1918 VPI Gobblers football team

The 1918 VPI Gobblers football team represented Virginia Polytechnic Institute,[note 1] now known as Virginia Tech, in the 1918 college football season. The 1918 team went 7–0 and claims a South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SAIAA) championship.[1] It is the only team in Virginia Tech history that finished the season with a perfect record.[2][note 2]

1918 VPI Gobblers football
SAIAA champion
Conference	South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association
1918 record	7–0 (3–0 SAIAA)
Head coach	Charles Bernier (2nd season)
Captain	Hank Crisp Harry Douglas Roden William L. Younger
Home stadium	Miles Field

1918 South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
VPI $	3	–	0	–	0			7	–	0	–	0
Davidson	2	–	0	–	0			2	–	1	–	1
Richmond	1	–	0	–	0			3	–	1	–	1
Maryland State	2	–	0	–	1			4	–	1	–	1
Johns Hopkins	0	–	0	–	1			0	–	0	–	1
NC State	0	–	1	–	0			1	–	3	–	0
St. John's (MD)	0	–	1	–	0			0	–	1	–	0
William & Mary	0	–	1	–	0			0	–	2	–	0
VMI	0	–	2	–	0			1	–	3	–	0
Washington and Lee	0	–	2	–	0			1	–	2	–	0
Georgetown	0	–	0	–	0			3	–	2	–	0
$ – Conference champion

Led by second-year head coach Charles Bernier, the team allowed only two touchdowns during its seven games. Tech's star player was Henry Crisp, a man without a right hand, who was ineligible for military service in World War I. He was voted MVP of the South Atlantic conference.

Before the season

World War I and the Spanish Flu

In the summer of 1918, the United States was not only in the midst of World War I, a worldwide flu pandemic (referred to as Spanish flu) began to impact the colleges of the United States. These two factors had a significant impact on the 1918 college football season.

A huge military offensive was planned by the Allied countries in the spring of 1919, so all able-bodied men of ages 18 to 20 were scheduled to be enlisted in the fall of 1918. As an alternative, the men were offered the option of enlisting in the Student Army Training Corps, known as SATC, which would give them a chance to pursue (or continue pursuing) their educations at the same time as they participated in a 12-week war-training session. This was essentially an alternative to boot camp. The colleges were paid by the government to train the future soldiers, which enabled many of them to avoid closure. The program began on October 1, 1918. Most of the students who were potential football players were under the auspices of the War Department's SATC program.

In an early September meeting between college and War Department officials in Plattsburg, Missouri it became clear that the training regimen envisioned for the soldiers could be incompatible with participation in intercollegiate athletics.[3] Coach Charles Bernier was one of those who successfully argued that athletics training was an important part of military training.[4][5][6] Virginia Tech made plans to continue its football program in conjunction with the SATC program.[7]

Notably, since Tech was an all-male military school in 1918, it did not have to make as many adjustments as other colleges which had to cooperate with the military to have football programs, or even remain open.

Original schedule

Tech originally had a nine-game schedule which was supposed to start the first weekend of October. Due to the upheaval involving the war preparations and the deaths happening in the United States due to the pandemic (being censored from the public due to national security concerns),[8] only three of the originally scheduled games were played.

• Hampden-Sydney in Blacksburg on October 5 (team played only 3 games and is listed as having no coach)
• Emory & Henry in Blacksburg on October 12 (no record of any games played)
• Georgetown in Washington on October 19 (canceled game with Tech early in year, but played 5 games according to conference standings)
• Maryland State in College Park October 26 (played six games)
• Georgia Tech in Atlanta on November 2 (distance cited as reason for cancellation)
• Wake Forest in Blacksburg on November 9 (played on this date)
• North Carolina State in Norfolk on November 16 (played on this date)
• Roanoke in Blacksburg on November 23 (scheduled for October 19 in place of the Georgetown game, but Roanoke College did not play)
• VMI in Roanoke on November 28 (played on this date)
• Source: Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 1918.[9]

