The 1917 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football team represented the Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly known as Georgia Tech) in American football during the 1917 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. The Golden Tornado, coached by John Heisman in his 14th year as head coach, compiled a 9–0 record (4–0 SIAA) and outscored opponents 491 to 17 on the way to its first national championship. Heisman considered the 1917 team his best, and for many years it was considered "the greatest football team the South had ever produced". Georgia Tech was ranked No. 1 in a contemporary ranking of college football teams by International News Service. The team was later named national champion by the Billingsley Report, Helms Athletic Foundation, Houlgate System, and National Championship Foundation.
The backfield of Albert Hill, Everett Strupper, Joe Guyon, and Judy Harlan led the Golden Tornado, and all four rushed for more than 100 yards in a 48–0 victory over Tulane. During the regular season Georgia Tech defeated strong opponents by large margins, and its 41–0 victory over eastern power Penn shocked many. Davidson, with Buck Flowers (a future Tech star), was defeated 32–10. Tech's 83–0 victory over Vanderbilt is the worst loss in Vanderbilt history, and its 63–0 defeat of Washington and Lee was the worst loss in W&L history at the time. Tech finished the season by defeating Auburn 68–7, clinching the conference title. Davidson and Auburn were the only teams to score points against Georgia Tech.
Before the season Because of the American entry into World War I in April, several SIAA schools did not field football teams. However, Georgia Tech had an increasing enrollment and bright prospects for its football team after its undefeated 1916 season. Losses from the previous season's team included guard Bob Lang and fullback Tommy Spence.
In 1917 football used a one-platoon system, in which players played both offense and defense. Fifteen of the 21 players on the 1917 roster were from the state of Georgia, and 10 of its 11 starters came from Georgia high schools. The team's captain was tackle Walker "Big Six" Carpenter. Its renowned backfield consisted of quarterback Al Hill, halfback Everett Strupper, halfback Joe Guyon, and freshman fullback Judy Harlan.
Coach John Heisman's swift backfield used the pre-snap movement of his "jump shift" offense, and Al Hill led the team in carries. Ev Strupper, arguably the best of the four,e. g. was partially deaf; because of his deafness, he called the signals instead of the team's quarterback. When "Strupe" tried out for the team, he noticed that the quarterback shouted the signals every time he was to carry the ball. Realizing that the loud signals would be a tip-off to the opposition, Strupper told Heisman: "Coach, those loud signals are absolutely unnecessary. You see when sickness in my kid days brought on this deafness my folks gave me the best instructors obtainable to teach me lip-reading." Heisman recalled how Strupper overcame his deafness: "He couldn't hear anything but a regular shout. But he could read your lips like a flash. No lad that ever stepped on a football field had keener eyes than Everett had. The enemy found this out the minute he began looking for openings through which to run the ball."
Joe Guyon, the team's best passer, was a Chippewa Indian who was born on the White Earth Indian Reservation; his brother, Charles "Wahoo" Guyon, was the assistant coach. Guyon had played for Pop Warner at Carlisle, and had to sit out the 1916 season in accordance with conference transfer rules. He ran through (and over) opponents, in contrast to Strupper's dodging style. Judy Harlan said about Guyon, "Once in a while the Indian would come out in Joe, such as the nights Heisman gave us a white football and had us working out under the lights. That's when Guyon would give out the blood curdling war whoops."
Schedule
Game summaries Week 1: Furman and Wake Forest
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The Golden Tornado opened its season on September 29 with a doubleheader in three inches of mud.
Furman In the first game Georgia Tech defeated Furman 25–0, playing mainly substitutes. Hay was spread on the field in an attempt to counteract the steady downpour. Tech quarterback Al Hill scored two touchdowns, and Dan Whelchel (called Walthall) scored a third when he recovered a fumble by Theodore Shaver after crossing the goal line. Although Furman's lineup included future South Carolina Hall-of-Famer Speedy Speer, there was little Speer could do to affect the outcome. Tech's starting lineup was Ulrich (left end), Higgins (left tackle), Whelchel (left guard), Johnson (center), Wright (right guard), Doyle (right tackle), Colcord (right end), Hill (quarterback), Smith (left halfback), Shaver (right halfback), and Harlan (fullback).
Wake Forest
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After the Furman game, the rain subsided and Tech defeated the Wake Forest Baptists 33–0. Ev Strupper and Joe Guyon had sat out the previous game. The first touchdown was on the play after Strupper dashed around end for a 17-yard gain; Guyon's first carry from scrimmage for Tech was a 75-yard run.
Strupper scored the second touchdown on a short drive set up by his 40-yard punt return. Early in the second quarter, Strupper shot through the line for 70 yards and the third touchdown. Tech's fourth touchdown required considerable effort and a methodical drive, ending in a 15-yard dive for a touchdown by Strupper. End runs by Guyon and Simpson's line plunging set up the fifth (and final) touchdown with Guyon's 6-yard run. Strupper ran for 198 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries. Tech's starting lineup was Bell (left end), Fincher (left tackle), Thweatt (left guard), Phillips (center), Dowling (right guard), Rogers (right tackle), Carpenter (right end), Hill (quarterback), Strupper (left halfback), Guyon (right halfback), and Armsley (fullback).
