1896 VPI football team

The 1896 VPI football team represented Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute in the 1896 college football season. The team was led by their head coach Arlie C. Jones and finished with a record of five wins, two losses, and one tie (5–2–1).

1896 VPI football
ConferenceIndependent
Record5–2–1
Head coach
CaptainJ. Lewis Ingles
Home stadiumSheib Field
Seasons
← 1895
1897 →
1896 Southern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Centre     6 0 1
Texas A&M     2 0 1
Oklahoma     2 0 0
North Carolina A&M     1 0 0
Virginia     7 2 2
VPI     5 2 1
Navy     5 3 0
Arkansas     2 1 0
Clemson     2 1 0
Columbian     2 1 0
Georgia Tech     2 2 1
Add-Ran     1 1 1
Centenary     1 1 0
VMI     3 4 0
North Carolina     3 4 1
Furman     2 3 0
Ole Miss     1 2 0
West Virginia     3 7 2
South Carolina     1 3 0
Erskine     0 1 0
William & Mary     0 2 0
Davidson     0 1 0
Delaware     0 6 0

Scoring

edit

The scoring in 1896 was:

Schedule

edit
DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 10Alleghany InstituteW 20-0[1][2][3]
October 20Roanoke
  • Sheib Field
  • Blacksburg, VA
W 12–0[4]
October 24vs. North Carolina
T 0–0600–700[5][6][7][8]
October 314:00 p.m.at Virginia
L 0–44600[9][10]
November 2vs. Hampden–SydneyLynchburg, VAW 42–0[11][12]
November 14at TennesseeL 4–6[13][14]
November 16vs. Maryville (TN)Knoxville, TNW 52–0[15]
November 262:30 p.m.vs. VMIRoanoke, VA (rivalry)W 24–02,000[16][17][18]

Game summaries

edit

Alleghany Institute

edit

Cancelled St. Albans Game

edit

A game against St. Albans Lutheran Boys School was scheduled to be played on October 17, 1896 in Radford, Virginia. However, the game was not played after a dispute between both teams regarding the amateur eligibility of players on both sides.[19]

Roanoke

edit

The starting lineup for VPI was: Johnson (left end), Starke (left tackle), Mayer (left guard), Thomas (center), Pelter (right guard), R. Herbert (right tackle), Treadwell (right end), Martin (quarterback), Ingles (left halfback), Eskridge (right halfback), E. Herbert (fullback).

The starting lineup for Roanoke was: M. G. Jones (left end), Bales (left tackle), Terry (left guard), Keister (center), McClintic (right guard), Claiborne (right tackle), Robertson (right end), Hatcher (quarterback), Akard (left halfback), Miller (right halfback), Jones (fullback). The substitutes were: Boyd and Downing.

North Carolina

edit
North Carolina vs. VPI
1 2Total
UNC 0 0 0
VPI 0 0 0
  • Date: October 24, 1896
  • Location: Athletic Park (Danville)
    Danville, VA
  • Game attendance: 600–700
  • Referee: Mahoun

The starting lineup for VPI was: Johnson (left end), Starke (left tackle), Pelter (left guard), R. Herbert (center), Mayer (right guard), Wood (right tackle), Treadwell (right end), Martin (quarterback), Ingles (left halfback), Eskridge (right halfback), E. Herbert (fullback). The substitutes were: Poindexter.

The starting lineup for North Carolina was: Joel Whitaker (left end), Robert Wright (left tackle), E. L. Neville (left guard), C. C. Joyner (center), James Carson (right guard), Harry Lake (right tackle), Charles Best (right end), Thomas Green (quarterback), Patterson (left halfback), F. J. Haywood (right halfback), Arthur Belden (fullback).

Virginia

edit
VPI at Virginia
1 2Total
VPI 0 0 0
UVA 28 16 44
  • Date: October 31, 1896
  • Location: Madison Hall Field
    Charlottesville, VA
  • Game start: 4:00 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 600
  • Referee: Fred Harper

The starting lineup for VPI was: Johnson (left end), Starke (left tackle), Mayer (left guard), R. Herbert (center), Pelter (right guard), Wood (right tackle), Treadwell (right end), Martin (quarterback), Ingles (left halfback), Eskridge (right halfback), E. Herbert (fullback). The substitutes were: Smith.

The starting lineup for Virginia was: W. A. Martin (left end), Alexander Moore (left tackle), Johnson (left guard), Gustavus Wallace (center), Eugene Davis (right guard), V. H. Samoskeoy (right tackle), Paul Cocke (right end), Archie Hoxton (quarterback), Virginius Dabney (left halfback), Robert Groner (right halfback), James Morrison (fullback). The substitutes were: Malcolm Griffin.

