1927 Southern Conference football season

1927 Southern Conference football standings
	+ – Conference co-champions;

1927 Southern Conference football season
1927 Southern Conference football season
League	NCAA
Sport	College football
Duration	September 17, 1927; through December 3, 1927
Number of teams	22
Regular Season
Season champions	Georgia Tech; Tennessee; NC State
Football seasons
	← 1926 1928 →

The 1927 Southern Conference football season was the college football games played by the member schools of the Southern Conference as part of the 1927 college football season. The season began on September 17. Games were permitted after Thanksgiving for the first time in the conference.

Georgia's "dream and wonder team" was deemed the national champion by some selectors (the Boand System and Poling System), even though it was upset 12–0 in the rain at the end of the season by would-be SoCon champion Georgia Tech. Prior to the game, Georgia was ranked #1 by the authoritative Dickinson System.^[1]

Coach Robert Neyland's Tennessee and Jack McDowall-led North Carolina State also posted undefeated conference records and had claims to conference titles.

Vanderbilt back Jimmy Armistead led the nation in scoring with 138 points,^[2] in no small part due to quarterback Bill Spears. One fellow wrote Vanderbilt produced "almost certainly the legit top Heisman candidate in Spears, if there had been a Heisman Trophy to award in 1927."^[3]

After Florida had an unexpected loss to Davidson, captain Frank Oosterhoudt was declared ineligible, and replaced at captain by Bill Middlekauff. With Middlekauff at captain, Florida suffered its only further losses to powers Georgia and NC State.

Ole Miss won the first Egg Bowl with a trophy in 1927, led by players Ap Applewhite, Sollie Cohen and V. K. Smith. Clemson hired Josh Cody.

Season overview[]

Results and team statistics[]

Conf. Rank	Team	Head coach	Overall record	Conf. record	PPG	PAG
1 (tie)	Georgia Tech	William Alexander	8–1–1	7–0–1	12.5	3.9
1 (tie)	Tennessee	Robert Neyland	8–1	5–0–1	27.2	2.9
1 (tie)	NC State	Gus Tebell	9–1	4–0	21.6	6.9
4	Georgia	Kid Woodruff	9–1	6–1	24.8	3.8
5	Vanderbilt	Dan McGugin	8–1–2	5–0–2	26.8	8.5
6	Florida	Tom Sebring	7–3	5–2	16.4	9.6
7	Ole Miss	Homer Hazel	5–3–1	3–2	19.7	8.9
8 (tie)	Virginia	Greasy Neale	5–4	4–4	13.0	13.6
8 (tie)	Clemson	Josh Cody	5–3–1	2–2	8.1	9.3
10	Alabama	Wallace Wade	5–4–1	3–4–1	15.4	7.3
11	LSU	Mike Donahue	4–4–1	2–3–1	14.2	9.2
12 (tie)	Mississippi A&M	John W. Hancock	5–3	2–3	11.6	6.8
12 (tie)	VPI	Andy Gustafson	5–4	2–3	13.9	5.3
12 (tie)	Washington and Lee	Pat Herron	4–4–1	2–3	10.8	9.8
15	Maryland	Curley Byrd	4–7	3–5	16.9	13.1
16 (tie)	VMI	W. C. Raftery	6–4	2–4	14.4	6.4
16 (tie)	South Carolina	Harry Lightsey	4–6	2–4	5.1	19.1
18	Tulane	Bernie Bierman	2–5–1	2–5–1	7.0	15.0
19	North Carolina	Chuck Collins	4–6	2–5	8.6	10.7
20	Sewanee	M. S. Bennett	2–6	1–4	9.8	18.4
21	Kentucky	Harry Gamage	3–6–1	1–5	11.5	16.1
22	Auburn	Dave Morey	0–7–2	0–6–1	3.3	13.8

Key

PPG = Average of points scored per game^[4]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game^[4]

Regular season[]

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

SoCon teams in bold.

Week One[]

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 17	Wofford	VMI	Lexington, Virginia	W 37–0

Week Two[]

