1908 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

The 1908 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 1908 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. The team's head coach was Dan McGugin, who served his fifth season in that capacity. Members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA), the Commodores played eight home games in Nashville, Tennessee and finished the season with a record of 7–2–1 overall and 3–0–1 in SIAA.

1908 Vanderbilt Commodores football
ConferenceSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record7–2–1 (3–0–1 SIAA)
Head coach
Offensive schemeShort punt
CaptainJohn Vaughn Blake
Home stadiumDudley Field
1908 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
LSU + 2 –0 –010 –0 –0
Auburn + 4 –1 –06 –1 –0
Vanderbilt 3 –0 –17 –2 –1
Tennessee 3 –2 –07 –2 –0
Georgia Tech 4 –3 –06 –3 –0
Georgia 2 –2 –15 –2 –1
Alabama 1 –1 –16 –1 –1
Sewanee 1 –1 –14 –1 –3
Mississippi A&M 1 –3 –03 –4 –0
Ole Miss 0 –2 –03 –5 –0
Mercer 0 –3 –03 –4 –0
Clemson 0 –4 –01 –6 –0
Nashville   –    –  
  • + – Conference co-champions

On October 17, 1908, Vanderbilt played the school's 137th game, against Clemson, winning the contest 41–0 for the schools' 100th victory. 1908 was a down year for Vanderbilt with a wealth of sophomores; guided shrewdly by McGugin to its success.[1]

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 26Southwestern Presbyterian*
W 11–5[2]
October 3Maryville (TN)*
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN
W 32–0[3]
October 10Rose Polytechnic*
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN
W 32–0[4]
October 17Clemson
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN
W 41–0[5]
October 24Ole Miss
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN (rivalry)
W 29–0[6]
October 31at Michigan*
L 6–24[7]
November 7Tennessee
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN (rivalry)
W 16–9[8]
November 14Ohio State*
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN
L 6–17[9]
November 213:00 p.m.at Washington University*
W 28–06,000[10][11]
November 26Sewanee
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN (rivalry)
T 6–6[12]

[13]

Game summaries

Michigan

Before Vanderbilt played Michigan, Louis Hasslock had been on duty at Reelfoot Lake with a militia who were to guard against night riders. When he learned he could be granted a leave of absence if he were to join his football team, he walked a distance of twenty miles through a country infested with night riders, and caught a train at Union City.[14]

Tennessee

The Volunteers had compiled four wins in conference play. It was widely considered the best Tennessee football season up to that point.[15] Vanderbilt won the match between the two schools 16 to 9.

Walker Leach made a 41-yard field goal to put the Vols up 4 to 0. "This seemed to arouse the local team" and Vanderbilt drove down the field for a touchdown. On a fake kick, Leach circled Vanderbilt's left end for 60 yards. Ray Morrison stopped him short of the goal.[16] Nathan Dougherty was on Tennessee's squad.

Players

Varsity letter winners

"Wearers of the V."[17]

Line
Player Position Games
started		 Hometown Prep school Height Weight Age
Vaughn BlakeendCuero, TexasBowen School16020
Cecil Covingtonend
Ewing Y. FreelandtackleTurnersville, Texas21
R. B. Hagertackle
Louis HasslockguardNashville, TennesseeMontgomery Bell Academy17320
Bruce McGeheeend
Fatty McLaincenter19623
Andrew Powellguard
E. B. Rossguard

Backfield
Player Position Games
started		 Hometown Prep school Height Weight Age
Guy Crawfordhalfback
Will MetzgerhalfbackNashville, Tennessee6'1"17518
Ray MorrisonquarterbackSugar Branch, IndianaMcTyiere School for Boys23
David MortonfullbackLouisville, KentuckyBranham & Hughes School
Henry Williamshalfback

References
  1. Edwin Pope. Football's Greatest Coaches. pp. 340, 342.
  2. "Close call for the Commodores". The Nashville American. September 27, 1908. Retrieved May 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Walkover for Vandy with Maryville team". The Atlanta Journal. October 4, 1908. Retrieved May 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Vanderbilt is held to 32 to 0 score by Poly". The Indianapolis Star. October 11, 1908. Retrieved May 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Easy victory for Vanderbilt". The Courier-Journal. October 18, 1908. Retrieved May 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Vanderbilt victorious; Defeats Mississippi by score of 29 to 0". The Chattanooga Daily Times. October 25, 1908. Retrieved February 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Michigan crushes the dreaded Vanderbilt team". The Detroit Free Press. November 1, 1908. Retrieved May 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Gold and black of Vanderbilt". The Nashville American. November 8, 1908. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Ohio State varsity defeats Vanderbilt". The State. November 15, 1908. Retrieved May 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Cayou's Eleven In Shape For Great Battle". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. November 21, 1908. p. 8. Retrieved July 17, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
  11. "Washington U. Beaten by the Forward Pass". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. November 22, 1908. p. 1S. Retrieved July 17, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
  12. "Sewanee fights Vandy a tie". The Atlanta Constitution. November 27, 1908. Retrieved December 17, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Coaching Records Game by Game: Dan McGugin 1908". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  14. "Walks Many Miles To Join Football Team". The Winchester News. October 30, 1908.
  15. Fields, Bud; Bertucci, Bob (1982). Big Orange: a pictorial history of University of Tennessee football. p. 34. ISBN 9780880110716.
  16. "Vanderbilt Athletics". Vanderbilt University Quarterly. 9: 28–35. 1909.
  17. "Meeting of the Executive Committee". Vanderbilt University Quarterly. 9: 35. 1909.
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