Georgia Tech v. Cumberland, 1916
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The October 7, 1916, American football game between the Georgia Tech Engineers and the Cumberland College Bulldogs (now Cumberland University) was the most-lopsided game in the history of college football. Georgia Tech won, 222-0.
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[edit] Background
Cumberland, a school in Lebanon, Tennessee, had actually discontinued its football program before the season but had forgotten to cancel its game against the Yellow Jackets. Tech coach John Heisman was in no mood to accommodate the Bulldogs, perhaps because Tech's baseball team had lost 22-0 to Cumberland the previous year, or perhaps due to the fact that Cumberland had paid professionals to play against the Yellow Jackets. The fact Cumberland cheated and crushed Georgia Tech earlier that year probably accounted for Heisman running up the score on the Bulldogs. He insisted on the schools' scheduling agreement, which required Cumberland to pay $3,000 (a lot of money in 1916) to Tech if its football team failed to show. So, George 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 (some being his Kappa Sigma brothers) 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 Yellow Jackets 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 Yellow Jackets 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 people 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 the Yellow Jackets scored on every offensive play, but the play-by-play account of the game posted online says otherwise.
[edit] Statistics
- These statistics are based on the sources listed below and may be incomplete.
- Rushing: Cumberland, 27-(minus 42)-0TD; Georgia Tech 28-440-18TD
- Passing: Cumberland, 2-18, 14 yards, 6 interceptions; Georgia Tech, 0-0
- Kicking: Cumberland, 0-0 FG, 0-0 XP; Georgia Tech, 0-0 FG, 30-32 XP
- Turnovers: Cumberland 15 (9 fumbles, 6 interceptions), Georgia Tech 0
Georgia Tech also ran up 220 yards on punt returns and 220 yards on kick returns. Georgia Tech scored 12 special teams and defensive touchdowns.
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. The NCAA Division I-A record for highest combined score in a game was a 71-63, 7-overtime win by Arkansas over Kentucky on November 1st, 2003.
[edit] Sources
- The Game of the Century at Cumberland University.
- Play-by-play.
- 2005 NCAA Division II/III Football Records Book (PDF).
- Nash, Bruce and Allan Zullo (1986). The Football Hall of Shame. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-61114-3.
- Parke H Davis, "Yellow Jackets-Cumberland Score Was Record One; Tops the List According to Statistics Compiled Showing All Scores Past the Century Mark," The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Ga.: Oct 15, 1916, pg. A3.