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result
September 24	Millsaps	Alabama	Denny Field • Tuscaloosa, Alabama	W 46–0
September 24	Stetson	Auburn	Drake Field • Auburn, Alabama	L 6–0
September 24	Florida Southern	Florida	Fleming Field • Gainesville, Florida	W 26–7
September 24	Presbyterian	Clemson	Riggs Field • Calhoun, South Carolina	T 0–0
September 25	Mercer	Georgia	Sanford Field • Athens, Georgia	W 20–0
September 25	Oglethorpe	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	L 7–6
September 24	Maryville	Kentucky	Stoll Field • Lexington, Kentucky	T 6–6
September 24	Louisiana Tech	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana	W 45–0
September 24	Washington (MD)	Maryland	Byrd Stadium • College Park, Maryland	W 80–0
September 24	Ozarks	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, Mississippi	W 58–0
September 25	Birmingham–Southern	Mississippi A&M	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, Mississippi	W 19–7
September 24	Wake Forest	North Carolina	Chapel Hill, North Carolina	L 9–8
September 24	Elon	North Carolina State	Riddick Stadium • Raleigh, North Carolina	W 39–0
September 24	Transylvania	Sewanee	McGee Field • Sewanee, Tennessee	W 34–6
September 24	Erskine	South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	W 13–6
September 24	Carson-Newman	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, Tennessee	W 33–0
September 25	Louisiana Tech	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, Louisiana	W 40–0
September 24	Vanderbilt	Chattanooga	Chattanooga, Tennessee	W 45–18
September 24	Hampden-Sydney	Virginia	Lambeth Field • Charlottesville, Virginia	W 38–6
September 24	Richmond	VMI	Lexington, Virginia	W 22–0
September 24	Roanoke	Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Virginia	W 21–2
September 24	Lynchburg	Washington & Lee	Wilson Field • Lexington, Virginia	W 27–2

Week Three[]

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result
September 30	Rhodes	Alabama	Denny Field • Tuscaloosa, Alabama	W 31–0
September 30	North Carolina State	Furman	Manly Field • Greenville, South Carolina	L 20–0
October 1	Auburn	Clemson	Riggs Field • Calhoun, South Carolina	CLEM 3–0
October 1	Davidson	Florida	Fleming Field • Gainesville, Florida	L 12–0
October 1	VMI	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	GT 7–0
October 1	Indiana	Kentucky	Stoll Field • Lexington, Kentucky	L 21–0
October 1	Louisiana-Lafayette	LSU	State Field • Baton Rouge, Louisiana	W 52–0
October 1	Ole Miss	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, Louisiana	TUL 19–7
October 1	Birmingham–Southern	Mississippi A&M	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, Mississippi	W 27–0
October 1	South Carolina	Maryland	Byrd Stadium • College Park, Maryland	MD 26–0
October 1	Bryson	Sewanee	McGee Field • Sewanee, Tennessee	L 7–0
October 1	Tennessee	North Carolina	Chapel Hill, North Carolina	TENN 26–0
October 1	Ouachita	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, Tennessee	W 39–10
October 1	Virginia	Georgia	Sanford Field • Athens, Georgia	UGA 32–0
October 1	Hampden-Sydney	Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Virginia	W 13–0
October 1	Washington & Lee	West Virginia	Charleston, West Virginia	T 6–6

Week Four[]

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Reference
October 7	Hendrix	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, Mississippi	T 0–0
October 8	LSU	Alabama	Rickwood Field • Birmingham, Alabama	T 0–0
October 8	Florida	Auburn	Drake Field • Auburn, Alabama	FLA 33–6
October 8	Georgia	Yale	Yale Bowl • New Haven, Connecticut	W 14–10	^[5]
October 8	Tulane	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	GT 13–6
October 8	Kentucky Wesleyan	Kentucky	Stoll Field • Lexington, Kentucky	W 13–7
October 8	Maryland	North Carolina	Chapel Hill, North Carolina	UNC 7–6
October 8	Louisiana Tech	Mississippi A&M	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, Mississippi	W 14–0
October 8	Sewanee	Texas A&M	Dallas	L 18–0
October 8	Maryville	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, Tennessee	W 7–0
October 8	Vanderbilt	Centre	Danville, Kentucky	W 53–6
October 8	South Carolina	Virginia	Lambeth Field • Charlottesville, Virginia	SCAR 13–12
October 8	Virginia Tech	Colgate	Hamilton, New York	W 6–0
October 8	Roanoke	VMI	Lexington, Virginia	W 32–0
October 8	Duke	Washington & Lee	Wilson Field • Lexington, Virginia	W 12–7

Week Five[]

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result
October 13	Erskine	Clemson	Riggs Field • Calhoun, South Carolina	W 25–6
October 13	Wake Forest	North Carolina State	Riddick Stadium •Raleigh, North Carolina	W 30–7
October 15	Alabama	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	GT 13–0
October 15	LSU	Auburn	Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, Alabama	LSU 9–0
October 15	Kentucky	Florida	Barrs Field • Jacksonville, Florida	FLA 27–6
October 15	Furman	Georgia	Sanford Field • Athens, Georgia	W 32–0
October 15	Virginia Tech	Maryland	Norfolk, Virginia	MD 13–7
October 15	Ole Miss	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, Tennessee	TENN 21–7
October 15	Mississippi A&M	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, Louisiana	MSA&M 13–6
October 15	North Carolina	South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	SCAR 14–6
October 15	Vanderbilt	Texas	Fair Park Stadium • Dallas, Texas	L 13–6
October 15	VMI	Virginia	Lambeth Field • Charlottesville, Virginia	UVA 13–8

