The 1928 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

1928 college football season The 1928 football season has both the USC Trojans and the Georgia Tech Golden Tornado claim national championships. USC was recognized as champions under the Dickinson System, but the Rose Bowl was contested between the No. 2 and No. 3 Dickinso ...

. The season began on September 22. In the annual

Rose Bowl game The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. The Rose ...

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 ...

defeated the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

by a score of 8–7. The game was notable for a play by California All-American

Roy Riegels Roy "Wrong Way" Riegels (April 4, 1908 – March 26, 1993) played for the University of California, Berkeley football team from 1927 to 1929. His wrong-way run in the 1929 Rose Bowl is often cited as the worst blunder in the history of college foo ...

in which he scooped up a Georgia Tech fumble and ran towards his own goal line. The two-point

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

on the ensuing punt proved to be the margin of victory. Georgia Tech thus claims a national championship. The

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

led the nation in scoring with 336 points, but had their undefeated campaign derailed in the final game by the South's biggest upset that season, a controversial loss to

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 ...

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

back Bill Banker led the conference in individual scoring with 128 points, tying a school record set by Peggy Flournoy in 1925 which was unbroken until 2007 by

Matt Forte Matthew Garrett Forte (born December 10, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tulane Green Wave and was drafted ...

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

Bowl games

Awards and honors

All-Americans

*E -

Dale Van Sickel Dale Harris Van Sickel (November 29, 1907 – January 25, 1977) was an American college football, basketball and baseball player during the 1920s, who later became a Hollywood motion picture actor and stunt performer for over forty years. ...

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 ...

(AP-1, NEA-1, CO-Utility, UP-HM) *E – Dick Abernathy, Vanderbilt (CP-1, UP-3) *T –

Frank Speer Frank R. Speer (May 27, 1907 – June 10, 1938) was a college football player and wrestler. College football Speer was an All-American tackle for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets of the Georgia Institute of Technology; part of its national ...

(AP-1) *T – Jimmy Steele, Florida (NEA-2) *G – Bull Brown, Vanderbilt (UP-2) *G – Bill McRae, Florida (UP-2) *C –

Peter Pund Henry Rudolph "Peter" Pund (January 27, 1907 – October 17, 1987) was an American college football player. He was elected to the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame in 1958, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1977, and the College Football Hall of Fame i ...

, Georgia Tech (CO-1, INS, NEA-1, UP-1, WC-1, CP-2, AP-3, AAB) *HB – Warner Mizell, Georgia Tech (AP-2, CP-2, INS, NANA, NEA-2, UP-2) *HB –

Clyde Crabtree Clyde Crabtree (November 3, 1905 – April 21, 1994), nicknamed "Cannonball Crabtree," was an American college and professional football player who was a halfback and quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for a single season in 1930 ...

, Florida (AP-3, NEA-3, UP-3 b *HB – Bill Banker,

(UP-2) *FB –

Gerald Snyder Gerald Theodore "Snitz" Snyder (August 6, 1905 – June 28, 1983) was an American football player and Army officer. He played college football as a back for the Maryland Terrapins at the University of Maryland. Snyder played professionally for ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

(AP-3)

All-Southern team

The followers players were picked for the composite first All-Southern team of more than one hundred sports writers and coaches 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 ...

(AP). The United Press (UP) also selected a team:

References

{{Southern Conference football navbox