1912 Florida Gators football team

1912 Florida Gators football
The 1912 Gators practicing on the UF campus
Bacardi Bowl, W 28–0 vs. Vedado Tennis Club
Conference	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record	5–2–1 (0–2–1 SIAA)
Head coach	George E. Pyle (4th season)
Captain	Sam Buie
Home stadium	University Athletic Field
Seasons ←  1911 1913  →

1912 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Vanderbilt $	3	–	0	–	1			8	–	1	–	1
Texas A&M	2	–	0	–	0			8	–	1	–	0
Kentucky State	1	–	0	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Auburn	6	–	1	–	1			6	–	1	–	1
Georgia	5	–	1	–	1			6	–	1	–	1
Sewanee	2	–	1	–	2			5	–	1	–	2
Georgia Tech	5	–	3	–	0			5	–	3	–	1
Alabama	3	–	3	–	1			5	–	3	–	1
Tulane	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Mississippi A&M	3	–	3	–	0			4	–	3	–	0
Clemson	3	–	3	–	0			4	–	4	–	0
Ole Miss	2	–	2	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Mercer	2	–	3	–	1			5	–	3	–	1
LSU	2	–	3	–	0			4	–	3	–	0
Mississippi College	1	–	4	–	0			3	–	4	–	0
Florida	0	–	2	–	1			5	–	2	–	1
Centre	0	–	2	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
The Citadel	0	–	3	–	0			2	–	4	–	0
Tennessee	0	–	4	–	0			4	–	4	–	0
Howard (AL)	0	–	4	–	0			1	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion

The 1912 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1912 college football season. The season was the fourth for George Pyle as the Florida Gators football team's head coach. Pyle's 1912 Florida Gators finished their seventh varsity football season with an SIAA conference record of 1–2 ^[1] and an overall winning record of 5–2–1. ^[2]

The 1912 season marked several first-time events for the Florida Gators, including the first full season that the Florida football team would compete as the "Florida Gators"; the first games that they played against two future rivals, the Auburn Tigers and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (both games were losses); their first-ever victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks; their first season played in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA); and the first time they ever participated in a post-season bowl game. Florida also claimed the state championship by beating in-state rival Stetson for the third consecutive year.

Before the season

Florida joined the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, a large confederation of southern athletic programs that was the precursor to several other regional conferences, including the Southeastern Conference. This raised the profile of the young program (1912 was only the seventh academic year for the modern University of Florida) and allowed more contests against older football programs in the south and elsewhere. As Florida sportswriter and UF alumnus Tom McEwen wrote, "it was in 1912 when the Gators really ventured out into big-time football." ^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
October 12	at Auburn	Drake Field Auburn, AL (rivalry)	L 13–27
October 19	South Carolina *	University Field Gainesville, FL	W 10–6
October 26	vs. Georgia Tech	Jacksonville, FL	L 6–14
November 4	College of Charleston *	University Field Gainesville, FL	W 78–0
November 15	Stetson *	University Field Gainesville, FL	W 23–7
November 28	vs. Mercer	Jacksonville, FL	T 0–0
December 20	at Tampa Athletic Club*	Tampa, FL	W 44–0
December 25	at Vedado Athletic Club*	Almendares Park Havana, Cuba (Bacardi Bowl)	W 28–0
*Non-conference game

^[2]

Game summaries

Auburn

The season began with the first-ever game against coach Mike Donahue's Auburn Tigers, a 13–27 loss. Florida was unable to gain on Auburn's line, and made its scores off Auburn miscues. ^[4] "The team, the coach and the University are happy over this honorable result, and grant cheerfully that Florida is not master; but only the worthy opponent of the Southern team, which, with Vanderbilt, claims the Southern pennant." ^[3] Though a loss, the Gators scored more points than any other Auburn opponent that year.

The South Carolina contest.

South Carolina

South Carolina at Florida

1 2 3 4 Total S. Carolina 3 0 3 0 6 •Florida 0 0 3 7 10 Date: October 19 Location: University Field • Gainesville, FL Sources:

In the second week of play, the Gators defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks for the first time 10–6. One writer labeled it "the most thrilling and hardest fought game ever played on University Field." ^[3]

Florida came back to win down 3–0 at the half, ^[5] Dummy Taylor had an 18-yard drop kick field goal. ^{[6] [5]} After Taylor missed a drop kick, Carolina fumbled, and Florida's Hoyle Pounds recovered for a touchdown. ^[3]

Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech at Florida

1 2 3 4 Total •Ga. Tech 7 0 7 0 14 Florida 0 6 0 0 6 Date: October 26 Location: Jacksonville, FL Referee: Pat Murray Sources: [7]

In their first time facing John Heisman's Georgia Tech team, Florida fell 6–14 in Jacksonville. Down 7–0, Florida scored after two passes from Tenney to Pounds, the first netting 40 yards. ^[7] Alf McDonald made Tech's second touchdown. ^[7]

