1900 Clemson Tigers football team

The 1900 Clemson Tigers football team represented Clemson Agricultural College—now known as Clemson University–during the 1900 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. Under first year head coach John Heisman, the team posted a 6–0 record and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) championship.[1][2][3]

1900 Clemson Tigers football
SIAA champion
ConferenceSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record6–0 (3–0 SIAA)
Head coach
CaptainNorman Walker
1900 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
Clemson + 2 –0 –06 –0 –0
Sewanee + 5 –0 –16 –1 –1
Texas 1 –0 –06 –0 –0
Tulane 3 –0 –05 –0 –0
Auburn 4 –0 –04 –0 –0
North Carolina 3 –0 –14 –1 –3
Vanderbilt 2 –3 –14 –4 –1
Alabama 1 –3 –02 –3 –0
Nashville 1 –3 –02 –3 –0
Georgia 1 –4 –02 –4 –0
LSU 0 –1 –02 –2 –0
Cumberland (TN) 0 –1 –00 –1 –0
Tennessee 0 –2 –13 –2 –1
Kentucky 0 –0 –04 –6 –0
Ole Miss 0 –3 –00 –3 –0
Georgia Tech 0 –3 –00 –4 –0
  • $ – Conference champion

The Tigers outscored their opponents 222–10;[4] the 64–0 win over Davidson on opening day was then the largest score ever made in the South and the season's only home game. The only close game was with the South Atlantic school VPI.

Before the season

Walter Riggs led the effort to raise the $415.11 to hire Auburn's football coach John Heisman,[5] the first Clemson coach who had experience coaching at another school.[6] As Riggs recalled, "By 1899 the Clemson football team had risen steadily until its material was equal to that of any southern college, and the time had come to put on the long-planned finishing touch."[7] Heisman once described his style of play at Clemson as "radically different from anything on earth".[8]

The team took the field in jerseys and stockings bearing distinctive orange and purple stripes.[6] Norman Walker was team captain.[9][10]

Schedule
DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 19Davidson*Calhoun, SCW 64–0[11]
October 22at Wofford*Spartanburg, SCW 21–0
November 1at South Carolina*
W 51–05,000[12]
November 10at Georgia
W 39–5
November 24vs. VPI*Charlotte, NCW 12–5
November 29at Alabama
W 35–0[13]
  • *Non-conference game

Game summaries
Heisman

Davidson

Clemson opened the season at home in Calhoun on October 19, winning over Davidson 64–0, then the largest score ever made in the South.[14]

Wofford

The Tigers beat Wofford 21–0 on October 22.[14] Clemson agreed that every point scored after the first four touchdowns would not count.[15]

South Carolina

Going into the South Carolina game, Clemson had been strong on offense, but weak on defense. Kinsler and Douthit were both injured.[16] The Tigers rolled up a 51–0 score on South Carolina.

Georgia
Clemson at Georgia
1 2Total
• Clemson 11 28 39
Georgia 5 0 5

Before the game with Georgia, students in the dorms barraged Clemson players with bits of coal. Clemson went on to beat the Bulldogs for the first time,[17] pulling away in the second half to overwhelm the Bulldogs 39–5,[15][18] and achieve the season's first great victory.[19]

The starting lineup was Bellows (left end), Dickerson (left tackle), George (left guard) Kinsley (center), Woodward (right guard), Walker (right tackle), Lynah (right end), Lewis (quarterback), Forsyth (left halfback), Hunt (right halfback), Douthit (fullback).[18][19]

V. P. I.
Clemson vs. VPI
1 2Total
• Clemson 6 6 12
VPI 5 0 5

In Charlotte, Clemson beat VPI 12–5 in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.[20] The game was shortened due to darkness.[15] Hunter Carpenter starred for VPI.[21][22]

Alabama
Clemson at Alabama
1 2Total
• Clemson 23 12 35
Alabama 0 0 0

The season closed on Thanksgiving against the Alabama Crimson White, Clemson's first meeting with Alabama, at Birmingham's North Birmingham Park. The Tigers won 35–0. Clemson back Claude Douthit scored four touchdowns.[23]

After the Tigers forced an Alabama punt to open the game, Douthit scored three consecutive touchdowns for Clemson en route to an 18–0 lead. Douthit scored first on a 5-yard run, next on a short reception and finally on a second short touchdown run. M. N. Hunter then scored for Clemson on a long run just before the break and made the halftime score 23–0.[24] In the second half, the Tigers extended their lead to 35–0 behind a long Jim Lynah touchdown run and Douthit's fourth score of the day on a short run.[24] With approximately four minutes left in the game, both team captains agreed to end the game early due to an unruly crowd and impending darkness.[24]

Postseason

The Tigers ended the season with the outright SIAA title.[25] It was both Clemson and Heisman's first conference championship and undefeated, untied season.[n 1] The season saw "the rise of Clemson from a little school whose football teams had never been heard of before, to become a football machine of the very first power."[27]

Players

Depth chart

The following chart provides a visual depiction of Clemson's lineup during the 1900 season. The chart mimics the offense in a T formation.

