1923 Season

1923-11-29 – Georgia Tech vs. Auburn

Georgia Tech vs. Auburn - 1923

Georgia Tech vs. Auburn – November 29, 1923

Auburn: 0
Georgia Tech: 0

Georgia Tech entered its Thanksgiving Day battle with the Auburn Tigers standing at 3-2-3, having not won since a 20-10 decision over the Georgetown Hoyas more than a month earlier. Auburn entered in a similar situation at 3-3-2, last winning at home against Fort Benning on October 27. The Jackets trailed 8-17-1 in the all-time series, but had enjoyed recent success, winning three straight and seven of the last eight meetings.

In what proved to be impossibly muddy conditions, each team struggled to find its offense.

Tech threatened twice in the first quarter with separate drives to Auburn’s 35 and 20 yard lines, but penalties hindered both drives, forcing a punt and a missed field goal to keep the Jackets off the scoreboard.

The Ramblin’ Wreck attempted another field goal in the second quarter after pushing to the Tiger 40, but the kick came up well short and the ball went over to the Tigers.

In the third quarter, Auburn made a serious attempt at a score when Carson Greene ran left for 25 yards to the Yellow Jacket 10 yard line. Auburn first attempted two passes short of the goal line that fell incomplete. On third down, rather than setup the field goal, Auburn attempted a pass over the goal line that fell incomplete, giving the Jackets possession at their own 20 yard line.*

A fourth quarter that saw no serious scoring threats was filled with punts and missed field goals as time ticked away. Tech held the ball on the final possession of the contest before Auburn’s Peterson picked off Yellow Jacket pass on the final play to seal the 0-0 tie.

Despite the tie, Tech finished the season without suffering a loss to a conference opponent, a feat that had now been accomplished in four straight seasons. Their last conference loss came on Thanksgiving Day, 1919 against the same Auburn Tigers; a game that marked John Heisman’s final as Georgia Tech’s head football coach.

Notes:
*By rule at the time, an incomplete pass in the end zone resulted in a touchback in which the other team gained possession at its own 20 yard line.

Statistics:

First downs:
AUB – 1
GT – 11

Rushing yards:
AUB – 64
GT – 206

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
AUB – 1-4-5
GT – 0-8-0

Interceptions thrown:
AUB – 0
GT – 2

Fumbles lost:
AUB – 1
GT – 1

References:
Morgan, Blake. “Tiger of the Plains Holds Jackets 0-0 on Muddy Field.” The Atlanta Journal. 1923 Nov. 30
Kopf, Frank. “…Present Method of Scoring.” The Atlanta Journal. 1923 Nov. 30

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