With the Ramblin' Wrecks coming off an exciting victory against the Wolf Pack, the campus is once again excited about our team.
The thrill and excitement of Tech football is nothing new to the Yellow Jackets. Indeed, it is nearly as old as our Institute herself.
Tech fielded her first football team in the fall of 1892 against Mercer University. Tech lost the contest 0-12 and would go on that year to lose to Vanderbilt (10-20) and Auburn (0-26).
In those days, there were few professional coaches. The honor of leading the team belonged to Professor Earnest West, who had graduated from Annapolis and had some football experience with Navy.
Tech played UGA (sic) for the first time in 1893. It was a match filled with controversy on both sides of the ball, and can only be described as fitting one of the oldest and bitterest of college rivalries.
Tech's de facto coach, Leonard Wood, was an Army captian who, though not technically a student at Tech, was taking classes at the Institute.
Wood, who would later rise to the rank of general, was a very experienced lineman and a brilliant tactician. He introduced the Engineers to new plays and maneuvers that would give them the edge they would need against Georgia.
UGA (sic) protested his membership on the team, as well as that of fullback Park Howell, because they were not bona fide students at Tech.
On their side, UGA (sic) played a halfback who was a trainer and a paid employee of the college.
The UGA (sic) fans threw stones and bottles at the Tech players and fans, and the train back to Atlanta wrecked in Lawrenceville, but in spite of these problems Tech's victory was won, 28-6.
Tech's first full-time paid coach was the famous John Heisman. Heisman came to Tech by way of Auburn and Clemson, but would spend the longest segment of his career at Tech--16 years from 1904 to 1919. His record included Tech's first national championship in 1917, and an overall record of 100-28-6.
It was on October 7, 1916 that the Jackets under Heisman beat Cumberland 222-0 in a game that holds the record as the greatest defeat in college history. The astronomical score was achieved by Tech in less than 50 minutes of play without a single forward pass being thrown.
Heisman left Tech in 1919 because of his divorce. He was replaced by one of the great men of Tech history, Coach William Alexander.
Coach Alex had entered Tech as a sub-freshman, called then "apprentice," and never left Tech again except for a stint with the US Expeditionary Force in France during World War I. He filled the roles of student, player, coach, professor, and administrator.
Coach Alex led the Yellow Jackets to a career legacy of 134-95-15, including her second national championship in 1928 and the famous Rose Bowl victory against California.
The California game featured the legendary run made by Roy "wrong way" Riegels, who ran a Tech fumble 76 yards in the wrong direction and was tackled on the one yard line by one of his own halfbacks, Benny Lom. The purse for the Rose Bowl win was used to purchase the land on and near the Rose Bowl field, where the Russ Chandler baseball stadium, the George Griffin Track, and the football practice fields are located.
In the late 1930s, a new face came to Tech from the state of Tennessee. Bobby Dodd, one of the most beloved figures of our past, came to Tech as an assistant coach from a brilliant college career. After spending several years in that capacity, he was elevated by Coach Alex to the head coach's position in 1945. He would stay there until 1966 with a record of 135-52-7.
The Yellow Jackets won accolades in 1951 with our third national championship and a victory in the Orange Bowl.
Tech had only three head coaches in her first 62 years, including one alumnus and two who would spend their entire professional careers at Tech.
In 1964, Tech moved from the Southern Conference. This was partly due to Tech's dedication to having her players graduate. This limited the team's ability to recruit new players under the conference's competitive rules.
In the years that followed, Tech compiled impressive bowl invitations and victories.
Tech's next zenith came in our 1990 national championship under Coach Bobby Ross.
Coach Ross lead the team to an undefeated year, including a win against number one ranked Virginia, and a Citrus Bowl Victory on New Year's Day.
As the Yellow Jackets move into the thickest part of our competition this fall, we can look back on the long history of prominence and distinction that we proudly remember as the winning tradition of Georgia Tech football.
