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1938 Tennessee Volunteers football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1938
team	Tennessee Volunteers
sport	football
conference	Southeastern Conference
short_conf	SEC
APRank	2
record	11–0
conf_record	7–0
head_coach	Robert Neyland
hc_year	12th
off_scheme	Single-wing
captain	Bowden Wyatt
stadium	Shields–Watkins Field
champion	National champion (various selectors)
SEC champion
Orange Bowl champion
bowl	[Orange Bowl](1939-orange-bowl)
bowl_result	W 17–0 vs. [Oklahoma](1938-oklahoma-sooners-football-team)

SEC champion Orange Bowl champion The 1938 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 1938 college football season. Head coach Robert Neyland fielded his third team at Tennessee after returning from active duty in the United States Army. The 1938 Tennessee Volunteers won the school's first national championship and are regarded as one of the greatest teams in SEC and NCAA history. The team was named national champion by various NCAA-designated major selectors, then and in the decades since, including these math systems: Berryman, Billingsley, Boand, Dunkel, Houlgate, Litkenhous, Poling, Sagarin, and Williamson.

In 1938, The Vols went 10–0 in the regular season and then shut out fellow unbeaten Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, 17–0, snapping the Sooners' 14-game win streak and beginning a long winning streak for Neyland. Tennessee finished No. 2 in the final AP Poll. Heisman Trophy winner Davey O'Brien and his undefeated TCU Horned Frogs finished No. 1 in the final AP Poll, winning the AP national championship.

The 1938 Volunteers were the first of three consecutive Tennessee squads that had undefeated regular seasons. Tennessee won three consecutive conference titles before Neyland left for military service in World War II in 1941. Tennessee also began a historic streak in 1938. By shutting out their last four regular season opponents, the Vols began a streak of 17 consecutive regular season shutouts and 71 consecutive shutout quarters, still NCAA records. Athlon Sports has named the 1938 UT team as the third best college football team of all time.

Prominent players

The Vols featured three All American performers. Bob Suffridge was an All American at guard, while Bowden Wyatt earned his spot on the team as an end. George Cafego carried the ball as a tailback. Co-Captain: Joe Little "...The Vols defeated the Sooners 17-0 in a game termed the roughest ever played. George Cafego knocked Oklahoma star Waddy Young for a loop with a devastating block on the game's first play. Played with great intensity, the game featured the teams being penalized 220 yards between them." It got so bad that Neyland asked team Co-captain Sparta's Joe Little, also a Tennessee boxing letterman, to settle things down. Little lasted one play before decking a Sooner who approached him with a foot to chest in play. He was ejected and was apologizing to Neyland before he reached the Tennessee sideline. Ironically, it had the intended effect of settling the game down for Neyland. In between all the penalties, Bob Foxx and Babe Wood scored touchdowns and team co-captain Bowden Wyatt, later Vol head coach, kicked a field goal and ran in an extra point. Tennessee held the Sooners to 94 yards total offense, while cranking up 260 of its own. It was Tennessee's speed against Oklahoma's size, and, on this day, Tennessee's speed won out."

Schedule

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References

(July 2017). "2017 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records". The National Collegiate Athletic Association.
"Yearly National Championship Selections".
"No. 3 Tennessee 1938 - AthlonSports.com".
(September 25, 1938). "Tennessee scores three times in first period to beat Sewanee, 26–3". The Nashville Tennessean.
(October 2, 1938). "Hip-tossing Volunteers out-class Clemson, 20–7". The Greenville News.
(October 9, 1938). "Vols topple game Tigers by 7–0 score". The Huntsville Times.
(October 16, 1938). "Tennessee routs Alabama, 13–0". The Knoxville Journal.
(October 23, 1938). "Cadets can take it and do, it's Vols 44, The Citadel 0 in easy game". The Knoxville News-Sentinel.
(October 30, 1938). "Tennessee Volunteers whip Louisiana State Tigers 14 to 6 as three governors watch game". The Shreveport Times.
(November 6, 1938). "U.T. crushes plucky Moccasins, 45–0". The Chattanooga Times.
(November 13, 1938). "Vols vanquish Vandy, 14 to 0, in bowl drive". The Nashville Tennessean.
(November 25, 1938). "Vol typhoon cuts through hapless Cats". The Lexington Leader.
(December 4, 1938). "Aroused Vols slaughter Ole Miss Rebs, 47–0". The Knoxville Journal.
(January 3, 1939). "Vols win, 17–0 before 32,000 berserk fans". The Miami Herald.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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