October 7, 2024 • 8 mins
Join us on Daily Sports History as we revisit Georgia Tech's legendary 222-0 victory over Cumberland College in 1916, the most lopsided game in college football history. Discover the story behind this incredible blowout, the rivalry that sparked it, and how it became an unforgettable moment in sports history. Learn about the tactics, players, and impact of this unprecedented game.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
On October seventh, nineteen sixteen, Georgia Tech does something that
will probably never be seen again, winning the most lopsided
victory in college football history, beating the Cumberland Bulldogs two
hundred and twenty two to zero in what was a
revenged game from for Georgia Tech's legendary coach John Heisman,
(00:24):
who we're going to dive into how this crazy game
happened and why on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily
Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide as you daily
learn more about sports history and increase your sports knowledge.
(00:49):
And today's trivia question to listen out for is how
many passes did Georgia Tech throw in this legendary game. Now,
this game featured one of the most famous, most honored
college football coaches ever in John Heisman. That name probably
sounds familiar, as the Heisman Trophy is given out to
(01:11):
the best player every year in college football and is
named after John Heisman. He was an innovator in the sport,
helping it become what it looks like today, including creating
quarters for the game and the forward pass, and his
coaching career featured some predominant universities in today's college football
worlds as he coached at Auburn, Clemson, and Georgia Tech
(01:36):
where this story takes place. Now, interestingly enough, he didn't
just coach football. At this time, many schools couldn't afford
to have a coach for every single sport, so they
would hire one coach to coach all their sports, and
so he also coached baseball, which was very popular at
the time as well. Now, he wasn't as successful as
(01:58):
a baseball coach as he was in football, but during
his time with Georgia Tech, he actually had a sixty
two percent winning percentage, so not great, but not bad either,
and they only won their conference one year during his
thirteen years coaching the team. And the Georgia Tech baseball
team actually is one of the reasons why this historic
(02:19):
football game took place. See Cumberland College was a Presbyterian
school located in Tennessee. In the baseball season prior to this,
Cumberland was going to play a game versus Georgia Tech,
and they actually went out and hired minor league baseball players,
some of which who had played in the majors, to
face off against Georgia Tech to show how strong their
(02:40):
baseball team was and they destroyed Georgia Tech on the field,
scoring twenty two to zero. And this stuck with John Heisman,
who had scheduled Cumberland College already for the next football season.
But Cumberland College had disbanded their football program due to
challenges of finding an adequated coach and the team quitting.
(03:02):
But they had already had an agreement scheduled, and Heisman
told Cumberland College they would have to pay three thousand
dollars if they failed to show up. So Cumberland College
took whoever they could down to play against Georgia Tech,
which mainly included the school's baseball team and anyone they
could find that was willing to play a game against
(03:23):
Georgia Tech, who at the time was one of the
best football teams in the nation, as Georgia Tech was
in the middle of three straight seasons where they didn't
lose a game, and the following year they would actually
win the national title. So imagine you and a group
of friends get together and go to take on Alabama
or Texas. Chances are it's not going to end well.
(03:46):
And that's exactly what happened in this game, and it
wasn't just that Georgia Tech dominated. It was a comedy
of errors and issues and things that could only be
described if you watch the movie Little Giants, as multiple
players from Cumberland literally ran off the field due to
being scared from the other team. One player was even
(04:08):
chased off the field by a wild dog. Other players
would just throw the ball up or give the ball
to Georgia Tech as they feared to get tackled. Georgia
Tech dominated in the first quarter. They led sixty three
to zero. They would score on defense on special teams
in offense despite not throwing a single pass in this game.
(04:30):
By halftime, it was one hundred and twenty six to zero,
and at this time Cumberland College came over and asked
John Heisman if they could shorten the game as it
was way out of reach, but they didn't. John said, yes,
we can shorten it. We'll take five minutes off each quarter.
