The 1927 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 ...

in the

1927 Southern Conference football season The 1927 Southern Conference football season was the college football games played by the member schools of the Southern Conference as part of the 1927 college football season. The season began on September 17. Games were permitted after Thanksg ...

. The 1927 season was

Dan McGugin Daniel Earle McGugin (July 29, 1879 – January 23, 1936) was an American football player and coach, as well as a lawyer. He served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee from 1904 to 1917 and again from ...

's 23rd year as head coach.

Running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Th ...

Jimmy Armistead led the nation in scoring in 1927 with 138 points. The team's

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 Am ...

was

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 Vanderbilt Commodores footba ...

. 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 har ...

to award in 1927."

Schedule

Season summary

Chattanooga

Vanderbilt started the season with a 45–18 victory over

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. Chattanooga did not lose another game and was champion of the

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football programs were members of this conferen ...

Ouachita

In the second week of play, Ouachita was defeated 39–10.

Centre

Vanderbilt overwhelmed Centre 53–6.

Texas

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, the Commodores suffered the season's only loss to

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

13–6. Texas scored on a 20-yard pass from Baldwin to Ford, and on a run from Baldwin. Vanderbilt's lone score came on a 16-yard pass to Owens. Spears fought three Texans as he threw the pass. The starting lineup was Kelly (left end), Lusky (left tackle), Cecil (left guard), V. Sharpe (center), Oliver (right guard), Abernathy (right tackle), Creson (right end), Spears (quarterback), McIlwain (left halfback), Owen (right halfback), Armistead (fullback).

Tulane

Bernie Bierman Bernard W. Bierman (March 11, 1894 – March 7, 1977) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He coached from 1919 to 1950 except for a span during World War II when he served in the U.S. armed forces. Bierman was t ...

thought of ditching his single-wingback formation after the 32–0 win over Tulane, and was convinced to keep it by McGugin. The starting lineup was Abernathy (left end), Hawkins (left tackle), Kelly (left guard), V. Sharpe (center), Cecil (right guard), Lusky (right tackle), Creson (right end), Spears (quarterback), Owen (left halfback), McIlwain (right halfback), Armistead (fullback).

Kentucky

Kentucky was beaten 34–6. The starting lineup was James (left end), Hawkins (left tackle), Kelly (left guard), Oliver (center), Cecil (right guard), Lusky (right tackle), Creson (right end), Spears (quarterback), Owen (left halfback), McIlwain (right halfback), Armistead (fullback).

Georgia Tech

A wet field and a strong defense, ranked by one researcher as best in the South, helped

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 ...

reassert itself and hold Vanderbilt to a scoreless tie, despite the Commodores having the upper hand in play. A strong game had been predicted, showcasing each team's backfield stars in

Stumpy Thomason John Griffin "Stumpy" Thomason (February 24, 1906 – April 30, 1989) was a professional American football player who played running back for seven seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football for th ...

of Tech and

of Vanderbilt. Vernon Sharpe suffered a knee injury before the game. The starting lineup was Abernathy (left end), Hawkins (left tackle), Kelly (left guard), V. Sharpe (center), Cecil (right guard), Lusky (right tackle), Creson (right end), Spears (quarterback), Owen (left halfback), McIlwain (right halfback), Armistead (fullback)

Tennessee

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 ...

was hired to coach Tennessee in 1926 by

Nathan Dougherty Nathan Washington "Big'n" Dougherty (March 23, 1886 – May 18, 1977) was a Hall of Fame college football player for the Tennessee Volunteers football team. He later became the Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Tenne ...

with the explicit goal to "even the score with Vanderbilt", and had his first great team in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

. McGugin's Commodores led 7–0 until a late Dick Dodson run tied the score. "After the game McGugin questioned each of his players as to his whereabouts during the run. Without exception the players claimed that two men had blocked them. McGugin shrugged. "Well, we'll just protest the play. It's perfectly obvious that Tennessee had twenty-two men on the field." Vanderbilt center Vernon Sharpe arguably had the better season, but was outperformed by Tennessee's Elvin Butcher. The starting lineup was Abernathy (left end), Hawkins (left tackle), James (left guard), V. Sharpe (center), Cecil (right guard), Lusky (right tackle), Creson (right end), Spears (quarterback), Owen (left halfback), McIlwain (right halfback), Armistead (fullback).

Maryland

Spears played only in the first half in the 39–20 win over Maryland, but completed 10 of 12 passes.

Sewanee

Vanderbilt defeated Sewanee 26–6. The starting lineup was Abernathy (left end), Hawkins (left tackle), Oliver (left guard), V. Sharpe (center), Cecil (right guard), Lusky (right tackle), Creson (right end), Owen (quarterback), McIlwain (left halfback), Sims (right halfback), Armistead (fullback).

Alabama

The Commodores faced

Wallace Wade William Wallace Wade (June 15, 1892 – October 7, 1986) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Alabama fro ...

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a me ...

in the season finale. Spears gained more than the entire Alabama backfield as the Commodores won 14–7. The highlight of Vanderbilt's first scoring drive was a pass from Spears to Armistead of 20 yards, down to the 3-yard line, from which Armistead later ran it in. On Alabama's scoring drive, Red Brown ran 23 yards on a reverse, down to the 4-yard line. Tony Holm eventually got the score. In the fourth quarter, Spears led the winning drive, once circling end for 34 yards, tackling by Starling just as he seemed to break free. He then passed to Larry Creson for 10 yards, ran for 6, and then 13 more around end to the 16-yard line. After Spears and Armistead worked it down to the 9-yard line, a pass to Roy Gibson got the touchdown.

Postseason

Spears passed for 1,207 yards and 9 touchdowns. An all-senior football team at the end of the year used Vandy's offensive system.

Personnel

Coaching Staff

(

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

'03), head coach * Johnny "Red" Floyd (Vanderbilt '20), assistant coach *

Lewie Hardage Lewis Woolford Hardage (February 11, 1891 – August 29, 1973) was an American college football player and college football and baseball coach. Hardage was an All-Southern halfback every year he played: 1908, 1909, 1911, and 1912—the first tw ...

(Vanderbilt '12), backfield coach * Hek Wakefield (Vanderbilt '24), end coach *

Gus Morrow Garland Augustus "Gus" Morrow (February 14, 1899 – November 4, 1987) was an American college football and college basketball player and coach. Vanderbilt "Gus" played both sports for Vanderbilt University, including football under Dan McGug ...

(Vanderbilt '22), line coach

References

Additional sources

* {{Vanderbilt Commodores football navbox Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Commodores football seasons Vanderbilt Commodores football