The 1922 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 1922 Southern Conference football season. During the season, Dan McGugin's 18th as head coach, Vanderbilt compiled a record of 8–0–1 (5–0 in conference games) and outscored its opponents 177 to 16. The Commodores' defense was unrivaled in the South, leading the nation in giving up just 1.8 points per game, none of them at home. The season included a tie with Michigan at the dedication of the new Dudley Field; the first stadium in the South to be used exclusively for college football. The season was immediately dubbed one of the best in Vanderbilt and Southern football history.Cummisky, Thomas L. "Picking Champ Grid Teams Is Not Easy Task Since So Many Have Just Claims." San Antonio Evening News 1 Dec. 1922: 18.
It was also Vanderbilt's first year in the newly formed Southern Conference (SoCon), in which the team tied with North Carolina and Georgia Tech for the conference championship. This was Vanderbilt's second consecutive season as leader of its conference, having tied with Georgia, Centre, and Georgia Tech for the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) title in 1921. Recognized as the best southern team by several sportswriters, some consider Vanderbilt among the best teams in the US this season, along with Princeton, Cornell, California, Michigan, and Iowa.see Both Clyde Berryman and James Howell named Vanderbilt as a retroactive national champion for the second consecutive year.
The team featured end and tackle Lynn Bomar, Vanderbilt's first member of the College Football Hall of Fame, and halfback and captain Jess Neely, who is in the Hall of Fame as a coach. Neely was one of Vanderbilt's greatest-ever team captains and was also the team's best passer. Neely to Bomar is considered among the best pass-receiver tandems in Vanderbilt's history.
Several Vanderbilt players received post-season honors. Walter Camp selected Bomar for his All-America team, a rarity for a player in the South. Walter Eckersall and Frank G. Menke also gave Bomar All-America honors. He was a unanimous All-Southern selection. Camp gave honorable mentions to Neely, quarterback Doc Kuhn, and end and punter Scotty Neill. Bomar and Kuhn also appear on Billy Evans' National Honor Roll; Bomar, Neill, Kuhn, and three other Commodores players were selected for his Southern Honor Roll.
Schedule
Before the season The 1922 season included the new "try for a point" rule. Teams were allowed to either kick an extra point after a touchdown or to place the ball anywhere beyond the 5-yard line and try to score, either by touchdown or by a kick, and receive one point if successful. Under the "try for a point" rule, any foul by the defense meant the point was awarded to the offense and any foul by the offense invalidated the try."New Rule." Appleton Post Crescent [Appleton, Wisconsin] 23 September 1922: 9.
Centre and Georgia Tech were favorites to repeat as champions of the South. Both had lost more players in the offseason than other teams, however. Vanderbilt, along with Auburn, Georgia, and Sewanee, retained enough experienced players to still be considered contenders. Nationally, traditional Eastern teams Yale, Harvard, and Princeton, as well as Cornell and Navy were expected to play for the title. Michigan was favored to win the West.
Vanderbilt entered the first season of the new Southern Conference (SoCon) on March 9. Freshmen were barred from play, and as such the coaches prepared to choose the roster spots from their pool of 23 veteran players. The team included players from Nashville and central Tennessee, including captain Jess Neely, who came from Middle Tennessee State Normal School. His older brother Bill Neely was captain in 1910.
Fifteen starters returned from the previous season including: Neely, Doc Kuhn, Percy Conyers, Alfred Sharp, Tot McCullough, Hugh Mixon, Hek Wakefield, Red Rountree, Freddie Meiers, Tex Bradford, and Fatty Lawrence. Lynn Bomar, who played fullback in 1921, and backup quarterback Alvin Bell were returning for their sophomore campaigns.
Newcomers included guard Garland Morrow and halfback Gil Reese – who was given particular attention from first-year backfield coach Lewie Hardage. Guard Tuck Kelly was a transfer who had formerly played center for Kentucky. Tom Zerfoss, the new varsity assistant and head coach of the freshman team, had also once transferred from Kentucky to Vanderbilt.
After last season, the yearbook noted the Commodores "should have a good chance to repeat the splendid record of '21", expecting to lose just captain Pink Wade and Fats Bailey to graduation. Georgia coach Herman Stegeman predicted a fine season for Vanderbilt in 1922. One commentator noted the Commodores' increase in weight.
Last season's leading scorer Rupert Smith also did not return; neither did end and punter Thomas Ryan, who preferred to remain at his job in the oil industry in Tampico, Mexico. The team also lost tackle Pos Elam, who decided to attend the Middle Tennessee State Normal School.
Game summaries Week 1: Middle Tennessee State Normal
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Vanderbilt's season opened on September 30, with a 38–0 victory over the Middle Tennessee State Normal at Curry Field. The Middle Tennessee State Normal School's team was led by Alfred B. Miles in his eighth season as head coach. The game was marked by "the brilliant running of Gil Reese". As well as Reese, game accounts praise quarterback Doc Kuhn and halfback Freddie "Froggy" Meiers for displaying skill while sprinting around broken fields.
Vanderbilt scored all of its touchdowns via end runs and forward passes, which the Normal School's publication The Normalite said attested to the underwhelming play of the Commodores' line against Normal's squad of "big stalwart, husky fellows, with proper training in the fundamentals of the game". Normal's best play was its only first down, a end run from its halfback Delay.
Vanderbilt coaches expected more from their attempted line plunges and were concerned by the weak showing of the line which needed to improve if Vanderbilt was to have confidence in the mid-season, and in particular against Michigan.
The starting lineup was: McCullough (left end), Bomar (left tackle), Morrow (left guard), Sharp (center), Kelly (right guard), Lawrence (right tackle), Neil (right end), Kuhn (quarterback), Wakefield (left halfback), Neely (right halfback), and Porter (fullback).
Week 2: Henderson-Brown
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In the second game of the year, Vanderbilt beat Henderson-Brown 33–0. Vanderbilt was sluggish in the first half, which saw Doc Kuhn, Alvin Bell, and Freddie Meiers each play quarterback, but apparently failing to find a rhythm. Vanderbilt was limited to three first downs in the first half, while Henderson-Brown was limited to two. The only points scored during the half was a touchdown run in the first quarter as Commodore halfback Gil Reese darted through the entire Henderson-Brown defense. Hek Wakefield kicked a goal. Reese's long run was an anomaly in the first half. Vanderbilt's running backs were generally ineffective and its line was arguably outplayed by the weaker line of Henderson-Brown. The Commodores did not complete a single pass during the game. Henderson-Brown also had no success with the passing game; its only attempt was broken up by Vanderbilt's defense.
Vanderbilt found its stride in the second half, scoring 26 points including touchdowns on defense and a blocked punt. Halfback Red Rountree took over at quarterback, sparking the offense. Two drives resulted in nine first downs and two touchdowns, one by Jess Neely and the other by Rountree soon after the fourth quarter had started. Fatty Lawrence recovered a fumble in the end zone for Vanderbilt's fourth touchdown. Later in the fourth quarter, Garland Morrow broke through the line and blocked a punt that crossed the goal line and was recovered by Scotty Neill for the final touchdown. Hugh Mixon accounted for two extra points.
The starting lineup was: McCullough (left end), Bradford (left tackle), Morrow (left guard), Sharp (center), Kelly (right guard), Walker (right tackle), Conyers (right end), Kuhn (quarterback), Reese (left halfback), Neely (right halfback), and Wakefield (fullback).
Week 3: Michigan
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The third game brought the high point of the season, a scoreless tie with Michigan Wolverines at the dedication of Dudley Field. The tie was the greatest of achievements for the underdog Commodores, and "a great surprise to the sporting world." It features prominently in the school's history. According to one account: "The Commodores[,] surprising even to their followers, fought the Michigan eleven, headed by Coach Yost, to a standstill." Another account reads: "Thousands of cheering Vanderbilt fans inspired the surge of center Alfred Sharp, guard Gus Morrow, tackle Tex Bradford, and end Lynn Bomar, who stopped Michigan cold in four attempts." Commodore fans celebrated by throwing around 3,000 seat cushions onto the field. Many publications called it "one of the big moments of the gridiron season".e.g.
The game matched Michigan head coach Fielding H. Yost against his former player and brother-in-law Dan McGugin. McGugin learned what he knew of football while playing under Yost as a guard on Michigan's "point-a-minute" offense; Yost recommended McGugin for the Vanderbilt job. Owing to the relationship between Yost and McGugin, Vanderbilt and Michigan played nine times between 1905 and 1923, with Michigan winning eight times. The 1922 game was the first since 1913. "It's All In The Slant." Ironwood Daily Globe 18 September 1922: 6.
The Wolverines were a national power and the favorite to win the game.e.g. see "No Change Is Made In Lineup of Team." Ironwood Daily Globe 20 Oct. 1922: 10. Michigan had beaten Vanderbilt at all prior meetings, . and had the much healthier lineup. During the pre-game dressing room talk, coach McGugin is reported to have said: "You are going against Yankees, some of whose grandfathers killed your grandfathers in the Civil War." Also reported, probably more accurately, as: "Out there lie the bones of your grandfathers ... and down on that field are the grandsons of the Yankee soldiers who put them there", referring to a nearby military cemetery. Ironically, Yost's father was a Confederate veteran, and McGugin's father was an officer in the Union Army.
The game, which featured the season's top-two defenses as measured by points against per game, saw little offense. Vanderbilt punted 17 times; Michigan punted 10 times. Some writers were surprised by Michigan's lack of offense, citing it as their best feature. During the entire game, Michigan made six first downs, two of which came from penalties, while Vanderbilt made one. Michigan's consensus All-American halfback Harry Kipke had been rendered moot for most of the game and later said: "I picked myself up very, very painfully from every blade of grass in the place." Fullback Franklin Cappon seemed to be the only Michigan player who could gain much for his offense. According to the 2012 Vanderbilt Football Fact Book, the tie was preserved when captain Neely recovered a fumble near the Commodore goal.