1897 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season

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1897 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season
LeagueNCAA
SportCollege football
DurationOctober 2, 1897
through January 8, 1898
Number of teams16
Regular Season
Season championsVanderbilt
Football seasons
← 1896
1898 →
1897 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Vanderbilt $ 3 – 0 – 0 6 – 0 – 1
Georgia 2 – 0 – 0 2 – 1 – 0
Auburn 2 – 0 – 1 2 – 0 – 1
Tennessee 1 – 0 – 0 4 – 1 – 0
Central (KY) 1 – 1 – 0 1 – 2 – 0
Nashville 1 – 1 – 0 1 – 1 – 0
Alabama 0 – 0 – 0 1 – 0 – 0
Texas 0 – 0 – 0 6 – 2 – 0
LSU 0 – 0 – 0 1 – 1 – 0
Sewanee 1 – 2 – 1 1 – 3 – 1
Clemson 0 – 1 – 0 2 – 2 – 0
Cumberland (TN) 0 – 1 – 0 0 – 1 – 0
Georgia Tech 0 – 1 – 0 0 – 1 – 0
Mercer 0 – 1 – 0 0 – 1 – 1
Kentucky State College 0 – 2 – 0 2 – 4 – 0
SW Presbyterian 0 – 0 – 0 0 – 0 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion

The 1897 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season was the college football games played by the members schools of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association as part of the 1897 college football season

The season began on October 2. Conference play began on October 9 with Georgia shutting out Clemson 24–0 in Athens.

After the Sewanee game, Coach R. G. Acton's Vanderbilt Commodores claimed the program's first ever conference title.[1] This was followed by a challenge met by the other southern team to claim a championship, South Atlantic school Virginia; which claims seven prior championships of the South. The game ended a 0–0 tie. Said Coach Acton, "It was the best game ever played in the South." Vanderbilt held all opponents scoreless.[2]

The Texas Longhorns averaged the most points per game in the conference.[3]

The 1897 season was one in which a member school, Tulane University, was barred from intercollegiate football participation by SIAA President, Dr. Dudley. This was part of a sanction handed down in response to the LSU game the previous season in which Tulane was forced to forfeit for having fielded an ineligible player.[4][5]

The season was also notable for the game Virginia played against Georgia, featuring the death of Richard Von Albade Gammon.[6]

Season overview[]

Results and team statistics[]

Conf. Rank Team Head coach Overall record Conf. record PPG PAG
1 Vanderbilt R. G. Acton 6–0–1 3–0 19.9 0.0
2 Georgia Charles McCarthy 2–1 2–0 18.7 5.7
3 Auburn John Heisman 2–0–1 2–0–1 13.3 1.3
4 Tennessee 4–1 1–0 12.8 3.2
5 (tie) Central H. McC. Anderson 1–1 1–1
5 (tie) Nashville 1–1 1–1
5 (tie) Alabama Allen McCants 1–0 0–0 6.0 0.0
5 (tie) Texas Walter F. Kelly 6–2 0–0 20.5 4.5
5 (tie) LSU Allen Jeardeau 1–1 0–0 14.0 16.0
10 Sewanee J. G. Jayne 1–3–1 1–2–1 3.0 5.6
11 (tie) Clemson William M. Williams 2–2 0–1 7.0 14.5
11 (tie) Cumberland 0–1 0–1
11 (tie) Georgia Tech J. B. Wood 0–1 0–1 0.0 28.0
11 (tie) Mercer Gordon Saussy 0–1–1 0–1 0.0 13.0
15 Kentucky State Lyman B. Eaton 2–4 0–2 4.7 19.7
? Southwestern Presbyterian

Key

PPG = Average of points scored per game
PAG = Average of points allowed per game

Regular season[]

Index to colors and formatting
Non-conference matchup; SIAA member won
Non-conference matchup; SIAA member lost
Non-conference matchup; tie
Conference matchup

SIAA teams in bold.

