1900 Clemson Tigers football team

1900 Clemson Tigers football
SIAA champion
Conference Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
1900 record 6–0 (3–0 SIAA)
Head coach John Heisman (1st season)
Captain Norman Walker
1900 SIAA football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Clemson $ 3 – 0 – 0     6 – 0 – 0
Auburn 3 – 0 – 0     4 – 0 – 0
Tulane 3 – 0 – 0     5 – 0 – 1
Sewanee 5 – 0 – 1     6 – 1 – 1
Texas 1 – 0 – 0     6 – 0 – 0
Vanderbilt 2 – 3 – 1     4 – 4 – 1
Alabama 1 – 3 – 0     2 – 3 – 0
Georgia 1 – 3 – 0     2 – 4 – 0
Nashville 1 – 3 – 0     1 – 3 – 0
Tennessee 0 – 2 – 1     3 – 2 – 1
LSU 0 – 1 – 0     2 – 2 – 0
Cumberland 0 – 1 – 0     0 – 1 – 0
Ole Miss 0 – 3 – 0     0 – 3 – 0
Georgia Tech 0 – 4 – 0     0 – 4 – 0
Kentucky State 0 – 0 – 0     4 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion

The 1900 Clemson Tigers football team represented the Clemson Tigers of Clemson Agricultural College in the sport of American football during the 1900 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. Under first year head coach John Heisman, the team posted a 6–0 record and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) championship.[1][2][3]

The Tigers outscored their opponents 222–10;[4] the 64–0 win over Davidson on opening day was then the largest score ever made in the South and the season's only home game. The only close game was with the South Atlantic school VPI.

Before the season

Walter Riggs led the effort to raise the $415.11 to hire Auburn's football coach John Heisman,[5] the first Clemson coach who had experience coaching at another school.[6] As Riggs recalled, "By 1899 the Clemson football team had risen steadily until its material was equal to that of any southern college, and the time had come to put on the long-planned finishing touch."[7] Heisman once described his style of play at Clemson as "radically different from anything on earth".[8]

The team took the field in jerseys and stockings bearing distinctive orange and purple stripes.[6] Norman Walker was team captain.[9][10]

Schedule

Date Opponent Site Result
October 19 Davidson Calhoun, SC W 64–0  
October 22 at Wofford* Spartanburg, SC W 21–0  
November 1 at South Carolina* Columbia, SC (Big Thursday) W 51–0  
November 10 at Georgia Herty Field • Athens, GA (Rivalry) W 39–5  
November 24 vs. VPI* Charlotte, NC W 12–5  
November 29 at Alabama North Birmingham Park • Birmingham, AL W 35–0  
*Non-conference game.

Season summary

Heisman

Davidson

Clemson opened the season in Columbia on October 19, winning over Davidson 64–0, then the largest score ever made in the South.[11]

Wofford

The Tigers beat Wofford 21–0 on October 22.[11] Clemson agreed that every point scored after the first four touchdowns would not count.[12]

South Carolina

Going into the South Carolina game, Clemson had been strong on offense, but weak on defense. Kinsler and Douthit were both injured.[13] The Tigers rolled up a 51–0 score on South Carolina.

Georgia

Clemson at Georgia
1 2Total
• Clemson 11 28 39
Georgia 5 0 5

Before the game with Georgia, students in the dorms barraged Clemson players with bits of coal. Clemson went on to beat the Bulldogs for the first time,[14] pulling away in the second half to overwhelm the Bulldogs 39–5,[12][15] and achieve the season's first great victory.[16]

The starting lineup was Bellows (left end), Dickerson (left tackle), George (left guard) Kinsley (center), Woodward (right guard), Walker (right tackle), Lynah (right end), Lewis (quarterback), Forsyth (left halfback), Hunt (right halfback), Douthit (fullback).[15][16]

V. P. I.

In Charlotte, Clemson beat VPI 12–5 in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.[17] The game was shortened due to darkness.[12] Hunter Carpenter used the alias "Walter Brown" because his father had forbidden him to play football.[18][19]

Alabama

Clemson at Alabama
1 2Total
• Clemson 23 12 35
Alabama 0 0 0

The season closed on Thanksgiving against the Alabama Crimson White, Clemson's first meeting with Alabama, at Birmingham's North Birmingham Park. The Tigers won 35–0. Clemson back Claude Douthit scored four touchdowns.[20]

After the Tigers forced an Alabama punt to open the game, Douthit scored three consecutive touchdowns for Clemson en route to an 18–0 lead. Douthit scored first on a 5-yard run, next on a short reception and finally on a second short touchdown run. M. N. Hunter then scored for Clemson on a long run just before the break and made the halftime score 23–0.[21] In the second half, the Tigers extended their lead to 35–0 behind a long Jim Lynah touchdown run and Douthit's fourth score of the day on a short run.[21] With approximately four minutes left in the game, both team captains agreed to end the game early due to an unruly crowd and impending darkness.[21]

Postseason

The Tigers ended the season with the outright SIAA title.[22] It was both Clemson and Heisman's first conference championship and undefeated, untied season.[n 1] The season saw "the rise of Clemson from a little school whose football teams had never been heard of before, to become a football machine of the very first power."[24]

Players

Depth chart

The following chart provides a visual depiction of Clemson's lineup during the 1900 season. The chart mimics the offense in a T formation.

LE
C. A. Bellows
 
LT LG C RG RT
Joe Duckworth A. P. George John H. Kinsler Jack WoodwardNorman Walker
Beef DeCosta J. B. LewisL. O. King
RE
Jim Lynah
 
QB
Gus P. Lewis
LHB FBRHB
W. C. ForsythePug DouthitBuster Hunter
Fred Pearman J. G. Kaigler

-

Line

Player Position Games
started 		Hometown Prep school Height Weight Age
C. A. Bellows left end Beaufort, South Carolina
Joe Duckworth left tackle Anderson, South Carolina
A. P. George right guard
John H. Kinsler center Columbia, South Carolina 23
Jim Lynah right end Savannah, Georgia
J. Norman Walker right tackle Appleton, South Carolina 20
Jack Woodwardleft guard

[25]

Backfield

Player Position Games
started 		Hometown Prep school Height Weight Age
Claude "Pug" Douthit fullback Anderson, South Carolina 21
W. C. Forsythe left halfback Brevard, North Carolina
M. N. "Buster" Hunter right halfback Anderson, South Carolina
Gus P. Lewis quarterback 20

Substitutes

Player Position Hometown Prep school Height Weight Age
J. W. Bleose
Beef DeCostatackle
J. G. KaiglerhalfbackLexington, South Carolina
L. O. Kingtackle
J. B. Lewistackle
Fred Pearmanhalfback

[26][27][28]

Notes

  1. ↑ Clemson did not go undefeated and untied again until 1948.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "2016 FOOTBALL MEDIA GUIDE" (PDF). ClemsonTigers.com. Clemson Athletics. 2016. pp. 200–208. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  2. ↑ Bourret, Tim. "2010 Clemson Football Media Guide" (PDF). Clemson University. p. 202. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "Clemson Game by Game Results". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  4. ↑ "The Tiger News".
  5. ↑ Riley 2002, p. 33
  6. 1 2 "Heisman Connection". ClemsonTigers.com.
  7. ↑ Blackman 2016, p. 46
  8. ↑ Blackman 2001, p. 7
  9. ↑ 2010 Media Guide, p. 198
  10. ↑ Reel, Jerome. The High Seminary (PDF). pp. 132–133.
  11. 1 2 "Yesterday on the Gridiron". News and Observer. October 23, 1900. p. 2. Retrieved May 12, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. 1 2 3 Blackman 2001, p. 4
  13. ↑ "Some Facts About The Great Football Game". The Watchman and Southron. October 3, 1900. p. 7. Retrieved May 21, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Full text of "Clemson University Football Programs"".
  15. 1 2 "How Football Games Resulted Yesterday". The Atlanta Constitution. November 11, 1900. p. 9. Retrieved May 21, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. 1 2 Woodruff 1928, p. 110-111
  17. ↑ "Clemson vs. Virginia Tech Football Game Notes".
  18. ↑ "Hunter Carpenter's Virginia Sports HOF Profile". Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. October 2010. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  19. ↑ "The first 115 seasons of football at Virginia Tech". Virginia Tech. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  20. ↑ http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/alab/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/1900-season.pdf
  21. 1 2 3 "Alabama's line toppled before onslaught of South Carolina". The Montgomery Advertiser. NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers. November 30, 1900.
  22. ↑ "CU's Conference Championships".
  23. ↑ Blackman 2016, p. 48
  24. ↑ Woodruff 1928, p. 103
  25. ↑ http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/clem/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/08_mg_suppl072-142.pdf
  26. ↑ "Clemsonian".
  27. ↑ https://cup.sites.clemson.edu/pubs/king/king-supplement.pdf
  28. ↑ "Full text of "Clemson University Catalog"".

Books

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