1906 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
1906 Dudley Field | |
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Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vanderbilt + | 4 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Clemson + | 4 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 0 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sewanee | 5 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alabama | 3 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ole Miss | 3 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Georgia Tech | 3 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Georgia | 2 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LSU | 0 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 2 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mississippi A&M | 0 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tennessee | 0 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 6 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mercer | 0 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tulane | 0 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Auburn | 0 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cumberland (TN)
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Nashville | – | – | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1906 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented
The 1906 Vanderbilt team had one of the best seasons in the school's history, outscoring opponents 278–16. Innis Brown rated the 1906 team as the best the South ever had. Vanderbilt won all of its home games, finishing the season on a 23-game home win streak. Their only loss came on the road to western power Michigan, 10–4; the game had been tied until the closing minutes.
Seven of the Commodores' eight wins came by shutout – only two teams scored on them all season. Several teams failed to gain a single first down against the Commodores. The team most notably defeated northern power
Before the season
Notable losses from the 1905 team included Bachelor of Ugliness Ed Hamilton, captain Innis Brown,[2] and quarterback Frank Kyle.[3]
Rule changes
At the end of 1905 football looked about to be abolished due to all of the reoccurring violence during games. Football was a sport that had degenerated into dangerous tactics such as: the flying wedge, punching, kicking, piling-on, and elbows to the face. Almost any violent behavior was allowed. Fatalities and injuries mounted during the 1905 season.[n 2]
As a result, the 1906 season was played under a new set of rules.[5] The rules governing intercollegiate football were changed to promote a more open and less dangerous style of play. An intercollegiate conference, which would become the forerunner of the NCAA, approved radical changes including the legalization of the forward pass, allowing the punting team to recover an on-side kick as a live ball, abolishing the dangerous flying wedge, creating a neutral zone between offense and defense, and doubling the first-down distance to 10 yards, to be gained in three downs.[6]
Schedule
Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
October 6 | Dudley Field | W 28–0 | [7] | ||
October 13 | Ole Miss |
| W 29–0 | [8] | |
October 20 | Alabama |
| W 78–0 | [9] | |
October 27 | Texas |
| W 45–0 | [10] | |
November 3 | at Michigan* | L 4–10 | 10,000 | [11] | |
November 10 | Rose Polytechnic* |
| W 33–0 | [12] | |
November 17 | at Georgia Tech |
| W 37–6 | 5,000 | [13] |
November 22 | Carlisle* |
| W 4–0 | 8,000 | [14] |
November 29 | Sewanee |
| W 20–0 | 6,000 | [15] |
|
Game summaries
Week 1: Kentucky State
Sources:[17] |
In a 28–0 win over Kentucky State College to open the season, Owsley Manier scored three touchdowns and the Commodores as a whole rushed for 630 yards.[18] G. A. Hall had a 33-yard punt return for a touchdown.[17] The Commodores were penalized several times.[5] Kentucky never had a first down and had to punt after second down.[17]
The starting lineup was: Stone (
Week 2: Ole Miss
Sources:[19] |
Vanderbilt easily beat Mississippi 29–0. Like McGugin, Mississippi's coach Thomas S. Hammond was a Michigan alumnus.[5] One account reads: "whatever hopes the spectators had of seeing a close and exciting football game today when Vanderbilt faced Mississippi were shattered in the very first five minutes of play."[19] The stars of the contest were Dan Blake and Honus Craig.[19] Mississippi failed to gain a single first down.[19] Umpire Henry D. Phillips kicked Joe Pritchard out of the contest for roughing.[20]
