1908 Tennessee Volunteers football team

The 1908 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 1908 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. The season was the second of head coach George Levene's three-year tenure.[1]

1908 Tennessee Volunteers football
ConferenceSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record7–2 (3–2 SIAA)
Head coach
CaptainWalker Leach
Home stadiumWaite Field
Seasons
← 1907
1909 →
1908 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf Overall
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        
  • + – Conference co-champions

Schedule edit

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 3North Carolina*W 12–0[2]
October 10Maryville (TN)*
  • Waite Field
  • Knoxville, TN
W 39–5[3]
October 17Kentucky State College*
W 7–0[4]
October 24Georgia
W 10–0[5]
October 31at Georgia TechW 6–52,000[6]
November 7at VanderbiltL 9–16[7]
November 14Clemson
  • Waite Field
  • Knoxville, TN
W 6–5[8]
November 21Chattanooga*
  • Waite Field
  • Knoxville, TN
W 35–6[9]
November 26at AlabamaL 0–44,000[10]
  • *Non-conference game

Game summaries edit

North Carolina edit

Fullback Clarence McCollum returned a fumble 75 yards against North Carolina.[11]

Maryville edit

In the second week of play, the Vols beat Maryville 39–5.

Kentucky State edit

Tennessee celebrated the victory over Kentucky State 7–0, as they were outweighed 10 pounds to the man. A 40-yard run by Leach set up an offtackle run by Peery.[12]

Georgia edit

Leach scored all of Tennessee's points in the 10–0 victory over Georgia with a 30-yard fumble return for a touchdown and a 40-yard field goal.[13]

Georgia Tech edit

Tennessee defeated John Heisman's Georgia Tech team 6–5, "in a game in which they clearly outplayed the Yellow Jackets". Tech scored first thanks to three consecutive completed forward passes. Perry scored Tennessee's touchdown. He scored another just after the referee blew the whistle to end the contest.[14]

At Vanderbilt edit

 
Ray Morrison saved a touchdown in 1908.

1908 was a down year for Vanderbilt with a wealth of sophomores; guided shrewdly by McGugin to its success.[15] 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.[16]

Clemson edit

Tennessee also edged Clemson 6–5.

Chattanooga edit

The Vols beat Chattanooga 39–5.

Alabama edit

Alabama surprised with the 4 to 0 victory over Tennessee to close the season.[17]

Postseason edit

Walker Leach and Nathan Dougherty were selected All-Southern. Vanderbilt coach Dan McGugin noted "All things considered, Leach was perhaps the best football player of the year in Dixie."[18]

References edit

  1. ^ Fields, Bud; Bertucci, Bob (1982). Big Orange: a pictorial history of University of Tennessee football. p. 34. ISBN 9780880110716.
  2. ^ "Tennessee 12, Carolina 0 - Tar Heels unable to score against their strong opponents at Knoxville". Charlotte Daily Observer. October 4, 1908. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Tennessee's easy victory - had no trouble in running up score on Maryville". The Sunday Times. October 11, 1908. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Tennessee 7, Kentucky 0". The Courier-Journal. October 18, 1908. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Georgia loses to Tennessee". The Atlanta Constitution. October 25, 1908. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Tennessee won fierce game from Tech". The Atlanta Constitution. November 1, 1908. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Gold and black of Vanderbilt". The Nashville American. November 8, 1908. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Clemson defeated by one point, that's all". The Journal and Tribune. November 15, 1908. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Tennessee gets fright when Green rushes across goal with pigskin". The Sunday Times. November 22, 1908. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Tennessee fell before Alabama". The Knoxville Sentinel. November 27, 1908. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ Woodruff 1928, p. 215
  13. ^ Woodruff 1928, p. 217
  14. ^ Woodruff 1928, p. 220
  15. ^ Edwin Pope (1956). Football's Greatest Coaches. pp. 340, 342.
  16. ^ "Vanderbilt Athletics". Vanderbilt University Quarterly. 9: 28–35. 1909.
  17. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ^ Spalding's Football Guide. Shawnee Mission, Kansas, NCAA Publishing Service. 1909. p. 75.

Additional sources edit

  • Woodruff, Fuzzy (1928). A History of Southern Football 1890–1928. Vol. 1.