1899 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season explained

1899 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season
Sport:	College football
League:	NCAA
Season:	Regular Season
Season Champs:	Sewanee
No Of Teams:	17
Duration:	October 6, 1899 through December 25, 1899
Seasonslistnames:	Football
Prevseason Year:	1898
Nextseason Year:	1900

The 1899 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season was the college football games played by the member schools of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association as part of the 1899 college football season.

The season began on October 6, 1899 with Vanderbilt visiting Cumberland.

Sewanee won the conference with 11 conference victories. With just 13 players, the team known as the "Iron Men" had a six-day road trip with five shutout wins over Texas A&M; Texas; Tulane; LSU; and Ole Miss. Sportswriter Grantland Rice called the group "the most durable football team I ever saw."^[1] The road trip is recalled memorably with the Biblical allusion "...and on the seventh day they rested."^[2]

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. Rank	Team	Head coach	Conf. record	Win Pct.	Overall record	PPG	PAG
1 (tie)	Sewanee	Billy Suter	11–0–0	1.000	12–0–0	26.8	0.8
1 (tie)	Vanderbilt	James Crane	5–0–0	1.000	7–2–0	12.1	4.8
1 (tie)	Alabama	W. A. Martin	1–0–0	1.000	3–1–0	9.7	7.7
4	Nashville	C. E. Woodruff	4–1–0		4–1–1
5	Tennessee	J. A. Pierce	2–1–0	.667	6–2–0	10.7	7.6
6	Auburn	John Heisman	2–1–1	.625	3–1–1	29.6	2.2
7	Texas	Gordon Clarke	3–2–0	.600	6–2–0	14.6	3.0
8	North Carolina	William Reynolds	1–1–0	.500	7–3–0	15.7	5.3
9	Ole Miss	W. H. Lyon	3–4–0	.429	3–4–0	6.3	6.7
10	Georgia	Gordon Saussy	2–3–1	.417	2–3–1	7.3	3.7
11 (tie)	Clemson	Walter Riggs	1–2–0	.333	4–2–0	18.2	8.3
11 (tie)			1–2–0	.333	1–2–0
13	LSU	John Gregg	1–3–0	.250	1–4–0	7.6	25.2
14 (tie)	Kentucky State	W. R. Bass	0–1–0	.000	5–2–2	10.9	4.9
14 (tie)			0–1–0	.000	1–1–0	22.5	27
14 (tie)		E. D. Kuykendall	0–3–0	.000		0–3–0	0.0	40.3
- align="left" bgcolor=""	14 (tie)	Georgia Tech	Cow Nalley	0–5–0	.000	0–6–0	0.8	31.0
14 (tie)	Tulane	Harris Collier	0–5–0	.000	0–6–1	0.0	20.1

KeyPPG = Average of points scored per game
PAG = Average of points allowed per game

Regular season

Index to colors and formatting
Non-conference matchup; SIAA member won
Non-conference matchup; SIAA member lost
Non-conference matchup; tie
Conference matchup

SIAA teams in bold.

Week One

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 6	Vanderbilt	Cumberland	Lebanon, TN	VAN 32–0		^[3]
October 7	Clemson	Georgia	Herty Field • Athens, GA	UGA 11–0		^[4]
October 7		Kentucky State		W 23–6		^[5]
October 7	North Carolina A&M	North Carolina		W 34–0		^[6]
October 11		Tennessee	Baldwin Park • Knoxville, TN	W 11–5		^[7]
October 12	Oak Ridge	North Carolina	Campus Athletic Field • Chapel Hill, NC	W 16–0		^[8]

Week Two

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 14		Mooney School	SW Presbyterian	Ball Park • Clarksville, TN	W 45–0		^[9]
October 14	Nashville	Cumberland		NASH 18–0
October 14	Miami (OH)	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	W 12–0		^[10]
October 14	Georgia Tech	Auburn	Drill Field • Auburn, AL	AUB 63–0		^[11]
October 14	Davidson	Clemson	Rock Hill, SC	W 10–0		^[12]
October 14	Guilford	North Carolina	Campus Athletic Field • Chapel Hill, NC	W 45–0		^[13]
October 18	Miami (OH)	Kentucky State	Lexington, KY	W 18–5		^[14]
October 18	Atlanta Athletic Club	Georgia Tech	Piedmont Park • Atlanta, GA	L 0–2		^[15]

