1896 Georgia Bulldogs football team

Before the season

This was the Georgia Bulldogs' second and final season under the guidance of head coach Pop Warner who had continued as coach for a second season at a salary of $40 per week for ten weeks. "It was rare in those days that a coach lasted more than one season". Several veterans returned from last season. and Nalley as captain.

Schedule

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Season summary

Wofford

The season opened in Spartanburg with a 26–0 defeat of Wofford.

North Carolina

Atlanta, GA In "the first big football game of the season", Georgia beat North Carolina 24–16 in a close game. "For the first time in Southern football history the football supremacy of Virginia and North Carolina was successfully challenged."

The first touchdown came when George Whitfield Price went around right tackle for 8 yards. Carolina's Heyward then got his own touchdown through right tackle.

Later, Carolina's Belden made a great punt, which went over Lovejoy's head. Wright fell on it for a touchdown, giving Carolina the lead. After Green ran for 40 yards on a fake buck,

The starting lineup was Wight (left end), Price (left tackle), Blanch (left guard), Atkinson (center, Middlebrooke (right guard), Kent (right tackle), Watson (right end), Gammon (quarterback), Nalley (left halfback), Cothrell (right halfback), Lovejoy (fullback).

Sewanee

The Bulldogs defeated the Sewanee Tigers 26–0. Sewanee's offense was weak.

Auburn

Atlanta, GA In the rivalry game with John Heisman's Auburn to decide the conference, Georgia won 12–6 to close its first undefeated season. Georgia's quarterback the following season Reynolds Tichenor was at the same spot for the Tigers.

Lovejoy scored Georgia's first touchdown, without Nalley using signals. The next touchdown came on another trick, with an onside kick to get the ball. Walter Cothran followed this with an 80-yard touchdown run. Tichenor then had a long punt return for Auburn. Tichenor once said he had been sprawled on the ground, when a big Georgia lineman jumped at him, knees first, with Tichenor rolling out of the way just in time. "The fellow was very polite," Tichenor said. "We both got up and he apologized very profusely for having missed me." Tichenor later transferred to Georgia to attend law school.

The starting lineup was Wight (left end), Price (left tackle), Walker (left guard), Atkinson (center, Blanch (right guard), Walden (right tackle), Dougherty (right end), Gammon (quarterback), Nalley (left halfback), Pomeroy (right halfback), Lovejoy (fullback).

Postseason

The 1896 team is considered one of Georgia's early great ones. Georgia did not win another conference championship until the 1920 season.

References

Additional sources

References

1. "Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association: Conference Championships". College Football Data Warehouse.
2. Reed, Thomas Walter. (c. 1949). "History of the University of Georgia". [[University of Georgia]].
3. {{Harvnb. Woodruff. 1928
4. (February 19, 1911). "Brown Calls Vanderbilt '06 Best Eleven South Ever Had". Atlanta Constitution.
5. (October 27, 1896). "Georgia wins over Wofford". The Atlanta Journal.
6. (November 1, 1896). "Football yesterday". The News and Observer.
7. (November 10, 1896). "Foot ball at Athens; University of Georgia beats Sewanee 26 to 0". The Morning News.
8. (November 27, 1896). "Auburn knocked out". Birmingham State Herald.
9. "Georgia 1896 results". georgiadogs.com.
10. Woodruff. 1928
11. Woodruff. 1928
12. (November 1, 1896). "Georgia Wins Out". The Atlanta Constitution.
13. (November 10, 1896). "Georgia Defeated Sewanee". The Atlanta Constitution.
14. Triumph Books. (2006). "Echoes of Georgia Football: The Greatest Stories Ever Told".
15. "History of the Early S.I.A.A. Atlanta Basketball Tournament".
16. {{Harvnb. Woodruff. 1928