1902 Tennessee Volunteers football team

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1902 Tennessee Volunteers football
ConferenceSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record6–2 (4–2 SIAA)
Head coach
CaptainNash Buckingham
Home stadiumBaldwin Park
Seasons
← 1901
1903 →
1902 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Clemson $ 5 0 0 6 1 0
Vanderbilt 6 1 0 8 1 0
LSU + 5 1 0 6 1 0
Texas 4 1 0 6 3 1
Sewanee 4 2 0 7 2 0
Tennessee 4 2 0 6 2 0
Georgia 3 2 1 4 2 1
Ole Miss 3 3 0 4 3 0
Nashville 2 2 0 2 4 0
Auburn 2 4 1 2 4 1
Alabama 2 4 0 4 4 0
Cumberland (TN) 1 4 0 3 5 0
Tulane 0 3 2 1 4 2
Furman 0 2 1 4 3 4
Georgia Tech 0 4 2 0 6 2
Mississippi A&M 0 4 1 1 4 1
Kentucky State 0 2 0 4 6 1
  • $ – Conference champion
  • + LSU claims a co-championship[1]

The 1902 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the

George Kelley
.

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultSource
October 11King (TN)*
W 12–0[2]
October 18Maryville (TN)*
  • Baldwin Park
  • Knoxville, TN
W 34–0[3]
October 25Vanderbilt
  • Baldwin Park
  • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)
L 5–12[4]
November 1Sewanee
  • Baldwin Park
  • Knoxville, TN
W 6–0[5]
November 7at Nashville
W 11–0[6]
November 15vs. Ole MissW 11–10[7]
November 22at Georgia Tech
W 10–6[8]
November 27Clemson
  • Baldwin Park
  • Knoxville, TN
L 0–11[9]
  • *Non-conference game

Season summary

Week 1: King

The Vols opened the season against King College, winning 12 to 0.

Week 2: Maryville

In the second week of play, Tennessee beat Maryville 34 to 0.

Week 3: Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt won 12 to 5 despite a weak line due to its running game.[10] John Edgerton scored both Vanderbilt touchdowns. Tennessee's score, its first ever against Vanderbilt, was provided by an A. H. Douglas run around right end, breaking two tackles and getting the touchdown. Nash Buckingham once had a 40-yard run through the line.[10] Jones Beene was Tennessee's standout on the line.

The starting lineup was: J. Beene (left end), Greene (left tackle), Silcox (left guard), Simerly (center), Caldwell (right guard), Coxe (right tackle), Grimm (right end), Crawford (quarterback), P. Beene (right halfback), Douglas (left halfback), Buckingham (fullback)

Week 4: Sewanee

Sax Crawford did not play in the Sewanee game. Douglas scored the only touchdown in the 6 to 0 victory.

The starting lineup was: J. Beene (left end), Greene (left tackle), Silcox (left guard), Simerly (center), Caldwell (right guard), Coxe (right tackle), Grimm (right end), Gamble (quarterback), Gettys (right halfback), Douglas (left halfback), Buckingham (fullback).[5]

Week 5: at Nashville

Tennessee beat coach Neil Snow's Nashville team 11 to 0. Two Nashville scores were called back due to penalties.

The starting lineup was: J. Beene (left end), Greene (left tackle), Silcox (left guard), Simerly (center), Caldwell (right guard), Coxe (right tackle), Grimm (right end), Crawford (quarterback), P. Beene (right halfback), Douglas (left halfback), Buckingham (fullback). [6]

Week 6: vs Ole Miss

Tennessee edged out Ole Miss 11 to 10 on a muddy Red Elm Park.[7]

The starting lineup was: J. Beene (left end), Greene (left tackle), Silcox (left guard), Simerly (center), Caldwell (right guard), Gudger (right tackle), Grimm (right end), Crawford (quarterback), Gettys (right halfback), Douglas (left halfback), Buckingham (fullback)

Week 7: at Georgia Tech

Tennessee beat rival Georgia Tech at Brisbane Park 10 to 6.. Crawford returned a kick for the first touchdown. Down 6 to 5 with five minutes left, Tennessee began a drive ending with Green carrying it over.[8]

The starting lineup was: Gamble (left end), Greene (left tackle), Buckingham (left guard), Simerly (center), Ward (right guard), Gudger (right tackle), Grimm (right end), Crawford (quarterback), P. Beene (right halfback), Douglas (left halfback), Gettys (fullback).[8]

Week 8: Clemson

The team closed the season with an 11 to 0 loss to John Heisman's Clemson Tigers. A. H. Douglas holds the record for the longest punt in school history when he punted a ball 109 yards (the field length was 110 yards in those days) during the Clemson game.[11][12][13] Heisman described the kick:

"The day was bitterly cold and a veritable typhoon was blowing straight down the field from one end to the other. We rushed the ball with more consistency than Tennessee, but throughout the entire first half they held us because of the superb punting of "Toots" Douglas, especially because, in that period he had the gale squarely with him. Going against that blizzard our labors were like unto those of

Saxe Crawford, it must have been –; and "Toots" with sprightly step, dropped back for another of his Milky Way punts. I visualize him still, standing on his own goal line and squarely between his uprights. One quick glance he cast overhead – no doubt to make sure that howling was still the same old hurricane.

I knew at once what he proposed to do. The snap was perfect. "Toots" caught the ball, took two smart steps and – BLAM!–away shot the ball as though from the throat of Big Bertha. And, say, in his palmiest mathematical mood, I don't believe Sir Isaac Newton himself could have figured a more perfect trajectory to fit with that cyclone. Onward and upward, upward and onward, the crazy thing flew like a brainchild of Jules Verne. I thought it would clear the Blue Ridge Mountains. Our safety man, the great Johnny Maxwell, was positioned 50 yards behind our rush line, yet the punt sailed over his head like a phantom aeroplane. Finally, it cam down, but still uncured of its wanderlust it started in to roll–toward our goal, of course, with Maxwell chasing and damning it with every step and breath. Finally it curled up and died on our one-footline, after a bowstring journey of just 109 yards."[14]

The starting lineup was: J. Beene (left end), Birmingham (left tackle), Silcox (left guard), Simerly (center), Caldwell (right guard), Green (right tackle), Grimm (right end), Crawford (quarterback), P. Beene (right halfback), Douglas (left halfback), Gettys (fullback)

Postseason

Buckingham and Douglas were selected All-Southern by the Atlanta Constitution.[15]

References

  1. ^ "2017 LSU Tigers Media Guide" (PDF). Louisiana State Athletics. p. 107. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  2. Newspapers.com
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  8. ^
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  9. Newspapers.com
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  10. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  11. .
  12. ^ "Records" (PDF). p. 324. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016.
  13. ^ "Prodigious Kick". Schenectady Gazette. October 10, 1934.
  14. ^ John M. Heisman. Heisman: The Man Behind the Trophy. pp. 104–105.
  15. ^ "From Southeastern College Teams The Constitution Selects An Eleven". Atlanta Constitution. December 1, 1902.