Hampden–Sydney

edit

Tennessee

edit

Maryville

edit
VMI vs. VPI
1 2Total
VMI 0 0 0
VPI 18 6 24
  • Date: November 26, 1896
  • Location: Roanoke, VA
  • Game start: 2:30 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 2,000
  • Referee: R. C. Waldon

The starting lineup for VPI was: Johnson (left end), Starke (left tackle), Mayer (left guard), R. Herbert (center), Pelter (right guard), Wood (right tackle), Treadwell (right end), Martin (quarterback), Ingles (left halfback), Eskridge (right halfback), E. Herbert (fullback). The substitutes were: Whitehurst.

The starting lineup for VMI was: Harman (left end), Morrell Mills (left tackle), Rice (left guard), George Marrow (center), Percy Montgomery (right guard), James Harding (right tackle), Elisha McGill (right end), William Montgomery (quarterback), Richard Lawson (left halfback), John Steger (right halfback), Sidney Moore (fullback).

Players

edit

The following players were members of the 1896 football team according to the roster published in the 1897 and 1903 editions of The Bugle, the Virginia Tech yearbook.[20][21]

VPI 1896 roster
Quarterback
  • Tarpley Douglas Martin

Guards

  • William Lawrence Mayer
  • Nerbon Robert Patrick
  • Joseph Glenwood Pelter

Tackles

  • William Edwin Starke
  • Charles Morton Wood

Centers

  • Richard Ainsworth Herbert
  • Sidney Johnson Thomas
Ends
  • Howard Archer Johnson
  • William B. Treadwell

Halfbacks

Fullbacks

  • Edward Henry Herbert
  • Obediah Francis Whitehurst
Substitutes
  • Charles Weedon Cochran
  • William Franklin Cox
  • George H. King
  • David Gray Langhorne
  • Dabney Thomas Poindexter
  • G. H. Townes
  • Benjamin Lanier Traynham

Coaching and training staff

edit
  • Head coach: Arlie C. Jones
  • Manager: Carl E. Hardy
  • Assistant manager: George S. Merrick
  • Medical adviser: W. F. Henderson, MD

References

edit
  1. ^ "Football News". The Roanoke Times. Library of Virginia. October 13, 1896. p. 5. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  2. ^ "Alleghany Won". The Roanoke Times. Library of Virginia. October 11, 1896. p. 5. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  3. ^ "The Magic City". The Richmond Dispatch. Library of Virginia. October 11, 1896. p. 1. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  4. ^ "A Football Game". The Roanoke Daily Times. Library of Congress. October 22, 1896. p. 8. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  5. ^ "Neither Side Scored". The Roanoke Times. Library of Virginia. October 25, 1896. p. 4. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  6. ^ "Neither Side Scored". The Times. Library of Virginia. October 25, 1896. p. 13. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  7. ^ "A Tie Game". The Richmond Dispatch. Library of Virginia. October 25, 1896. p. 12. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  8. ^ "A Drawn Battle". The Tar Heel. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. October 31, 1896. p. 1. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  9. ^ "Blacksburg Downed". The Richmond Dispatch. Library of Virginia. November 1, 1896. p. 15. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  10. ^ "Foot-Ball in Virginia". The Times. Library of Virginia. November 1, 1896. p. 6. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  11. ^ "Blacksburg, 42; Hampden–Sidney, 0". The Times. Library of Virginia. November 3, 1896. p. 7. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  12. ^ "Blacksburg Won". The Richmond Dispatch. Library of Virginia. November 3, 1896. p. 3. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  13. ^ "Tennessee and Blacksburg". The Times. Library of Virginia. November 15, 1896. p. 16. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  14. ^ "Blacksburg Defeated". The Richmond Dispatch. Library of Virginia. November 15, 1896. p. 13. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  15. ^ "Blacksburgs Triumphant". The Times. Library of Virginia. November 17, 1896. p. 7. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  16. ^ "Blacksburg Beats V.M.I." The Times. Library of Virginia. November 27, 1896. p. 3. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  17. ^ "Big Crowds Saw It". The Roanoke Times. Library of Virginia. November 27, 1896. p. 1. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  18. ^ "Other State Games". The Richmond Dispatch. Library of Virginia. November 27, 1896. p. 2. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  19. ^ "The Other Side". The Roanoke Times. Library of Virginia. October 21, 1896. p. 4. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  20. ^ "The Bugle 1897". Virginia Tech Bugle. 1897. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  21. ^ "The Bugle 1903" (PDF). Virginia Tech Bugle. 1903. p. 129. Retrieved November 4, 2015.