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1908 Vanderbilt Commodores football
Conference Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record7–2–1 (3–0–1 SIAA)
Head coach
Offensive scheme Short punt
Captain John Vaughn Blake
Home stadium Dudley Field
Seasons
←  1907
1909 →
1908 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
LSU + 2 0 0 10 0 0
Auburn + 4 1 0 6 1 0
Vanderbilt 3 0 1 7 2 1
Tennessee 3 2 0 7 2 0
Georgia Tech 4 3 0 6 3 0
Georgia 2 2 1 5 2 1
Alabama 1 1 1 6 1 1
Sewanee 1 1 1 4 1 3
Mississippi A&M 1 3 0 3 4 0
Ole Miss 0 2 0 3 5 0
Mercer 0 3 0 3 4 0
Clemson 0 4 0 1 6 0
Nashville        
  • + – Conference co-champions

The 1908 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 1908 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. The team's head coach was Dan McGugin, who served his fifth season in that capacity. Members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA), the Commodores played eight home games in Nashville, Tennessee and finished the season with a record of 7–2–1 overall and 3–0–1 in SIAA.

On October 17, 1908, Vanderbilt played the school's 137th game, against Clemson, winning the contest 41–0 for the schools' 100th victory. 1908 was a down year for Vanderbilt with a wealth of sophomores; guided shrewdly by McGugin to its success. [1]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 26 Southwestern Presbyterian*W 11–5
October 3 Maryville (TN)*
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN
W 32–0
October 10 Rose Polytechnic*
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN
W 32–0
October 17 Clemson
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN
W 41–0
October 24 Ole Miss
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN ( rivalry)
W 29–0 [2]
October 31at Michigan*L 6–24
November 7 Tennessee
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN ( rivalry)
W 16–9 [3]
November 14 Ohio State*
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN
L 6–17
November 213:00 p.m.at Washington University*W 28–06,000 [4] [5]
November 26 Sewanee
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN ( rivalry)
T 6–6 [6]

[7]

Game summaries

Michigan

Before Vanderbilt played Michigan, Louis Hasslock had been on duty at Reelfoot Lake with a militia who were to guard against night riders. When he learned he could be granted a leave of absence if he were to join his football team, he walked a distance of twenty miles through a country infested with night riders, and caught a train at Union City. [8]

Tennessee

Ray Morrison saved a touchdown in 1908.

The Volunteers had compiled four wins in conference play. It was widely considered the best Tennessee football season up to that point. [9] Vanderbilt won the match between the two schools 16 to 9.

Walker Leach made a 41-yard field goal to put the Vols up 4 to 0. "This seemed to arouse the local team" and Vanderbilt drove down the field for a touchdown. On a fake kick, Leach circled Vanderbilt's left end for 60 yards. Ray Morrison stopped him short of the goal. [10] Nathan Dougherty was on Tennessee's squad.

Players

Varsity letter winners

"Wearers of the V." [11]

Line

Player Position Games
started
Hometown Prep school Height Weight Age
Vaughn Blake end Cuero, Texas Bowen School 160 20
Cecil Covington end
Ewing Y. Freeland tackle Turnersville, Texas 21
R. B. Hager tackle
Louis Hasslock guard Nashville, Tennessee Montgomery Bell Academy 173 20
Bruce McGehee end
Fatty McLain center 196 23
Andrew Powell guard
E. B. Ross guard

Backfield

Player Position Games
started
Hometown Prep school Height Weight Age
Guy Crawford halfback
Will Metzger halfback Nashville, Tennessee 6'1" 175 18
Ray Morrison quarterback Sugar Branch, Indiana McTyiere School for Boys 23
David Morton fullback Louisville, Kentucky Branham & Hughes School
Henry Williams halfback

References

  1. ^ Edwin Pope. Football's Greatest Coaches. pp. 340, 342.
  2. ^ "Vanderbilt victorious; Defeats Mississippi by score of 29 to 0". The Chattanooga Daily Times. October 25, 1908. Retrieved February 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Gold and black of Vanderbilt". The Nashville American. November 8, 1908. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Cayou's Eleven In Shape For Great Battle". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. November 21, 1908. p. 8. Retrieved July 17, 2023 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  5. ^ "Washington U. Beaten by the Forward Pass". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. November 22, 1908. p. 1S. Retrieved July 17, 2023 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  6. ^ "Sewanee fights Vandy a tie". The Atlanta Constitution. November 27, 1908. Retrieved December 17, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Coaching Records Game by Game: Dan McGugin 1908". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  8. ^ "Walks Many Miles To Join Football Team". The Winchester News. October 30, 1908.
  9. ^ Fields, Bud; Bertucci, Bob (1982). Big Orange: a pictorial history of University of Tennessee football. p. 34. ISBN  9780880110716.
  10. ^ "Vanderbilt Athletics". Vanderbilt University Quarterly. 9: 28–35. 1909.
  11. ^ "Meeting of the Executive Committee". Vanderbilt University Quarterly. 9: 35. 1909.