1915 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

1915 Vanderbilt Commodores football
SIAA champion
Conference Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
1915 record 9–1 (4–0 SIAA)
Head coach Dan McGugin (12th year)
Assistant coach Owsley Manier
Offensive scheme Short-punt
Captain Russ Cohen
Home stadium Dudley Field
1915 SIAA football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Vanderbilt $ 4 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 0
Alabama 5 – 0 – 0     6 – 2 – 0
LSU 4 – 0 – 0     6 – 2 – 0
Transylvania 1 – 0 – 1     1 – 0 – 1
Auburn 4 – 2 – 0     6 – 2 – 0
Mississippi A&M 4 – 2 – 1     5 – 2 – 1
Georgia 3 – 1 – 2     5 – 2 – 2
Kentucky 2 – 1 – 1     6 – 1 – 1
Chattanooga 1 – 0 – 2     1 – 0 – 2
Tulane 3 – 3 – 0     5 – 3 – 0
Florida 3 – 3 – 0     4 – 3 – 0
Clemson 2 – 2 – 0     2 – 4 – 2
Furman 1 – 1 – 0     5 – 3 – 0
Mercer 1 – 1 – 0     1 – 3 – 0
Mississippi College 2 – 3 – 0     4 – 4 – 1
Sewanee 1 – 2 – 2     4 – 3 – 2
Tennessee 1 – 4 – 0     4 – 4 – 0
Centre 0 – 2 – 1     3 – 5 – 1
Louisville 0 – 3 – 1     1 – 5 – 1
The Citadel 0 – 1 – 0     5 – 3 – 0
Wofford 0 – 1 – 0     0 – 1 – 0
Howard 0 – 2 – 0     0 – 2 – 0
Ole Miss 0 – 5 – 0     2 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion

The 1915 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 1915 college football season. The team's head coach was Dan McGugin, who served his 12th season as the Commodores' head coach. Vanderbilt's 1915 were a "point-a-minute team". Vanderbilt was a member of the SIAA and were a legitimate "point-a-minute team", facing a 10 game schedule and leading the nation in scoring with a school record still not equaled today.

Before the season

The outlook for the upcoming 1915 Vanderbilt football season was not good. The Commodores were coming off a losing record of 2–8, the first under head coach Dan McGugin, and second in the school's 25 years of playing football.[1] To add to this was Vanderbilt returned only 10 experienced players from the previous year, which meant inexperienced freshmen would be a key to the team's success.[1]

In 1915, football used a one-platoon system in which players played both offense, defense, and special teams. McGugin built his 1915 squad around a 130 pound junior quarterback in Irby "Rabbit" Curry.[1] In the line was Josh Cody, a dominant sophomore tackle and kicker; both a fierce tackler and dominating blocker.[1]

Schedule

Date Time Opponent Site Result
September 25 Middle Tennessee State Dudley Field • Nashville, TN W 51–0  
October 2 Southwestern Dudley Field • Nashville, TN W 47–0  
October 9 3:15 p. m. Georgetown Dudley Field • Nashville, TN W 75–0  
October 13 4:00 p. m. Cumberland Dudley Field • Nashville, TN W 60–0  
October 16 Henderson State Dudley Field • Nashville, TN W 100–0  
October 23 vs. Ole Miss Memphis, TN (Rivalry) W 91–0  
October 30 2:45 p. m. Tennessee Dudley Field • Nashville, TN (Rivalry) W 35–0  
November 5 at Virginia Lambeth Field • Charlottesville, Virginia L 10–35  
November 13 at Auburn Rickwood Field • Birmingham, AL W 20–3  
November 25 2:00 p. m. Sewanee Dudley Field • Nashville, TN (Rivalry) W 27–3  
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. All times are in Central.

[2]

Season summary

Vanderbilt racked up 459 points before being scored upon. The team recorded seven shutouts to open the season.[1]

Middle Tennessee State Normal

Using conventional football, Vanderbilt opened the season with an easy win over Middle Tennessee Normal (MTSU) 51–0.[3]

Southwestern

In the second week of play, Vanderbilt defeated Southwestern 47–0 on a slippery field. All points were scored in the first half.[4]

Georgetown

Vanderbilt beat the Georgetown Tigers 75–0. The Commodores racked up 11 touchdowns and 8 field goals. Ray scored four times and Wiggs three times.[5]

Cumberland

With four players out due to injury,[6] the Commodores still managed to defeat the Cumberland Bulldogs 60–0.

