1915 Auburn Tigers football team

1915 Auburn Tigers football
Conference	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record	6–2 (5–1 SIAA)
Head coach	Mike Donahue (11th season)
Base defense	7–2–2
Captain	P. R. Bidez
Home stadium	Drake Field Rickwood Field
Seasons ←  1914 1916  →

1915 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Vanderbilt $	5	–	0	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
Alabama	5	–	0	–	0			6	–	2	–	0
LSU	4	–	0	–	0			6	–	2	–	0
Transylvania	3	–	0	–	1			7	–	1	–	1
Auburn	5	–	1	–	0			6	–	2	–	0
Georgia	3	–	1	–	1			5	–	2	–	2
Chattanooga	3	–	1	–	2			5	–	2	–	2
Mississippi A&M	4	–	2	–	1			5	–	2	–	1
Kentucky	2	–	1	–	1			6	–	1	–	1
Florida	3	–	3	–	0			4	–	3	–	0
Clemson	2	–	2	–	1			2	–	4	–	2
South Carolina	1	–	1	–	1			5	–	3	–	1
Furman	1	–	1	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Mercer	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Mississippi College	2	–	3	–	0			4	–	4	–	1
The Citadel	1	–	2	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Sewanee	1	–	2	–	2			4	–	3	–	2
Tennessee	1	–	4	–	0			4	–	4	–	0
Tulane	1	–	4	–	0			4	–	4	–	0
Centre	0	–	3	–	1			3	–	5	–	1
Louisville	0	–	3	–	1			1	–	5	–	1
Howard (AL)	0	–	3	–	0			3	–	4	–	1
Wofford	0	–	3	–	0			3	–	5	–	0
Ole Miss	0	–	5	–	0			2	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion

The 1915 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 1915 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. It was the Tigers' 24th season and they competed as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA). The team was led by head coach Mike Donahue, in his 11th year, and played their home games at Drake Field in Auburn, Alabama. They finished with a record of six wins and two losses (6–2 overall, 5–1 in the SIAA).

Before the season

Baby Taylor was the only regular left at the start of the 1915 season. ^[1]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Source
October 1	at Marion *	Riverside Park Selma, AL	W 78–0	[2]
October 9	Florida	Drake Field Auburn, AL (rivalry)	W 7–0	[3]
October 16	at Clemson	Anderson, SC (rivalry)	W 14–0	[4]
October 23	Mississippi A&M	Rickwood Field Birmingham, AL	W 26–0	[5]
October 30	at Georgia	Sanford Field Athens, GA (rivalry)	W 12–0	[6]
November 6	Mercer	Drake Field Auburn, AL	W 45–0	[7]
November 13	Vanderbilt	Rickwood Field Birmingham, AL	L 0–17	[8]
November 25	at Georgia Tech *	Grant Field Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	L 0–7	[9]
*Non-conference game

^{[10] [11]}

Game summaries

Marion Military Institute

The season starts with a big 78–0 victory over Marion Military Institute.

Florida

Florida at Auburn

1 2 3 4 Total Florida 0 0 0 0 0 •Auburn 0 0 0 7 7 Date: October 9 Location: Drake Field Auburn, Alabama Referee: John Counselman Sources: [12]

Auburn defeated Florida 7–0. Florida played hard for three quarters, until Wren scored the winning touchdown in the final period. ^[12]

The starting lineup was Robinson (left end), Sample (left tackle), Taylor (left guard), Campbell (center), Fricks (right guard), Wynne (right tackle), Bonner (right end), Caughman (quarterback), Steed (left halfback), Prendergast (right halfback), Bidez (fullback). ^[12]

Clemson

Clemson was defeated 14–0.

Mississippi A&M

Mississippi A&M lost 26–0.

Georgia

The Georgia Bulldogs fell to Auburn 12–0.

Mercer

Auburn beat Mercer 45–0, the season's sixth straight shutout.

Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt at Auburn

1 2 3 4 Total •Vanderbilt 0 7 7 3 17 Auburn 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 13 Location: Rickwood Field Birmingham, Alabama Referee: Bradley Walker Sources: [13]

Vanderbilt coach Dan McGugin had been pointing to since before the season. Auburn had dominated Southern football for the past two seasons, without a single team crossing its line. ^[14]

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. ^[13]

The starting lineup : Taylor (left end), Sample (left tackle), Ducote (left guard), Robinson (center), Frickey (right guard), Wynne (right tackle), Bonner (right end), Steed (quarterback), Wren (left halfback), Prendergast (right halfback), Bidez (fullback). ^[13]

Georgia Tech

Auburn at Georgia Tech

1 2 3 4 Total Auburn 0 0 0 0 0 •Ga. Tech 0 7 0 0 7 Date: November 25 Location: Grant Field Atlanta Game attendance: 10,000 Referee: Innis Brown

Partial view of the crowd at Grant Field

Georgia Tech closed what was then the greatest season in its history with a 7–0 defeat of Auburn. ^[16] To begin the second quarter, Everett Strupper had two key plays, the last of which was the game-deciding touchdown. ^{[16] [17]} First he made 20 yards around with a pass from Morrison ^[18] before being forced out of bounds. Next was the 19-yard touchdown. Strupper started around left end, then cut back into the center of the field, away from his blockers. ^[16] He juked and eluded "every man on the Auburn team." On the last move Strupper faked right and then dove left underneath the outstretched arms of Baby Taylor into the endzone. ^[19]

The starting lineup against Auburn: Taylor (left end), Wynne (left tackle), Campbell (left guard), Robinson (center), Frickey (right guard), Sample (right tackle), Bonner (right end), Caughman (quarter), Ducote (left halfback), Prendergast (right halfback), Steed (fullback). ^[16]

Postseason

Guard Baby Taylor was a unanimous All-Southern selection, and was selected third-team All-America by Walter Camp.

References

1. "Auburn Loses Nine Regulars From Her Team" (PDF). Atlanta Constitution.
2. "Auburn defense too much for Marion". The Montgomery Advertiser. October 2, 1915. Retrieved May 31, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Auburn changes tactics; Defense plan fails and Donahue resorts to drive to beat Florida". The Commercial Appeal. October 10, 1915. Retrieved May 31, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Auburn beats Clemson". The Journal and Tribune. October 17, 1915. Retrieved May 31, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Auburn defeats Mississippi eleven". The Birmingham Age-Herald. October 24, 1915. Retrieved February 13, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Georgia is shut out in straight football". The Macon Daily Telegraph. October 31, 1915. Retrieved May 31, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Auburn Tigers show no mercy to Mercer men". The Birmingham News. November 7, 1915. Retrieved March 18, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Vanderbilt crushes Auburn". The Journal and Tribune. November 14, 1915. Retrieved May 31, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Auburn defeated by Georgia Tech". Birmingham Age-Herald. November 26, 1915. Retrieved May 31, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
10. 2009 Auburn Football Media Guide (PDF). Auburn, Alabama: Auburn Media Relations Office. 2009. p. 185. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
11. "1915 Auburn University Football Schedule". Auburn University Athletics. Archived from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
12. "Auburn Makes Single Touchdown On Fla". The Tennessean. October 10, 1915. p. 44. Retrieved July 11, 2016– via Newspapers.com.
13. "Auburn's Goal Line Crossed; Defeat Is Administered by Rejuvenated Commodores". Atlanta Constitution. November 14, 1915. p. 3. Retrieved September 21, 2015– via Newspapers.com.
14. "Vanderbilt Captures Contest From Auburn". The Wilmington Morning Star. November 14, 1915. p. 3. Retrieved April 6, 2016– via Newspapers.com.
15. Traughber 2011 , pp. 59–60
16. Dick Jemison (November 26, 1915). "Yellow Jackets Earn Tie To Football Championship By Defeating Plainsmen". Atlanta Constitution. p. 9. Retrieved March 2, 2016– via Newspapers.com.
17. "Georgia Tech Claims S.I.A.A. Championship". The Tennessean. November 26, 1915. p. 8. Retrieved March 27, 2016– via Newspapers.com.
18. Blue Print, 1916
19. "A Lip-Reading Football Star". The Volta Review. Volta Bureau: 102–105. 1925.

Bibliography

• Traughber, Bill (2011). Vanderbilt Football: Tales of Commodore Gridiron History. The History Press. ISBN   978-1-60949-423-0.