Week 2: Penn
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In the second week of play, Georgia Tech beat Penn 41–0. Bernie McCarty called it "Strupper's finest hour, coming through against powerful Penn in the contest that shocked the East." In comparison, Pop Warner's undefeated Pittsburgh defeated Penn 14–6. Penn was the first northeastern powerhouse to lose to a team from the South. Both Strupper and Hill rushed for more than 100 yards. Tech outgained Penn 276 yards to 11 at halftime. According to the Florida Times-Union, "The result ... demonstrates that the large Eastern colleges will have to reckon with some of those of Dixieland in future."
Tech baffled Penn by playing conventionally instead of using its regular shift. On its second play from scrimmage less than two minutes into the game Strupper ran around his end, "winding and twisting out of a mass of Red and Blue players" for a 68-yard touchdown. Walker Carpenter brushed two tacklers out of the way, and Strupped side-stepped Penn safety Joe Berry before running the last 30 yards. Tech "scored again in this period before Pennsylvania had recovered from its bewilderment", a touchdown by Hill. For the last score of the half, Strupper made a short run behind guard.
Penn did not have a first down in the first half, as the Tech defense played well. Hill scored a touchdown in the third quarter on a 27-yard run through the line. Penn's only scoring opportunity was in the third quarter. After another Al Hill touchdown and the kickoff return, Penn worked five complete forward passes in quick succession (one 23 yards) to reach Tech's 6-yard line. The Tech defense responded, and Penn turned the ball over on downs. On first down, Carpenter threw Penn back for a 6-yard loss and a pass was incomplete on second down. On third down, Penn's quarterback dropped back to pass Carpenter and William Higgins tackled him on the 25-yard line. On fourth down, Penn came out in a "freak formation" and its pass was incomplete. In the fourth quarter, Judy Harlan had a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown. Tech's starting lineup was Guill (left end), Whelchel (left tackle), Fincher (left guard), Phillips (center), Dowling (right guard), Thweatt (right tackle), Carpenter (right end), Hill (quarterback), Strupper (left halfback), Guyon (right halfback), and Harlan (fullback).
Week 3: Davidson
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The Davidson Wildcats, which scored the most points against Tech (10), included future Tech running back Buck Flowers in his freshman year. Unlike Tech's other 1917 opponents, Davidson held its backs to less than 100 yards rushing. Writer Bernie McCarty considered Davidson the second-best southern team that year.
The game's first score came in the second quarter when Davidson's Buck Flowers converted a 28-yard drop kick field goal for a 3–0 lead. Set up by a 27-yard run around end by Davidson fullback R. C. Burns, Al Hill prevented Burns from scoring a touchdown by tackling him from behind. Strupper and Guyon then worked the ball close to the goal; Strupper was forced out of bounds, and Hill scored a touchdown.
Tech led 6–3 when Strupper broke the game open in the second half. After a fumble by Strupper, Hill caught a pass from the 22-yard line and ran in for a touchdown. Strupper made the next touchdown after Tech ran through Davidson's right guard. Strupper then recovered a punt fumbled by Flowers on Davidson's 30-yard line, leading to a score by Hill from 18 yards out on a criss-cross run. Davidson scored its only touchdown on a forward pass. From midfield, quarterback Henry Spann hit end Georgie King on a 50-yard touchdown pass that went 30 yards in the air, catching Tech by surprise. For Tech's last score, Judy Harlan returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown.
The defense of Walker Carpenter and William Thweatt was the game's highlight. Tech made 16 first downs and Davidson 13. Neither Pup Phillips nor Ham Dowling played in this game, with Bill Fincher replacing Phillips at center. The umpire was Fay Wood, and Boozer Pitts was the head linesman. Davidson captain Georgie King said, "I consider Georgia Tech the best football team I have ever played against or ever expect to play against." Tech's starting lineup was Guill (left end), Whelchel (left tackle), Higgins (left guard), Fincher (center), Rogers (right guard), Thweatt (right tackle), Carpenter (right end), Hill (quarterback), Strupper (left halfback), Guyon (right halfback), and Harlan (fullback).
Week 4: Washington and Lee
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In a 63–0 victory against the Washington and Lee Generals, Tech made 35 first downs to Washington and Lee's five. At the time, it was the Generals' worst loss. According to Judy Harlan, Joe Guyon knocked a Washington and Lee player out of the game by "wearing an old horse collar shaped into a shoulder pad but reinforced with a little steel". The player may have been Turner Bethel, who was knocked out of the game and taken to a local hospital.
"The game was never in doubt after 'Strup' got away for his first long run", a 35-yarder followed a few minutes later by his 16-yard touchdown run. Although Strupper only played in the first half because of a leg injury, he gained 128 yards in addition to scoring the touchdown. Al Hill scored four touchdowns, Guyon three, and Pup Phillips also had one with a 30-yard interception return. Tech's starting lineup was Ulrich (left end), Fincher (left tackle), Whelchel (left guard), Phillips (center), Dowling (right guard), Carpenter (right tackle), Bell (right end), Hill (quarterback), Strupper (left halfback), Guyon (right halfback), and Harlan (fullback).
Week 5: Vanderbilt
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Tech's 83–0 defeat of the Vanderbilt Commodores was the worst in Vanderbilt history. "It was not until 1917 that a Southern team really avenged long-time torment at McGugin's hands. And it took one of history's top backfields–Joe Guyon, Ev Strupper, Al Hill, and Judy Harlan of Georgia Tech–to do it," writes Edwin Pope. The team was not the Commodores' worst, and had defeated Alabama.