Week One[]

Date Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Reference
October 2 Kentucky University Kentucky State Lexington, KY W 8–6

Week Two[]

Date Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Reference
October 9 Kentucky University Vanderbilt Dudley Field • Nashville, TN W 22–0
October 9 Clemson Georgia Herty Field • Athens, GA UGA 24–0
October 11 Kentucky State Kentucky Wesleyan Owensboro, KY L 4–0
October 15 King Tennessee Waite Field • Knoxville, TN W 28–0

Week Three[]

Date Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Reference
October 16 Sewanee Nashville Nashville, TN NASH 6–5
October 18 Central Sewanee McGee Field • Sewanee, TN SEW 4–0

Week Four[]

Date Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Reference
October 23 San Antonio Texas Clark Field • Austin, TX W 10–0
October 23 Georgia Tech Georgia Herty Field • Athens, GA UGA 24–0
October 23 Auburn Mercer Macon, GA AUB 26–0
October 23 Cumberland Tennessee Waite Field • Knoxville, TN TENN 6–0
October 23 Georgetown (KY) Kentucky State Lexington, KY W 20–4
October 23 Clemson Charlotte YMCA Charlotte, NC W 10–0
October 23 VMI Vanderbilt Dudley Field • Nashville, TN W 12–0
October 25 Clemson North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC L 28–0
October 29 Auburn Nashville Nashville, TN AUB 14–4

Week Five[]

Date Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Reference
October 30 Auburn Sewanee McGee Field • Sewanee, TN T 0–0
October 30 Washington & Lee Central Lexington, KY L 22–0
October 30 Virginia Georgia Piedmont Park • Atlanta, GA L 17–4
October 30 Vanderbilt Kentucky State Stoll Field • Lexington, KY VAN 50–0
October 30 Texas Dallas Dallas, TX L 18–4
November 1 Texas Fort Worth Fort Worth, TX L 6–0
November 3 Texas TCU Waco, TX W 18–10

Week Six[]

Date Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Reference
November 5 North Carolina Sewanee McGee Field • Sewanee, TN L 12–6
November 6 North Carolina Vanderbilt Dudley Field • Nashville, TN W 31–0
November 6 Central Kentucky State Lexington, KY CENT 18–0
November 8 North Carolina Tennessee Waite Field • Knoxville, TN L 16–0
November 10 Clemson South Carolina Columbia, SC W 18–6

Week Seven[]

Date Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Reference
November 13 Tuscaloosa A. C. Alabama The Quad • Tuscaloosa, AL W 6–0
November 13 Houston Town Team Texas Clark Field • Austin, TX W 42–6

Week Eight[]

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Reference
November 20 Texas San Antonio San Antonio, TX W 12–0
November 25 Fort Worth Texas Clark Field • Austin, TX W 38–0
November 25 Centre Kentucky State Lexington, KY L 36–0
November 25 Sewanee Vanderbilt Dudley Field • Nashville, TN VAN 10–0
November 25 Virginia Tech Tennessee Waite Field • Knoxville, TN W 18–0

Week Nine[]

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Reference
November 26 Tennessee Bristol A. C. Bristol, TN W 12–0

Week Ten[]

Date Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Reference
December 7 Virginia Vanderbilt Dudley Field • Nashville, TN T 0–0 2,400 [7]

Week Eleven[]

Date Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Reference
December 11 Dallas Texas Clark Field • Austin, TX W 20–16

Week Twelve[]

Week Thirteen[]

Date Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Reference
December 20 Montgomery A. C. LSU State Field • Baton Rouge, LA W 28–6

Week Fourteen[]

Week Fifteen[]

Week Sixteen[]

Date Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Reference
January 8 Cincinnati LSU State Field • Baton Rouge, LA L 26–0

References[]

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-11-11. Retrieved 2017-01-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Vanderbilt Official Athletic Site - Vanderbilt University". Archived from the original on 2016-06-17. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
  3. ^ "Texas Season Schedule - databaseFootball.com/NCAA". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
  4. ^ Hardesty, Dan. "LSU:The Louisiana Tigers". The Strode Publishers.Huntsville, Alabama. 1975. pg 24-25.
  5. ^ "Baton Rouge Wins Without Winning". The Daily Picayune. October 25, 1896. pg. 8.
  6. ^ William Hanford Edwards (1916). Football Days: Memories of the Game and of the Men Behind the Ball. p. 244.
  7. ^ "Vanderbilt, 0; Virginia, 0". Chicago Daily Tribune. December 7, 1897. p. 7. Retrieved January 7, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. open access
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