1931 Tennessee Volunteers football team

The 1931 Tennessee Volunteers football team (variously "Tennessee", "UT" or the "Vols") represented the University of Tennessee in the 1931 Southern Conference football season. Playing as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon), the team was led by head coach Robert Neyland, in his sixth year, and played their home games at Shields–Watkins Field in Knoxville, Tennessee. The 1931 Vols won nine, lost zero and tied one game (9–0–1 overall, 6–0–1 in the SoCon). On October 17, Tennessee avenged their only loss from the previous season and beat Alabama; this was the only loss for the Crimson Tide in 1931. For the third time in four years, Kentucky spoiled Tennessee's bid for a perfect season with a tie. Tennessee concluded the 1931 season on December 7 with a charity game at Yankee Stadium against NYU. The 1931 Vols outscored their opponents 243 to 15 and posted eight shutouts.

1931 Tennessee Volunteers football
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	9–0–1 (6–0–1 SoCon)
Head coach	Robert Neyland (6th season)
Offensive scheme	Single-wing
Captain	Eugene S. Mayer
Home stadium	Shields–Watkins Field

1931 Southern Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Tulane $	8	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Tennessee	6	–	0	–	1			9	–	0	–	1
Alabama	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
No. 6 Georgia	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Maryland	4	–	1	–	1			8	–	1	–	1
Kentucky	4	–	2	–	2			5	–	2	–	2
LSU	3	–	2	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
South Carolina	3	–	3	–	1			5	–	4	–	1
Duke	3	–	3	–	1			5	–	3	–	2
Auburn	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Sewanee	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	1
Vanderbilt	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
North Carolina	2	–	3	–	3			4	–	3	–	3
Washington and Lee	2	–	3	–	0			4	–	5	–	1
Florida	2	–	4	–	2			2	–	6	–	2
Georgia Tech	2	–	4	–	1			2	–	7	–	1
VMI	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	6	–	1
NC State	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
VPI	1	–	4	–	1			3	–	4	–	2
Clemson	1	–	4	–	0			1	–	6	–	2
Ole Miss	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	6	–	1
Virginia	0	–	5	–	1			2	–	6	–	1
Mississippi A&M	0	–	5	–	0			2	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from Dickinson System

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26	Maryville (TN)*	Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN	W 33–0
October 3	Clemson	Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN	W 44–0
October 10	Ole Miss	Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	W 38–0
October 17	Alabama	Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	W 25–0	23,000
October 24	at North Carolina	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	W 7–0	12,000
October 31	Duke	Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN	W 25–2	12,000
November 7	Carson–Newman*	Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN	W 31–0
November 14	Vanderbilt	Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	W 21–7	25,000
November 26	at Kentucky	McLean Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)	T 6–6	18,000
December 5	at NYU*	Yankee Stadium Bronx, NY	W 13–0	40,684
*Non-conference game Homecoming

Players

Line

Number	Player	Position	Games started	Hometown	Prep school	Height	Weight	Age
62	Malcolm Aitken	tackle
58	Bert Bibee	center
51	Thomas Bounds	tackle
31	Fritz Brandt	end
33	James Clemmer	end
61	Oscar Derryberry	end
60	James Eldridge	tackle
21	J. B. Ellis	guard
30	Milton Frank	guard
37	John Franklin	guard
57	G. B. Goodrich	guard
45	Herman Hickman	guard
25	Laird Holt	end
26	Paul Hug	end
34	Alton Mark	end
46	Talmadge Maples	center
20	Eugene S. Mayer	center
35	C. L. McPherson	end
47	David K. Mitchell	center
39	Virgil Rayburn	end
44	Ben Redman	guard
42	Ray Saunders	tackle
55	Francis Shull	end
66	B. Smith	end
23	Gordon Smith	guard
64	Howard Stewart	guard
22	J. Ralph Still	tackle
17	Herman Snipes	end
56	A. H. Voss	guard
26	Murray Warmath	end

Backfield

Number	Player	Position	Games started	Hometown	Prep school	Height	Weight	Age
41	John Allen	halfback
32	Malcolm Anderson	fullback
15	John D. Bayless	halfback
43	Deke Brackett	quarterback
40	William G. Cox	fullback
16	Theodore Disney	halfback
48	Beattie Feathers	halfback
18	Charles Kohlhase	quarterback
53	James McAuliffe	halfback
36	Ira McCollister	halfback
52	Gene McEver	halfback
38	Leo Petruzze	quarterback
63	Herman Wynn	fullback