1903 Sewanee Tigers football team

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1903 Sewanee Tigers football
ConferenceSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record7–1 (5–1 SIAA)
Head coach
CaptainJoseph Lee Kirby-Smith
Home stadiumHardee Field
Seasons
← 1902
1904 →
1903 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Clemson + 2 0 1 4 1 1
Cumberland (TN) + 4 1 1 6 1 1
Sewanee 5 1 0 7 1 0
Vanderbilt 5 1 1 6 1 1
Mississippi A&M 2 0 2 3 0 2
Georgia 3 2 0 3 4 0
Ole Miss 1 1 1 2 1 1
Texas 0 0 1 5 1 2
Kentucky State 0 0 0 6 1 0
Alabama 3 4 0 3 4 0
Auburn 2 3 0 4 3 0
Tennessee 2 4 0 4 5 0
Georgia Tech 1 4 0 3 5 0
Tulane 0 1 1 2 2 1
Mercer 0 1 0 0 1 0
Nashville 0 2 0 1 3 0
LSU 0 5 0 4 5 0
SW Presbyterian
       
  • + – Conference co-champions

The 1903 Sewanee Tigers football team represented the Sewanee Tigers of Sewanee: The University of the South in the 1903 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season.

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 3Mooney*W 23–0[1]
October 20Cumberland (TN)
  • Hardee Field
  • Sewanee, TN
W 6–0[2]
October 24Tennessee Docs*
  • Hardee Field
  • Sewanee, TN
W 52–0[3]
October 31at Auburn
W 47–0[4]
November 2at AlabamaW 23–0[5]
November 7at Nashville
W 6–0[6]
November 14at Tennessee
W 17–0[7]
November 26at
Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN (rivalry)
  • L 5–104,000[8]
    • *Non-conference game

    [9]

    Game summaries

    Mooney

    The season opened with a defeat of Mooney School by a 23–0 score.

    Tennessee Medical

    The Tennessee Medicos were beaten 6–0.

    Cumberland

    Cumberland at Sewanee
    1 2Total
    Cumberland 0 0 0
    Sewanee 0 6 6

    Sewanee gave the greatest team in Cumberland history its only loss.. Henry D. Phillips plowed through the line for the deciding score.[10]

    The starting lineup was Wheless (left end), L. Kirby-Smith (left tackle), Blount (left guard), Watkins (center), Phillips (right guard), Brong (right tackle), Jones (right end), Scarbrough (quarterback), Colmore (left halfback), E. Kirby Smith (right halfback), Stewart (fullback).[10]

    Auburn

    Sewanee at Auburn
    1 2Total
    Sewanee 23 24 47
    Auburn 0 0 0

    Sewanee easily beat Auburn 47–0. The first half was all Sewanee. Phillips made the first touchdown. After an Auburn fumble, Shaffer made the next touchdown.[11] Phillips soon made the next touchdown. Kirby-Smith the next.[11] In the second half, Auburn played better, but got nowhere near Sewanee's goal.[11] Phillips had three touchdowns in the second half, "by some of the finest line bucking ever seen here."[11]

    The starting lineup was Wheless (left end), L. Kirby-Smith (left tackle), Harper (left guard), Watkins (center), Phillips (right guard), Brong (right tackle), Jones (right end), Scarbrough (quarterback), Colmore (left halfback), Shaffer (right halfback), Stewart (fullback).[11]

    Alabama

    Sewanee beat Alabama 23–0 in the first match between the two schools since 1896.[12] The game was originally scheduled to be played in Tuscaloosa, but was subsequently moved to West End Park in Birmingham in an effort to increase gate receipts.[13] Phillips made the first score.[13]

    The starting lineup was Wheless (left end), Brong (left tackle), Harper (left guard), Watkins (center), Phillips (right guard), L. Kirby-Smith (right tackle), Jones (right end), Scarbrough (quarterback), Colmore (left halfback), E. Kirby Smith (right halfback), Stewart (fullback).[13]

    Nashville

    Sewanee defeated the Nashville Garnet and Blue 6–0. In 1903, Wreidt, the team's coach, resigned and Nashville football was threatened with its end, but it survived for a few more years.[14]

    Tennessee

    Tennessee was beaten 17–0.

    Vanderbilt

    Sewanee at Vanderbilt
    1 2Total
    Sewanee 0 5 5
    Vanderbilt 5 5 10

    Sewanee was defeated by rival Vanderbilt, 10–5, the first team to even score on the Tigers. Sewanee was crippled in the first half by the loss of Stewart, who fractured his ankle in a scrimmage before the game. He tried to play through it, but had to be helped off the field.[15] John J. Tigert, later a prominent educator, got Vanderbilt's first touchdown.[15] Sewanee tied the score with a touchdown in the second half. Later, Vanderbilt had the ball at the 4-yard line third down. "As great a stand of a football elevve was that of Sewaee before Vanderbilt's winning touchdown was made."[15] On third down from the 1-yard line the center Perry fell on a fumble. Sewanee protested that the runner was down, but Vanderbilt was awarded the touchdown.[15] "Vanderbilt, in fact all Nashville, is wild with joy tonight. Sewanee is looking forward to next Thanksgiving."[15]

    The starting lineup was Wheless (left end), Brong (left tackle), Harper (left guard), Watkins (center), Phillips (right guard), E. Kirby-Smith (right tackle), Jones (right end), Scarbrough (quarterback), Sawrie (left halfback), Colmore (right halfback), Stewart (fullback).[15]

    Players

    Varsity lettermen

    Line

    Player Position Games
    started
    Hometown Prep school Height Weight Age
    J. L. Brong tackle
    Emile Harper guard
    J. W. Jones end
    Joseph Lee Kirby-Smith tackle Sewanee, Tennessee 156 21
    Ephraim Kirby-Smith tackle Sewanee, Tennessee 156 19
    Henry D. Phillips guard 6'4" 185 21
    Miles Watkins center
    Wesley E. Wheless end

    Backfield

    Player Position Games
    started
    Hometown Prep school Height Weight Age
    John Scarbrough quarterback Rockdale, Texas 135 18
    Rupert Colmore
    halfback Sewanee, Tennessee 155 20
    Nate Sawrie back
    W. Meacham Stewart back

    Subs

    Player Position Hometown Prep school Height Weight Age
    G. A. Blount
    Robert Bostrom
    Roland Crownover
    William Poyner
    J. W. Price
    I. J. Rosebrough
    John Schaffer
    Henry Sneed
    David Wettlin

    References

    1. Newspapers.com
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    2. Newspapers.com
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    3. Newspapers.com
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    4. Newspapers.com
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    5. Newspapers.com
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    6. Newspapers.com
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    7. Newspapers.com
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    8. Newspapers.com
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    9. ^ "1903 Sewanee Tigers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
    10. ^ .
    11. ^
    12. ^ "Alabama vs Sewanee". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 23, 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
    13. ^ a b c "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 8, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    14. ^ "America's Lost Colleges".
    15. ^
      Newspapers.com. Open access icon