Henderson-Brown

Henderson-Brown at Vanderbilt
1 234Total
Henderson-Br. 0 000 0
• Vanderbilt 26 272819 100

The Commodores beat Henderson-Brown 100–0. Irby Curry ran for a 40-yard touchdown with the game barely a minute old, and later had a 40-yard punt return for a touchdown.[7] Sarah Turner had an 80-yard run, and a 60 yard end run for a score in the third quarter. Tommy Ridley once ran 60 yards on a fake punt.[7] Catching Henderson-Brown exhausted, John Jarrett returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.[7]

The starting lineup against Henderson-Brown: Y. Chester (left end), Cody (left tackle), Hamilton (left guard), Reyer (center), Williams (right guard), Lipscomb (right tackle), Cohen (right end), Curry (quarterback), Floyd (left halfback), Ray (right halfback), Wiggs (fullback).[7]

Ole Miss

Against Mississippi, the team traveled by train from Nashville to Memphis, Tennessee, where the game was to be played. The players complained about the lack of food on the train, and the team's manager picked three or four hatfuls of green apples from an orchard near the tracks. The manager later recalled that Curry ate many of the green apples and proceeded to score six touchdowns and kick eight goals after touchdown against Ole Miss.[8] The final score was 91-0.[9]

The starting lineup against Mississippi: Hayes (left end), Cody (left tackle), Williams (left guard), Reyer (center), Putnam (right guard), Lipscomb (right tackle), Cohen (right end), Curry (quarterback), Floyd (left halfback), Zerfoss (right halfback), Wiggs (fullback).[8]

Tennessee

Tennessee at Vanderbilt
1 234Total
Tennessee 0 000 0
• Vanderbilt 7 0721 35
  • Date: November 13
  • Location: Dudley Field
    Nashville, TN
  • Game start: 2:45 p. m.

The Vols were the first real test for the Commodores that came to Nashville as the SIAA defending champions and loaded with confidence. They were swamped, 35–0 as Curry and Bob Turner ran wild.[11] The 'Rabbit' Curry got away for 50 yards, the only touchdown of the first half.[11] In the third quarter, Johnny Floyd ripped off 47 yards and Hubert Wiggs took it over.[12]

Then Turner entered the game and his first run was 35 yards to the 6-yard line, where Wiggs again scored.[11] The next time he ran 60 yards himself for the touchdown and the last score came on a 20-yard dash by Cutter Northcutt, Curry's substitute.[12] The victory was beclouded by a most unfortunate spine injury to Bennett Jared, who died a few months later.[10]

The starting lineup against Tennessee: Adams (left end), Cody (left tackle), Williams (left guard), Reyer (center), Putnam (right guard), Lipscomb (right tackle), Cohen (right end), Curry (quarterback), Floyd (left halfback), Zerfoss (right halfback), Wiggs (fullback).[10]

Virginia

Vanderbilt at Virginia
1 234Total
Vanderbilt 3 070 10
• Virginia 0 2870 35

The Tennessee game placed the Commodores at 7–0 and unscored upon until the next week. A road game at Charlottesville, Virginia to face the University of Virginia was next on the schedule. The high-flying Commodores were overwhelmed, 10–35 by the Cavaliers. Curry ran for 80 yards and scored a touchdown on a fumbled punt. Cody booted a 20-yard field goal for the only other score for the Commodores. Vanderbilt could only manage five first downs in the contest. Buck Mayer, the South's first consensus All-American, starred for Virginia.[13]

The starting lineup against Virginia: Adams (left end), Lipscomb (left tackle), Putnam (left guard), Reyer (center), Williams (right guard), Cody (right tackle), Cohen (right end), Curry (quarterback), Floyd (left halfback), Zerfoss (right halfback), Wiggs (fullback).[13]

Auburn

Vanderbilt at Auburn
1 234Total
• Vanderbilt 0 773 17
Auburn 0 000 0

Next was the Auburn game, which McGugin had been pointing to since before the season. The game was played in Birmingham on Rickwood Field.[n 1] Auburn had dominated Southern football for the past two seasons, without a single team crossing its line.[16]

Vanderbilt jumped out to a 17–0 lead on a rain-soaked field. A Curry pass to captain Russell Cohen opened the scoring.[15] Cody personally took over from that point. In one of the greatest exhibitions of punt covering Cody smothered the receiver every time, recovering two fumbles, one across the goal line for a touchdown. Then, in the last ten seconds of play, Cody dropped kicked a three-pointer from the 33-yard line.[15] Zerfoss and Friel punted splendidly. Curry's generalship was superb, and late in the game the Vandy line rose as one to throw back three Auburn charges on the five-yard line.[14]

The starting lineup against Auburn: Hayes (left end), Cody (left tackle), Williams (left guard), Reyer (center), Hamilton (right guard), Lipscomb (right tackle), Cohen (right end), Curry (quarterback), Floyd (left halfback), Zerfoss (right halfback), Wiggs (fullback).[14]

Sewanee

The final game of the season for the 8–1 Commodores was on Thanksgiving Day in Nashville against rival Sewanee.[17] At stake entering the game was the SIAA championship. A shutout over the "Men From the Mountain" would complete the SIAA schedule of being unscored upon.[17] Thoroughly outplayed the first two quarters as Capt. Dobbins and Hek Clark led the Tiger attack, intermission found the Commodores behind 3–0 due to `Red' Herring's field goal from the 20-yard line.[17]