Building a new schedule

Tech leaders attempted to schedule games with two groups on the dates that opened: 1) military bases, which were fielding teams of young men who were football players that were away from their home campuses or had recently graduated after playing football; and 2) college teams that had SATC programs, whose students were encouraged to participate in athletic programs along with the more traditional athletes. This not only enabled colleges to justify the inclusion of football in the SATC regimen, it also helped fill the gaps left by some of their star athletes. For instance, at Virginia Tech, one of the team captains, Monk Younger, was actually in the military in France during the season. He was captain of Hospital No. 41, but the "Techs," (the common nickname for VPI sports teams in newspapers at the time) were still referred to as "Younger's team."[10]

Washington and Lee and the University of North Carolina were in the first category. Camp Humphreys and Aero Squadron of Richmond were in the second (although the Aero Squadron of Richmond game was scheduled but never played).

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
October 19		Belmont Athletic Club*	Miles Field Blacksburg, VA	W 30–0.[11]
October 26		Camp Humphreys*	Miles Field Blacksburg, VA	W 33–6
November 2	2:30 p.m.[12]	vs. Washington and Lee	Fair Grounds[12] Roanoke, VA	W 13–0 [13]
November 9		Wake Forest*	Miles Field Blacksburg, VA	W 27–0 [14]
November 16		vs. NC State	Norfolk, VA	W 25–0
November 23		at North Carolina (unsanctioned)*	Emerson Field Chapel Hill, NC	W 18–7[15]
November 28	3:00 p.m.[16]	vs. VMI	Fair Grounds[16] Roanoke, VA (rivalry)	W 6–0[17]	2,500
*Non-conference game All times are in Eastern time

• Source: The Bugle 1919 (VPI Yearbook with information on 1918 football) [18]

Game Summaries

Belmont Athletic Club

Tech opened the season at Miles Field with a 30–0 win over Belmont Athletic Club, an organization in Roanoke, Virginia. Tech completed 9 of 16 forward passes for 157 yards.[11]

Tech's starting lineup against Belmont: Roden (left end), Hardwick (left tackle), Camper (left guard), Copenhaver (center), Quarles (right guard), Hitchens (right tackle), Huddle (right end), Siegel (quarterback), McCann (left halfback), Bock (right halfback), Conners (fullback).[11]

Camp Humphreys

Camp Humphreys was one of the teams fielded by military bases that played against college opponents in 1918. Originally the Gobblers were scheduled to face another military team, the Aero Squadron of Richmond, but there was a change during the week before the game.[19][20] Camp Humphreys was a semi-temporary cantonment built on the Belvoir peninsula in Fairfax County, VA in 1918.[21] When the men on the Camp Humphreys team came to Blacksburg, they were coming from a place where over 50 men per day had been dying of the Spanish flu and related pneumonia. The flu was said to have been "conquered" by the week of the game; the number of deaths per day had fallen to 10.[22]

Tech won the game 33–6, allowing one of the two touchdowns it allowed all year.[23]

Tech's starting lineup against Camp Humphreys: Hardwick (left end), Rangely (left tackle), Tilson (left guard), Resh (center), Quarles (right guard), Pierce (right tackle), Camper (right end), Hurst (quarterback), Bock (left halfback), McCann (right halfback), Crisp (fullback).[24]

Washington and Lee

VPI vs. Washington & Lee

1 2 3 4 Total • VPI 0 0 0 13 13 W&L 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 2 Location: Fair Gounds Roanoke, VA Game start: 2:30 p.m. Referee: Gass Sources:[12]

Tech played Washington & Lee in Roanoke for the first time since 1915. After fighting to a 0–0 draw after three quarters, Bock and Crisp each scored a touchdown as the Gobblers beat the Generals 13–0.

Tech's starting lineup against W&L: Hardwick (left end), Rangsley (left tackle), Tilson (left guard), Resh (center), Quarles (right guard), Pierce (right tackle), Camper (right end), Bonney (quarterback), Crocker (left halfback), McCann (right halfback), Crisp (fullback).[12]

Wake Forest

It was Wake Forest's first game of the year. Tech beat the Baptists (the nickname of the team at the time, owing to the school's affiliation with the church) by a score of either 27–0 (the school yearbook, the Bugle) or 25–0 (the Associated Press). The Gobblers ran up a three-touchdown halftime lead, and then scored once in the second half.