The starting lineup was: V. Blake (left end); E. Noel (left tackle); McLain (left guard); Stone (center); Chorn (right guard); Pritchard (right tackle); B. Blake (right end); Costen (quarterback); D. Blake (left halfback); Craig (right halfback); Manier (fullback).[19]
Week 3: Alabama
Sources:[21] |
The only loss of the year for the
The starting lineup was: V. Blake (left end); Pritchard (left tackle); McLain (left guard); Stone (center), Chorn (right guard); E. Noel (right tackle); B. Blake (right end); Costen (quarterback); D. Blake (left halfback); Craig (right halfback); Manier (fullback).[21]
Week 4: Texas
Vanderbilt romped over the Texas Longhorns 45–0. Sam Costen had a run of 61 yards, Dan Blake one of 52, and Vaughn Blake 42.[24] Two other touchdowns were had by Vanderbilt but referee Bradley Walker called the team back for holding.[24] The Texas men seemed equal to Vanderbilt's in physique, yet they too failed to net a first down.[5][24]
The starting lineup was: V. Blake (left end); Pritchard (left tackle); Chorn (left guard); Stone (center); McLain (right guard); E. Noel (right tackle); B. Blake (right end); Costen (quarterback); Craig (left halfback); D. Blake (right halfback); Manier (fullback).[24]
Week 5: at Michigan
Sources:[25] |
On November 3, Vanderbilt lost to the Michigan Wolverines by a 10–4 score. The game remained tied at 4–4 until the closing minutes. The Masonic Theater in Nashville was crowded with those who had come to see the game detailed.[5]
Before the game, Michigan coach
John Garrels put Michigan ahead with a field goal from the 25-yard line. On the preceding drive, Garrels had completed a 15-yard forward pass to Bishop, the first legal forward pass completed by Michigan under the new rules. Michigan led, 4–0, at halftime. Early in the second half, Vanderbilt tied the score with a field goal by Dan Blake from the 30-yard line. With two minutes left in the game, Garrels ran 68 yards for a touchdown. The Chicago Daily Tribune wrote: "Garrels, on a fake kick, with splendid interference by Hammond, Curtis, and Workman, ran Vanderbilt's left end at lightning speed for sixty-eight yards and a touchdown." Curtis kicked the extra point, and Michigan led, 10–4.[25][28]
The starting lineup was: V. Blake (left end); Pritchard (left tackle); Chorn (left guard); Stone (center); McLain (right guard); E. Noel (right tackle); B. Blake (right end); Costen (quarterback); Craig (left halfback); D. Blake (right halfback); Manier (fullback).[25]
Week 6: Rose Polytechnic
The 33 to 0 win over
The starting lineup was: V. Blake (left end); Pritchard (left tackle); McLain (left guard); Stone (center); Chorn (right guard); E. Noel (right tackle); B. Blake (right end); Costen (quarterback); D. Blake (left halfback); Craig (right halfback); Manier (fullback).[30]
Week 7: at Georgia Tech
Sources:[31] |
Vanderbilt defeated coach
The starting lineup was: V. Blake (left end); Pritchard (left tackle); McLain (left guard); Stone (center); Chorn (right guard); E. Noel (right tackle); B. Blake (right end); Costen (quarterback); D. Blake (left halfback); Craig (right halfback); Manier (fullback).[31]
Week 8: Carlisle
Sources:[32] |
On Thanksgiving, the Commodores reached the season's high point and beat the Carlisle Indians 4–0. Just a week before the contest, Vanderbilt negotiated a game with Carlisle to fill an open date.[33] The Nashville Banner predicted it would be: "the greatest game the south ever saw." The game started forty-five minutes late to accommodate the large crowd.[34]
Vanderbilt won by a single, 17-yard Bob Blake field goal 4–0.[35] In the first two minutes of play, the Indians drove the ball to Vanderbilt's 3-yard line, but the Commodores line held and they got no further.[36] Frank Mount Pleasant, one of the first regular spiral pass quarterbacks,[37] attempted four field goals, but missed them all.[32]
One source claims the Carlisle Indians failed to receive supplies on the trip to Nashville, including their receiving
The starting lineup was: V. Blake (left end); Pritchard (left tackle); McLain (left guard); Stone (center); Chorn (right guard); E. Noel (right tackle); B. Blake (right end); Costen (quarterback); D. Blake (left halfback); Craig (right halfback); Manier (fullback).[32]
