by Sam Hatcher
On this typical Georgia day in October, the temperature was expected to reach the mid-70s by early afternoon. A little breeze provided brief wisps of relief, as there was still plenty of humidity in the air. It was going to be a long, hot afternoon for players on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
Cumberland’s tiny platoon was about to undergo an afternoon engagement that would prove to be a grueling experience for two reasons. First, the night of revelry and lack of sleep had sapped their energy, and second, a Georgia Tech team, overwhelming in size and strength, was determined to wreak havoc on the school that had victimized their coach six months ago on the Cumberland baseball diamond.
Grant Field 1913
GRANT FIELD
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The area known today as Grant Field was leased for seven years, beginning in 1904, before it was acquired and became Georgia Tech’s permanent football home. Located on the Tech campus, in its early days Grant Field proved an inadequate venue for college football.
The tract, known as “The Flats,” was uneven and peppered with rocks, and there was no place for fans to watch games except to stand along the sidelines. Coach Heisman had encouraged Tech’s Athletic Association to lease the area from the E.C. Peters Land Company. The field was renovated in 1905 when Tech students and alumni and Atlanta residents erected the first stands adjacent to the field.
In 1906 Tech received a $17,500 grant from the Georgia state legislature to enlarge the campus. Proceeds were used to purchase the tract of land that the school had been leasing for use as an athletic field.
In 1913 a $15,000 donation was made by John W. Grant to the university in memory of his deceased son, Hugh Inman Grant. These funds helped construct permanent concrete grandstands on the field’s west side. The next year Grant made a second donation to Tech. This $20,000 was used to expand the concrete bleacher seating.
On November 18, 1916, before the kickoff of a game between Tech and Georgia, the gridiron was officially named Hugh Inman Grant Field.
In 1920 John Grant, then a member of the Georgia Tech Board of Trustees, made a third contribution of $50,000 to enable the university to complete the purchase on the entire tract of land comprising the area in which Grant Field is located.
The concrete stands on the east side of Grant Field were added in 1921. After several subsequent expansions, by the early 2000s, the site now known as Bobby Dodd Stadium at Grant Field seated more than 55,000.
Donned in colors of black and gold, a growing legion of Georgia Tech fans was entering the stadium. Most of the men were sporting high-collar white and pinstriped dress shirts and three-piece suits coordinated with colorful neck ties. The fashion for women of the day was long skirts, lightweight jackets, and large, broad brim hats.
George began to feel sick in the pit of his stomach. His mind was scrambling as he tried to come up with the right words of encouragement for his team before it trotted on to the field. Only one thought registered in his head. Those final words issued by Coach Heisman after the baseball loss game: “I will get revenge.”
As game time grew nearer, Grant Field swelled to capacity with a crowd of more than 1,000.
The city of Atlanta was primed for this bout, as for weeks Heisman had been delivering blistering verbal attacks against the Bulldogs, preaching how the small Tennessee university had not played the baseball game honorably back in the spring. He was convinced that Cumberland had filled their roster with semi-pro players from Nashville.
“They were not students,” Heisman declared to anyone who would listen. “They were grown men who had been playing baseball for years and were being paid for their abilities. They were professionals.”
For some time before the day of this match, his indictment of Cumberland had been printed in Atlanta newspapers as well as papers across the country. His charge against Cumberland had been used as a rallying cry for today’s game, all a small part of Heisman’s master plan to grab the national championship.
Because of the hype engulfing the game and the magnitude of Heisman’s reputation, the gridiron duel was covered by dozens of newspapers, while the results would be filed across the nation by reporters for the Associated Press and United Press Associations (later United Press International).
Among the sports scribes covering the game was Grantland Rice, working at the time for The New York Tribune. A personal friend of the famed coach, Rice began following Heisman with his “sporting news” reports early in the coach’s career. The two collaborated to write “Understand Football,” first published in 1929.
Pregame team messages
George Allen and his counterpart John Heisman found it difficult to deliver the appropriate pre-game message to their squads.
