
Georgia Tech Athletics

Jumping ahead to the 1940s, Connelly ranked Georgia Tech as the 9th-best team of the decade, with a rating of 81.4. Georgia Tech was ranked behind Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas, Alabama, Penn, Georgia, Tennessee, and Minnesota. The Yellow Jackets ranked one spot above Penn State.

From 1940-1949, Georgia Tech had a record of 68-36 and had five finishes in the AP Poll. William Alexander coached for the first part of the decade before giving way to the legendary Bobby Dodd.

Moving ahead to the 1950s, Connely ranked Georgia Tech as the 4th best team/program in the decade, behind only Oklahoma, Ole Miss, and Michigan State. The Yellow Jackets came in ahead of Ohio State, Tennessee, UCLA, Army, Wisconsin, and Kentucky. GT finished with an 87.9 average SP+ ranking in the decade, with five top finishes in SP+ and one No. 1.

The Yellow Jackets posted a staggering 79-26 record from 1950 to 1959, including back-to-back years without a loss (1951 and 1952). GT finished in the top five of the AP poll three times. It was a dominant decade led by Dodd, one of the decade's best coaches. The 1952 team ranked as the third best of the decade, behind 1956 Oklahoma and 1959 Ole Miss.

Connelly ranked the 1952 defense as the best of the decade and said this about them:

"Former Neyland quarterback Bobby Dodd took over as Georgia Tech head coach in 1945 and established a Neyland-esque run of brilliant defense. His 1952 team rolled to 12-0, allowing 59 total points and with only strong Florida and Alabama teams able to even stay close."

This was a great reminder and look back at the teams and history that this program had for two straight decades.

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