Dan McGugin took the team over by Engineering Hall for a little talk. They came back playing hard, but the start of the fourth quarter saw the score still 3–0.[17] Then a sustained drive got underway that ended with `Dough' Ray plunging touchdown ward from the four-yard line. That pulled the stopper out of the bottle. Lipscomb and Cody blocked a punt and Pud Reyer recovered on the five-yard line. Again Ray went over. Zerfoss skirted end for 26, Curry followed with a 34-yard dash and a third touchdown.[17]

Little Rabbit was battered and bruised from terrible pounding, but he generated enough steam for the top run of the day, 80 yards for a touchdown with Josh Cody clearing his path.[18] The final count, 28–3, and another SIAA championship.[17] Sewanee coach Harris Cope said "I think Curry is one of the greatest players I have ever seen."[18]

The starting lineup against Sewanee: Hayes (left end), Cody (left tackle), Williams (left guard), Reyer (center), Hamilton (right guard), Lipscomb (right tackle), Cohen (right end), Curry (quarterback), Floyd (left halfback), Zerfoss (right halfback), Wiggs (fullback).[18]

Post season

The 1915 Vanderbilt football team scored a grand total of 514 points in 510 minutes of actual playing time, thus ranking them as a legitimate "point-a-minute" team. Vanderbilt averaged 51.4 points a game. Vanderbilt led the nation in scoring, then one of few stats kept.

During the season Curry accounted for 118 of Vanderbilt's season total of 514 points.[19] Seven out of eight newspapers voted the SIAA championship to the Commodores. The Atlanta Constitution declared it a tie between Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech.[19] Curry (unanimously), Cohen and Cody were named All-Southern.[19]

Players

Depth chart

Offense
LE
Frank Hayes
Yunk Chester
Adams
LT LG C RG RT
Josh Cody Pryor Williams George Reyer C. M. Hamilton Tom Lipscomb
C. M. Hamilton Pryor WilliamsBrown
C. Brown Putnam
RE
Russ Cohen
Richardson
Adams
QB
Irby Curry
Cutter Northcutt
LHBRHB
Johnny FloydTom Zerfoss
Sarah TurnerDough Ray
Friel K. Morrison
FB
Hubert Wiggs
Bennett Jared

-

Varsity letterwinners

Line

Backfield

Notes

  1. ↑ Birmingham's Rickwood Field (built in 1910) still exists today and has been certified as the oldest ballpark in America. It was home to the Birmingham Red Barons of the old Southern Association for decades until 1987.[15]

Endnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Traughber, p. 58
  2. ↑ "Coaching Records Game by Game: Dan McGugin 1915". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved 2010-09-14.
  3. ↑ "Is Easy For Vanderbilt". Daily Arkansas Gazette. September 26, 1915. p. 16. Retrieved May 6, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Vanderbilt 57, S. W. P. U. 0". The Atlanta Constitution. October 3, 1915. p. 8. Retrieved May 6, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Is Soft For Vanderbilt". Daily Arkansas Gazette. October 10, 1915. p. 19. Retrieved April 6, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Vandy Vs. Cumberland". The Charlotte News. October 13, 1915. p. 19. Retrieved April 6, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Blinkey Horn (October 17, 1915). "Commodores Make Hundred Points On Henderson - Brown". The Tennessean. p. 19. Retrieved September 21, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 "Vanderbilt Wallops "Ole Miss," 91 to 0". The Atlanta Constitution. October 24, 1915. p. 3. Retrieved May 4, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Today's Grid Story". Kingsport Times. 1934-11-16.
  10. 1 2 3 Blinkey Horn (October 31, 1915). "Commodores Wipe Out 1914 Defeat". Atlanta Constitution. p. 3. Retrieved April 6, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. 1 2 3 Traughber, p. 59
  12. 1 2 "Play for Play In Vandy-Tennessee Grid Battle". The Tennessean. October 31, 1915. p. 23. Retrieved April 6, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. 1 2 3 "Buck Mayer Sounds Commodores' Doom". The Tennessean. November 7, 1915. p. 38. Retrieved May 4, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. 1 2 3 "Auburn's Goal Line Crossed; Defeat Is Administed by Rejuvenated Commodores". Atlanta Constitution. November 14, 1915. p. 3. Retrieved September 21, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. 1 2 3 Traughber, pp. 59-60
  16. ↑ "Vanderbilt Captures Contest From Auburn". The Wilmington Morning Star. November 14, 1915. p. 3. Retrieved April 6, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Traughber, p. 60
  18. 1 2 3 "Rabbit Curry Lifts Black and Gold Above The Purple Banner". The Tennessean. November 26, 1915. p. 8. Retrieved May 4, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. 1 2 3 Traughber, p. 61

Bibliography

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