Week 9: Sewanee
Sources:[43] |
Despite Vanderbilt's strong record, the Sewanee Tigers were undefeated and felt cause for optimism in the effective Southern championship. One account recalls: "A high authority on foot-ball said the other day: Vanderbilt is not invincible, by a good deal. The Sewanee "Tigers" are going to Nashville on Thursday to prove that fact."[44] Vanderbilt struggled, but still won 20–0. "With Vandy making only 20 points–Vandy was stale, was the explanation."[38] After the big win over Carlisle, "a matter-of-course feeling pervaded the entire game."[45] The first score of the game came on a 25-yard field goal.[43] The first touchdown came from Owsley Manier.[43] In the second half, Bob Blake made a 22-yard field goal, and Manier got another touchdown.[43]
The starting lineup was: V. Blake (left end); Pritchard (left tackle); McLain (left guard); Stone (center); Chorn (right guard); E. Noel (right tackle); B. Blake (right end); Costen (quarter); D. Blake (left halfback); Craig (right halfback); Manier (fullback).[43]
Postseason
Vanderbilt won an SIAA championship.[46] Coach McGugin called the Carlisle victory "the crowning feat of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association season."[47]
Dan Blake, Owsley Manier, and Joe Pritchard all graduated. Manier went on to receive an M. D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and played one season on the football team. "But his effectiveness at Pennsylvania was lessened by the attempt of the coaches to change his style of bucking a line from the low, plunging dive to running into it erect, knees drawn high and great dependence upon his companion backs to "hike" him."[48] At Penn he was shifted to halfback, and mostly used for swift plunges into the line.[49] Penn defeated Michigan, exacting revenge for the multiple losses suffered by Manier to Michigan at Vanderbilt.[50]
Dan Blake went on to coach at
Awards and honors
For some, Vanderbilt's eleven was the entire All-Southern team.[53] Fullback Owsley Manier was selected third-team All-America by Walter Camp.[54] This makes Manier the first Southern player to make any of Camp's teams.
Legacy
In 1911, Innis Brown rated the 1906 team as the best the South ever had.[2] Sportswriter Joe Williams recalled "I suppose the first great Southern team was Vanderbilt of 1906."[55]
Personnel
Depth chart
The following chart provides a visual depiction of Vanderbilt's lineup during the 1906 season with games started at the position reflected in parentheses. The chart mimics a short punt formation while on offense, with the quarterback under center.
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Varsity letter winners
Line
Player | Position | Games started |
Hometown | Prep school | Height | Weight | Age |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bob Blake | End | 9 | Cuero, Texas | Bowen School | 6'0" | 172 | 21 |
Vaughn Blake |
End | 9 | Cuero, Texas | Bowen School | 151 | 19 | |
Walter K. Chorn | Guard | 9 | Fayette, Missouri | 172 | 21 | ||
Fatty McLain |
Guard | 8 | Gloster, Mississippi | 198 | 21 | ||
Edwin T. Noel | Tackle | 9 | Nashville, Tennessee | Bowen School | 178 | 19 | |
Oscar Noel | End | 4 | Nashville, Tennessee | Bowen School | |||
Joe Pritchard | Tackle | 9 | Franklin, Tennessee | Mooney School | 6'2" | 196 | 20 |
Stein Stone | Center | 9 | Nashville, Tennessee | Mooney School | 6'3" | 175 | 22 |
Backfield
Player | Position | Games started |
Hometown | Prep school | Height | Weight | Age |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dan Blake | Halfback | 9 | Cuero, Texas | Bowen School | 5'11" | 165 | 23 |
Sam Costen | Quarterback | 9 | McKenzie, Tennessee | 150 | 24 | ||
Honus Craig | Halfback | 9 | Culleoka, Tennessee | Branham & Hughes School | 5'9" | 168 | 22 |
G. A. Hall | Quarterback | 4 | Nashville, Tennessee | Wallace University School | |||
Owsley Manier |
Fullback | 9 | Nashville, Tennessee | Wallace University School | 6'2" | 170 | 19 |
Subs
Player | Position | Games started |
Hometown | Prep school | Height | Weight | Age |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Guy Crawford | Halfback | Bell Buckle, Tennessee | Branham & Hughes School | ||||
Alex Cunningham | End | Nashville, Tennessee | Montgomery Bell Academy |
Scoring leaders
In 1906, touchdowns were worth 5 points and field goals 4.
