1911 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
The team outscored its opponents 259 to 9, winning an undisputed Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) title.
Edwin Pope's Football's Greatest Coaches notes: "A lightning-swift backfield of Lew Hardage, Wilson Collins, Ammie Sikes, and Ray Morrison pushed Vandy through 1911 with only a 9–8 loss to Michigan."
[1] The halfbacks and fullbacks were new, as Bill Neely and Bo Williams had graduated, and Kent Morrison was shifted to end.
Ewing Y. Freeland and Zeke Martin played well in the line,[11] but above all the game's star was Tom Brown.
[11] The Tennessean's Spick Hall remarked on Rose's defense, "They all played a vicious game and when they tackled they did it in the good old-fashion way—right from the shoulder.
The game matched Michigan head coach Fielding H. Yost against his former player and brother-in-law, Dan McGugin.
Because of the relationship between Yost and McGugin, the two teams played nine times between 1905 and 1923, with Michigan winning eight games and tying one.
[17] Before the game, Coach Yost reminded reporters that Vanderbilt's 1911 team included the same veteran line that had held Yale scoreless in 1910.
[19] Morrison scored a touchdown for Vanderbilt, but put too much energy into the kick-out and missed the crucial extra point.
Eckersall wrote that Michigan's offense suffered from "an air of overconfidence", its tackling was poor, and the team was completely fooled on forward passes.
[22] After a scoreless first quarter, Lew Hardage called for a fair-catch at Georgia's 28-yard line, starting Vanderbilt's first scoring drive.
Vanderbilt then worked the ball to the goal with an 8-yard pass from Hardage to Wilson Collins, followed by Ray Morrison going over for a 4-yard touchdown.
[22] On one play later in the period, Hardage's left shoulder and arm were badly sprained, threatening his status for the season.
[25] In the second quarter, a long trick pass was caught by Ammie Sikes, who ran to Ole Miss's 5-yard line.
[26] Ty Cobb traveled to Nashville on the Monday of the week of the Sewanee game to act in the play The College Widow.
[32] He won Bachelor of Ugliness for the class of 1912, and both Morrison and Metzger were later selected for an Associated Press Southeast Area All-Time football team 1869–1919 era.
[33] Assistant coach Dr. Owsley Manier left the team to spend the winter of 1911 practicing medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital.
[11] The following chart provides a visual depiction of Vanderbilt's lineup during the 1911 season with games started at the position reflected in parentheses.