Week Three

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 20	Cincinnati	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	L 6–0		^[16]
October 21	Kentucky State		Danville, KY	T 11–11		^[17]
October 21		Nashville	Normal College Field • Nashville, TN	T 5–5		^[18]
October 21	Texas	Dallas Athletic Club	Dallas, TX	W 11–6		^[19]
October 21	Tuscaloosa Athletic Club	Alabama	The Quad • Tuscaloosa, AL	W 16–5
October 21	Montgomery Athletic Club	Auburn	Drill Field • Auburn, AL	W 41–0		^[20]
October 21	Sewanee	Georgia	Piedmont Park • Atlanta, GA	SEW 12–0		^[21]
October 21	Davidson	North Carolina	Latta Park • Charlotte, NC	W 10–0		^[22]
October 21	VPI	Tennessee	Baldwin Park • Knoxville, TN	L 5–0		^[23]
October 23	Sewanee	Georgia Tech	Piedmont Park • Atlanta, GA	SEW 32–0		^[24]
October 23	Horner's School	North Carolina	Campus Athletic Field • Chapel Hill, NC	W 46–0

Week Four

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 27	Ole Miss	Central (KY)	Citizens' Park • Memphis, TN	MISS 13–6		^[25]
October 28	Nashville	Ole Miss	Oxford, MS	NASH 11–0		^[26]
October 28	Tennessee	Sewanee	Hardee Field • Sewanee, TN	SEW 46–0		^[27]
October 28	Indiana	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	L 22–0		^[28]
October 28	Clemson	Auburn	Drill Field • Auburn, AL	AUB 34–0		^[29]
October 28	Georgia Tech	Georgia	Herty Field • Athens, GA	UGA 33–0		^[30]
October 28	North Carolina	North Carolina A&M	Raleigh, NC	T 11–11		^[31]
October 31	San Antonio	Texas	Varsity Athletic Field • Austin, TX	W 28–0		^[32]
October 31	"Old" Maryland	North Carolina	Campus Athletic Field • Chapel Hill, NC	W 6–0		^[33]

Week Five

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 3	SW Presbyterian	Sewanee	Hardee Field • Sewanee, TN	SEW 54–0		^[34]
November 3	LSU	Ole Miss	Fairgrounds • Meridian, MS	MISS 11–0	5,000	^[35]
November 4	North Carolina	Navy	Worden Field • Annapolis, MD	L 0–12		^[36]
November 4	Kentucky State	Tennessee	Baldwin Park • Knoxville, TN	TENN 12–0		^[37]
November 4	Ole Miss	Vanderbilt	Billings Park • Memphis, TN	VAN 11–0		^[38]
November 4	Texas A&M	Texas	San Antonio, TX	W 6–0		^[39]
November 8	North Carolina	Princeton	University Field • Princeton, NJ	L 0–30		^[40]
November 9	Clemson	South Carolina	Columbia, SC	W 34–0		^[41]
November 9	Sewanee	Texas	Varsity Athletic Field • Austin, TX	SEW 12–0	2,500	^[42]

Week Six

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 10	Sewanee	Texas A&M	Herald Park • Houston, TX	W 10–0	600	^[43]
November 11	Sewanee	Tulane	Tulane Athletic Field • New Orleans, LA	SEW 23–0	~1,000	^[44]
November 11	Central (KY)	Kentucky State	Lexington, KY	CENT 5–0		^[45]
November 11	Montgomery Athletic Club	Alabama	The Quad • Tuscaloosa, AL	W 16–0		^[46]
November 11	Georgia	Tennessee	Baldwin Park • Knoxville, TN	TENN 5–0		^[47]
November 11	Nashville	Georgia Tech	Piedmont Park • Atlanta, GA	NASH 15–0		^[48]
November 11		Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	W 22–0		^[49]
November 13	Sewanee	LSU	State Field • Baton Rouge, LA	SEW 34–0	2,000+	^[50]
November 13	Sewanee	Ole Miss	Billings Park • Memphis, TN	SEW 12–0		^[51]

Week Seven

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 18	North Carolina A&M	Clemson	Rock Hill, SC	W 24–0		^[52]
November 18	Auburn	Georgia	Piedmont Park • Atlanta, GA	T 0–0		^[53]
November 18	Texas	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	VAN 6–0		^[54]
November 18	SW Presbyterian	Nashville	Normal College Field • Nashville, TN	NASH 39–0		^[55]
November 20	Texas	Tulane	Tulane Athletic Field • New Orleans, LA	TEX 11–0		^[56]
November 20	Cumberland	Sewanee	Hardee Field • Sewanee, TN	SEW 71–0		^[57]
November 21		Kentucky State	Lexington, KY	T 0–0		^[58]
November 22	Washington and Lee	Kentucky State	Lexington, KY	W 6–0		^[59]
November 23	Washington and Lee	Tennessee	Baldwin Park • Knoxville, TN	W 11–0		^[60]