Player | Touchdowns | Extra points | Field goals | Safeties | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Owsley Manier |
23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 115 |
Bob Blake | 3 | 32 | 5 | 0 | 67 |
Honus Craig | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
Dan Blake | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 34 |
Sam Costen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Vaughn Blake |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
Guy Crawford | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
G. A. Hall | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
TOTAL | 44 | 32 | 6 | 1 | 278 |
See also
- 1906 College Football All-Southern Team
- 1906 College Football All-America Team
- 1906 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season
Notes
- ^ Also known as Old Dudley Field, after 1922 it is known as Curry Field, after Irby Curry, a Vanderbilt quarterback who died in the First World War.[1]
References
- ^ "Vanderbilt Stadium". Archived from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
- ^
- ^ Vanderbilt University 1907, p. 54
- ^ "Football Year's Death Harvest: Record Shows That Nineteen Football Players Have been Killed in 1905". November 26, 1905. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f Vanderbilt University 1907, p. 49
- ^ "Football Rules Made At Last". Salt Lake Herald. April 2, 1906. p. 7.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "1906 Vanderbilt Commodores".
- ^
- ^ a b Bill Traughber (September 8, 2005). "Vandy All-Americans". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
- ^
- ^
- ^ 1906 Season Recap Archived 2016-05-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^
- ^
- ^ "Must Face a Strong Foe: Vanderblt Seems Tough Proposition for Michigan; Gridiron Battle at Ann Arbor Today Expected to Be One of the Closest Played on the Wolverine Strong-hold in Years". Chicago Daily Tribune. November 3, 1906. p. 6.
- ^ "Garrel's [sic] Long Run Saves Michigan" (PDF). The New York Times. November 4, 1906.
- ^ a b Vanderbilt University 1907, p. 50
- ^
- ^
- ^
- ^ Traughber 2011, p. 36
- ^ Traughber 2011, p. 38
- ^ "Photos: Carlisle Football". radiolab. Archived from the original on April 29, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
- ^
- ^ Traughber 2011, p. 39
- ^ ""Honus" Craig, All-Southern Right Halfback—He Talks". Abilene Daily Reporter. April 25, 1909. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
- ^
- ^ "A Voice From Sewanee". News and Observer. November 29, 1906. p. 1.
- ^ Vanderbilt University 1907, p. 51
- ^ Champions of the South regardless of conference affiliation
- ^ Dan McGugin (1907). "Football In Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association". The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide: 49.
- ^ Henry Jay Case (1914). "Vanderbilt–A University of the New South". Outing. 64: 327.
- ^ "Dan Blake". Hopkinsville Kentuckian. October 1, 1912. p. 4.
- ^ Vanderbilt University (1915). "Faculty-Senior Dinner, Maxwell House, April 16, 1915". Vanderbilt University Quarterly. 15: 108–112.
- ^ "Vanderbilt All-Americans". Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
- ^ Joe Williams (October 27, 1922). "South Has Many Stars". The Pittsburgh Press.
- ^ Vanderbilt University 1907, p. 58
- ^ Vanderbilt University (1906). Register. The University. p. 154.
Bibliography
- Traughber, Bill (2011). Vanderbilt Football: Tales of Commodore Gridiron History. The History Press. ISBN 978-1-60949-423-0.
- Vanderbilt University (1907). Vanderbilt University Quarterly. Vol. 7.