In opposite end zones the men fumbled for the exact words to express their concerns for the match up.
Heisman wondered if George had again stacked the deck against him by bringing in a bunch of ringers from other schools or possibly even semi-pro players.
And George didn’t know to what degree Coach Heisman would make good on his promise for revenge. Could some his players, his frat brothers, get crippled? What was the worst that could happen?
GRANTLAND RICE
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Born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the famed writer stood six-feet-and-two-inches tall when he played football and baseball at Vanderbilt University where he served as captain of the Vandy nine his senior year. In the classroom he excelled in writing and preferred courses in English, literature, Latin and Greek and he graduated as a Phi Beta Kappa member.
In 1901 Rice began his career in sports writing with The Nashville Daily News, and a year later was hired as sports editor for The Atlanta Journal. He held a sports writing post with The Nashville Tennessean after his marriage in 1906, and then answered a call to write for the New York Evening Mail in 1910. His columns became a popular regiment for New York readers, and in 1914 The New York Tribune published a full page advertisement welcoming him to its staff.
After a stint in the Army during World War I Rice returned to New York in 1919 and continued his career in journalism. In 1922 Rice became the first person to call a live radio baseball play-by-play broadcast when he sat behind the microphone for the World Series.
Rice, whose sports column became syndicated and appeared in as many as 100 newspapers, also edited American Golfer magazine, authored books and poems, and wrote articles for Collier’s and Look magazines. In 1925 he succeeded Walter Camp in selecting the annual All-America football team.
Of his works, he has been quoted most for these words: “For when the one Great Scorer comes to write against your name, He marks—not that you won or lost—but how you played the game.”
Grantland Rice died of a heart attack at age 73 on July 14, 1954, in his New York City office after completing a column about Willie Mays and the 1954 All-Star game, one of more than 22,000 columns he wrote during his career.
Certainly Coach Heisman’s pep talk would be the easier of the two.
The stoic coach, age 47, began his address, saying, “Men, you likely believe this Cumberland University team will be a pushover, but let me remind you that it was not that many years ago that this school competed head to head with some of the finest team’s in the nation.
“They do not appear to have many talented players, and their equipment looks to be hand-me-downs, but looks can be deceiving. Go out there and hit them hard. Play your best. Be watchful and alert. Never quit. We have a national championship to win, but we must win this game first.”
Heisman ended his speech and then he and his team sprinted to its place on the sidelines near the 50-yard line.
Meanwhile, George was trying to pull together a few sentences himself. Unlike his masterful foe, George had never delivered a pre-game message, not at least for a game of this magnitude. The closest he had come to anything of this nature was perhaps a closing argument in a moot court proceeding.
“Fellows, I’m not sure where to begin, but let me ass
ure you that your commitment today will be recorded and long remembered,” said the student manager.
“Tech is playing this game to stay in the hunt for a national championship. You’ve volunteered for this game to win the hearts of students back home and hundreds of alumni who love Cumberland University. Despite the outcome of this contest, I promise that history will view each of you as winners and champions.
“The men we’re facing do this every day. They are big, fast and tough. Their coach has them revved tighter than a Chevy 490. And because of the trick I pulled last spring, Coach Heisman is going to do his best to beat the absolute hell out of us. If I could make that baseball game go away, I would. But I can’t turn back the clock. That one is on me, and frankly that has a lot to do with why you’re here today.
GEORGIA RIVALRY
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Clean, old-fashioned hate is the title that has been applied to the football rivalry between the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech. The two first met on the gridiron in 1893. Tech holds the record for the longest winning streak by taking eight consecutive games from 1949 to 1956. However, through the end of the 2014 season, Georgia had compiled the best record at 64–40–5.
“Go out there. Play well. Enjoy the moment and don’t take any chances. Remember all we want to do today is play this game and get back to good ole Lebanon, Tennessee, and our dear Cumberland campus in one piece. Good luck.”
