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1917 college football season
American college football season
American college football season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| year | 1917 |
| image_size | 250 |
| image | 1917 Georgia Tech backfield.jpg |
| image_caption | Georgia Tech's backfield |
| preseason_ap | |
| regular_season | |
| number_of_bowls | 1 |
| bowl_end | |
| champion | [Georgia Tech](1917-georgia-tech-yellow-jackets-football-team) |
| heisman | Not awarded until [1935](1935-college-football-season) |
The 1917 college football season ended with six undefeated teams in Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Williams, and Washington State.
The Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book lists only Georgia Tech as national champions, the South's first.
Tech coach John Heisman challenged Pitt coach Pop Warner to a postseason contest to determine a national champion, but as such a match did not occur until the next season. The Golden Tornado was invited to play a 4–3 Oregon team in the Rose Bowl, but by then many players had joined the war effort.
In the second week of play, Georgia Tech beat Penn 41–0. Bernie McCarty called it "Strupper's finest hour, coming through against powerful Penn in the contest that shocked the East." By comparison, Pitt defeated Penn 14–6.
Conference and program changes
Conference changes
- One conference changed its name for the 1917 season:
- Michigan rejoined the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives (commonly known as the Big Nine Conference) after a nine-year absence. As such, the league was first unofficially coined the Big Ten, the name it possesses today.
Membership changes
| School | 1916 Conference | 1917 Conference |
|---|---|---|
| Michigan Wolverines | Independent | Big Ten (was Big Nine) |
| Montana Agricultural Bobcats | Independent | Rocky Mountain |
| Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels | *Program Established* | Independent |
| Southwestern (TX) Pirates | Southwest | Independent |
| Toledo Blue and Gold | *Program Established* | Independent |
September
September 29 In a doubleheader, Georgia Tech beat Furman and then Wake Forest; 25–0 and 33–0 respectively. Navy beat Davidson 27–6. Pitt beat West Virginia 14–9.
October
October 6 Georgia Tech beat Penn at home 41 to 0. Centre beat KMI 104–0. West Virginia beat Navy 6–0. Williams beat Cornell 14–10. Texas A&M defeated Austin College 66-0.
October 13 Georgia Tech beat Davidson 32–10, its closest game all season. DePauw beat Centre 6–0. Syracuse beat Rutgers 14–10. Wisconsin tied Notre Dame 0–0. Texas A&M beat the University of Dallas 98-0.
October 20 Georgia Tech beat Washington & Lee 63–0. Auburn beat Clemson 7–0. Pittsburgh beat Syracuse 28–0. Nebraska beat Notre Dame 7–0. Washington State beat Oregon 26–3.
October 27 Undefeated Pittsburgh beat Penn on the road 14 to 6. Auburn beat Mississippi A&M 13–6. Texas A&M beat LSU 27-0.
November
November 3 Georgia Tech gave Vanderbilt its worst ever beating, 83–0. Auburn crushed Florida 68–0. Centre beat Kentucky 3–0. Texas A&M beat Tulane 35–0. Wisconsin beat Minnesota 10–7. Illinois tied Chicago 0–0. Rutgers tied West Virginia 3–3.
November 10 A freshman Buck Flowers at Davidson upset Auburn 21–7. All of Georgia Tech's backs rushed for 100 yards in a 48–0 defeat of Tulane. Texas A&M beat Baylor 7–0. Ohio State beat Wisconsin 16–3. Navy beat Georgetown 28–7.
November 17 Georgia Tech beat Carlisle 98–0. Penn beat Michigan 16–0. Ohio State beat Illinois 13–0.
November 24 Auburn fought undefeated Ohio State to a scoreless tie. Coach Heisman of Georgia Tech (who previously coached at Auburn) and his players were at the game, rooting for the Tigers. Minnesota beat Illinois 27–6.
November 29 Georgia Tech beat Auburn 68 to 7. Davidson beat Clemson 21–9. Mississippi A&M beat Haskell 7–6. Texas A&M beat Rice 10-0, wrapping up an undefeated, untied and unscored-upon season, a feat they would replicate two years later. The Aggies outscored their opponents 270-0 in eight games in 1917.