And that still didn't stop, as they added fifty four
points in the third quarter and forty two in the
(04:52):
final period. There was one play in the second half
where Cumberland College had a chance to actually score, as
on a kickoff, Georgia Tech team actually outran the kick
and when Cumberland College player was able to catch it,
there was no Georgia Tech player in front of him,
it was daylight, and he would go on to trip
over his own player who was looking for his glasses
(05:14):
that had fallen during the play. That was the most
positive play of the day, as Cumberland College would commit
fifteen turnovers, which included nine fumbles in six interceptions. They
would complete a total two passes for fourteen yards and
have a rushing output of negative forty two yards, where
Georgia Tech completed zero passes despite the fact that John
(05:35):
Heisman invented the forward pass, and they would go on
to rush twenty six times for nine hundred and twenty
two yards and thirty two touchdowns. But Georgia Tech was
not perfect, as they did miss a couple of extra points,
including the last one of the game. Georgia Tech had
(05:56):
just scored and taken the lead to two hundred and
twenty two when they were going about to kick an
extra point and Cumberland College came out of nowhere and
ran the latter play, which involves jumping on top of
other players to block the kick, which they did. They
blocked the kick to give the game it's iconic two
hundred and twenty two to zero. Now, prior to this game,
(06:18):
the highest college football game prior to this was when
the Florida Gators beat Florida Southern one hundred and forty
four to zero. The most recent team to score over
one hundred happened in two thousand and three when Rockford
beat Trinity Bible one oh five to zero. Now, Cumberland
would disband its football team after this, but they would
(06:39):
go on eventually to Readinstate it but they would go
to the NAIA level, whereas Georgia Tech continued their rise
and was part of SEC until nineteen sixty four when
they joined the ACC where they currently stand today. And
after this and in nineteen twenty, John Heisman would leave
Georgia Tech to move back to his home in Pennsylvania,
(07:00):
coach Penn for three years and would finish out his
career coaching Washington and Jefferson and Rice and be inducted
into the College Football Hall of Fame in nineteen fifty
four in this second class that was ever inducted. And
in nineteen sixty three, two months after Heisman died, the
Downtown Athletic Association named their trophy for the best player
(07:20):
in college football after John Heisman, which is still done
to this day. And if you want to learn more
about Georgia Tech and all the ACC has to provide,
check out ACC Nation, where hosts Will and Jim takes
you through all you need to know about the ACC
and what makes the conference great. And if you enjoyed
(07:41):
this episode, please make sure you subscribe wherever you're listening.
That way you never miss an episode. And come back
tomorrow for more daily sports history. And did you catch
today's trivia question? How many passes did Georgia Tech throw
during this outlandish game where they won two hundred and
twenty two to zero in The answer is zero passes,
(08:03):
despite the fact that John Heisman, their coach, created the
forward pass
On October seventh, nineteen sixteen, Georgia Tech does something that
will probably never be seen again, winning the most lopsided
victory in college football history, beating the Cumberland Bulldogs two
hundred and twenty two to zero in what was a
revenged game from for Georgia Tech's legendary coach John Heisman,
(00:24):
who we're going to dive into how this crazy game
happened and why on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily
Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide as you daily
learn more about sports history and increase your sports knowledge.
(00:49):
And today's trivia question to listen out for is how
many passes did Georgia Tech throw in this legendary game. Now,
this game featured one of the most famous, most honored
college football coaches ever in John Heisman. That name probably
sounds familiar, as the Heisman Trophy is given out to
(01:11):
the best player every year in college football and is
named after John Heisman. He was an innovator in the sport,
helping it become what it looks like today, including creating
quarters for the game and the forward pass, and his
coaching career featured some predominant universities in today's college football
worlds as he coached at Auburn, Clemson, and Georgia Tech
(01:36):
where this story takes place. Now, interestingly enough, he didn't
just coach football. At this time, many schools couldn't afford
to have a coach for every single sport, so they
would hire one coach to coach all their sports, and
so he also coached baseball, which was very popular at
the time as well. Now, he wasn't as successful as
(01:58):
a baseball coach as he was in football, but during
his time with Georgia Tech, he actually had a sixty
two percent winning percentage, so not great, but not bad either,
and they only won their conference one year during his
thirteen years coaching the team. And the Georgia Tech baseball
team actually is one of the reasons why this historic
(02:19):
football game took place. See Cumberland College was a Presbyterian
school located in Tennessee. In the baseball season prior to this,
Cumberland was going to play a game versus Georgia Tech,
and they actually went out and hired minor league baseball players,
some of which who had played in the majors, to
face off against Georgia Tech to show how strong their
(02:40):
baseball team was and they destroyed Georgia Tech on the field,
scoring twenty two to zero. And this stuck with John Heisman,
who had scheduled Cumberland College already for the next football season.
