1892 Maryland Aggies football team

The 1892 Maryland Aggies football team represented the Maryland Agricultural College (now the University of Maryland) in the 1892 college football season. It was the first football team to officially represent the school.[1] Maryland played three games, all of which it lost, and failed to score any points. Halfback Pearse "Shorty" Prough gained the only positive yardage for the team against Episcopal High School. He netted 35 yards from scrimmage after first running 30 yards in the wrong direction.[2][3] It remained the only winless Maryland team until matched by the 1967 squad coached by Bob Ward.[4]

1892 Maryland Aggies football
ConferenceIndependent
Record0–3
Head coach
CaptainDick Pue
Seasons
1893 →
1892 Southern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Centre     6 0 0
Biddle     1 0 0
Furman     1 0 0
Mercer     1 0 0
North Carolina A&M     1 0 0
Virginia Military     4 0 1
Wake Forest     4 0 1
Johns Hopkins     7 1 0
North Carolina     5 1 0
Central (KY)     4 1 0
Sewanee     5 1 1
Navy     5 2 0
Georgetown     4 2 1
Virginia     3 2 1
Vanderbilt     4 4 0
Alabama     2 2 0
Auburn     2 2 0
Georgia     1 1 0
Virginia A&M     1 1 0
Western Maryland     0 0 1
Richmond     2 3 0
Delaware     1 2 2
Kentucky A&M     2 4 1
Tennessee     2 5 0
Trinity (NC)     1 3 0
Hampden–Sydney     0 1 0
Livingstone     0 1 0
Maryville (TN)     0 1 0
South Carolina     0 1 0
Georgia Tech     0 3 0
Maryland     0 3 0

Schedule

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DateOpponentSiteResult
October 15at St. John's (MD)Annapolis, MDL 0–50
November 5at Johns HopkinsL 0–62
November 19Episcopal High SchoolAlexandria, VAL 0–16

Season summary

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Teams composed mostly of MAC students were fielded in 1890 and 1891, but the 1892 squad was the first officially sponsored by the college. Dick Pue was elected captain as the only member to return from the unofficial 1891 "varsity". The Aggies opened the season against St. John's College, which had fielded a team since 1885. The game was held on October 15 in Annapolis and attended by a large crowd. Many of the spectators had traveled to also attend the NavyPrinceton game on the same day. Maryland was overmatched in all aspects and was routed by St. John's, 50–0.[5]

On November 5, the Aggies traveled by the B&O Railroad to face Johns Hopkins at Clifton Park in Baltimore. The heavier Hopkins team scored a touchdown in the game's first 40 seconds on its way to a 62–0 victory. The Baltimore American judged Prough, Rollins, Strickler, and Worthington as Maryland's best players of the game.[5]

Maryland closed the season against Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia. Episcopal controlled the game and won, 16–0. Halfback Pearse "Shorty" Prough recovered an Episcopal fumble and ran in the wrong direction 30 yards before realizing his error and changing course for a net gain of 35 yards to the opponent's 15-yard line. According to later accounts from eyewitnesses described in King of American Football in 1952, it may have been the Aggies' only positive yardage of the game. Episcopal's school newspaper, the Monthly Chronicle wrote, "Runs by [Episcopal's] Prof. Mead and Conrad were followed by Whaley dropping the ball. Prough picks it up and, forgetting himself, starts off for the wrong goal. He regains his self-possession, however, in time to turn and, by a pretty piece of running, make a net gain in the end." The Chronicle added that Maryland "showed an unaccreditable ignorance of football."[5]

Personnel

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The members of the 1892 team were:[4][6]