LE
C. A. Bellows
 
LTLGCRGRT
Joe DuckworthA. P. GeorgeJohn H. KinslerJack WoodwardNorman Walker
Beef DeCostaJ. B. LewisL. O. King
RE
Jim Lynah
 
QB
Gus P. Lewis
LHBFBRHB
W. C. ForsythePug DouthitBuster Hunter
Fred PearmanJ. G. Kaigler

-

Line
Player Position Games
started		 Hometown Prep school Height Weight Age
C. A. Bellowsleft endBeaufort, South Carolina
Joe Duckworthleft tackleAnderson, South Carolina
A. P. Georgeright guard
John H. KinslercenterColumbia, South Carolina23
Jim Lynahright endSavannah, Georgia
J. Norman Walkerright tackleAppleton, South Carolina20
Jack Woodwardleft guard

[28]

Backfield
Player Position Games
started		 Hometown Prep school Height Weight Age
Claude "Pug" DouthitfullbackAnderson, South Carolina21
W. C. Forsytheleft halfbackBrevard, North Carolina
M. N. "Buster" Hunterright halfbackAnderson, South Carolina
Gus P. Lewisquarterback20

Substitutes
Player Position Hometown Prep school Height Weight Age
J. W. Bleose
Beef DeCostatackle
J. G. KaiglerhalfbackLexington, South Carolina
L. O. Kingtackle
J. B. Lewistackle
Fred Pearmanhalfback

[29][30][31]

Notes
  1. Clemson did not go undefeated and untied again until 1948.[26]

References
  1. "2016 FOOTBALL MEDIA GUIDE" (PDF). ClemsonTigers.com. Clemson Athletics. 2016. pp. 200–208. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  2. Bourret, Tim. "2010 Clemson Football Media Guide" (PDF). Clemson University. p. 202. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
  3. "Clemson Game by Game Results". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  4. "The Tiger News". Archived from the original on June 11, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  5. Riley 2002, p. 33
  6. "Heisman Connection". ClemsonTigers.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  7. Blackman 2016, p. 46
  8. Blackman 2001, p. 7
  9. 2010 Media Guide, p. 198
  10. Reel, Jerome. The High Seminary (PDF). pp. 132–133.
  11. "Clemson sixty-four, Davidson College zero; The biggest score ever made in the South". The State. October 22, 1900. Retrieved September 1, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "51 to 0, the score of the Carolina-Clemson football game". The Greenville News. November 2, 1900. Retrieved January 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Clemson won out with ease from University team". The Birmingham News. November 30, 1900. Retrieved February 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Yesterday on the Gridiron". News and Observer. October 23, 1900. p. 2. Retrieved May 12, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  15. Blackman 2001, p. 4
  16. "Some Facts About The Great Football Game". The Watchman and Southron. October 3, 1900. p. 7. Retrieved May 21, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  17. "Full text of "Clemson University Football Programs"". Clemson University.
  18. "How Football Games Resulted Yesterday". The Atlanta Constitution. November 11, 1900. p. 9. Retrieved May 21, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  19. Woodruff 1928, p. 110–111
  20. "Clemson vs. Virginia Tech Football Game Notes". Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  21. "Hunter Carpenter's Virginia Sports HOF Profile". Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. October 2010. Archived from the original on September 14, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  22. "The first 115 seasons of football at Virginia Tech". Virginia Tech. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  23. "1900 Season" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  24. "Alabama's line toppled before onslaught of South Carolina". The Montgomery Advertiser. NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers. November 30, 1900.
  25. "CU's Conference Championships". Archived from the original on December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  26. Blackman 2016, p. 48
  27. Woodruff 1928, p. 103
  28. "2008 Clemson Football" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 7, 2016.
  29. "Clemsonian". Clemson University. 1901.
  30. King, Kyle (2013). "Fighting like cats and dogs" (PDF). Clemson University. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  31. "Full text of "Clemson University Catalog"". Clemson University. 1893.

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