Tech's starting lineup against UNC: Roden (left end), Rangley (left tackle), Tilson (left guard), Resh (center), Quarles (right guard), Pierce (right tackle), Comper (right end), Bonney (quarterback), Crocker (left halfback), McCann (right halfback), Crisp (fullback).[14]

NC State

VPI beat NC State 25–0 in Norfolk. Tech's Crocker scored the game's first touchdown just five minutes into the game and the Gobblers never looked back.[25]

North Carolina

VPI at North Carolina

1 2 3 4 Total • VPI 0 6 6 6 18 UNC 0 7 0 0 7 Date: November 23 Location: Emerson Field Chapel Hill, NC Sources:[15]

VPI beat the North Carolina Tar Heels, though the game is not counted as official by UNC. 18–7. (University of North Carolina officials did not recognize the 1918 football team as a varsity program because it was under the auspices of the SATC).[15] Tech, who outweighed UNC by 15 pounds per man, drove to the 10-yard line in the first three minutes, but was unable to score. In the second quarter, Crisp scored a touchdown on a fake end run from the 6-yard line. UNC's Bristol had a 70-yard run soon after, to the 20-year line. A forward pass from Pharr to Fearrington resulted in a touchdown for UNC.[15]

In the third quarter a series of passes from UNC took the Tar Heels to the 15-yard line, then Crocker intercepted a pass a ran 90 yards for the touchdown. Rangley of UNC plunged for the final score in the fourth quarter.[15]

Tech's starting lineup against UNC: Roden (left end), Rangley (left tackle), Tilson (left guard), Resh (center), Quarles (right guard), Pierce (right tackle), Hardwick (right end), Crisp (quarterback), Robinson (left halfback), Maddox (right halfback), Bonney (fullback).[15]

VMI

VPI vs. VMI

1 2 3 4 Total • VPI 0 0 6 0 6 VMI 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 28 Location: Fair Grounds Roanoke, VA Game start: 3:00 p.m. Game attendance: 2,500 Referee: Bob Peck Sources:[17]

The season closed against VMI on Thanksgiving Day. The Norfolk and Western Railroad ran two special trains for VPI and VMI students to attend the game in Roanoke.[26] Tech defeated VMI 6–0. In the third quarter, Harry Roden blocked a VMI punt at the 10-yard line. Three runs off tackle by Crisp resulted in the game's lone touchdown.[17]

Tech's starting lineup against VMI: Roden (left end), Hardwick (left tackle), Tilson (left guard), Resh (center), Quarles (right guard), Pierce (right tackle), Camper (right end), Crisp (quarterback), Crocker (left halfback), Mattox (right halfback), Bonney (fullback).[17]

After the season

Hank Crisp was co-captain of the only Virginia Tech football team to go undefeated.

Coach Bernier wrote a story in the 1919 Walter Camp-edited Spalding Foot Ball Guide praising Crisp, one of the team's captains:[27]

"Uncle Sam could not use a one-hand man, so Henry Crisp, much to Tech's good fortune, played the next biggest game [referring to football compared to war fighting], and to him, more than anyone else, goes the glory for a driving, consistent attack. This big fellow, playing in the back-field for the first time, literally mowed them all down..."[27]

Crisp was the captain of the All-South Atlantic Eleven team (league MVP), and was joined on that team by the Gobblers' James Hardwick (end), Walter Wrangley (tackle), and Charles Quarles (center).[27]

Players

The following players were members of the 1918 football team according to the roster published in the 1919 edition of The Bugle, the Virginia Tech yearbook.[18]