 
J. G. Bannon
 
Samuel Harding
  • Simon Grisard, fullback
  • Samuel "Pop" Harding, tackle/guard: (January 19, 1873 – May 19, 1919) born in Highland, Maryland, he graduated with a B.S. through the Scientific Course in 1895. Harding worked for the Water Department in Washington, D.C., first as a skilled laborer and eventually working his way to the position of foreman.[18]
  • Roland L. Harrison, halfback: born May 4, 1875, in Charlotte Hall, Maryland, he graduated with a B.S. through the Scientific Course in 1895. Harrison worked as a topographer for the U.S. Geological Survey.[18]
  • James W. Lawson, tackle: born September 13, 1873, in Fountain Mills, Maryland, he graduated with a B.S. through the Scientific Course in 1893. He then studied chemistry, physics, and mathematics at Johns Hopkins University. Lawson worked in the railroad transportation business for the B&O Railroad and the Southern Railway.[19]
  • Will McDonald, end
  • Parker Mitchell, guard
  • Pearse "Shorty" Prough, halfback/quarterback: (August 15, 1873 – March 29, 1952) he worked as a country squire near Sykesville, Maryland.[5] Born to parents George Marion and Georgia Anna (née Choate) Prough, he married Mary née DeVeries on September 27, 1927, and the couple had two sons and two daughters.[20]
  • R. R. "Dick" Pue, guard/center and captain: he graduated with a B.S. through the Scientific Course in 1894 and died sometime before 1914.[21]
  • William T. L. "Sherman" Rollins, halfback: he graduated with a B.S. through the Scientific Course in 1896 and worked as a supervisor of the census and inspector for the Post Office in Seat Pleasant, Maryland.[22]
 
William W. Skinner

Manager:

  • Sothoron Key graduated with a B.S. through the Scientific Course in 1894 and an M.S. in 1902. He worked as a physician in Washington, D.C.[21]

References

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  1. ^ The Reveille, p. 76, Published by the Senior Class of the Maryland Agricultural College, 1897.
  2. ^ David Ungrady, Tales from the Maryland Terrapins, 2003, p. 5, Sports Publishing LLC.
  3. ^ Maryland Football's Not-so-Auspicious Start Archived 2010-06-07 at the Wayback Machine, Outlook Online, University of Maryland, September 20, 2005.
  4. ^ a b All-Time Lettermen Archived 2018-10-26 at the Wayback Machine, p. 17–22, 2007 Terrapin Football Record Book, University of Maryland, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c d Morris Allison Bealle, Kings of American Football: The University of Maryland, 1890–1952, pp. 15–16, Columbia Publishing Co., 1952.
  6. ^ Morris Allison Bealle, Kings of American Football: The University of Maryland, 1890–1952, p. 13, Columbia Publishing Co., 1952.
  7. ^ a b c Alumni Record of the Maryland Agricultural College: 1914, Maryland Agricultural College, p. 42, 1914.
  8. ^ Michael Bannon, MSA SC 3520-1656, Archives of Maryland, Biographical Series, retrieved October 4, 2011.
  9. ^ Alumni Record, p. 33.
  10. ^ Barnes Compton, MSA SC 3520-1545, Archives of Maryland, Biographical Series, retrieved October 4, 2011.
  11. ^ a b Clifton E. Fuller, Ancestry.com, retrieved October 4, 2011.
  12. ^ 4,000 U. Of M. Alumni Due At Home-Coming Today, The Baltimore Sun, Oct 31, 1953.
  13. ^ Maryland's Second City; Mountains Mold Cumberland, The Baltimore Sun, May 12, 1946.
  14. ^ a b Oft-Repeated Story, Cumberland Times November 3, 1957.
  15. ^ Football, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 19, 1952.
  16. ^ Knights Of The Golden Eagle, The Baltimore Sun, May 30, 1909.
  17. ^ Alumni Record, p. 36.
  18. ^ a b Alumni Record, p. 44.
  19. ^ Alumni Record, p. 37.
  20. ^ The Prough Genealogy Pages, The Prough Family History, retrieved December 16, 2010.
  21. ^ a b c Alumni Record, p. 41.
  22. ^ Alumni Record, p. 52.
  23. ^ MAC TO MILLENNIUM: Commencement Speakers Archived 2017-08-11 at the Wayback Machine, University of Maryland, retrieved August 8, 2010.
  24. ^ Alumni Record, pp. 44–47.
  25. ^ Will Skinner Archived 2013-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved June 2, 2010.
  26. ^ Sylvia Badger, U-Md.'s Hall of Fame opens its doors, The Baltimore Sun, April 28, 1995.
  27. ^ Bealle, p. 11.