The 1901 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
during the
1901 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. The Commodores were coached by
Walter H. Watkins in his first year as head coach.
Before the season
Going into the season, the team was built around a veteran nucleus of
John Edgerton, Walter Simmons, Hughes, Booth, and Davis. The line was light, but made up for with its aggressiveness.
Starting
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Fred Hume weighed just 122 pounds.
Schedule
Season summary
Week 1: Kentucky State
On opening day, the Commodores defeated Kentucky State 22–0, looking much faster than the visitors.
[ ]
The starting lineup was Williamson (left end), Lawler (left tackle), Hughes (left guard) Perry (center), Crutchfield (right guard), Booth (right tackle), Simmons (right end), Hume (quarterback), Davis (left halfback), Kyle (right halfback), Tigert (fullback).
[
]
Week 2: Centre
In the second week of play, Vanderbilt beat Centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
* Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
25–0.
Week 3: Georgia
The Commodores defeated coach William A. Reynolds
William Ayres Reynolds (December 30, 1874 – August 10, 1928) was an American football player and coach of football and baseball. He played scrub football at Princeton University, serving as team captain in 1894, and served as the head football ...
' Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...
48–0, avenging the loss by the same score last year to Reynolds' Tar Heels.
Week 4: Auburn
Vanderbilt beat Auburn
Auburn may refer to:
Places Australia
* Auburn, New South Wales
* City of Auburn, the local government area
*Electoral district of Auburn
*Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region
*Auburn, South Australia
*Auburn, Tasmania
*Aub ...
41–0, in a game that was "extremely disappointing and slow."
Week 5: Washington University in St. Louis
The Washington University Bears gave the Commodores their only loss of the season, 12–11. Vanderbilt quarterback Fred Hume made a 50-yard gain, setting up John Edgerton's touchdown.[ Washington fought hard and responded with a touchdown drive, with Cassell making the score. Washington made the extra point, and went up 6–5. Bryan scored another touchdown for Vanderbilt to make the score 11–6 at the half. Washington's Smith scored a touchdown in the second half, and Lehman kicked goal for the win.][
The starting lineup was McLean (left end), Lawler (left tackle), Hughes (left guard) Perry (center), Crutchfield (right guard), Booth (right tackle), Simmons (right end), Hume (quarterback), Bryan (right halfback), Edgerton (fullback).][ ]
Week 6: Tennessee
Vanderbilt beat Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
22–0. John Edgerton scored three touchdowns and John J. Tigert
John James Tigert IV (February 11, 1882 – January 21, 1965) was an American university president, university professor and administrator, college sports coach and the U.S. Commissioner of Education. Tigert was a native of Tennessee and the ...
scored another.[ ]
The starting lineup was McLean (left end), Lawler (left tackle), Hughes (left guard) Perry (center), Crutchfield (right guard), Bryan (right tackle), Simmons (right end), Hume (quarterback), Tigert (left halfback), Kyle (right halfback), Edgerton (fullback).[
]
Week 7: Sewanee
Coach Billy Suter
Herman Milton "Billy" Suter (December 10, 1874 – October 31, 1946) was an American football and baseball player, coach, referee, and athletic director. He was also a newspaper publisher.
Early life
Suter was born on December 10, 1874 in Greensb ...
's Sewanee Tigers
The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 Province 4 of the Epis ...
fought the Commodores to a scoreless tie despite Vanderbilt gaining 367 yards. Twice the Commodores were stopped at the 1-yard line.[
]
Week 8: University of Nashville
The 1901 team was likely the best football team in University of Nashville
University of Nashville was a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It was established in 1806 as Cumberland College. It existed as a distinct entity until 1909; operating at various times a medical school, a four-year military college, a ...
( Peabody) history. Coached by Charley Moran
Charles Barthell Moran (February 22, 1878 – June 14, 1949), nicknamed "Uncle Charley", was an American sportsman who gained renown as both a catcher and umpire in Major League Baseball and as a collegiate and professional American football coa ...
, the team defeated Sewanee Sewanee may refer to:
* Sewanee, Tennessee
* Sewanee: The University of the South
* ''The Sewanee Review'', an American literary magazine established in 1892
* Sewanee Natural Bridge
* Saint Andrews-Sewanee School
See also
* Suwanee (disambiguati ...
39–6 "and mopped up with about everything else."[ ] The Commodores practiced in secret for ten days in preparation.[ Vanderbilt faced Nashville on ]Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden a ...
and won 10–0 in front of 4 to 5,000 spectators,[ ] using "Harvard tactics." After thirty minutes of gameplay, John Edgerton scored a touchdown taking the wind out of the sails of Nashville rooters. A riot broke out downtown the next day. According to the account of the event in the Nashville Banner (repudiated in the Hustler), the trouble started when a number of Vanderbilt students "tried to paint the stone fence of the University of Nashville yellow and black."[
]
References
{{SIAA football champions
Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt Commodores football seasons
Vanderbilt Commodores football
The Vanderbilt Commodores football program represents Vanderbilt University in the sport of American football. The Commodores compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the East Divis ...