VPI 1918 roster
	Quarterback Wesley Leroy Bonney Guards Charles Walthall Quarles Sumner D. Tilson Tackles Walter Morgan Pierce Walter Weiss Rangely Center Franklin Senatre Resh		Ends Julian Jessings Camper James Thomas Hardwick Harry Douglas Roden (Capt.) William Lee Younger (Capt.) Halfbacks Hank Crisp (Capt.) Philip Crocker Harry Lee McCann		Fullback William Hurst Substitutes Eugene Darrington Bock John Kelly Copenhaver Hitchens Huddle Samuel Anderson McConkey Seigle Charles Evans Whitmore

Notes

1. In 1918, the official name of the university that is now commonly known as Virginia Tech was "Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute". That name was not used in any newspapers of the period. "Virginia Polytechnic Institute" was used by the school, its students, and newspapers. VPI and Virginia Tech were also commonly used shortened names in newspapers.
2. The 1999 team went 11-0 in regular season play before losing the National Championship game played in the 2000 Sugar Bowl.

References

1. Conference Champions of the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association,College Football Data Warehouse
2. "Virginia Tech Hokies School History". Sports Reference CB. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
3. Bushnell, Edward R. (September 8, 1918). "War Department's action makes serious problem for college athletics: Whether usual sports can be continued is question that must be threshed out; Difficult problem faces colleges on account of military training edict". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
4. Tranter, Edward (September 13, 1918). "Sports Review". The Buffalo Enquirer. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
5. "Football season opens this week: Gridiron game will prosper in all of Uncle Sam's camps". The New York Times. September 22, 1918. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
6. "Football season in United States to open within very short time:". Winston-Salem Journal. September 26, 1918.
7. "Tech will play football schedule as planned: Coach Bernier says athletics important part of military training". Times Dispatch - Richmond. August 18, 1918. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
8. "War Conditions Coupled With Epidemic Have Big Effect On 1918 Sports". 2016-02-03. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
9. Camp, Walter, ed. (1918). Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 1919.
10. "Tech's football star is playing over there: "Monk" Younger captain of Hospital No. 41 team in France". October 27, 1918. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
11. "Gridiron season opens at Virginia "Tech": "Poly" defeats Athletic Club of Roanoke 30 to 0". Richmond Times-Dispatch. October 20, 1918. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
12. ""Generals" Clash With "Gobblers" at Fair Grounds". The World News. Library of Virginia. November 2, 1918. p. 7. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
13. Associated Press (November 3, 1918). "V .P. I. defeats Generals by count of 13 to 0: Tech fights for every inch of ground in first game with W. & L. since 1915". The Times Dispatch - Richmond. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
14. "Virginia Tech Takes Victory from Wake Forest". Richmond Times-Dispatch. November 10, 1918. p. 17.
15. "Virginia Tech's String of Victories Unbroken". Richmond Times-Dispatch. November 24, 1918.
16. "Rain Fails to Dampen The Football Spirit". The World News. Library of Virginia. November 28, 1918. p. 1. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
17. "V.M.I. Goes Down in Defeat Before the V.P.I. Eleven". The World News. Library of Virginia. November 29, 1918. p. 3. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
18. The Bugle 1919.
19. "Aero to play Techs: Squadron eleven from Richmond will go to Tech Saturday". Times Dispatch - Richmond. October 23, 1918. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
20. "Tech and Camp Humphries (sic) will meet on Saturday; Game called off for that date with Aero Squadron of Richmond". Times Dispatch - Richmond. October 25, 1918. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
21. "Forrt Belvoir History".
22. "City news in brief". Alexandria Gazette. October 26, 1918. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
23. "Camp Humpries downed by the onset of the Techs: Service men take short end of 33-6 count at Blacksburg". Richmond Times Dispatch. October 26, 1918. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
24. "Camp Humphries Downed By Onset Of The Techs". Richmond Times-Dispatch. October 27, 1918. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
25. "V.P.I gives Tarheels tremendous trouncing: Coach Berrier's boys defeat North Carolina A&E by 25-0 count". Richmond Times Dispatch. November 17, 1918. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
26. "Two Special Trains". World News. November 18, 1918.
27. Camp, Walter, ed. (1919). Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 1919. pp. 53.