1920 East Tennessee State Normal football team

The 1920 East Tennessee State Normal School football team was an American football team that represented East Tennessee State Normal School—now known as East Tennessee State University (ETSU)—as an independent in the 1920 college football season. It was very first season that the school fielded a football team. The team was coached by William R. Windes, a 1917 graduate of the University of Tennessee who taught agriculture and biology at the school. He was assisted by English professor Willis Beeler "Bull" Bible, brother of Dana X. Bible, and by fellow teacher A. V. McFee. The first team for East Tennessee State consisted of 11 first-string players and 4 substitutes.[1] There is dispute on the final record for this season, however ETSU officially credits the 1920 team with a 0–2 record (with three non-countable wins).[2] The schedule was mix of regional colleges and high schools and started the rivalry against Milligan College. Initially, the school began to consider football as early as 1915, but could not find field a team until 1920 due to funding and finding enough men to play for the team. In 1920, the East Tennessee State Normal School team did not go by one nickname, but rather several nicknames including the "Normalites", "Wolves", or "Huskies".[2]

1920 East Tennessee State Normal football
Conference	Independent
1920 record	0–2 (3–2 with non-countable games)
Head coach	William R. Windes (1st season)

1920 Southern college football independents records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Talladega			–					?	–	0	–	0
Trinity (NC)			–					4	–	0	–	1
Presbyterian			–					5	–	1	–	1
Middle Tennessee			–					4	–	1	–	0
Navy			–					6	–	2	–	0
Spring Hill			–					6	–	2	–	0
Southwest Texas			–					4	–	2	–	1
East Tennessee			–					3	–	2	–	0
West Virginia			–					5	–	4	–	1
Oglethorpe			–					4	–	4	–	1
Delaware			–					3	–	5	–	1
Texas Mines			–					2	–	4	–	0
Wake Forest			–					2	–	7	–	0
Marshall			–					0	–	8	–	0

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Source
November 13	at Carson–Newman	Jefferson City, TN	L 0–55	[3]
	Milligan		L 0–30
	Greeneville High School		W
	Washington College		W
	Johnson City High School		W

References

1. "East Tennessee State University Football by L. Thomas Roberts, Jerry Robertson, and the Buc Football and Friends Foundation, Foreword by Jack Higgs | Arcadia Publishing Books". Arcadiapublishing.com. August 29, 2007. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
2. "Records" (PDF). cdn.streamlinetechnologies.com.
3. "Carson-Newman 55, East Tenn. Normal 0". The Journal and Tribune. Knoxville, Tennessee. November 14, 1920. p. 16. Retrieved September 28, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .