1916 Cumberland vs. Georgia Tech football game
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| Most Lopsided Game in College Football History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | October 7, 1916 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Grant Field | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Atlanta, Georgia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1916 Cumberland vs. Georgia Tech football game was a college football game played on October 7, 1916, between the Georgia Tech Engineers and the Cumberland College Bulldogs. The game became the most lopsided in the history of college football, as Georgia Tech was victorious 222–0.
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[edit] Background
Cumberland College, a school in Lebanon, Tennessee, had discontinued its football program before the season but was not allowed to cancel its game against the Engineers. The fact that Cumberland's baseball team had crushed Georgia Tech earlier that year 22-0 (amidst allegations that Cumberland used professionals as ringers) probably accounted for Georgia Tech coach John Heisman's running up the score on the Bulldogs. He insisted on the schools' scheduling agreement, which required Cumberland to pay $3,000 ($58,550 in inflation-adjusted terms) to Tech if its football team failed to show. So, George E. Allen (who was elected to serve as Cumberland's football team student manager after first serving as the baseball team student manager) put together a scrub team of 14 men to travel to Atlanta as Cumberland's football team.
[edit] The game
Cumberland received the opening kickoff and failed to make a first down. After a punt, the Engineers scored on their first play. Cumberland then fumbled on their next play from scrimmage, and a Tech player returned the fumble for a touchdown. The Bulldogs fumbled again on their next play, and it took Tech two runs to score its third touchdown. Cumberland lost nine yards on its next possession, then gave up a fourth touchdown on another two-play Tech drive.
The Engineers led 63–0 after the first quarter and 126–0 at halftime. Tech added 54 more points in the third quarter and 42 in the final period.
Several myths have developed around the game. Some have written that Cumberland did not have a single play that gained yards; in fact, its longest play was a 10-yard pass (on 4th-and-22). One page on Cumberland's website says Georgia Tech scored on every offensive play, but the play-by-play account of the game posted online says otherwise. Another part of Cumberland's webpage states a more likely scenario: that Georgia Tech scored on every one of its drives.
| “ | As a general rule, the only thing necessary for a touchdown was to give a Tech back the ball and holler, ‘Here he comes’ and ‘There he goes.’ | ” |
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—The Atlanta Journal, 1916 |
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[edit] Statistics
- These statistics are based on the sources listed below and may be incomplete.
| Team | Rushing | Passing | Kicking | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Yards | TD | Fumb Lost | Comp–Att | Yards | TD | Int | FGM–FGA | XPM–XPA | |||
| Cumberland | 27 | –96 | 0 | 9 | 2–18 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0–0 | 0–0 | ||
| Georgia Tech | 31 | 832 | 31 | 0 | 0–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0–0 | 30–32 | ||
Georgia Tech also ran up 0 yards on punt returns and -100 yards on kick returns. Georgia Tech scored 4 special teams and defensive touchdowns. Georgia Tech also did not attempt a pass in the game.
[edit] Records
Since World War II, only a few schools have topped 100 points in a college football game. The modern-era record for most points scored against a college opponent is 106 by Fort Valley State of Georgia against Knoxville College in 1969. In the previous year Houston defeated Tulsa 100–6 to set the NCAA record in major college football. In 1949 the University of Wyoming defeated University of Northern Colorado by a score of 103-0. The Division III football record was set in 1968 by North Park University in defeating North Central College by a margin of 104-32, using ten passing touchdowns along the way.
[edit] References
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This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2009) |
- 2007 NCAA Division II/III Football Records Book (PDF).
- "Play-by-play". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 1916-10-7. http://www2.cumberland.edu/about/gotc/pbp.html. Retrieved 2008-11-09.</ref>
- Litsky, Frank (2006-10-07). "In 1916, a Blowout for the Ages". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/sports/ncaafootball/07tech.html. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- Paul, Jim (1983). You Dropped It, You Pick It Up. Baton Rouge, LA: Ed's Publishing Company. ISBN 9993404446.
- Nash, Bruce (1990). Football Hall of Shame. Schuster Merchandise. ISBN 9780671729226.
- Davis, Parke H. (1916-10-15). "Yellow Jackets-Cumberland Score Was Record One; Tops the List According to Statistics Compiled Showing All Scores Past the Century Mark". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. pp. A3.
[edit] External links
- The Game of the Century at Cumberland University.
