1922 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

1922 Vanderbilt Commodores football
National champion (QPRS)
SoCon co-champion
ConferenceSouthern Conference, Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record8–0–1 (3–0 SoCon, 2–0 SIAA)
Head coach
Offensive schemeShort punt
CaptainJess Neely
Home stadiumCurry Field, Dudley Field
Uniform
Seasons
← 1921
1923 →
1922 Southern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
North Carolina + 5 – 0 – 0 9 – 1 – 0
Georgia Tech + 4 – 0 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Vanderbilt * + 3 – 0 – 0 8 – 0 – 1
VPI 3 – 0 – 0 8 – 1 – 1
Florida 2 – 0 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Auburn 2 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Tennessee 3 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Alabama 3 – 2 – 1 6 – 3 – 1
Virginia 1 – 1 – 1 4 – 4 – 1
Mississippi A&M 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 4 – 2
Kentucky 1 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Clemson 1 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Washington and Lee 1 – 2 – 0 5 – 3 – 1
Maryland 1 – 2 – 0 4 – 5 – 1
LSU 1 – 2 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Georgia 1 – 3 – 1 5 – 4 – 1
Tulane 1 – 4 – 0 4 – 4 – 0
South Carolina 0 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Ole Miss 0 – 2 – 0 4 – 5 – 1
NC State 0 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • * – co-member of SIAA
1922 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Furman $ 3 – 0 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
Vanderbilt* 2 – 0 – 0 8 – 0 – 1
Presbyterian 2 – 0 – 0 6 – 2 – 1
Mississippi College 2 – 0 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Centre 1 – 0 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Georgetown (KY) 1 – 0 – 0 1 – 1 – 0
Chattanooga 3 – 1 – 0 6 – 2 – 1
Western Kentucky 1 – 1 – 0 9 – 1 – 0
Sewanee 1 – 1 – 0 3 – 4 – 1
Millsaps 1 – 1 – 0 1 – 1 – 0
Mercer 1 – 2 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Transylvania 0 – 1 – 0 0 – 1 – 0
The Citadel 0 – 2 – 0 3 – 5 – 0
Howard (AL) 0 – 2 – 0 2 – 6 – 2
Louisville 0 – 2 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Wofford 0 – 2 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Oglethorpe 0 – 4 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • * – co-member of SoCon

The 1922 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 1922 Southern Conference football season. During the season, Dan McGugin's 18th as head coach,[n 1] Vanderbilt compiled a record of 8–0–1 (5–0 in conference games)[n 2] and outscored its opponents 177 to 16. The Commodores' defense was unrivaled in the South, leading the nation in giving up just 1.8 points per game, none of them at home. The season included a tie with Michigan at the dedication of the new Dudley Field; the first stadium in the South to be used exclusively for college football. The season was immediately dubbed one of the best in Vanderbilt and Southern football history.[3][4]

It was also Vanderbilt's first year in the newly formed Southern Conference (SoCon), in which the team tied with North Carolina and Georgia Tech for the conference championship. This was Vanderbilt's second consecutive season as leader of its conference, having tied with Georgia, Centre, and Georgia Tech for the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) title in 1921. Recognized as the best southern team by several sportswriters, some consider Vanderbilt among the best teams in the US this season, along with Princeton, Cornell, California, Michigan, and Iowa.[5][6] Both Clyde Berryman and James Howell named Vanderbilt as a retroactive national champion for the second consecutive year.[6][7]

The team featured end and tackle Lynn Bomar, Vanderbilt's first member of the College Football Hall of Fame, and halfback and captain Jess Neely, who is in the Hall of Fame as a coach. Neely was one of Vanderbilt's greatest-ever team captains and was also the team's best passer.[8] Neely to Bomar is considered among the best pass-receiver tandems in Vanderbilt's history.[9][10]

Several Vanderbilt players received post-season honors. Walter Camp selected Bomar for his All-America team, a rarity for a player in the South. Walter Eckersall and Frank G. Menke also gave Bomar All-America honors. He was a unanimous All-Southern selection. Camp gave honorable mentions to Neely, quarterback Doc Kuhn, and end and punter Scotty Neill. Bomar and Kuhn also appear on Billy Evans' National Honor Roll; Bomar, Neill, Kuhn, and three other Commodores players were selected for his Southern Honor Roll.

  1. ^ Draft Registration Card for Dan Earl McGugin of Nashville, Tennessee. Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918 [database on-line]. Registration Location: Davidson County, Tennessee; Roll: 1852932; Draft Board: 1.
  2. ^ Roger Saylor. "Southern Intercollegiate Conference" (PDF). LA84. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cummisky, Thomas L. "Picking Champ Grid Teams Is Not Easy Task Since So Many Have Just Claims." San Antonio Evening News 1 Dec. 1922: 18.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Alphabet was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b see Clyde Berryman. "QPRS American College Football National Champions" (PDF). "Official 2013 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records Book" (PDF). The National Collegiate Athletic Association. pp. 76–77. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 23, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  7. ^ "1922 NCAA Division IA Football Power Ratings". jhowell.net. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference 50Years was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Walsh 2006, p. 123
  10. ^ Baker 1945, p. 85


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