1931 Georgia Bulldogs football team

1931 Georgia Bulldogs football
Conference Southern Conference
1931 record 8–2 (6–1 SoCon)
Head coach Harry Mehre
Captain Austin Downes
Home stadium Sanford Stadium (30,000)
Uniform
1931 Southern Conference football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Tulane $ 8 0 0     11 1 0
Tennessee 6 0 1     9 0 1
Alabama 7 1 0     9 1 0
Georgia 6 1 0     8 2 0
Maryland 4 1 1     8 1 1
Kentucky 4 2 2     5 2 2
LSU 3 2 0     5 4 0
Duke 3 3 1     5 3 2
South Carolina 3 3 1     5 4 1
Auburn 3 3 0     5 3 0
Sewanee 3 3 0     6 3 1
Vanderbilt 3 4 0     5 4 0
North Carolina 2 3 3     4 3 3
Washington and Lee 2 3 0     4 5 1
Georgia Tech 2 4 1     2 7 1
Florida 2 4 2     2 6 2
VMI 2 4 0     3 6 1
NC State 2 4 0     3 6 0
VPI 1 4 1     3 4 2
Clemson 1 4 0     1 6 2
Ole Miss 1 5 0     2 6 1
Virginia 0 5 1     2 6 1
Mississippi A&M 0 5 0     2 6 0
  • $ Conference champion

The 1931 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the Georgia Bulldogs of the University of Georgia during the 1931 college football season. Members of the Southern Conference, the Bulldogs completed the season with an 8–2 record (6–1 SoCon).[1] The two losses were to the Rose Bowl and national champion USC Trojans, and to SoCon champion and the team defeated by USC in the Rose Bowl, the Tulane Green Wave.[2]

Before the season

Georgia's team was led by a group of veterans in end Catfish Smith, fullback Jack "The Ripper" Roberts and captain and quarterback Austin Downes. Buster Mott was a promising sophomore.[3]

Schedule

Date Opponent Site Result Attendance
October 3 VPI Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA W 40–0  
October 10 at Yale* Yale BowlNew Haven, CT W 26–7   70,000
October 17 at North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC W 32–7  
October 24 Vanderbilt Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA W 9–0  
October 31 at Florida Florida FieldGainesville, FL W 33–6  
November 7 at NYU* Bronx, NY W 7–6  
November 14 Tulane Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA L 7–20  
November 21 vs. Auburn Columbus, GA (Deep South's Oldest Rivalry) W 12–6  
November 28 Georgia Tech Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA (Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate) W 35–6  
December 12 at USC* Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA L 0–60  
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming.

Season summary

Yale

Georgia at Yale
1 234Total
Georgia 0 13013 26
Yale 0 070 7

For the third straight year, Georgia's Bulldogs triumphed over "superstar" Hall of Famer Albie Booth and Yale's Bulldogs 26–7.[4] Yale once had the ball on its own 45-yard line. "Tommy Taylor dropped back to pass. Catfish Smith hit Taylor as he released the ball and the wobbly toss was grabbed by guard Red Leathers of Georgia, who proceeded to dash 40 yards to the touchdown."[5] Before the first half was over, Homer Key ran for a 74-yard touchdown, starting through right and cutting back. "He was surrounded by blue-clad players. He shuttled in and out like a white needle in haystack of blue, and finally he shout out and streaked for the goal."[5]

In the fourth quarter, after a short punt, Austin Downes connected with Key on a 27-yard touchdown pass. Later, Dickens intercepted Booth's pass at the 29-yard line,[6] and Georgia drove it in with Gilmore finally going over to end the scoring.[5]

The starting lineup was Crenshaw (left end), Townsend (left tackle), Patterson (left guard), Batchelder (center), Maddux (right guard), Cooper (right tackle), Wilson (right end), Downes (quarterback), Chandler (left halfback), Mott (right halfback) White (fullback).[6]

Florida

The Bulldogs beat Charlie Bachman at Florida for the first time 33–6. Both Florida governor Doyle E. Carlton and Georgia governor Richard B. Russell attended the game.[7] Florida scored when Scabby Phiel blocked a punt. Georgia scored in every period.[7]

Tulane

Tulane at Georgia
1 234Total
Tulane 7 670 20
Georgia 0 070 7

Georgia lost to the eventual SIAA champion Tulane Green Wave 20–7. Tulane scored first on a 33-yard pass from Don Zimmerman to Vernon Haynes.[5] Nollie Felts plunged in from the 1-yard line for the next touchdown.[5] A pass from Georgia's Homey Key to Buster Mott netted 60 yards and a touchdown.[5] After a botched punt, a double pass play led to Payne sprinting around left end for Tulane's final score.[5]

USC

Georgia was beaten by the national champion USC Trojans 60–0.

References

  1. "1931 Georgia Bulldogs Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  2. Ray Schmidt. "The Georgia Armada" (PDF).
  3. "Pack of Veterans Carry on Georgia's Grid Wars". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. October 12, 1931.
  4. http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/072407aaf.html
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/CFHSN/CFHSNv03/CFHSNv03n3c.pdf
  6. 1 2 Westbrook Pegler (October 11, 1931). "70,000 Watch Georgia Eleven Beat Yale, 26-7". Chicago Tribune.
  7. 1 2 "Georgia Thumps Florida Gators". Bluefield Daily Telegraph. November 1, 1931. p. 11. Retrieved July 28, 2016 via Newspapers.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.