![]() ![]() In 1909, it beat LSU in New Orleans in a game attended by President Taft. Sewanee’s record in the 11 seasons after 1899 was 65-15-7, never losing more than two games in a season. That was the apex of a long period of football dominance. “What was it, a couple years ago (then-Tennessee head coach) Butch Jones was complaining that they had three games in 18 days or whatever it was? We chirped back at him a little bit on social media. “Our guys don’t even practice five straight days,” said Rundle, Sewanee’s head coach since 2017. Sewanee won them all, by a combined score of 91-0. This was with Sewanee only having 13 players, in a time when the forward pass was not allowed, leather helmets were still being introduced and players who left the game could not return. It finished the season with wins against Auburn (coached by John Heisman) and at North Carolina, with a late defensive stand to ice a 5-0 win, a defensive stand that current Sewanee coach Travis Rundle still uses to motivate his defense.īut it’s what happened over six days in November that went down in college football lore: Seeking to make money as the visiting team via gate receipts, team manager Luke Lea scheduled five games over six days: Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, LSU, Ole Miss. Sewanee began the 1899 season with a 12-0 win at Georgia. By late in the decade, the Tigers had one of the strongest programs in the region, and in the final year of the century would field a team that one historian credits with making football a popular Southern sport. “The 1899 University of the South football team has to be the most amazing story in college football history.” – the late Johnny Majors, former Tennessee coach, whose father, Shirley Majors, was Sewanee’s coach from 1957-77Ĭollege football began in the Northeast, mainly in the Ivy League, then trickled down to the South Sewanee played its first game in 1891. Once the league became too big for travel, schools east and south of the Appalachian Mountains decided to break off: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Tulane, Vanderbilt … and Sewanee. The state of Tennessee was where the SEC originated: Its members had been in the Southern Conference. So as Sewanee defeated Emory & Henry, the commissioner of the SEC - the visionary credited with initiating the SEC dominance we see today - watched from the stands. Sewanee was playing that week, as were many other Division III schools. “These (SEC) presidents said they’re not going to play this weekend,” Kramer said. Webb got the job and a few years later, the week of 9/11, he heard from his boss. When the Sewanee athletic director job opened up in the 1990s, Vanderbilt administrator Mark Webb was encouraged by his former boss, Roy Kramer, to apply for it. The path to the SEC and significance of ‘1899’ This is Sewanee, a small Episcopal school that helped found the SEC, then left it, and has never looked back. Here resided a team that still owns winning records against Auburn, Georgia and LSU, and still holds the mark for most points ever scored in regulation against Alabama. Here resided arguably the best team in college football history. ![]() ![]() The “press box” is a single room.Īnd yet here, on this, the oldest football field in the South resided an SEC program. Stone bleachers on the home side built in the 19th century are so small that trees behind the stadium hang over them. The football field sits a short walk away. Even today the campus almost seems frozen in history, stone buildings, not a chain restaurant in sight. A football player from a visiting school named Bobby Bowden once said Sewanee was the first place he ever saw snow. Follow him on Twitter views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.But a school still emerged, small and remote on a Tennessee mountain. ![]() His writing has appeared in several newspapers around the USA Today South Region. He has worked at the USF Oracle and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. YearĬlick or tap here to view the latest Top 25 rankings.Īlberto Camargo is the lead reporter for NCAA men's and women's soccer. Here are the annual SEC tournament champions since the tournament started in 1977. Scroll to the right to view the complete table. The championship game returned to single-elimination play on Saturday, May 27. 12 opened SEC tournament play on Tuesday, May 23 in a single-elimination format, double-elimination action began Wednesday, May 24. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |