1896 Georgia Bulldogs football team

Last updated

1896 Georgia Bulldogs football
1896uga.jpg
SIAA co-champion
Conference Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record4–0 (2–0 SIAA)
Head coach
Captain Rufus B. Nalley
Home stadium Herty Field
Seasons
←  1895
1897  →
1896 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
LSU + 3 –0 –06 –0 –0
Georgia + 2 –0 –04 –0 –0
Vanderbilt 2 –0 –23 –2 –2
Auburn 3 –1 –03 –1 –0
Texas 1 –1 –04 –2 –1
Alabama 1 –1 –02 –1 –0
Kentucky State College 1 –1 –03 –6 –0
Sewanee 3 –3 –03 –3 –0
Tennessee 0 –0 –04 –0 –0
Tulane 1 –2 –03 –2 –0
Nashville 0 –1 –10 –1 –1
Mercer 0 –2 –10 –2 –1
Central (KY) 0 –2 –10 –3 –1
Mississippi A&M 0 –2 –00 –4 –0
SW Presbyterian 0 –2 –00 –3 –0
Cumberland (TN)  –  – 
  • + – Conference co-champions

The 1896 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the University of Georgia during the 1896 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. As a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA), the team provided Georgia with its first undefeated season, compiling a 4–0 record and defeating North Carolina for the first time. The Bulldogs were co-champions of the SIAA with LSU, who joined the conference in 1896. [1]

Contents

Before the season

This was the Georgia Bulldogs' second and final season under the guidance of head coach Pop Warner who had continued as coach for a second season at a salary of $40 per week for ten weeks. [2] "It was rare in those days that a coach lasted more than one season". [3] Several veterans returned from last season. [3] Rufus B. Nalley and Richard Von Albade Gammon were both in the backfield, with Gammon at quarterback, [4] and Nalley as captain.

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 24at Wofford * Spartanburg, SC W 26–0 [5]
October 31vs. North Carolina *
W 24–163,000 [6]
November 9 Sewanee
W 26–0 [7]
November 26vs. Auburn
W 12–6 [8]
  • *Non-conference game

[9]

Season summary

Wofford

The season opened in Spartanburg with a 26–0 defeat of Wofford.

North Carolina

12Total
UNC10616
•Georgia18624
  • Location: Brisbane Park
    Atlanta, GA
  • Game attendance: 3,000

In "the first big football game of the season", [10] Georgia beat North Carolina 24–16 in a close game. "For the first time in Southern football history the football supremacy of Virginia and North Carolina was successfully challenged." [3]

Coach Warner on the Georgia sidelines. WarnerinAthens.jpg
Coach Warner on the Georgia sidelines.

The first touchdown came when George Whitfield Price went around right tackle for 8 yards. [10] "There were yells of 'Price', 'Price' everywhere". [11] Carolina's Heyward then got his own touchdown through right tackle. [11]

Later, Carolina's Belden made a great punt, which went over Lovejoy's head. Wright fell on it for a touchdown, giving Carolina the lead. [11] Then Blanch broke through and tied the score with a 30-yard run between right end and tackle. [10] He then later went around right end to put the Bulldogs up by a score as the first half ended. [10] A blocked kick from Blanch and Key led to Georgia's final touchdown. [12] After Green ran for 40 yards on a fake buck, [12] Heyward scored the last touchdown for Carolina from 5 yards out. [10]

The starting lineup was Wight (left end), Price (left tackle), Blanch (left guard), Atkinson (center, Middlebrooke (right guard), Kent (right tackle), Watson (right end), Gammon (quarterback), Nalley (left halfback), Cothrell (right halfback), Lovejoy (fullback). [10] [13]

Sewanee

The Bulldogs defeated the Sewanee Tigers 26–0. Sewanee's offense was weak. [14]

Auburn

12Total
Auburn066
•Georgia6612

In the rivalry game with John Heisman's Auburn to decide the conference, Georgia won 12–6 to close its first undefeated season. Georgia's quarterback the following season Reynolds Tichenor was at the same spot for the Tigers.

Lovejoy scored Georgia's first touchdown, without Nalley using signals. [15] The next touchdown came on another trick, with an onside kick to get the ball. Walter Cothran followed this with an 80-yard touchdown run. [15] Tichenor then had a long punt return for Auburn. [15] Tichenor once said he had been sprawled on the ground, when a big Georgia lineman jumped at him, knees first, with Tichenor rolling out of the way just in time. "The fellow was very polite," Tichenor said. "We both got up and he apologized very profusely for having missed me." [15] Tichenor later transferred to Georgia to attend law school. [16]

The starting lineup was Wight (left end), Price (left tackle), Walker (left guard), Atkinson (center, Blanch (right guard), Walden (right tackle), Dougherty (right end), Gammon (quarterback), Nalley (left halfback), Pomeroy (right halfback), Lovejoy (fullback). [17]

Postseason

The 1896 team is considered one of Georgia's early great ones. [4] Georgia did not win another conference championship until the 1920 season.

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References

  1. ↑ "Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association: Conference Championships". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
  2. ↑ Reed, Thomas Walter (c. 1949). "Chapter XVII: Athletics at the University from the Beginning Through 1947". History of the University of Georgia. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia.
  3. 1 2 3 Woodruff 1928 , p. 53
  4. 1 2 "Brown Calls Vanderbilt '06 Best Eleven South Ever Had". Atlanta Constitution. February 19, 1911. p. 52. Retrieved March 8, 2015– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  5. ↑ "Georgia wins over Wofford". The Atlanta Journal. October 27, 1896. Retrieved December 16, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Football yesterday". The News and Observer. November 1, 1896. Retrieved December 16, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Foot ball at Athens; University of Georgia beats Sewanee 26 to 0". The Morning News. November 10, 1896. Retrieved December 16, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Auburn knocked out". Birmingham State Herald. November 27, 1896. Retrieved December 16, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Georgia 1896 results". georgiadogs.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Georgia Wins Out". The Atlanta Constitution. November 1, 1896. p. 21. Retrieved May 12, 2016– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  11. 1 2 3 Woodruff 1928 , p. 58
  12. 1 2 Woodruff 1928 , p. 59
  13. ↑ Woodruff 1928 , p. 60
  14. ↑ "Georgia Defeated Sewanee". The Atlanta Constitution. November 10, 1896. p. 2. Retrieved May 18, 2016– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  15. 1 2 3 4 Triumph Books (2006). Echoes of Georgia Football: The Greatest Stories Ever Told. ISBN   9781617490484.
  16. ↑ "History of the Early S.I.A.A. Atlanta Basketball Tournament".
  17. ↑ Woodruff 1928 , p. 65

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