Did Tech Cover the Spread?

On Oct. 7, 1916, exactly 70 years ago, Cumberland College met Georgia Tech in a college football game at Atlanta. Cumberland, a small school from Lebanon, Tenn., had no chance to win, but it had deposited $3,000 as forfeit money and wasn’t about to give it up.

Georgia Tech won the game, 222-0. It remains the biggest blowout in college football history. Incredibly, it wasn’t as close as the score indicates. For one thing, the second half was cut short 15 minutes to prevent further damage. Here’s how some of the Georgia Tech backs fared:

--Everett (Strup) Strupper scored eight touchdowns, three on runs of 60, 55 and 45 yards, and added a conversion for 49 points.

--Jim Preas scored both times he carried the ball and returned a fumble for a touchdown. He also made 18 of 18 conversion attempts.

--Tommy Spence scored all three times he carried the ball and also scored on a 90-yard kickoff return and a 20-yard interception return.

Cumberland’s leading rusher was Morris Gouger, who “gained” minus 2 yards on 5 carries. The leading passer was Leon McDonald, who completed 2 of 11 passes for 14 yards with 4 interceptions, 3 of which were returned for touchdowns.

Late in the game, McDonald fumbled, and the ball rolled toward Gouger. “Pick it up, pick it up,” McDonald shouted.

Gouger took one look at the oncoming Georgia Tech players and shouted back: “Pick it up yourself, it’s your fumble.”

Add Georgia Tech: The coach was John Heisman, the man for whom the trophy would be named. He was a taskmaster who opened the first practice every year by holding up a football and describing it thusly: “A prolate spheroid, that is, an elongated sphere, in which the outer leathern casing is drawn tightly over a somewhat smaller rubber tubing. (Dramatic pause). Better to have died as a small boy than to fumble this.”

Trivia Time: What was the first city to have teams that won the World Series and the NFL championship in the same year? (Answer below.)

Add Heisman: He also was a Shakespearean actor, and author Dick Schaap said of him: “The only man to play both Hamlet and Harvard.”

After his recent complaint about the failure of his kickers, Stephen F. Austin Coach Jim Hess said: “I’ve lost count of the number of people who have called wanting to kick. One of the students who called is from England. We’re trying to get his transcript. We do know he fought in the Falkland Islands, so pressure shouldn’t be a problem.”

The Indiana football team is 4-0, so why isn’t it making reservations for Pasadena? Easy. Last year, the Hoosiers also were 4-0. They lost their last seven games.

Trivia Answer: Detroit in 1935. The Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs in six games to win the World Series. The Lions beat the New York Giants, 26-7, to win the NFL title.

Quotebook

Charlie Kerfeld, 22-year-old Houston reliever, marveling at the accomplishments of 39-year-old starter Nolan Ryan: “When I’m 39, I’ll be behind my own bar selling booze to somebody.”