The coin toss
George sent his reliable friend Gentry Dugat to the center of the field for the coin toss. Greeting Dugat from the Tech bench was “Froggie” Morrison, the Engineers star quarterback.
STAR ATHLETE: Douglas Eaton “Froggie” Morrison, a native of Dade County, Georgia, was one of Georgia Tech’s outstanding athletes. Excelling in football as a running back and quarterback, he also played catcher on Tech’s baseball team. He received numerous honors for his football talents including being voted to the All Southern team in 1915 but may best be remembered as the quarterback of the 1916 Engineers team that defeated Cumberland 222–0. After graduating from Tech the young athlete entered the Army and served in World War I. When his service was completed, he returned to Georgia where in 1933 he accepted an assistant coaching position at Tech. Born in 1893, Morrison died in 1973.
Morrison called “heads,” and the referee flipped a Liberty half dollar four feet into the air and they watched it land on the green turf.
Heads it was. Tech chose to kick off.
The team captains shook hands, exchanged best wishes, and Morrison sprinted to his sideline with an excited grin scrolled across his face. He and his accompanying 37 comrades were eager for the battle to begin. They would boot the ball toward the south end zone.
Dugat trotted casually back to his team and reported that Cumberland would be receiving the ball and have the first opportunity to score.
Tech’s starting line-up
The starting team for Georgia Tech included Jim Senter, Chitwood, Virginia; W.G. Carpenter, Newnan, Georgia; Bob Long, Atlanta, Georgia; G.M. (Pup) Phillips, Carnesville, Georgia; G.R. (Hip) West, Chattanooga, Tennessee; J.C. (Canty) Alexander, Spartanburg, South Carolina; R.S. (Si) Bell, Atlanta, Georgia; D.E. (Froggie) Morrison, Trenton, Georgia; Strup Strupper, Atlanta, Georgia; J.T. Talley Johnston, Chattanooga, Tennessee; and T.L. Tommy Spence, Thomasville, Georgia.
Other prominent players on the squad were Marshall Guill, Sparta, Georgia; Albert Hill, Washington, Georgia; Bill Fincher, Spring Place, Georgia; Jim Preas, Johnson City, Tennessee; Bud Shaver, Dayton, Georgia; John Mangham, Stone Mountain, Georgia; Wally Smith, Atlanta, Georgia; Dawson Teague, Augusta, Georgia; Curtis McRae, Norfolk, Virginia; George C. Griffin, Savannah, Georgia; and A.B. Hill, Harlan, Kentucky.
Tech’s 1916 team
THREE OFFICIALS
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During this period of football, game officiating was left to three men, an umpire, head linesman and referee. The referee had responsibilities requiring him to notify each team of penalties and other communications, explaining penalties to the offending team captain and coach, overseeing the application of first-down measurements and other matters.
The referee was positioned in the backfield of the team on offense usually about ten yards or less behind the quarterback. The referee was charged with making the final decision in the event of a disagreement concerning the rules of play.
The umpire’s duties included enforcing the rules of play, but he was also the one responsible for recording the score, the number of timeouts used by each team, and he was also the one who conducted the coin toss to determine who would kick off.
The head linesman was positioned near the line of scrimmage and was to watch for offside violations, encroachments by linemen and other wrongs that might occur near the line of scrimmage.
Tech substitutes included H.R. Dunwoody; P.O. (Frank) Pruitt, Thomaston, Georgia; A.R. (Alton) Colcord, Atlanta, Georgia; S.O. (Samuel) Fitzgerald; J.C. (Julian) Hightower; Ralph Puckett, Tifton, Georgia; Hugh Mauck, Ft. Meyers, Florida; W.F. Thweatt; W.C. Mathis; J.C. Funkhouser, Hillsborough, New Jersey; Bill Ward; C.F. (Charlie) Turner; J.W. (Wright) Brown; Stan Fellers, Rome, Georgia; W.F. (Bill) Simpson, Atlanta, Georgia; R.G. (Bob) Glover; and G.E. (George) Ansley.
The Cumberland team positioned itself to receive the game’s first kickoff.
Standing near the middle of the field, the game referee blew his whistle signaling the game had begun.
Cumberland receives first kick
Jim Preas of Johnson City, Tennessee, booms the opening kick to the 25-yard line where the Cumberland runner downs the ball immediately, not even attempting to run with the pigskin.
JIM PREAS earned his degree from Georgia Tech and shortly after graduating accepted a head coaching job at The Newport News Apprentice School in Newport News, Va. for three seasons from 1919 to 1921 establishing a better than 80 percent winning record at 18–3–1. After his coaching stint he returned to his native Johnson City where he became a successful businessman, civic leader, and was elected to the city commission.
On the first play of the game Morris Gouger runs to a small opening off left tackle for a gain of three yards. Not a bad beginning for the Bulldogs, clad in maroon jerseys.
On second down Leon McDonald plows headlong into the heart of a beefy Tech line for no gain
Cumberland elects to punt on third down. McDonald boots a 20-yard punt to Preas, who returns the kick 18 yards and sets Georgia Tech up for its first score at the Cumberland 20-yard line.
(Cumberland’s first running play, based on statistics in the record book, proved Grantland Rice wrong in his report of the game when he claimed “Cumberland’s greatest individual play of the game occurred when fullback Allen circled right end for a 6-yard loss.” The fullback in this instance was none other than George Allen himself. He inserted himself in and out of the line-up throughout the afternoon. Reliving the game later in life when speaking at public events Allen would often lament about Rice’s report on his effort.)
Everett Strup Strupper
ALABAMA’S RED ELEPHANT
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George Everett “Strup” Strupper Jr., a half-back from Columbus, Georgia, was named a consensus All-American on Heisman’s 1917 national championship team. After graduating from Tech he became an assistant football coach at Mercer for a short while and then made a career in sports writing at The Atlanta Journal. Strupper is credited with creating the red elephant mascot for the University of Alabama in an article he wrote on October 8, 1930 for the paper following an Alabama-Mississippi game in which he referred to Alabama’s lineman as “red elephants” because of their size and strength and the crimson jerseys they wore. Strupper died in 1950 at age 57 and was posthumously elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972.
In possession of the ball for the first time, Coach Heisman orders a running play around left end. George Everett “Strup” Strupper scampers 20 yards into the end zone and scores the game’s first touchdown on Tech’s first offensive pla
y. Preas kicks his first extra point of the afternoon, and Tech leads 7–0.
The second kickoff
Coach Heisman instructs Tommy Spence to airmail Tech’s second kickoff following the Engineers’ score. Cumberland’s Morris Gouger catches the ball near the 5-yard line, advancing the ball only five more yards before being swarmed by a platoon of Tech players.
MORRIS GOUGER made his way to Cumberland from Robstown, Texas. He earned a degree from the Cumberland Law School, returned to his hometown and later became president of the National Bank of Robstown.
DAVID NEWBY (NATHAN) HARSH graduated from the Cumberland Law School and joined the Army serving as an officer in World War I. From Gallatin, Tennessee, a community about 19 miles northwest of Lebanon, Harsh returned after the war to practice law and later moved to Memphis where he became chairman of the Shelby County (Memphis, Tennessee) Governing Board and Board of Adjustments. He served in that position from 1936 to 1954.
LEON McDONALD, from Bay City, Texas, was also a law school student at Cumberland in 1916. He and Gouger are remembered for perhaps the most notable verbal exchange between two Cumberland players in the game. McDonald took a botched snap from the center fumbled the football toward Gouger. He supposedly yelled to Gouger “pick the ball up,” and Gouger, eyeballing an army of Tech lineman pouring in his direction, shouted back, “Pick it up yourself. It’s your fumble.”
Game day action
With the ball resting on the 10-yard line, Cumberland’s C.E. (Eddie) Murphy gets the call for a running sweep around right end. He fumbles the ball, and Tech’s Guill recovers and rambles to the end zone for Tech’s second TD.