In the inaugural season of Sewanee football, the Tigers compiled a 1–2 record.

The team's quarterback was Ellwood Wilson, considered the "founder of Sewanee football.

"[1] He had come from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, where he played football before, to Sewanee in 1889.

While introducing the sport to Sewanee, he was forced to use a piece of wood shaped like a football until he found a real one.

The win over Tennessee was that program's first game.