Sewanee–Vanderbilt Football Rivalry

The Sewanee–Vanderbilt football rivalry was an American college football rivalry between the Sewanee Tigers and Vanderbilt Commodores. They were both founding members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA), the Southern Conference, and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Both teams' histories feature some powerhouses of early Southern football, e.g. 1899 Sewanee Tigers football team and 1906 Vanderbilt Commodores football team. It was the oldest of Vanderbilt's rivalries; dating back to 1891 when Vanderbilt played its second ever football game and Sewanee played its first. Vanderbilt leads the series 40–8–4. It used to be claimed as the oldest rivalry in the south, older than the "South's Oldest Rivalry" between North Carolina and Virginia. Usually played towards the end of the season on Thanksgiving Day, the two teams have not met again since 1944.

The two universities are in the same state of Tennessee and are over 90 miles away from each other. A newspaper account of the rivalry reads: "Both schools look upon the game as the big feature of their schedule each year, no matter what other games are included, and it is always the biggest drawing card on either schedule." "Goodbye Sewanee goodbye" was even a song sung by Vanderbilt students.

Game results

Notable games

1891: Sewanee's first game; Vanderbilt's second

Sewanee's first ever football game, and Vanderbilt's second, was the first instance of this rivalry at McGee Field on November 7, 1891. Vanderbilt won 22 to 0. McGee Field is the oldest stadium in the south still in use, and the fourth oldest in the nation.

1897: Vanderbilt gives Sewanee Hell

Vanderbilt beat Sewanee 10–0. A shocking event occurred in 1897 at the Thanksgiving Day match with Sewanee on the original Dudley Field. The word "hell" had been used in the line of a popular cheer on campus by Vanderbilt students and spread into events as football. This caused uproar with the university administration and the city of Nashville.

Both teams commenced to pass the ball around for the purpose of limbering up. Throughout this preliminary the students of both colleges gave their respective yells and sung their several songs written for the occasion. There was one yell given with great frequency by the Vanderbilt students which was very offensive to decent people. It starts off "Hippity Huz, Hippity Huz; What in the hell is the matter with us." It had become so popular at Vanderbilt that it was in the minds and causes them to be oblivious to the fact that it was not exactly proper to shock refined ladies by such utterances.

Phil Connell and captain Howard Boogher dove to recover the ball after the victory, giving Vanderbilt its first conference title.

1899: Sewanee's greatest team; no game with Vanderbilt

Sewanee manager Luke Lea, after a disagreement with Vanderbilt over gate receipts resulting in the 1899 game being cancelled, sought a way to make up for the lost revenue. In response, Lea put together an improbable schedule of playing five big name opponents in six days. Playing so many games in a short period minimized costs while maximizing revenue. During this road trip, Sewanee outscored its opponents for a combined 91–0, including Texas, Texas A&M, LSU, and Ole Miss. Sewanee obliterated each one, traveling by train for some 2,500 miles. This feat, barring fundamental changes in modern-day football, can never be equaled. Contemporary sources called the road trip the most remarkable ever made by an American college team.

1902: Sewanee drubs Vandy

Sewanee defeated Vanderbilt in a surprising 11 to 5 upset. John Edgerton's touchdown was the first Vanderbilt had scored on Sewanee since 1897. Captain Henry D. Phillips made Sewanee's touchdown.

1903: Vanderbilt upsets Sewanee

1903 met difficulty in determining an SIAA champion. Clemson's John Heisman pushed strongly for Cumberland to share the SIAA title with Clemson, but also originally scheduled a game with the Vanderbilt-Sewanee winner to decide the conference. Cumberland's strongest victory was its win over Vanderbilt.

John J. Tigert, later a prominent educator, got Vanderbilt's first touchdown, and thus was the first person to score on the Tigers all season.

1905: Vanderbilt drubs Sewanee

Vanderbilt crushed a strong Sewanee squad 68–4. One publication claims "The first scouting done in the South was in 1905, when Dan McGugin and Captain Innis Brown, of Vanderbilt went to Atlanta to see Sewanee play Georgia Tech." John Scarbrough made Sewanee's only points on a 35-yard field goal. On the dedication of Harris Stadium, one writer noted "The University of the South has numbered among its athletes some of the greatest. Anyone who played against giant Henry Phillips in 1901-1903 felt that he was nothing less than the best as guard and fullback. Anyone who ever saw a punt from the foot of J. W. Scarbrough." Honus Craig once ran 60 yards for a touchdown.

1907: Grantland Rice's Greatest Thrill

In the second year of the legal forward pass Vanderbilt won the SIAA championship on a double-pass play. Sewanee led 12 to 11 with twelve minutes to play. At McGugin's signal, the Commodores went into a freakish formation in which Stein Stone remained at center but all other players shifted to his left. Quarterback Hugh Potts took the snap and lateraled the ball to Vaughn Blake, who lateraled it across to Bob Blake, who had lined up deep in punt formation, as Stone ran down the field. Blake then connected with Stone on a 35-yard pass down inside the 5-yard line. Honus Craig ran in it to win the game. It was cited by Grantland Rice as the greatest thrill he ever witnessed in his years of watching sports.

Vanderbilt coach Dan McGugin in ''Spalding's Football Guides summation of the season in the SIAA wrote "The standing. First, Vanderbilt; second, Sewanee, a might good second;" and that Aubrey Lanier "came near winning the Vanderbilt game by his brilliant dashes after receiving punts."