|
CHC- Vandy Football Began with a Challenge 9/13/2006 THE COMMODORE HISTORY CORNER
Dr. William L. Dudley, Vanderbilt University’s president of the Athletic Association, received a challenge, which caused serious contemplation. In November 1890, the University of Nashville (Peabody Normal College) communicated a challenge to Vanderbilt to a game of football. The Association called for a meeting with the student body to decide how to uphold the University’s pride with such an issue. The proposed game was to be played on Thanksgiving Day, just two weeks away. The date would be an issue since Peabody had participated in football, as an intramural sport for several years and Vanderbilt had not. The first published reference to football at Vanderbilt appeared in the 1887 edition of the college annual, The Comet, which stated: Football has never obtained a foothold among us. There have been two reasons for this: first, the boys never have become interested in the game; second, when desiring to practice and organize teams, we have been unable to obtain playing grounds. We hope to soon have suitable grounds for playing a sport which will quickly grow into great popularity on its own merit. Despite these obstacles, a team did practice occasionally in the fall of 1886. Through the years of 1887, 1888, 1889, there would be no mention of football in the Nashville newspapers or The Comet. During this era, football was a relatively new game played primarily in the East. College powers as Princeton, Yale and Harvard, dominated the game in which its former players would introduce the game to other areas of the country. Football eventually spread into the South when in 1890, Virginia was the first Southern team to play an intercollegiate game, losing to Princeton, 116-0. A motion was made for Vanderbilt to accept the challenge primarily since “Vanderbilt has never taken anything off of Peabody Normal and should not do so now.” The motion was unanimously accepted and Elliott H. Jones was authorized to organize, coach and captain a football team for this game. After the meeting, Jones summoned all volunteers with football experience. Only five or six were experienced, but there were enough to comprise a team. A regulation football was purchased and with only a short time to prepare, practices consisted mostly of simple formations and signal drills. Jones was an innovated captain and acted upon a suggestion that would become a constant aspect of preparing for football games. Jones gave this personal recollection many years later in the book Fifty Years of Vanderbilt Football. This first game, on Thanksgiving Day, 1890, was played at Sulphur Dell, field of the professional baseball league, in North Nashville, ” said Jones. “There was but one official an umpire or referee. I cannot now recall his name, but he had been a “crack” football player at Yale. He ran the game without any trouble. None of us knew enough to try to question any decision he made, although several of us had sat up nights studying the then rules of the game. “Pat Estes suggested that we ought to “scout” the Normalites at play. So, one afternoon we took time off from practice to do the scouting job. We furtively perched ourselves in a tree adjacent to the football field of the Normalites–they actually had a field–and from that point of vantage we watched the play of their two teams for an hour or more, and got very useful information.
Vanderbilt won its inaugural game at Athletic Park (later Sulphur Dell), 40-0, on Nov. 27, 1890. Touchdowns were awarded four points, field goals and extra-points two points, and a safety two points. The game received little attention as the Nashville Banner gave the following account the next day: A large number of people witnessed the game of football played yesterday at the Young Men’s Christian Association Athletic Park by teams of Vanderbilt and Peabody Normal College. Mr. John C. Burch was the referee. The Vanderbilts won by a score of 40 to 0. No one was hurt seriously though some were more or less bruised. A game between the Vanderbilts and the University of Virginia is talked of. There was not a detailed summary or line-up of the game and not a single player’s name was mentioned. There was not a sports page and without a popularity of this new game in the South, little space was given. Nashville historians have credited this game as the first football game played in Nashville. But an organized game in 1885 between the Nashville Athletic Club and Nashville Football club was also played in Athletic Park. Jones also recorded these recollections of that first game: Among the experienced men the most noteworthy, perhaps, were Horace E. Bemis, our crack quarter-miler, and R. H. Mitchell, a graduate of Trinity College, North Carolina. Mitchell had a way of squirming and twisting his way through opposing tackles and was a hard man to stop when sent through the line. The Peabody team actually out-weighed Vanderbilt by twenty pounds per man. Vanderbilt gave credit to themselves for the lopsided win to brains and speed over brawn. Jones vividly remembered one Peabody player in particular. I have little recollection about the players on the Normal team, with exception of one man, their fullback and captain,” Jones continued. “I can recall how he looked, and felt, as vividly as if the game was played on yesterday. He was over six feet in height, weighed about two hundred pounds, and was fast and powerful. I was playing fullback, and was the safety man on defense. Four or five times that fellow got by all but little me. The first time that happened it looked like a futile thing for me to throw myself in the path of that charging giant. The old saying that ‘it is no disgrace to run when you are scared’ seemed fully applicable. But it was up to me to try, even if in vain. It turned out that all he knew was to use speed and power. So, when I catapulted into him low and as hard as I could, he hit the ground like a ton of brick. Sportsmanship is a part of the game never to be ignored. However, that evening after the game an incident occurred which would bring embarrassment to Jones. A scheduled debating contest between Peabody and Vanderbilt took place in the Vanderbilt chapel. When the debate was concluded and the judges retired to reach a decision, some of the Vanderbilt players blackened the game ball. They chalked on the football “40 to 0” in large letters. The ball was then placed on top of the pulpit in plain view for all to see. The presiding officer quickly removed the ball but not before the entire audience saw it. The Vanderbilt students cheered, but the faculty members thought the prank was discourteous. The 1891 season would have Vanderbilt playing its first scheduled slate of games. Jones was also captain and coach, but now was leading experienced and enthusiastic players. The schedule included two games with Sewanee and two games with Washington (St. Louis) on a home and home basis. Jones’ team was 3-1 in this abbreviated season. Jones also would learn to master another aspect of coaching, pre-game and halftime speeches. Just before the rematch game in St. Louis (Washington beat Vandy earlier 26-4 in Nashville) Jones gave this pre-game talk with an usual strategy, as told in Fifty Years of Vanderbilt Football: While you fellows were enjoying your rest and sleep on the Pullman last night I stayed awake and did some thinking and planning. I have a definite plan of action. It is the only one in which I see any hope of success, and I want it rigidly adhered to. I take the responsibility for success or failure. Washington has a much heavier line than we have, but the weight is more fat than muscle. I propose that we do not try to advance the ball through that heavy line until we have worn them down. Our line is lighter, but we have more muscle, and I figure that we have better staying qualities. Therefore, I propose to play only on the defense during the first half. Everytime we get the ball I want Gardenhire to at once punt it as far down the field as he can. And I want you men to get down fast and see that the kick is not run back. I want to work the tongue out of those big, fat fellows in their line. Vanderbilt held Washington to a scoreless half. Jones’ team did eventually wear down Washington and won the game 4-0 with a dominating short running game in the second half. Vanderbilt’s original Dudley Field was christened on Oct. 21, 1892 with an encounter against the University of Tennessee. Vanderbilt won the game 22-4 with Jones scoring the game’s first touchdown. Old Dudley Field, presently the site of the University’s School of Law, would host gridiron games for thirty years. If you have any comments or suggestions you can contact Bill Traughber via e-mail WLTraughber@aol.com. |
