1968: The Year of Champions (Part 1)
Troy University has had a long history of football, right at 100 seasons to date, but the program underwent a massive shift that can be traced back to a single season. The modern era of Troy football began in 1968.
From 1909 until joining the Alabama Intercollegiate Conference in 1938, the team was essentially a club team, playing high schools, junior varsity squads, and anyone they could schedule. For the next thirty years, Troy began to grow in prominence, though not much in success.
Only one head coach (Fred McCollum) had a winning record by the end of their time in Troy. Successful seasons and conference championships in 1939, 1940 and 1942 first showed that the potential for winning in Pike County.
By 1968, Troy had been under the leadership of head coach Billy Atkins for two years. When he was hired, Troy had just one winning season in the previous 16 years. Atkins led the Red Wave to a 5-5 season his first year.
He followed that by going 8-2 and winning Troy’s first conference championship since 1942.
He was able to turn the program around so quickly through the talent he recruited. Many players started almost immediately, such as notable Troy legends Danny Grant, Bob Enslen, Vince Green, Ronnie Shelley, and of course, the late Sim Byrd.
These players formed the foundation for the success Troy has enjoyed, even up to the Trojans’ eventual home in FBS.
The 1968 season picked up right where the 1967 campaign left off, with lots of points. The 1967 season ended with a bang, a 75-0 win over Louisiana College. At the time it was the largest margin of victory in program history, and it still holds the record for most touchdowns scored in a game.
The next season, Troy scored 40 points or more in each of the first three games. In fact, the only time the 1968 Red Wave scored less than 31 points in a game was a loss to UT Martin.
Week 1, Sept. 14 – Samford, 49-31 W
The season started in Birmingham on September 14 with a game against Samford. As with the rest of the offense, Sim Byrd picked up right where he left off in 1967.
He threw for 443 yards on 22 completions. He tossed 5 touchdowns, which broke his own 1967 record for most in a game. An 88-yard bomb to Danny Grant also set a new record for the longest touchdown pass by a Red Wave QB, eclipsing Bubba Marriott’s 85-yarder in 1959.
Grant had two other touchdown grabs for 7 yards apiece. Bob Enslen hauled in his own 44-yarder, and Doug Taylor added a 42-yard touchdown grab. Running back Jeff Cotton and backup QB Al Head had touchdown runs of 1 yard and 4 yards, respectively.
The unsung hero of the game, however, was Larry Groce. Groce normally played linebacker, but was put to work as the kicker due to three broken ribs. Even with the injury, Groce went 4 for 6 on extra points and even booted through a 38-yard field goal.
Troy was confident and decisive in the 49-31 W over John Lee Armstrong’s Bulldogs. Despite the big win, the Red Wave began the season unranked in the four major small college polls (AP, UPI, Dunkel and NAIA).
Week 2, Sept. 21 – Gordon Military College, 47-7 W
Game two of the 1968 season saw the Red Wave back home in Memorial Stadium for a matchup with the Gordon Military College Bulldogs, a school out of Barnesville, Georgia. It now operates under the name Gordon State College, but no longer has a football team.
The Red Wave continued beating up on Bulldogs, just like they had the previous week. Sim Byrd kept building his thunderous statistical year, throwing 14 passes for 217 yards, including a 67-touchdown grab by Grant. He threw two more to Enslen for 13 yards together.
Cotton plowed in for a 6-yard rushing touchdown and Cecil Barber added a 13-yard rushing touchdown of his own. Barber even got involved in the receiving game with the 5-yard TD from backup QB Al Head. Defender Darwin Fowler added the final touchdown with a 35-yard interception return.
Player of the week, however, went to one of Troy’s best defenders of the era and the Pride of Headland, Ronnie Shelley. He snagged 2 interceptions and according to Atkins, graded out at 100 percent in his game film.
This scoring onslaught set the Red Wave up for 460 yards of offense and a convincing 47-7 win over the Bulldogs of GMC. Along with the win came national respect, as Troy began receiving votes in the UPI Small College Poll.
Week 3, Sept. 28 – Livingston State (West Alabama), 42-23 W
In the 2nd Annual Shrine Bowl played in Montgomery’s historic Cramton Bowl, the Red Wave met up with the Tigers of Livingston State. Along with Troy, Livingston (now West Alabama) was a founding member of the Alabama Intercollegiate Conference, which by this time had morphed into the Alabama Collegiate Conference.
In this iteration, the two teams were joined by Florence State (now North Alabama) and Jacksonville State. To say these two teams knew each other well would be an understatement by this point in their histories.
Sim Byrd, by now only solidifying his legend status at Troy, produced another game for the ages. He went 30-for-43 passing with 389 yards through the air. He took it easy on scoring this week through, only producing two touchdown passes—both under five yards. That was still enough to earn him Atkins’ player of the week honors.
Grant, Byrd’s most prolific target through the 1968 campaign, caught seven balls for 95 yards, but his most spectacular achievement was on special teams. He nearly equaled his receiving yards with a 94-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter, straight up the middle of the field, untouched by Tiger defenders.
Enslen caught 8 passes for 90 yards, but couldn’t get into the end zone. Taylor also had scoring trouble, but made his yardage count with 5 catches for 73 yards.
Barber picked up two touchdowns on the ground (2 and 3 yards) and J. A. Williams got on the board with a 2 yard rushing touchdown. Kicker/linebacker Groce went 3-for-6 on extra points, with a 36-yard long field goal as well.
With the 42-23 victory, the Red Wave had begun to settle into a rhythm and looked to match or even exceed their 1967 success. The third straight 40-point performance also garnered more national attention. Troy began receiving votes in the AP Small College Poll as well as the UPI Small College Poll.
Week 4, Oct. 5 – Sam Houston State, 37-19 W
Week 4 brought a matchup of two undefeated squads to the Circle City of Dothan, Alabama, and Rip Hewes Stadium. At the time, Troy used to play at least one home game in a different city, usually Dothan or Montgomery, sometimes both.
This was mainly because the stadiums in either city had larger seating capacities compared to Memorial Stadium. The last time Troy played a non-Troy home game was in 1985, a losing effort to Mississippi College in Dothan.
The 2020 FCS National Champion Bearkats were fresh off of wins over Southwest Oklahoma and Tarleton State. The Red Wave, however, handled this year’s Bearkats with ease.
They cruised to a 37-19 win behind more heroics from Byrd and Grant. Byrd went 23-for-32 for 235 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Grant got Troy on the board first with a 93-yard return on the opening kickoff.
Unfortunately, any more statistics for this game are not available. If anyone has records of this or any of the 1968 games, please let us know.
Troy continued to receive votes in the AP and UPI Small College Polls, but after this win it finally broke through with a ranking in the other two polls. The NAIA poll ranked Troy No. 8 and the Dunkel Index rated Troy State at No. 30 in the Minor College rankings.
Four games into the season, Troy was riding high on its success. At the very least, another conference title was not out of the question. Little did the Red Wave know its biggest wins were yet to come.
My parents who were on faculty took me to every home game back then.
That was a lifetime ago!
Back then, the team had a quonset hut behind the stands (near where Riddle Pace Field is now) for a locker room
Great article Ben!
I wasn’t born yet, but my father would speak about this team. I would always argue with him that the 1987 team was better. I was too young to realize that I could love both. It’s great to be a Trojan! Thank you for your hard work!