1914 Tennessee Volunteers football team

Before the season

In 1913, the Volunteers had a winning record for the first time since 1908 and won their first Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association game since 1910. The team lost captain Sam Hayley.

Miller Pontius assisted coach Clevenger.

Schedule

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Game summaries

Carson–Newman

To open the season, Carson–Newman was swamped 89–0.

King

King College was defeated almost as easily as Carson-Newman, 55–3.

Clemson

The Volunteers beat Clemson 27–0. Tennessee scored twice on forward passes, and Clemson tried several passes but none were successful. The starting lineup was Carroll (left end), G. Vowell (left tackle), Taylor (left guard), McLean (center), Kerr (right guard), Kelly (right tackle), Greenwood (right end), May (quarterback), Thomason (left halfback), Rainey (right halfback), Lindsay (fullback).

Louisville

Tennessee's backfield starred in the 66–0 defeat of Louisville. The starting lineup was Carroll (left end), G. Vowell (left tackle), Kerr (left guard), McLean (center), Taylor (right guard), Kelly (right tackle), Sorrells (right end), May (quarterback), Thomason (left halfback), Rainey (right halfback), Lindsay (fullback).

Alabama

Alabama quarterback Charlie Joplin was ruled ineligible by the SIAA for refusing to sign an affidavit that he had not played professional baseball, and Tennessee halfback Red Rainey was out with injury. Tennessee won 17–7. The first score came on a 40-yard pass from Bill May to Scotty Cameron. A 22-yard pass to Goat Carroll got the next score. Alabama's score came in the second period, when Bully Van de Graaff picked up a Farmer Kelly fumble and ran 50 yards for a touchdown. Cameron kicked a field goal to make it 17.

The starting lineup was Carroll (left end), Bayer (left tackle), Kerr (left guard), McLean (center), Taylor (right guard), Kelly (right tackle), G. Vowell (right end), May (quarterback), Thomason (left halfback), Cameron (right halfback), Lindsay (fullback).

Chattanooga

The Vols beat Chattanooga 67–0.

Vanderbilt

Bill May threw two touchdown passes to Goat Carroll in the 16–14 victory over Vanderbilt, the first ever victory over the Tennessee rival. Carroll scored all of the Vols points, adding a field goal in between touchdowns. Irby Curry scored all of Vanderbilt's points. An account of the first Tennessee touchdown reads, "Four minutes of play had barely drifted by when Tennessee's weird, mystic, elusive forward pass, May to Carroll, deadly in accuracy, went sailing home for the first touchdown of the game. The chesty Tennessee quarterback sent the oval whizzing for a distance of thirty-five yards and Carroll gathered in the ball near his goal line, when he hurried beneath the posts with all the speed at his command."

Sewanee

A description of the 14–7 win over Sewanee in Chattanooga read, "Mush Kerr played a wonderful game in the line as did Capt. Kelly. The work of the Tennessee line was easily the feature of the contest, and Sewanee early discovered that it was practically useless to rely on line plunges to gain ground...Lindsay, as usual, ploughed through the opposing line for consistent gains, and when it was absolutely necessary that Tennessee gain a certain number of yards 'Russ' was sure to be called upon." Lee Tolley starred for Sewanee, which had been coached to break-up the forward pass.

Kentucky

The Kentucky Wildcats were outweighed 15 pounds to the man and beaten 23–6.

The starting lineup was Carroll (left end), Bayer (left tackle), Kerr (left guard), McLean (center), Taylor (right guard), Kelly (right tackle), G. Vowell (right end), May (quarterback), Thomason (left halfback), Rainey (right halfback), Lindsay (fullback).

Personnel

Depth chart

The following chart provides a visual depiction of Tennessee's lineup during the 1914 season with games started at the position reflected in parentheses. The chart mimics a T Formation.

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Roster

Line

Backfield

Unlisted

Postseason

Championships

The Birmingham Newspaper Club awarded Tennessee the Southern championship cup.

Awards and honors

Alonzo Carroll, Farmer Kelly, Mush Kerr, and Rus Lindsay made All-Southern.

References

Additional sources

References

1. "Tennessee Total National Championships". College Football Data Warehouse.
2. (September 27, 1914). "Season's first game was merry romp for Volunteers". The Journal and Tribune.
3. (October 4, 1914). "King College loses to University of Tennessee 55 to 3". The Bristol Herald Courier.
4. Lester Barnes. (October 11, 1914). "Clemson Defeated by Tennessee Team". The Atlanta Constitution.
5. (October 18, 1914). "Easy Victory For Tennessee". The Courier Journal.
6. (October 25, 1914). "Orange and White wins in triumph over Crimson, victory being decisive". The Journal and Tribune.
7. (November 1, 1914). "Repetition of history, Moccasins go to pieces in last half". The Chattanooga Times.
8. (November 8, 1914). "For first time in history Tennessee licks Vandy". Nashville Tennessean.
9. (November 15, 1914). "Tennessee defeats Sewanee by two touchdowns to one before four thousand people". The Chattanooga Times.
10. (November 27, 1914). "Wildcats Lose To Volunteers". The Courier Journal.
11. {{Harvnb. Woodruff. 1928
12. Marvin West. (September 16, 2014). "Tennessee Football 100 Years Ago".
13. The Commercial Appeal. "Vols Score First Win Over Vandy". Greatest Moments in Tennessee.
14. (1915). "Athletics". The University of Tennessee Record.
15. (1915). "Athletics". The University of Tennessee Record.
16. (1916). "St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks".
17. "The Tennessee Football Programs: 1914 Football Program - UT vs Clemson".
18. (December 1, 1914). "Composite Pick of All S.I.A.A. Teams". Atlanta Constitution.