1908 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
The 1908 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 1908 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. The team's head coach was Dan McGugin, who served his fifth season in that capacity. Members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA), the Commodores played eight home games in Nashville, Tennessee and finished the season with a record of 7–2–1 overall and 3–0–1 in SIAA.
| 1908 Vanderbilt Commodores football | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association |
| Record | 7–2–1 (3–0–1 SIAA) |
| Head coach |
|
| Offensive scheme | Short punt |
| Captain | John Vaughn Blake |
| Home stadium | Dudley Field |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LSU + | 2 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Auburn + | 4 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vanderbilt | 3 | – | 0 | – | 1 | 7 | – | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tennessee | 3 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Tech | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia | 2 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alabama | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 6 | – | 1 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sewanee | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 4 | – | 1 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mississippi A&M | 1 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ole Miss | 0 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercer | 0 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clemson | 0 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nashville | – | – | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On October 17, 1908 Vanderbilt played the school's 137th game, against Clemson. Winning the contest 41–0 for the schools' 100th victory. 1908 was a down year for Vanderbilt with a wealth of sophomores; guided shrewdly by McGugin to its success.[1]
Schedule
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 26 | Southwestern Presbyterian* | W 11–5 | ||||
| October 3 | Maryville (TN)* |
| W 32–0 | |||
| October 10 | Rose Polytechnic* |
| W 32–0 | |||
| October 17 | Clemson |
| W 41–0 | |||
| October 24 | Ole Miss |
| W 29–0 | |||
| October 31 | at Michigan* | L 6–24 | ||||
| November 7 | Tennessee |
| W 16–9 | [2] | ||
| November 14 | Ohio State* |
| L 6–17 | |||
| November 21 | 3:00 p.m. | at Washington University* | W 28–0 | 6,000 | [3][4] | |
| November 26 | Sewanee |
| T 6–6 | |||
| ||||||
Game summaries
Michigan
Before Vanderbilt played Michigan, Louis Hasslock had been on duty at Reelfoot Lake with a militia who were to guard against night riders. When he learned he could be granted a leave of absence if he were to join his football team, he walked a distance of twenty miles through a country infested with night riders, and caught a train at Union City.[6]
Tennessee
The Volunteers had compiled four wins in conference play. It was widely considered the best Tennessee football season up to that point.[7] Vanderbilt won the match between the two schools 16 to 9.
Walker Leach made a 41-yard field goal to put the Vols up 4 to 0. "This seemed to arouse the local team" and Vanderbilt drove down the field for a touchdown. On a fake kick, Leach circled Vanderbilt's left end for 60 yards. Ray Morrison stopped him short of the goal.[8] Nathan Dougherty was on Tennessee's squad.
Players
Varsity letter winners
"Wearers of the V."[9]
Line
| Player | Position | Games started |
Hometown | Prep school | Height | Weight | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vaughn Blake | end | Cuero, Texas | Bowen School | 160 | 20 | ||
| Cecil Covington | end | ||||||
| Ewing Y. Freeland | tackle | Turnersville, Texas | 21 | ||||
| R. B. Hager | tackle | ||||||
| Louis Hasslock | guard | Nashville, Tennessee | Montgomery Bell Academy | 173 | 20 | ||
| Bruce McGehee | end | ||||||
| Fatty McLain | center | 196 | 23 | ||||
| Andrew Powell | guard | ||||||
| E. B. Ross | guard |
Backfield
| Player | Position | Games started |
Hometown | Prep school | Height | Weight | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guy Crawford | halfback | ||||||
| Will Metzger | halfback | Nashville, Tennessee | 6'1" | 175 | 18 | ||
| Ray Morrison | quarterback | Sugar Branch, Indiana | McTyiere School for Boys | 23 | |||
| David Morton | fullback | Louisville, Kentucky | Branham & Hughes School | ||||
| Henry Williams | halfback |
References
- Edwin Pope. Football's Greatest Coaches. pp. 340, 342.
- "Gold and black of Vanderbilt". The Nashville American. November 8, 1908. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Cayou's Eleven In Shape For Great Battle". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. November 21, 1908. p. 8. Retrieved July 17, 2023 – via Newspapers.com
. - "Washington U. Beaten by the Forward Pass". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. November 22, 1908. p. 1S. Retrieved July 17, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
- "Coaching Records Game by Game: Dan McGugin 1908". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
- "Walks Many Miles To Join Football Team". The Winchester News. October 30, 1908.
- Fields, Bud; Bertucci, Bob (1982). Big Orange: a pictorial history of University of Tennessee football. p. 34. ISBN 9780880110716.
- "Vanderbilt Athletics". Vanderbilt University Quarterly. 9: 28–35. 1909.
- "Meeting of the Executive Committee". Vanderbilt University Quarterly. 9: 35. 1909.