Week Six[]

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result
October 20	Clemson	South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	CLEM 20–0
October 22	Sewanee	Alabama	Rickwood Field • Birmingham, Alabama	ALA 24–0
October 22	Auburn	Georgia	McClung Stadium • Columbus, Georgia	UGA 33–3
October 22	North Carolina State	Florida	Plant Field • Tampa, Florida	NCST 12–6
October 22	North Carolina	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	GT 13–0
October 22	Mississippi A&M	LSU	Jackson, Mississippi	LSU 9–7
October 22	Maryland	VMI	Richmond, Virginia	MD 10–6
October 22	Transylvania	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, Tennessee	W 57–0
October 22	Tulane	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, Tennessee	VAN 32–0
October 22	Virginia Tech	Virginia	Lambeth Field • Charlottesville, Virginia	UVA 7–0
October 22	Washington & Lee	Kentucky	Stoll Field • Lexington, Kentucky	W&L 25–0

Week Seven[]

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result
October 27	South Carolina	The Citadel	County Fairgrounds • Orangeburg, South Carolina	W 6–0
October 29	Mississippi A&M	Alabama	Denny Field • Tuscaloosa, Alabama	ALA 13–7
October 29	Auburn	Howard	Rickwood Field • Birmingham, Alabama	T 9–9
October 29	Wofford	Clemson	Riggs Field • Calhoun, South Carolina	W 6–0
October 29	Mercer	Florida	Fleming Field • Gainesville, Florida	W 32–6
October 29	Georgia	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, Louisiana	UGA 31–0
October 29	Georgia Tech	Notre Dame	South Bend, Indiana	L 26–7
October 29	Arkansas	LSU	State Fair Stadium • Shreveport, Louisiana	L 28–0
October 29	Washington & Lee	Maryland	Byrd Stadium • College Park, Maryland	W&L 13–6
October 29	Ole Miss	Sewanee	McGee Field • Sewanee, Tennessee	MISS 28–14
October 29	North Carolina	North Carolina State	Riddick Stadium • Raleigh, North Carolina	NCST 19–6
October 29	Virginia Tech	Chattanooga	Chattanooga, Tennessee	L 14–13
October 29	Virginia	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, Tennessee	TENN 42–0
October 29	Kentucky	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, Tennessee	VAN 34–6
October 29	VMI	Davidson	Davidson, North Carolina	W 20–0

Week Eight[]

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result
November 5	Kentucky	Alabama	Rickwood Field • Birmingham, Alabama	ALA 21–6
November 5	Auburn	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, Louisiana	T 6–6
November 5	Clemson	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, South Carolina	W 13–0
November 5	Georgia	Florida	Barrs Field • Jacksonville, Florida	UGA 28–0
November 5	LSU	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, Mississippi	MISS 12–7
November 5	Maryland	Yale	Yale Bowl • New Haven, Connecticut	L 30–6
November 5	North Carolina	VMI	Lexington, Virginia	VMI 7–0
November 5	South Carolina	Virginia Tech	Richmond, Virginia	VT 35–0
November 5	Sewanee	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, Tennessee	TENN 32–12
November 5	Virginia	Washington & Lee	Wilson Field • Lexington, Virginia	UVA 13–7
November 6	Vanderbilt	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	T 0–0

Week Nine[]

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result
November 11	Loyola	Ole Miss	Jackson, Mississippi	L 7–6
November 12	Florida	Alabama	Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, Alabama	FLA 13–6
November 12	Mississippi A&M	Auburn	Rickwood Field • Birmingham, Alabama	MSA&M 7–6
November 12	Clemson	Georgia	Sanford Field • Athens, Georgia	UGA 32–0
November 12	LSU	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	GT 23–0
November 12	Kentucky	VMI	Charleston, West Virginia	UK 25–0
November 12	Davidson	North Carolina	Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, North Carolina	W 27–0
November 12	North Carolina State	Duke	Durham, North Carolina	W 20–18
November 13	Furman	South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	L 10–7
November 12	Tennessee	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, Tennessee	T 7–7
November 12	Sewanee	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, Louisiana	SEW 12–6
November 12	Maryland	Virginia	Lambeth Field • Charlottesville, Virginia	UVA 21–0
November 12	Washington & Lee	Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Virginia	VT 21–0

Week Ten[]

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result
November 18	Millsaps	Mississippi A&M	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, Mississippi	W 6–0
November 19	Mercer	Georgia	Sanford Field • Athens, Georgia	W 26–7
November 19	Oglethorpe	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	W 19–7
November 19	Kentucky	Centre	Danville, Kentucky	W 53–0
November 19	North Carolina	Duke	Durham, North Carolina	W 18–0
November 19	Maryland	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, Tennessee	VAN 39–20