The starting lineup was Mosley (left end), Coarsey (left tackle), Wilson (left guard), Watt (center), Baker (right guard), Sutton (right tackle), Pounds (right end), Buie (quarterback), Tenney (left halfback), Taylor (right halfback), McCullock (fullback). ^[7]

Charleston

The Gators beat the College of Charleston 78–0. Florida used several forward passes. ^[8]

Stetson

Florida gave Stetson its worst loss on the year, 23–7. ^[9] This was considered Dummy Taylor's greatest game. ^[10] He kicked three field goals, two extra points, and ran for a touchdown. ^[11]

Mercer

The Mercer Baptists fought the Gators to a scoreless tie. Mercer outweighed Florida, and both squads attempted several field goals. ^[12] Mercer had shut out Florida each time they had met. ^[13]

Tampa Athletic Club

Before the contest in Cuba, the Gators stopped in Tampa and defeated the Tampa Athletic Club 44–0. ^[14] Rex Farrior, a high school senior who would become the captain of Florida's football team soon thereafter, played on the amateur home squad. ^[15]

Postseason

Bacardi Bowl

In December, the Florida Gators team competed in their first ever post-season games: the Bacardi Bowl, a two-game series in Havana against squads from two Cuban athletic clubs. ^{[16] [17]}

The first game was held on Christmas Day, and the Gators defeated the Vedado Athletic Club, 28–0. ^[2] The second game, which pitted the Gators against the Cuban Athletic Club of Havana, ended abruptly when Coach Pyle realized that the officials were running the game according to football's old rules and that the head referee was the former coach of his opponent. ^[18] Pyle pulled his players off the field during the first quarter and was arrested for violating a Cuban law prohibiting a game's suspension after spectators' money had been collected. ^[19] A trial was scheduled and Pyle was released on bail, at which point he, the team, and the Gators' entire traveling party quickly boarded a steamship for Tampa, an escape which caused the coach to be branded a "fugitive from justice" by Cuban authorities. ^[18]

Bacardi Bowl officials declared that Florida had forfeited the second game and listed the result as a 1–0 win for the Cuban Athletic Club, while the University of Florida declared the game a 1–0 forfeit win for the Gators. ^[18] In later years, the incomplete game was dropped from the university's official football record, and Florida's football teams would never again compete against a squad from Cuba. ^[2]

Personnel

Line

Player	Position	Games started	High school	Height	Weight	Age
A. A. Baker	guard				175
Sam Buie	end				124
Jim Coarsey	tackle				170
S. W. Lawler	guard
Merritt	tackle
Hoyle Pounds	end
Hubby Price	guard
Shands	end
John Sutton	guard			6'0"	185	21
Wilson	center

Backfield

Player	Position	Games started	High school	Height	Weight	Age
Bullock	fullback
Harvey Hester	quarterback
Dummy Taylor	halfback				165	21
Louis E. Tenney	halfback				155

Subs

Player	Position	Games started	High school	Height	Weight	Age
Beelor
Hunt
McIntosh
Mosely

References

1. Roger Saylor, "Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine ," College Football Historical Society, The LA84 Foundation (1993). Retrieved September 11, 2010.
2. 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine , University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.
3. McEwen 1974 , p. 47
4. "Auburn 27, Florida 13". The Atlanta Constitution. October 13, 1912. p. 13. Retrieved July 22, 2016– via Newspapers.com.
5. Chris Harry (October 19, 2012). "On this date in Gators History: Oct 19, 1912".
6. Carlson 2007 , p. 18
7. Kid Woltz (October 27, 1912). "Fast End Runs Win For Tech". The Atlanta Constitution. p. 9. Retrieved July 22, 2016– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Charleston Beaten". The Tennessean. November 5, 1912. p. 10. Retrieved July 22, 2016– via Newspapers.com.
9. A History of Stetson Football Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
10. McEwen 1974 , p. 48
11. Carlson 2007 , p. 12
12. "Mercer Holds Florida Team". The Atlanta Constitution. November 29, 1912. p. 9. Retrieved July 22, 2016– via Newspapers.com.
13. Jon Nelson. A History of College Football in Georgia: Glory on the Gridiron. p. 18.
14. Greg Auman (September 28, 2007). "Tampa's top 10 games".
15. McEwen 1974 , p. 49
16. Antonya English, "100 things about 100 years of Gator football Archived 2016-09-04 at the Wayback Machine ", St. Petersburg Times (August 27, 2006). Retrieved March 1, 2010.
17. College Football Data Warehouse, 1912 Game by Game Record Archived 2011-05-25 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved February 23, 2009.
18. Carlson 2007
19. "Football Row in Havana; Florida University Students Hooted for Breaking Up Game", The New York Times, p. S1 (December 29, 1912). Retrieved July 31, 2010.

Bibliography

• Carlson, Norm (2007). University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators. Atlanta, Georgia: Whitman Publishing, LLC. ISBN   0-7948-2298-3.
• McEwen, Tom (1974). The Gators: A Story of Florida Football. Huntsville, Alabama: The Strode Publishers. ISBN   0-87397-025-X.

External links

• Bacardi Bowl game program