1895 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

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1895 North Carolina Tar Heels football
North Carolina Tar Heels football team (1895).png
ConferenceIndependent
1895 record7–1–1
Head coach
CaptainEdwin Gregory
Seasons
← 1894
1896 →
1895 Southern college football independents records
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Texas   –   5 – 0 – 0
LSU   –   3 – 0 – 0
Arkansas   –   1 – 0 – 0
Henry Kendall   –   1 – 0 – 0
North Carolina   –   7 – 1 – 1
VMI   –   5 – 1 – 0
West Virginia   –   5 – 1 – 0
Centre   –   4 – 1 – 1
Wofford   –   3 – 1 – 0
Virginia   –   9 – 3 – 0
Navy   –   5 – 2 – 0
VAMC   –   4 – 2 – 0
Ole Miss   –   2 – 1 – 0
South Carolina   –   2 – 1 – 0
Tennessee   –   3 – 2 – 1
Tulane   –   3 – 2 – 0
Kentucky State   –   4 – 5 – 0
North Carolina A&M   –   1 – 2 – 1
Delaware   –   1 – 3 – 0
Centenary   –   1 – 1 – 0
Wake Forest   –   0 – 0 – 1
Marshall   –   0 – 1 – 1
Columbian   –   0 – 1 – 1
Catholic University   –   0 – 1 – 0
Oklahoma   –   0 – 1 – 0
Furman   –   0 – 2 – 0
Mississippi A&M   –   0 – 2 – 0
Richmond   –   0 – 5 – 1

The 1895 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina during the 1895 college football season. They played nine games with a final record of 7–1–1. The team captain for the 1895 season was Edwin Gregory. The team went 3–0–1 on a 6-day, 4 game road trip.

Schedule[]

DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 12North Carolina A&MChapel Hill, NC (rivalry)W 36–0
October 19RichmondChapel Hill, NCW 34–0
October 26vs. Georgia
W 6–01,500
October 28at Vanderbilt
W 12–02,000
October 29at Sewanee
T 0–0
October 31vs. Georgia
  • Piedmont Park
  • Atlanta, GA
W 10–6
November 9vs. Washington and LeeLynchburg, VAW 16–0
November 16vs. VAMCCharlotte, NCW 32–51,000
November 282:30 p.m.vs. Virginia
L 0–6> 6,000[1][2][3]

Season summary[]

North Carolina A&M[]

The season opened with a defeat of the rival A and M college by a 36–0 score Nicklin had runs of 57, 67, and 80 yards.[4]

The starting lineup was Gregory (left end), Steele (left tackle), Hurley (left guard), White (center), Collier (right guard), Wright (right tackle), Merritt (right ed), Whitaker (quarterback), Nicklin (left halfback), Moore (right halfback), McRae (fullback).[4]

Richmond[]

The Tar Heels beat the winless Richmond Spiders 34–0.

Pop Warner on the Georgia sidelines.

Georgia[]

1 2Total
• UNC 6 0 6
Georgia 0 0 0

The Georgia Bulldogs, coached by Pop Warner, were defeated 6–0 what some claim is the very first (legal or otherwise; the legal pass starts in 1906) forward pass.

Bob Quincy notes in his 1973 book They Made the Bell Tower Chime: "John Heisman, a noted historian, wrote 30 years later that, indeed, the Tar Heels had given birth to the forward pass against the Bulldogs (UGA). It was conceived to break a scoreless deadlock and give UNC a 6–0 win. The Carolinians were in a punting situation and a Georgia rush seemed destined to block the ball. The punter, with an impromptu dash to his right, tossed the ball and it was caught by George Stephens, who ran 70 yards for a touchdown." The ball was thrown out of desperation by back Dr. Joel Whitaker.[5] Georgia coach Pop Warner complained to the referee that the play was illegal, however, the referee let the play stand because he did not see the pass.[5] Only 4 minutes of game time had passed when Stephens scored.[6][7] Governor William Y. Atkinson attended the game.[8]


Vanderbilt[]

1 2Total
• UNC 12 0 12
Vanderbilt 0 0 0

Carolina outcoached Vanderbilt on its way to a 12–0 victory. Butler had a punt return for a touchdown.[9] The game was called due to darkness.[9]

Sewanee[]

The Sewanee Tigers fought UNC to a scoreless tie.

Georgia again[]

The Georgia and Carolina teams played a second time to round out the road trip and North Carolina won 10–6.

Washington and Lee[]

The Tar Heels defeated Washington and Lee Generals 16–0.

VAMC[]

North Carolina beat VAMC in Charlotte, North Carolina with 1,000 looking on.[10] North Carolina scored three touchdowns in the first half and then scored two more touchdowns in the second half.[10] VAMC then drove to North Carolina's three-yard line, but was stopped on downs.[10] The final score was 5–32.[10]

The starting lineup was Gregory (left end), Wright (left tackle), Hurley (left guard), White (center), Collier (right guard), Baird (right tackle), Merritt (right ed), Stanley (quarterback), Nicklin (left halfback), Moore (right halfback), Butler (fullback).[10]

Virginia[]

Virginia defeated North Carolina 10–6 in this year's version of the South's Oldest Rivalry. Virginia thereby claims a Southern championship.

Players[]

Varsity lettermen[]

First award:

  • Richard Busbee
  • George Phineas Butler, fullback
  • Thomas Hurley, guard
  • Lawrence MacRae, end
  • Samuel Strong Nicklin, halfback
  • Robert Thomas Stephens Steele, guard/end
  • Joel D. Whitaker, Jr., quarterback
  • Joseph Harvey Wright, center
  • Robert Herring Wright, tackle

Second award:

Third award:

  • Thomas Allen Sharpe, center
  • Benjamin Edward Stanley, quarterback

Fourth award:

References[]

  1. ^ "The Great Game To-morrow". The Richmond Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. November 27, 1895. p. 3. Retrieved September 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  2. ^ "Virginia's Victory". The Richmond Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. November 29, 1895. p. 1. Retrieved September 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  3. ^ "Virginia Victorious (continued)". The Richmond Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. November 29, 1895. p. 6. Retrieved September 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  4. ^ a b "The University Victorious". News and Observer. October 13, 1895. p. 1. Retrieved May 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  5. ^ a b "Tar Heels Credited with Throwing First Forward Pass". Tar Heel Times. tarheeltimes.com. Archived from the original on 2006-12-19. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  6. ^ "An Exciting Game". The Daily Tar Heel. November 2, 1895. p. 1. Retrieved April 21, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  7. ^ "North Carolina Won". The Wilmington Morning Star. October 27, 1895. p. 1. Retrieved April 21, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  8. ^ "The Georgians Didn't Score". News and Observer. October 27, 1895. p. 1. Retrieved May 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  9. ^ a b "Football". The Times-Democrat. October 29, 1895. p. 7. Retrieved May 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  10. ^ a b c d e "Blacksburg Defeated". The Times. Library of Virginia. November 17, 1895. p. 1. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  11. ^ "1895 UNC Football Roster".
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