Interesting College Sports Facts

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𝟏𝟏𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨...

Yes, this football game counts as an official game played in the official won-lost records of TCU's football program history. 

The Texas School for the Deaf holds this Texas high school football record that will never be broken by any Texas high school football teams: 

Texas School for the Deaf has played more football games against pre-Southwest Conference (SWC) teams than any other Texas high school football teams in the history of Texas high school football.

After the SWC was formed in 1914, the SWC schools voted not to play against Texas School for the Deaf any more as it was only a high school football team.

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This photo comes with this comment:

"Members of the Texas A&M football team got to meet James Arness when they visited the Hollywood set of "Gunsmoke" in 1964.

"I'm sure they were big guys, but you'd never know it — standing next to Arness who stood 6 feet 7 inches tall."

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On this day 107 years ago in 1916, the Cumberland Football team lost to Georgia Tech in the most lopsided game in the history of college football, 222-0.... 

But do you know the whole story?

Georgia Tech was one of the powerhouse football teams at the time headed up by John Heisman, yes the John Heisman that the Heisman trophy is named after.

The story starts in the spring of 1916 when Cumberland's baseball team traveled to Atlanta and gave the Yellow Jackets a 22-0 beat down. Coach Heisman was also Georgia Tech's baseball coach and accused Cumberland of using semi-pro players so he swore to get his revenge.

At the time, Cumberland was under extreme financial stress and decided to cut football to save money. All team's on the schedule were notified and each game was canceled, except for one.. Georgia Tech.

Coach Heisman decided Cumberland was going to play the game or face a lawsuit due to a breach of contract that would cost $3,000 (roughly $85,000 today). This was likely enough money to shut the school down.

Cumberland decided to put together a team full of 14 Kappa Sig fraternity members to get on the train and head down to Atlanta to play the mighty John Heisman and Georgia Tech. 

At that time in College Football history, National Championships were determined by sports writers and were often presented to the team that scored the most points during the season. 

Georgia Tech proceeded to score on every possession while the Cumberland fraternity members failed to make a first down in the game leading to the 222-0 blowout. Georgia Tech ran for 32 touchdowns and forced 15 turnovers. 

Today we compete in the NAIA as a member of the Mid-South Conference and we sponsor over 30 sports. We look forward to growing our rich athletic history as we venture into the future! #WeArePhoenix

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The late Lou Saban was born 102 years ago today. Pictured below: University of Miami head coach Lou Saban celebrates with assistant coach Joe Brodsky after the Hurricanes defeated the Florida Gators 22-21 at Florida Field on December 2, 1978. It was Saban's final game as UM head coach.  Saban coached only two seasons at the University of Miami in 1977 and 1978. His combined record in those seasons was only 9-13. But he may have been the most important coach hired by UM. Saban came to UM during a dark time in the program’s history when the university considered dropping football. During the 1970s, UM had only two winning seasons (6-5 in 1973 and 1978), attendance was dismal and the Canes and never made it to a bowl game

Although Howard Schnellenberger gets most of the credit for turning the program around, he couldn’t have done it without his predecessor Lou Saban. It was Saban’s recruiting which laid the foundation for Schnellenberger’s early success at UM. He brought in players such as Jim Burt, Jim Kelly, Fred Marion and Lester Willliams who all went on to great college and pro careers. Saban also recognized the quality high school talent in South Florida and hired local high school coaches Joe Brodsky of Hialeah-Miami Lakes and Jerry Anderson of Miami Carol City to his staff.

Saban was a football nomad. He had 18 different coaching jobs, ranging from from the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos of the NFL, to coaching UM, Army and Central Florida were among his stops. He even coached high school football and once had a job in the New York Yankees front office. His average stint at those jobs was only 1.3 years. But he seemed to leave a mark everywhere he went. In Buffalo, he made O.J. Simpson a record setting running back. At UM, he was somehow able to convince Jim Kelly of East Brady, PA, to pass up a scholarship offer from Penn State to play for the Canes. Of course, it also helped Joe Paterno made the mistake of recruiting Kelly as a linebacker.

He was known for his fiery pregame and halftime speeches. One of his famous rants was permanently captured by NFL Films when he famously yelled "They're killing me Whitey!" from the sidelines. Lou Saban passed away on March 29, 2009. He was 87 years old.

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December 2, 1995, the final football games in the Southwest Conference took place.

Texas & Texas A&M game was chosen for national TV  at 2:30 kickoff.

Rice moved its game with Houston to 4 p.m. and was the last game played in the conference.

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[Lion7000]

1 hour ago, RETIREDFAN1 said:

Can’t believe been that long both aged well.

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𝟭𝟮𝟬 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗔𝗴𝗼...

Southwest Texas State finished with a 5-1 record...with the first 3 games being shutouts until Texas School for the Deaf broke the shutout streak. So the Deaf high school football players really went toe-to-toe against a more stronger university team that year. 

And, yes, the 1904 game counts as an official game played in the official won-lost records of Texas State University's football program history.

It was Southwest Texas State back then. Today it is called Texas State University...the same university Jim Wacker came from to became football coach at TCU. 

Texas School for the Deaf still holds this high school football record that will never be broken: 

Texas School for the Deaf has played more games against NCAA college/university football teams than any other high school football teams in the history of Texas high school football. 

A total of 33 teams were listed, including Baylor and TCU. So I am listing only the top 10 teams here. 

𝟭𝟵𝟬𝟰 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀:

Georgetown 7–1–0
𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝗮𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 5–1–0
Southwestern Louisiana Industrial 2–0–1
Davidson 6–1–1
Navy 7–2–1
North Carolina 5–2–2
Virginia 6–3–0
North Carolina A&M 3–1–2
West Virginia 6–3–0
VPI 5–3–0

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Texas A&M students pose next to the stolen Rice mascot in 1917. There was a whole fiasco where cadets stole the owl, prompting Rice to send an elite group of undergrads known as “The Owl Protection Agency” to retrieve the owl.  The mission failed, after 13 of the 17 Rice kids were caught and held on the A&M campus. Photo courtesy of Texas Football Life.