Week Eight

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 24		Alabama	Ole Miss	Driving Park • Jackson, MS	ALA 7–5	600	^[61]
November 25		Alabama	New Orleans Athletic Club	Athletic Park • New Orleans, LA	L 21–0		^[62]
November 25		Central (KY)	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	VAN 21–16		^[63]
November 25		Tulane	Texas	Varsity Athletic Field • Austin, TX	TEX 32–0		^[64]
November 27		Tulane	Texas A&M	Herald Park • Houston, TX	L 22–0		^[65]
November 28		LSU	Lake Charles High School	Hoohoo Park • Lake Charles, LA	W 48–0		^[66] ^[67]
November 30	2:50 p. m.	Sewanee	Auburn	Riverside Park • Montgomery, AL	SEW 11–10		^[68]
November 30		Kentucky Alumni	Kentucky State	Lexington, KY	W 6–5
November 30		Georgia Tech	Clemson	Greenville, SC	CLEM 41–5
November 30		North Carolina	Georgia	Piedmont Park • Atlanta, GA	UNC 5–0	3,000	^[69]
November 30		LSU	Texas	Varsity Athletic Field • Austin, TX	TEX 29–0		^[70]
November 30		Ole Miss	Tulane	Tulane Athletic Field • New Orleans, LA	MISS 15–0		^[71]
November 30		Kentucky University	Tennessee	Baldwin Park • Knoxville, TN	W 41–0		^[72]
November 30		Nashville	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	VAN 5–0	4,000	^[73]

Week Nine

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
December 2	North Carolina	Sewanee	Piedmont Park • Atlanta, GA	SEW 5–0	2,000	^[74]
December 2	LSU	Texas A&M	College Station, TX	L 42–0		^[75]

Week Twelve

All-Southern team

See main article: 1899 College Football All-Southern Team. W. A. Lambeth's All-Southern team:

Position	Name	Team
QB	Warbler Wilson	Sewanee
HB	Arthur Feagin	Auburn
HB	Harry Gerstle	Virginia
FB	Robert M. Coleman	Virginia
E	Bart Sims	Sewanee
T	W. Hamilton	Georgia
G	William Choice	VPI
C	Carlos A. Long	Georgetown
G	Wallace Crutchfield	Vanderbilt
T	John Loyd	Virginia
E	Herman Koehler	North Carolina