But Cumberland College had disbanded their football program due to
challenges of finding an adequated coach and the team quitting.
(03:02):
But they had already had an agreement scheduled, and Heisman
told Cumberland College they would have to pay three thousand
dollars if they failed to show up. So Cumberland College
took whoever they could down to play against Georgia Tech,
which mainly included the school's baseball team and anyone they
could find that was willing to play a game against
(03:23):
Georgia Tech, who at the time was one of the
best football teams in the nation, as Georgia Tech was
in the middle of three straight seasons where they didn't
lose a game, and the following year they would actually
win the national title. So imagine you and a group
of friends get together and go to take on Alabama
or Texas. Chances are it's not going to end well.
(03:46):
And that's exactly what happened in this game, and it
wasn't just that Georgia Tech dominated. It was a comedy
of errors and issues and things that could only be
described if you watch the movie Little Giants, as multiple
players from Cumberland literally ran off the field due to
being scared from the other team. One player was even
(04:08):
chased off the field by a wild dog. Other players
would just throw the ball up or give the ball
to Georgia Tech as they feared to get tackled. Georgia
Tech dominated in the first quarter. They led sixty three
to zero. They would score on defense on special teams
in offense despite not throwing a single pass in this game.
(04:30):
By halftime, it was one hundred and twenty six to zero,
and at this time Cumberland College came over and asked
John Heisman if they could shorten the game as it
was way out of reach, but they didn't. John said, yes,
we can shorten it. We'll take five minutes off each quarter.
And that still didn't stop, as they added fifty four
points in the third quarter and forty two in the
(04:52):
final period. There was one play in the second half
where Cumberland College had a chance to actually score, as
on a kickoff, Georgia Tech team actually outran the kick
and when Cumberland College player was able to catch it,
there was no Georgia Tech player in front of him,
it was daylight, and he would go on to trip
over his own player who was looking for his glasses
(05:14):
that had fallen during the play. That was the most
positive play of the day, as Cumberland College would commit
fifteen turnovers, which included nine fumbles in six interceptions. They
would complete a total two passes for fourteen yards and
have a rushing output of negative forty two yards, where
Georgia Tech completed zero passes despite the fact that John
(05:35):
Heisman invented the forward pass, and they would go on
to rush twenty six times for nine hundred and twenty
two yards and thirty two touchdowns. But Georgia Tech was
not perfect, as they did miss a couple of extra points,
including the last one of the game. Georgia Tech had
(05:56):
just scored and taken the lead to two hundred and
twenty two when they were going about to kick an
extra point and Cumberland College came out of nowhere and
ran the latter play, which involves jumping on top of
other players to block the kick, which they did. They
blocked the kick to give the game it's iconic two
hundred and twenty two to zero. Now, prior to this game,
(06:18):
the highest college football game prior to this was when
the Florida Gators beat Florida Southern one hundred and forty
four to zero. The most recent team to score over
one hundred happened in two thousand and three when Rockford
beat Trinity Bible one oh five to zero. Now, Cumberland
would disband its football team after this, but they would
(06:39):
go on eventually to Readinstate it but they would go
to the NAIA level, whereas Georgia Tech continued their rise
and was part of SEC until nineteen sixty four when
they joined the ACC where they currently stand today. And
after this and in nineteen twenty, John Heisman would leave
Georgia Tech to move back to his home in Pennsylvania,
(07:00):
coach Penn for three years and would finish out his
career coaching Washington and Jefferson and Rice and be inducted
into the College Football Hall of Fame in nineteen fifty
four in this second class that was ever inducted. And
in nineteen sixty three, two months after Heisman died, the
Downtown Athletic Association named their trophy for the best player
(07:20):
in college football after John Heisman, which is still done
to this day. And if you want to learn more
about Georgia Tech and all the ACC has to provide,
check out ACC Nation, where hosts Will and Jim takes
you through all you need to know about the ACC
and what makes the conference great. And if you enjoyed
(07:41):
this episode, please make sure you subscribe wherever you're listening.
That way you never miss an episode. And come back
tomorrow for more daily sports history. And did you catch
today's trivia question? How many passes did Georgia Tech throw
during this outlandish game where they won two hundred and
twenty two to zero in The answer is zero passes,
(08:03):
despite the fact that John Heisman, their coach, created the
forward pass
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