Sewanee–Vanderbilt football rivalry
Sport | Football |
---|---|
First meeting | November 7, 1891 Vanderbilt 22, Sewanee 0 |
Latest meeting | November 23, 1944 Vanderbilt 28, Sewanee 7 |
Next meeting | Series defunct after Sewanee downgraded to D-III School |
Statistics | |
Meetings total | 52 |
All-time series | Vanderbilt, 40–8–4 |
Largest victory | Vanderbilt, 68–4 (1905) |
Longest win streak | Vanderbilt, 14 (1925–1941) |
Current win streak | Vanderbilt, 1 (1944) |
Locations in Tennessee |
The Sewanee–Vanderbilt football rivalry was an American
The two universities are in the same state of Tennessee and are over 90 miles away from each other. A newspaper account of the rivalry reads: "Both schools look upon the game as the big feature of their schedule each year, no matter what other games are included, and it is always the biggest drawing card on either schedule."[4] "Goodbye Sewanee goodbye" was even a song sung by Vanderbilt students.[5]
Game results
Sewanee victories | Vanderbilt victories | Tie games |
|
Notable games
1891: Sewanee's first game; Vanderbilt's second
Sewanee's first ever football game, and Vanderbilt's second, was the first instance of this rivalry at McGee Field on November 7, 1891. Vanderbilt won 22 to 0. McGee Field is the oldest stadium in the south still in use, and the fourth oldest in the nation.[6]
1897: Vanderbilt gives Sewanee Hell
Vanderbilt beat Sewanee 10–0. A shocking event occurred in 1897 at the Thanksgiving Day match with Sewanee on the original
Both teams commenced to pass the ball around for the purpose of limbering up. Throughout this preliminary the students of both colleges gave their respective yells and sung their several songs written for the occasion. There was one yell given with great frequency by the Vanderbilt students which was very offensive to decent people. It starts off "Hippity Huz, Hippity Huz; What in the hell is the matter with us." It had become so popular at Vanderbilt that it was in the minds and causes them to be oblivious to the fact that it was not exactly proper to shock refined ladies by such utterances.
Phil Connell and captain Howard Boogher dove to recover the ball after the victory, giving Vanderbilt its first conference title.
1899: Sewanee's greatest team; no game with Vanderbilt
1902: Sewanee drubs Vandy
Sewanee defeated Vanderbilt in a surprising 11 to 5 upset.[10] John Edgerton's touchdown was the first Vanderbilt had scored on Sewanee since 1897. Captain Henry D. Phillips made Sewanee's touchdown.
1903: Vanderbilt upsets Sewanee
1903 met difficulty in determining an SIAA champion. Clemson's John Heisman pushed strongly for Cumberland to share the SIAA title with Clemson,[11] but also originally scheduled a game with the Vanderbilt-Sewanee winner to decide the conference.[12] Cumberland's strongest victory was its win over Vanderbilt.
John J. Tigert, later a prominent educator, got Vanderbilt's first touchdown, and thus was the first person to score on the Tigers all season.
1905: Vanderbilt drubs Sewanee
Vanderbilt crushed a strong
1907: Grantland Rice's Greatest Thrill
In the second year of the legal forward pass Vanderbilt won the
Vanderbilt coach Dan McGugin in Spalding's Football Guide's summation of the season in the SIAA wrote "The standing. First, Vanderbilt; second, Sewanee, a might good second;" and that Aubrey Lanier "came near winning the Vanderbilt game by his brilliant dashes after receiving punts."[21] Innis Brown recalled that Sewanee was likely the South's best team that year.[18]
1909: Sewanee's last SIAA title
Sewanee beat Vanderbilt 16–5, giving Vanderbilt its first loss to a Southern team in six years. and netting the SIAA championship for Sewanee. "Moise, for Sewanee, played the game of his life."[22]
1914: Tolley leads Tigers over Vanderbilt
Sewanee quarterback Lee Tolley was awarded a gold football charm to commemorate the 14 to 13 victory.[23] One account reads "For brilliance and beauty of execution, (Tolley's play) has had few equals, if any, in the South, and the Tiger leader retires from the game as the premier quarterback in the S.I.A.A., beyond a doubt." His performance included a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown.[24]
1921: Vanderbilt's muddiest game
The Commodores closed the season with a 9 to 0 win over
The game went scoreless until the fourth quarter, when Sewanee fumbled the snap on a punt and the punter was smothered by Jess Neely, Frank Godchaux, and Pink Wade for a safety. Later in the fourth, Hek Wakefield would punt the ball 54 yards from his own 38 yard-line, and Elam recovered a fumble by Sewanee's Powers. Wakefield ran in the game's only touchdown off-tackle from about 5 yards out. Wakefield kicked goal. Sewanee had more first downs than Vanderbilt, six to Vandy's two, but suffered four successive fumbles.[30][31]
1924: Sewanee's last and greatest victory
Sewanee won for the first time in a decade by the score of 16–0. The student newspaper The Sewanee Purple labeled it "The Greatest Victory for Sewanee in Its Thirty-one Years of Football History."
See also
References
- ^ a b William L. Traughber. "CHC- Sewanee Was Vandy's First Rival". Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
- ISBN 9781609494230.
- ^ "Oldest Dual Series" (PDF).
- ^ "Ready For Big Game". The State. Columbia, South Carolina. November 19, 1920.
- ^ "Goodbye, Sewanee, Goodbye". Retrieved February 1, 2015.
- ^ "2004 Sewanee football media guide" (PDF). p. 43. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2013.
- ^ Rachel Zoll (November 27, 1999). "1899 Sewanee 'Iron Men' remembered". Herald-Journal.
- ^ cf. Rufus Ward (February 5, 2012). "Ask Rufus: The greatest football team ever". Archived from the original on April 17, 2016.
- ISBN 9780820336183.
- ISBN 9781578987290.
- ^
- ^ "Stadium Has Harris Name" (PDF). The Sewanee Purple. November 6, 1957.
- ^ a b Edwin Pope (1956). Football's Greatest Coaches. p. 339.
- ^ "Claiming Rampant". The Miami News. February 9, 1954.
- ^
- ^ Bill Traughber (December 5, 2007). "CHC: Stein Stone's Famous 1907 Catch".
- ProQuest 497709192.
- ^ Dan McGugin (1907). "Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association Foot Ball". The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Guide. National Collegiate Athletic Association: 71–75.
- ^ Wiedmer, Mark (January 18, 2015). "Century-old football charm proves you can go home again". Retrieved February 7, 2015.
- ^ "Tolley's Run Won Victory". Hopkinsville Kentuckian. November 28, 1914.
- ^ a b Russell, Fred, and Maxwell Edward Benson. Fifty Years of Vanderbilt Football. Nashville, TN, 1938, p.39, 43
- ^ "Vanderbilt Wins From Sewanee In Final Quarter, 9–0". Augusta Chronicle. November 25, 1921.
- ^ "Vanderbilt 9, Sewanee 0". Morning Oregonian. November 25, 1921.
- ^ "Gridiron Gossip". Montgomery Advertiser. November 10, 1921.
- ^ "Vanderbilt-Sewanee Clash is Big Even". Montgomery Advertiser. November 24, 1921.
- ^ Camp, Walter, ed. National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Rules: Official Intercollegiate Football Guide. 45 Rose St, New York: American Sports, 1922. Print. Spalding's Athletic Library.
- ^ "Final Period Rally Wins for Old Vandy". Charlotte Observer. November 25, 1921.
- ^ hdl:11005/1208.