The Quantico Marines Devil Dogs football team represented the

Quantico Marine Base Marine Corps Base Quantico (commonly abbreviated MCB Quantico) is a United States Marine Corps installation located near Triangle, Virginia, covering nearly of southern Prince William County, Virginia, northern Stafford County, and southeaste ...

in the sport of

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

, playing 51 seasons between 1919 and 1972. Composed of

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

personnel, many of whom had college football experience, the team competed primarily against other military teams and college teams, along with an annual game against the

Baltimore City Fire Department The Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1797 and established in 1859, the Baltimore City Fire Department covers an area of o ...

from 1929 to 1942. The Devil Dogs registered wins against college programs such as Georgetown,

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

, and Villanova, and were the only team to score a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

against the undefeated 1923 Michigan Wolverines.

History

The " Devil Dogs" football program began after World War I, encouraged by Marine Corps General

Smedley Butler Major general (United States), Major General Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881June 21, 1940), nicknamed the "Maverick Marine", was a senior United States Marine Corps Officer (armed forces), officer who fought in the Philippine–American ...

, for whom the team's stadium was later named. Head coach Lt. John Beckett led the team to back-to-back undefeated seasons in 1921 and 1922. Before a crowd of 16,000 in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

in 1921, the Marines defeated the Third Army Corps, who were coached by Major

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

, by a score of 20–0. Frank Goettge was the backfield star of the 1921 team.

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

, after seeing Goettge play against the Third Army Corps one year, wrote: "Today, for today at least, I saw my greatest all-time football player; for today at least greater than

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Nativ ...

on a good day. The big fellow's name is Frank Goettge. He is a young Marine Lieutenant from Ohio." Goettge, who rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, would die on Guadalcanal in 1942. The major highlights of the 1922 season were a 9–6 victory over Georgetown, an

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power at the time, and a 13–12 victory over Third Army Corps. The game with Third Army Corps was held in Baltimore before 50,000 fans including 12,000 Marines, the Secretaries of War and the Navy, Governors of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia and 100 members of Congress. The Marines saw their winning streak end with a 6–0 loss to VMI in the 1923 season opener. Quantico would only lose one other game during the season, a 26–6 defeat at

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. "Support for the team reached an all-time high during a game against the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, during the Corps’ anniversary in 1923. Thousands of Marines and fans traveled from Quantico on special trains to attend the game. Many of the Marines spent their entire month's paycheck and more just to pay for the venture." A "mixup in the official timekeeper's record" resulted in the first quarter lasting 33 minutes, thus the first half was 48 minutes long rather than a regulation 30 minutes. Despite the two losses, the 1923 team shutout six teams during the season, including a 39–0 victory over Villanova. Tom Keady - Lehigh

The Marines improved in 1924, winning each of their games except for a 13–13 tie with Vanderbilt. This would prove to be Beckett's last year coaching the Marines. In four seasons, they were 30–2–2 for a winning percentage.

Tom Keady John Thomas Keady (August 18, 1882 – February 12, 1964) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Lehigh University from 1912 to 1920, at the University of Vermont from 1921 to ...

took over the head coaching duties for the 1925 season, but Quantico didn't fare as well, finishing with a 6–3–1 record. But Keady would return the Marines to the ranks of the undefeated, coaching the team to a 10–0 record in 1927. Keady compiled a 45–12–3 record ( winning percentage) as head coach from 1925 to 1930. From 1931 through 1942, the team had multiple head coaches, with only Bill Beatty serving as head coach for more than a single season, in 1935 and 1936. Statistically, the best season of this era was 1934, when the team was 7–1, losing only to the Sewanee Athletic Club. Due to World War II, no team was fielded during 1943–1945. When competition resumed in 1946, the team went 3–8 while playing mainly against other military teams. In 1947, the team improved to 12–1 while again playing mostly against military teams, losing only to

Washington and Lee , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexington ...

in the first game of the season. The Marines had another undefeated season in 1948 (13–0), including shutouts over eight teams. A 27-game winning streak would end in 1949, with a 29–7 loss to Xavier. Xavier would win a 34–13 rematch in 1950, but one highlight of the season was a 61–21 win over the VPI Gobblers (now known as the

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 v ...

) with the Devil Dogs led by

Eddie LeBaron Edward Wayne LeBaron Jr. (January 7, 1930 – April 1, 2015) was a Korean War veteran and an American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the Col ...

at quarterback. The 1956 squad would not only beat Xavier (27–13), but also Boston College (20–6), en route to a 9–3 record. The 1958 Marines pulled off an upset of 9–0

(ranked No. 19), 13–12. Coach Capt. Will Overgaard led the Marines to an 11–0 record in 1959, the last undefeated season for Quantico. The 1962 season would see five games canceled because of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and two games were canceled in 1963 because of the

assassination of President Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle wi ...

. In the 1965 season finale at Butler Stadium, Quantico (a two-touchdown underdog) pulled off an upset of

Memphis State } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Ea ...

, 20–14. In 1972, Quantico would play their last season of football, under head coach Ron Eckert. The Marines beat

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

(24–0) late in the season, and Xavier (34–0) in the season finale to finish with an 8–4 record. The program was discontinued by

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Robert E. Cushman, Commandant of the Marine Corps, who stated that "continued personnel and financial support for football could not be justified" due to rising costs.

Yearly records

Source:

Military titles

Source:

Military bowl games

The Devil Dogs are known to have participated in six military bowl games, with a record of 4–2.

Notable personnel

Multiple players and coaches with the team ultimately became general officers in the Marine Corps, including: *

Chester R. Allen Chester Robinson Allen (February 6, 1905 – April 10, 1972) was decorated officer of the United States Marine Corps with the rank of major general. He spent his career mostly in Quartermaster Department of the Marine Corps beginning in the fiel ...

(tackle 1930) *

Caleb Bailey Caleb Thayer "Zeke" Bailey (August 28, 1898 – January 13, 1957) was a decorated officer and naval aviator in the United States Marine Corps with the rank of brigadier general. An excellent athlete while at the University of Maryland, he di ...

(center 1923–1926; assistant coach 1928–1929) *

Joseph C. Burger Joseph Charles Burger (May 11, 1902 – February 1, 1982) was a decorated United States Marine Corps officer and college athlete. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant general (United States), lieutenant general and concluded his career as comman ...

(tackle 1925–1926, 1931; assistant coach 1928, 1931–1932) * William S. Fellers (back 1922–1923) * Harry B. Liversedge (end 1920; tackle 1921–1924; assistant coach 1925–1926, 1929) * George R. E. Shell (end 1932; athletic officer 1937) *

Austin Shofner Brigadier General Austin Conner Shofner (March 3, 1916 – November 13, 1999) was a United States Marine Corps officer who was captured during the Battle of Corregidor and then part of the only successful escape from a Japanese prisoner of war c ...

(head coach 1946) *

William J. Whaling William John Whaling (February 26, 1894 – November 20, 1989) was a highly decorated Major general (United States), Major general in the United States Marine Corps and an expert in jungle warfare during the Pacific War. He also competed as a ...

(end 1922–1923) * Frederick L. Wieseman (assistant coach 1936) Source:

Notes

References

{{Quantico Marines Devil Dogs football navbox American football teams established in 1919 American football teams disestablished in 1972 1919 establishments in Virginia 1972 disestablishments in Virginia