Notes and References

1. News: Grantland Rice. November 27, 1941. Reading Eagle.
2. Web site: Sewanee, long-lost member of the SEC. https://web.archive.org/web/20160111103027/http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/story/_/id/7001627/sec-expansion-conference-consider-sewanee-long-lost-founding-member. January 11, 2016 . Patrick Dorsey. live. September 23, 2011.
3. News: Cumberland University team defeated by the Vanderbilt team. Nashville Banner. October 7, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
4. News: Georgia eleven defeated by the Clemson College boys. The Savannah Morning News. October 8, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
5. News: Blue and White downs the Crimson. The Morning Herald. October 8, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
6. News: First football game; University beats A. & M. College in a well played contest. The Morning Post. October 8, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
7. News: Orange-White winning colors. The Journal and Tribune. October 12, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
8. News: Carolina defeats Oak Ridge in football. Asheville Daily Gazette. October 13, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
9. News: A walk-over for the S.W.P.U.'s, was the football game Saturday. Semi-Weekly Leaf-Chronicle. October 17, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
10. News: Vanderbilt 12, Miami 0. The Courier-Journal. October 15, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
11. News: Auburn defeats the Techs. The Atlanta Constitution. October 15, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
12. News: The score was 10 to 0 in Clemson's favor. The State. October 15, 1999. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
13. News: Never touched Guilford; Carolina only scored 45 to Guilford's nothing. The News and Observer. October 15, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
14. News: State College 18, Miami 5. The Courier-Journal. October 19, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
15. News: Athletic Club wins from Techs. October 19, 1899. The Atlanta Constitution.
16. News: To Cincinnati comes victory. The Nashville American. October 22, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
17. News: Centre College 11, State College 11. The Courier-Journal. October 22, 1899. April 28, 2024. Newspapers.com.
18. News: Rushing the pigskin; Bethel College and University of Nashville play football. Nashville Banner. October 23, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
19. News: Football leads to fight. Fort Worth Morning Register. October 22, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
20. News: Montgomery boys show up well. The Montgomery Advertiser. October 22, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
21. News: Purple triumphs over Athens. The Montgomery Advertiser. October 22, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
22. News: University defeats Davidson College by a close score. The Morning Post. October 22, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
23. News: U of T eleven lost to the Blacksburg team. The Journal and Tribune. October 22, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
24. News: Techs went down before Sewanee. The Atlanta Journal. October 24, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
25. News: Was a fierce game. The Commercial Appeal. October 28, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
26. News: Oxford beaten. The Commercial Appeal. October 29, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
27. News: University of the South defeated University of Tennessee by 51 to 0. The Knoxville Sentinel. October 30, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
28. News: Indiana wins; Vanderbilt University defeated by a score of 20 to 0. The Indianapolis News. October 31, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
29. News: Auburn keeps up her fast game. The Montgomery Advertiser. October 29, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
30. News: Techs defeated. The Macon Telegraph. October 29, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
31. News: A. & M. surprised. The Morning Post. October 29, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
32. News: The 'Varsity beat the visitors badly yesterday. Austin Daily Statesman. November 1, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
33. News: University of Maryland beaten. The Baltimore Sun. November 1, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
34. News: Another fifty-four points for Sewanee. The Montgomery Advertiser. November 4, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
35. News: Football—Mississippi defeated Louisiana in a great game at Meridian. The Commercial Appeal. November 2, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
36. News: Naval Cadets win. The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 5, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
37. News: Tennessee 12, State College 0. The Courier-Journal. November 5, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
38. News: Not a brilliant contest. The Commercial Appeal. November 5, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
39. News: The Agricultural boys were made to wilt by 'Varsity. Austin Daily Statesman. November 5, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
40. News: Princeton wins 30 to 0. The New York Times. November 9, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
41. News: Clemson did eat Carolina boys up. The State. November 10, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
42. News: Sewanee defeats University of Texas in spirited game. The Arkansas Gazette. November 10, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
43. News: Sewanee 10, A. and M. 0; The Cadets put up a hard game and bothered the visitors. Houston Daily Post. November 11, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
44. News: Olive still Blue but very hopeful. The Daily Picayune. November 12, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
45. News: State College team defeated by Central University by a score of 5 to 0. The Morning Herald. November 12, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
46. News: Montgomery boys' magnificent showing. The Montgomery Advertiser. November 12, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
47. News: Tennessee beats Georgia eleven. The Atlanta Constitution. November 12, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
48. News: November 12, 1899 . Nashville leads Techs Merry Chase. The Montgomery Advertiser.
49. News: Vanderbilt 22, Bethel College 0. The Commercial Appeal. November 12, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
50. News: Sewanee 34, Louisiana 0; Tennesseans en route to Memphis after defeating everything in the southwest. The Commercial Appeal. November 14, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
51. News: Sewanee downs Mississippi. Natchez Democrat. November 15, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
52. News: Clemson defeats the A and M, 24 to 0 . The Charlotte Daily Observer. November 19, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
53. News: Auburn had game but darkness ended the football contest with University of Georgia. The Macon Telegraph. November 19, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
54. News: Texas up against it again. The Montgomery Advertiser. November 19, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
55. News: Nashville won; Her game with Sewanee for next Saturday has been cancelled. Nashville Banner. November 20, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
56. News: Tulane shut out; University of Texas men rolled up a score of eleven by hard work. The Commercial Appeal. November 21, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
57. News: Sewanee wins again. The Birmingham Age-Herald. November 21, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
58. News: Washington and Lee defeated. Lexington Gazette. November 22, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
59. News: Washington and Lee beaten. The Courier-Journal. November 23, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
60. News: Tennessee's victory. The Knoxville Sentinel. November 24, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
61. News: Alabama 7, Mississippi 5. The Times-Democrat. November 25, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
62. News: Southern Athletic eleven's debut: Defeating the University of Alabama's clever team. The Times-Picayune. November 26, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
63. News: Vanderbilt defeated Central University, score 21 to 16. The Journal and Tribune. November 26, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
64. News: The Varsity boys came out big winner in the game. Austin Daily Statesman. November 26, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
65. News: Texas A. and M. 22, Tulane 0. The Daily Picayune. November 28, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
66. News: State University to play Lake Charles. The Times-Democrat. November 28, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
67. News: State University 48, Lake Charles 0. The Times-Picayune. November 29, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
68. News: Sewanee Wins From Auburn. W. R. Tichenor. W. R. Tichenor. Atlanta Constitution. 3. December 1, 1899. March 30, 2015. Newspapers.com.
69. News: Georgia defeated by North Carolina. The Atlanta Journal. December 1, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
70. News: 'Varsity vs. Baton Rouge; Texas boys won in the Austin game, 29 to 0. Fort Worth Morning Register. December 1, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
71. News: Mississippi's game; Tulane defeated by a score of 15 to 0. The Times-Democrat. December 1, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
72. News: Brilliant end of the season. The Journal and Tribune. December 1, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
73. News: Thanksgiving game on Dudley Field. The Nashville American. December 1, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
74. News: Sewanee is champion. The Times-Democrat. December 3, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
75. News: A. and M. College vs University of Louisiana won by the home team. Bryan-College Station Eagle. December 3, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
76. News: Louisiana University 38, Tulane 0. The Daily Picayune. December 9, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.
77. News: Football at Chattanooga. Nashville Banner. December 26, 1899. April 29, 2024. Newspapers.com.