Week Eleven[]

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result
November 24	Auburn	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	GT 18–0
November 24	Clemson	Furman	Manly Field • Greenville, South Carolina	L 28–0
November 24	Washington & Lee	Florida	Barrs Field • Jacksonville, Florida	FLA 20–7
November 24	Tulane	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana	TUL 13–6
November 24	Virginia	North Carolina	Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, North Carolina	UNC 14–10
November 24	North Carolina State	South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	NCST 34–0
November 24	Maryland	Johns Hopkins	Baltimore, Maryland	L 14–13
November 24	Mississippi A&M	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, Mississippi	MISS 20–12
November 24	Tennessee	Kentucky	Stoll Field • Lexington, Kentucky	TENN 20–0
November 24	VMI	Virginia Tech	Roanoke, Virginia	VMI 12–9
November 27	Georgia	Alabama	Rickwood Field • Birmingham, Alabama	UGA 20–6

Week Twelve[]

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Reference
December 3	Vanderbilt	Alabama	Legion Field • Birmingham, Alabama	VAN 14–7
December 3	Maryland	Florida	Barrs Field • Jacksonville, Florida	FLA 7–6
December 3	Georgia	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	GT 12–0	^[6]
December 3	Michigan State	North Carolina State	Riddick Stadium • Raleigh, North Carolina	W 19–0	^[7]

Awards and honors[]

All-Americans[]

E – Tom Nash, Georgia (AP-3; UP-3; COL-1; INS; NANA; HE-1; DJW-1; BE-3; LP-1; AAB)
E – Chick Shiver, Georgia (AP-1; UP-1; NEA; CP-2; HE-2; DJW-3; NYS-1; BE-1; LP-2)
T – Fred Pickhard, Alabama (UP-2; CP-2)
G – John Barnhill, Tennessee (AP-2)
G – Gene Smith, Georgia (AP-3)
C – Elvin Butcher, Tennessee (DJW-2)
QB – Bill Spears, Vanderbilt (AP-1; UP-2; INS; NANA; CP-2; HE-3; DJW-1; LP-2)
FB – Herdis McCrary, Georgia (AP-2; UP-2; HE-3; DJW-2)

All-Southern team[]

The following includes the composite All-Southern team compiled by the Associated Press.^[8]

Position	Name	First-team selectors	Team
QB	Bill Spears	AP, UP, C, CP	Vanderbilt
HB	Stumpy Thomason	AP, UP, C	Georgia Tech
HB	Dick Dodson	AP, UP	Tennessee
FB	Herdis McCrary	AP, UP, C, CP	Georgia
E	Tom Nash	AP, C	Georgia
T	Fred Pickhard	AP, UP, CP	Alabama
G	John Barnhill	AP, UP, C, CP	Tennessee
C	Elvin Butcher	AP, CP	Tennessee
G	Gene Smith	AP, UP, CP	Georgia
T	Jess Tinsley	AP	LSU
E	Chick Shiver	AP, UP, CP	Georgia

References[]

^ "Football National Championships". UGA Sports Communications. 2006-08-02. Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2007-01-12.
^ Ernie Couch (30 July 2001). SEC Football Trivia. ISBN 9781418571788.
^ Mark Purcell (November 1988). "Spears and Vandy excitement in 1927" (PDF). College Football Historical Society. 2 (1). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-11. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
^ ^a ^b "1927 Southern Conference Year Summary".
^ "Georgia Whips Yale Bulldogs". The Lincoln Star. October 9, 1927. p. 14. Retrieved March 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Biggest Upset of Southern Conference Spoils 'U' Mark". Oakland Tribune. December 4, 1927. p. 33. Retrieved July 28, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "State Wins From Michigan Aggies" (PDF). The Technician. 8 (4). December 10, 1927. p. 7.
^ "Spears Given Highest Vote in Selection". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. November 27, 1927.

[1] "Football National Championships". UGA Sports Communications. 2006-08-02. Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2007-01-12.

[2] Ernie Couch (30 July 2001). SEC Football Trivia. ISBN 9781418571788.

[3] Mark Purcell (November 1988). "Spears and Vandy excitement in 1927" (PDF). College Football Historical Society. 2 (1). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-11. Retrieved 2015-07-28.

[SR-4] "1927 Southern Conference Year Summary".

[5] "Georgia Whips Yale Bulldogs". The Lincoln Star. October 9, 1927. p. 14. Retrieved March 25, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "Biggest Upset of Southern Conference Spoils 'U' Mark". Oakland Tribune. December 4, 1927. p. 33. Retrieved July 28, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "State Wins From Michigan Aggies" (PDF). The Technician. 8 (4). December 10, 1927. p. 7.

[8] "Spears Given Highest Vote in Selection". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. November 27, 1927.

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v t Southern Conference football
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