Tulane: 7
Georgia Tech: 13

One week after dropping Vanderbilt 13-0 in Nashville to open the season, the Yellow Jackets returned to the Flats for their home opener against the Tulane Green Wave. Tulane had defeated Alabama 21-14 to start 1-0 after finishing the 1947 campaign at an abysmal 2-5-2.

After the squads exchanged punts at the start, the Jackets began a drive at their own 20 on a touchback. Frank Ziegler gained a first down to the 31 to start the drive and Jimmy Petit and Bob McCoy netted just one yard on the two plays to follow. McCoy then took a shovel pass to the 42 before Ziegler exploded up the middle for a 58 yards touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Late in the opening period, Tulane began a nice drive from its own 37. Jimmy Glisson, Ed Price, and Al Waller all contributed to advance the Green Wave gained to the Yellow Jacket 35 as the quarter came to a close. On the first play of the second stanza, Joe Ernst fired a 32 yard pass to Dick Sheffield for a first down at the Tech 6. Three runs pushed the ball within the one yard line before Ernst finally punched it in for the score, tying the game at 7-all.

But the Ramblin’ Wreck answered quickly after starting from its own 38. Southard gained 4 yards on first down before hitting McCoy on a short pass at the 50. McCoy gained 24 yards after the catch for a first down at the 26 and followed up with a 10 yard run to the 16. In addition, a 15 yard roughing penalty on Tulane placed the ball at the one yard line. Southard capped off the drive two plays later, sneaking in for the score. But Bobby North’s extra point was no good and the Yellow Jacket lead stood at 13-7.

The Green Wave had two solid chances to score in the second half, but failed to capitalize on both occasions. The first came in the third quarter when Bob Franz recovered Morris Harrison’s fumble at the Yellow Jacket 25 yard line. But the Tulane offense gained little on the drive and punted out of bounds at the 13. A similar situation presented itself in the fourth quarter when Harrison lost another fumble at the Tech 25 to Jessie Bounds. But again, Tulane did little with the ball and punted out at the 14.

The Ramblin’ Wreck had one more promising drive in the final period, but saw its chances come to an end when Jimmy Glisson recovered Rumsey Taylor’s fumble at the Green wave 27.

Tech went on to win by 6 to improve to 2-0 on the season. Tulane fell to 1-1, but would go on to win eight straight games to finish the year at 9-1 as the 14th ranked team in the country.

Statistics:

First downs:
TUL – 6
GT – 14

Rushing Yards:
TUL – 90
GT – 201

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
TUL – 4-13-56
GT – 7-10-100

Fumbles (Total-Lost):
TUL – 0-0
GT – 4-4

Interceptions thrown:
TUL – 1
GT – 0

Penalties (Total-Yards):
TUL – 5-40
GT – 3-25

References:
Tisinger, George. “Tech Tops Wave…” The Atlanta Constitution. 1948 Oct. 3