Remembering Georgia Tech legend Clint Castleberry and his magical 1942 season on Memorial Day

Clint Castleberry had one of the best freshman seasons in college football history for Georgia Tech in 1942. Sadly, that was his only season because of his death in World War II. Thus, Memorial Day is an appropriate day to remember Castleberry and his magical 1942 season.

By all accounts, Castleberry was sort of the All-American boy growing up in Atlanta; he was an all-state football, baseball and basketball player at Atlanta’s Boys High (now known as Grady High), then decided to stay home and attend Tech.

At Boys High, he was the star halfback for a football team that won 22 consecutive games and back-to-back state titles in 1940 and ’41. In ’41, a few weeks before Pearl Harbor, Castleberry and Boys High played Hopkinsville (Ky.) High in a “Battle of Unbeatens” in Atlanta. (Gee, a high school bowl game in 1941 – and prep football survived.) Castleberry ran wild, accounting for four TDs in leading Boys High to a 47-0 rout. The Evansville (Ind.) Courier sent its sports editor to cover the game – Hopkinsville is about 75 miles from Evansville – and Daniel W. Scism was suitably impressed: “Castleberry is as fast as a jack rabbit and he has a nice change of pace. He skips and hops here and there with nimble feet. … He’s a sweetheart and he passes well with his left arm.”

The NCAA rule on freshman eligibility was relaxed in 1942 because of the number of players nationally who had joined the Armed Forces, so Castleberry was eligible immediately. And he starred immediately in the opener, a 15-0 upset of Auburn in which he “pushed the Tigers back on their heels with splashing end sweeps and off-tackle slants.”

Castleberry threw a TD pass and played inspired defense in a 13-6 Week 2 upset of Notre Dame to start to move himself into the national consciousness, then again stood out in a Week 3 rout of Chattanooga. “Jackets Roll as Castleberry Sparks Attack” read the Atlanta Constitution headline, and Castleberry was referred to as “a twinkle-toed freshman tailback just a few months out of Boys High.” He played a little more than a quarter and scored twice in the 30-12 win.

That win moved Georgia Tech into the top 10, at No. 6, and a 33-0 romp past Davidson followed. Next was a 21-0 win at Navy in which Castleberry returned an interception 93 yards for a touchdown.

Castleberry’s solid play earned praise in a late October story about star freshmen from the Wide World wire service. “Georgia Tech’s early success can be traced partly to a little 160-pound yearling named Clint Castleberry,” the story read.

Castleberry and the Jackets then easily beat Duke 26-7 to move to 6-0. Duke, then coached by Wallace Wade, had played in the Rose Bowl following the 1941 season. Wade was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army by the time of the Duke-Tech game and was in attendance. He told the Durham Sun, “I think Castleberry is a fine running back for a freshman. He does mighty well on the football field and handles himself nicely.”

The Duke win moved Tech from fifth to third in the polls and a visit from Kentucky was next. Castleberry was nursing an injured shoulder but no matter: Tech rolled 47-7. Castleberry threw a TD pass despite the injured shoulder.

The win moved Tech to No. 2 and set up a showdown with No. 5 Alabama. Tech prevailed 7-0, and its touchdown followed three big plays by Castleberry. First, he had a 27-yard punt return, then a 40-yard run to the Tide’s 21, then a 12-yard reception to Alabama’s 9. Tech scored the lone TD three plays later.

The same day Castleberry’s exploits against Alabama were in the newspaper, so, too, was a syndicated story from the Newspaper Enterprise Association hyping him and Tech: “Castleberry, an 18-year-old freshman who weighs a mere 155 pounds, is a football portrait. Only 5 feet 9 inches, he is a tremendous open-field runner, a fine left-handed passer and a remarkable competitor. He has been instrumental in each of Tech’s victories this season.”

In Game 9, Tech downed Florida 20-7. Castleberry ran for one touchdown, set up another with a long punt return and guided Tech on a 93-yard drive early in the third period. But he injured his knee late in the game.

Next was the regular-season finale between unbeaten and second-ranked Tech against once-beaten and fifth-ranked Georgia in one of the most-hyped game in series history. With a berth in the Rose Bowl on the line, Frankie Sinkwich and Charlie Trippi led the Bulldogs to a 34-0 rout. Castleberry was re-injured in the first quarter and didn’t return to the game.

Still, he finished the season leading the Yellow Jackets in rushing (averaging more than 8.0 yards per carry) and passing, and finished third in the Heisman voting, behind Sinkwich and Columbia’s Paul Governali. The third-place finish was the highest for a freshman in the trophy’s history until Adrian Peterson was second in 2004, 62 years later. He was the first underclassman ever named first-team All-SEC.

Castleberry and Tech ended the season in the Cotton Bowl against Texas, falling 14-7. He had some success as a passer against the Longhorns, but Tech managed just 57 rushing yards.

Castleberry was called up for duty in the Army Air Forces in February 1943. Zipp Newman of the Birmingham News wrote that, “The Japs and Huns will have to worry about Clint Castleberry, of the Magic Fleet, next fall. Clint has been ordered to report for training. … The Japanazis had better prepare a 20-man defense for Georgia Tech’s greatest freshman footballer.”

He and his girlfriend were married that September. The expectation was that he would serve two years, then return home to Atlanta and Tech. But the B-26 bomber he co-piloted on a non-combat flight went down off the coast of Africa on November 7, 1944 (that same day, Georgia Tech lost to Duke for its first loss of the season); he and his three crewmates never were found.

Second Lt. Clint Castleberry was 20.

His No. 19 is the only jersey number that has been retired in Georgia Tech history.