1921 Season

1921-10-08 – Georgia Tech vs. Davidson – Student

Georgia Tech vs. Davidson - 1921

Georgia Tech vs. Davidson – Student – October 8, 1921

Davidson: 0
Georgia Tech: 70

After opening the season with consecutive blowouts over Wake Forest (42-0) and Oglethorpe (41-0), Georgia Tech would remain home to play host to the Davidson Wildcats. Davidson entered the game at 1-1, having fallen 28-0 to Virginia before narrowly defeating Presbyterian to reach .500 on the young season. The Jackets held a five game advantage in the overall series with a record of 6-1. The lone victory for the Wildcats came in the first-ever meeting between the two schools in the form of a 7-6 victory in 1902.

The Golden Tornado began at its own 35 following the opening kickoff and quickly faced a fourth down when three runs gained just 9 yards. But on 4th-and-1, Albert Staton caught a Red Barron pass 20 yards down field and raced the remaining 36 yards for the early touchdown and a 7-0 advantage.

Later in the first quarter, the Jackets again threatened to score when they advanced all the way to the Wildcat 1 yard line. But the Davidson defense held strong and Tech eventually turned the ball over on downs, giving the visitors possession with their backs to their own end zone.

Davidson promptly punted out to its own 36 and Tech drove back to the 20 as the first quarter came to a close. The Yellow Jacket offense covered the remaining yards in four plays to open the second period, scoring on a 5 yard run by Julian Harlan to extend the lead to 14-0.

After the score, Davidson elected to kickoff and Tech began at its own 22 following the return*. The Golden Tornado covered the 78 yard distance in 15 plays before scoring on a short run by Harlan to make it 21-0. The longest play of the drive was a 15 yard pass from Frank Ferst to Albert Staton.

Following the kickoff, Davidson turned the ball over when Jimmy Brewster recovered Shepherd’s fumble at the Wildcat 33 yard line. The Jackets pushed to the 15 on several runs before finally scoring on a double-pass from A. Hunt to Brewster for a 28-0 lead that would hold until halftime.

The Wildcats lost another fumble to start the second half, but Tech was unable to capitalize and was forced to punt.

Davidson punted back shortly thereafter, but a promising Yellow Jacket drive fell apart with a missed field goal from the 35 yard line.

Tech picked up its lone score of the third quarter on its next drive, however, after beginning at its own 48 following a Wildcat punt. The Yellow Jacket offense covered 52 yards in 14 plays to increase its lead to 35-0 on a 1 yard run by W. Farnsworth.

Davidson’s Hendrix lost a fumble to H. Granger at the Wildcat 39 early in the ensuing drive and the Jackets eventually scored on a four yard run by Ferst early in the fourth quarter to go ahead 42-0.

The Ramblin’ Wreck blocked a Davidson punt shortly thereafter that was recovered by a Wildcat in his own end zone for an apparent safety. But a Georgia Tech penalty negated the score and gave the Jackets the ball at the Wildcat 10, setting up another Ramblin’ Wreck touchdown just two plays later to make 49-0.

Tech’s Jack McDonough intercepted a Davidson pass at the Wildcat 25 at the start of the ensuing drive and returned the ball 19 yards to the 6 yard line. The Jackets then added to their lead one play later when Harlan scored on a six yard run off tackle to make it 56-0.

A series of punts followed before the Jackets took back over at the Davidson 25. Tech needed just three plays to reach the end zone, increasing the lead to 63-0 on a 3 yard touchdown run by Barron.

Tech’s final touchdown came in exciting fashion later in the period when Barron returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown to reach the 70-0 final.

Davidson would narrowly fall 10-7 to Wake Forest one week later before rebounding with an 87-0 blowout of Wofford. The Wildcats would then tie three straight games to Richmond, N.C. State, and North Carolina before splitting their remaining two contests with Elon and Furman to finish the year at 3-4-3, overall.

The contest marked the last instance where Tech scored 70 or more points in a game until September 8, 2001 when George Godsey led the Jackets to a 70-7 victory over the Navy Midshipmen in Annapolis, MD (a span of nearly 80 years).

Notes:
*By rule at the time, the team that had just given up the TD could elect to kick or receive

Statistics:

First downs:
DAV – 0
GT – 22

Rushing yards:
DAV – 23
GT – 390

Passing:
DAV – 2-9-12
GT – 3-6-113

Interceptions thrown:
DAV – 2
GT – 0

Fumbles lost:
DAV – 4
GT – 0

Penalty yards:
DAV – 0
GT – 75

Blake, Morgan. “North Carolinians Unable To Stop Terrific Attack Of Coach Alexander’s Men.” The Atlanta Journal. 1921 Oct. 9
Kopf, Frank. “Tech Offense at Peak – Statistics of Game – Defense Still Impenetrable.” The Atlanta Journal. 1921 Oct. 9

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