Rose Bowl
The Mare Island Marines defeated Camp Lewis, 19–7, in the 1918 Rose Bowl.
Conference standings
Major conference standings
Independents
Minor conferences
| Conference | Champion(s) | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association | Virginia Union | 2–0 |
| Inter-Normal Athletic Conference of Wisconsin | La Crosse Normal | 3–0 |
| Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference | Kansas State Normal | |
| Kansas State Normal–Fort Hays | 5–0–1 | |
| 5–0 | ||
| Louisiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Southwestern Louisiana Industrial | 5–0 |
| Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Alma | 4–0 |
| Nebraska Intercollegiate Conference | *Unknown* | — |
| Ohio Athletic Conference | Miami (OH) | 5–0–1 |
| Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference | *No champion* | — |
| Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | Pomona–Pitzer | 4–0 |
| Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | Tuskegee | — |
Minor conference standings
Rankings
Main article: 1917 college football rankings
Awards and honors
All-Americans
Main article: 1917 College Football All-America Team
The consensus All-America team included:
| Position | Name | Height | Weight (lbs.) | Class | Hometown | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Benny Boynton | 5'9" | 163 | So. | Waco, Texas | **[Williams](1917-williams-ephs-football-team)** |
| HB | Elmer Oliphant | 5'7" | 180 | Sr. | Bloomfield, Indiana | **[Army](1917-army-cadets-football-team)** |
| HB | Everett Strupper | 5'7" | 148 | Sr. | Columbus, Georgia | **[Georgia Tech](1917-georgia-tech-yellow-jackets-football-team)** |
| FB | Chic Harley | 5'11" | 171 | Jr. | Chicago, Illinois | **[Ohio State](1917-ohio-state-buckeyes-football-team)** |
| E | Charles Bolen | Sr. | Marion, Indiana | **[Ohio State](1917-ohio-state-buckeyes-football-team)** | ||
| E | Heinie Miller | 5'10" | 185 | Jr. | Williamsport, Pennsylvania | **[Penn](1917-penn-quakers-football-team)** |
| T | George Hauser | Sr. | Council Bluffs, Iowa | **[Minnesota](1917-minnesota-golden-gophers-football-team)** | ||
| G | Dale Sies | 6'1" | 203 | Sr. | Ames, Iowa | **[Pittsburgh](1917-pittsburgh-panthers-football-team)** |
| G | Jock Sutherland | Sr. | Coupar Angus, Scotland | **[Pittsburgh](1917-pittsburgh-panthers-football-team)** | ||
| C | Frank Rydzewski | 6'1" | 220 | Sr. | Chicago, Illinois | **[Notre Dame](1917-notre-dame-fighting-irish-football-team)** |
| G | Eugene Neeley | Sr. | Dallas, Texas | **[Dartmouth](1917-dartmouth-football-team)** | ||
| T | Alf Cobb | 5'11" | 210 | Sr. | Athol, Massachusetts | **[Syracuse](1917-syracuse-orangemen-football-team)** |
| E | Paul Robeson | 6'3" | 219 | Jr. | Princeton, New Jersey | **[Rutgers](1917-rutgers-queensmen-football-team)** |
Statistical leaders
- Team scoring most points: Georgia Tech, 491
- Player scoring most points: Bill Ingram, Navy, 162
- Player scoring most touchdowns: Albert Hill, Georgia Tech, 23
- Player scoring most goals after touchdown: Bill Fincher, Georgia Tech, 49
- Rushing yards leader: Everett Strupper, Georgia Tech, 1150
- Rushing avg. leader: Everett Strupper, 10.1
References
References
- (August 2009). "Official 2009 NCAA Division I Football Records Book". The National Collegiate Athletic Association.
- "1917 Pittsburgh Panthers". databaseFootball.com.
- Edwin Pope. (1956). "Football's Greatest Coaches".
- (November 13, 1917). "Tech Swamps Tulane". The Technique.
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