The 1927 Southern Conference football season was the

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

games played by the member schools of the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

as part of the 1927 college football season. The season began on September 17. Games were permitted after Thanksgiving for the first time in the conference. Georgia's " dream and wonder team" was deemed the national champion by some selectors (the Boand System and

Poling System The Poling System was a mathematical rating system used to select college football national championship teams on a current basis from 1935 to 1984. Its selections were published in the ''Football Review Supplement'' and several newspapers.

), even though it was upset 12–0 in the rain at the end of the season by would-be SoCon champion

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. Prior to the game, Georgia was ranked #1 by the authoritative

Dickinson System The Dickinson System was a mathematical point formula that awarded national championships in college football. Devised by University of Illinois economics professor Frank G. Dickinson, the system crowned national champions from 1925 to 1940. Dicki ...

. Coach

Robert Neyland Robert Reese Neyland (; February 17, 1892 – March 28, 1962) was an American football player and coach and officer in the United States Army, reaching the rank of brigadier general. He served three stints as the head football coach at the Univ ...

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 ...

and

Jack McDowall John Witherspoon McDowall (June 26, 1905 – May 25, 1969), known as "Spindle Legs", was an American football, baseball, basketball player and track athlete at North Carolina State University. McDowall was recognized as an All-Southern footb ...

-led

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

also posted undefeated conference records and had claims to conference titles. Vanderbilt

back The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column runs ...

Jimmy Armistead James Cate Armistead (August 29, 1905 – March 1984) was an American college football player. Early years James Cate Armistead was born on August 29, 1905 in Nashville, Tennessee to Wirt Mayo Armistead and Sarah Adeline Cate. High school Ar ...

led the nation in scoring with 138 points, in no small part due to quarterback

Bill Spears William Douglas Spears (August 31, 1906 – December 31, 1992) known as "Bounding Bill Spears" was an American football player and stand-out quarterback for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt Commodores football teams from 1925 to 1927. Spears was elected ...

. One fellow wrote Vanderbilt produced "almost certainly the legit top Heisman candidate in Spears, if there had been a

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

to award in 1927." After

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

had an unexpected loss to Davidson, captain Frank Oosterhoudt was declared ineligible, and replaced at captain by Bill Middlekauff. With Middlekauff at captain, Florida suffered its only further losses to powers Georgia and NC State. Ole Miss won the first

Egg Bowl The Egg Bowl (traditionally named the “Battle for the Golden Egg”) is the name given to the Mississippi State–Ole Miss football rivalry. It is an American college football rivalry game played annually between Southeastern Conference membe ...

with a trophy in 1927, led by players Ap Applewhite,

Sollie Cohen Sollie Herman "Jew" Cohen (September 6, 1907 – April 1, 1966) was a college football player and later a businessman of Lake Providence, Louisiana. Early years Cohen's parents were Jews from Russia. He was from Delta City, Mississippi and at ...

and V. K. Smith. Clemson hired

Josh Cody Joshua Crittenden Cody (June 11, 1892 – June 17, 1961) was an American college athlete, head coach, and athletics director. Cody was a native of Tennessee and an alumnus of Vanderbilt University, where he played several sports. As a versatil ...

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Key PPG = Average of points scored per game
PAG = Average of points allowed per game

Regular season

SoCon teams in bold.

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

Week Five

Week Six

Week Seven

Week Eight

Week Nine

Week Ten

Week Eleven

Week Twelve

Awards and honors

All-Americans

*E – Tom Nash,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

(AP-3; UP-3; COL-1; INS; NANA; HE-1; DJW-1; BE-3; LP-1; AAB) *E – Chick Shiver, Georgia (AP-1; UP-1; NEA; CP-2; HE-2; DJW-3; NYS-1; BE-1; LP-2) *T – Fred Pickhard,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

(UP-2; CP-2) *G – John Barnhill,

(AP-2) *G – Gene Smith, Georgia (AP-3) *C –

Elvin Butcher Elvin Oscar Butcher (February 9, 1907 – June 6, 1957) was a college football and basketball player for the Tennessee Volunteers of the University of Tennessee. University of Tennessee Football Butcher was a prominent football player for Rober ...

, Tennessee (DJW-2) *QB –

, Vanderbilt (AP-1; UP-2; INS; NANA; CP-2; HE-3; DJW-1; LP-2) *FB –

Herdis McCrary Herdis William "Bull" McCrary (June 9, 1904 – May 11, 1981) was an American football player. College career He played at the fullback position for the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team. In 1927, he was a member of the "Dream an ...

, Georgia (AP-2; UP-2; HE-3; DJW-2)

All-Southern team

The following includes the composite All-Southern team compiled by the ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

References

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