Football History Rewind Part 47

The Football History Rewind Part 47 reflects on two more of the 6 teams that were co-champions of college football in 1921, the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Another one of the co-champions of the 1921 collegiate football season was the Vanderbilt Commodores. Next.OwlApps.net shares some great information about this team in a recent post on their website. The Vandy Eleven outscored their opponents 161–21 for a record of 7–0–1 and a share of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association  championship with a stellar 5–0–1 mark in conference games. The Commodores were led by head Coach Dan McGugin, in his 17th season at the helm, and Wallace Wade's first season as assistant coach. Wade was a fierce competitor he had played guard on a Brown Bruins football team which represented the East in the 1916 Rose Bowl. Vanderbilt had a tough road SIAA schedule ahead of them but with the intensity of practices on the increase Assistant Coach Wade  hammered the men into shape. On the home sod of Dudley Field and beyond their stars included halfback Rupert Smith and its captain was "Pink" Wade, father of future Vanderbilt star Bill Wade, moved from fullback to guard. .  Other returning roster members included Jess Neely, Frank Godchaux, Doc Kuhn, Tot McCullough, Pink Wade, Alvin Bell, Alf Sharp, and Percy Conyers. Godchaux was the first player to follow in his father's footsteps as a Vanderbilt football player. A redshirted transfer, Tackle Tex Bradford had played for Texas Christian University for two years and after sitting out a year at Vanderbilt, he was eligible to play for the Commodores.

Right out of the chute they had a tough schedule as Kentucky and Texas were heavy home favorites. Week one saw them tear apart Middle Tennessee State Normal 34-0, then the next game by crushed Mercer Baptist by the tune of 42-0.

The squad of McGugin then traveled to Kentucky where some one fianlly registered some points against their formibdable defense. The Kentucky team prepared by second-year head coach William "Indian Bill" Juneau, holding practices in seclusion, under the cover of night behind secured gates. The Commodores were outplayed by the very well prepared Wildcats for three quarters. Their opponents completed 10 out of 20 passes, including passes between quarterback Bobby Lavin and Fuller. Vandy had scored early,  and fortunate they did as it kept them in the game against the relentless Kentucky attack. Before this game, Kentucky had never scored against VanderbiltIt wasn't enough for the the Wildcats though as Vandy triumphed 21-14 in a tight battle.

Next they traveled to the Texas State Fair Grounds to face the Texas Longhorns. Texas was favored by two TDs by some accounts over their visitors. McGugin got the team fired up with some great pre-game and halftime speeches and Vanderbilt triumphed 20-0 of Texas. These were two pivotal games and set the table for Vandy to take the SIAA crown as they dropped Tennessee and Alabamba in consecutive weeks 14-0 in each contest then their only slight blemish when they traveled to the Peach State to earn a 7-7 tie with defending SIAA champ Georgia.

Next up was Sewanee where the teams went in pretty evenly matched and in the "muddiest game" in its history Vandy escaped with a hard fought 9-0 win. The Commodores, playing in knee-deep mud and water, were unrecognizable by the end of the game according to reports. The Commodores accepted an invitation to play a post season game in Jacksonville, Florida against the Florida Gators on November 30. Vanderbilt won this game too and ended as the only undefeated team in the South when Centre College lost to Texas A&M in the Dixie Classic.

The year of 1921 brought Iowa its first undisputed Big Ten football championship. It was truly a banner season as it also brought the Hawkeyes national championship recognition and an invitation to the Rose Bowl according to HawkeSports.com. Iowa's Head Coach was Howard Jones and four of the starters gained All-American recognition at seasons end; Aubrey Devine, Gordon Locke,  Duke Slater, and Les Belding.  

Highlights of the season included Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne’s longest winning streak of 20 games, was severed by the 1921 Hawkeyes in an epic contest. Also, Purdue suffered its worst football defeat to date, and Minnesota was caught in an avalanche of the most points which had ever been scored on a Gopher team, both were the work of Iowa's 1921 gridiron team. One star shone bright and that was running back Aubrey Devine. The versatile Iowa captain and quarterback scored 57 total points against Minnesota and Indiana in a period of eight days something never heard on by any player in a week period. Not even the legendary feats of Red Grange, Herb Joesting, Pug Lund, Tom Harmon, or any of a host of great backs of recent years could approach Devine’s mark. Called by critic Walter Eckersall “the best exponent of the triple threat the Middle West has seen since the coming of the forward pass in 1906.”

Iowa started week one off with a 52-14 drubbing of Knox College, then knocked off the Irish 10-7. Iowa scored all of its points in the first period, Gordon Locke hitting for a touchdown on a fourth down plunge from inside the Notre Dame one. On the next series, Hawkeyes Locke and Devine drove to the Irish 30 from where Aubrey kicked a field goal. Notre Dame soon came back with a score of their own and then the defenses on both sides prevented anymore scoring the rest of the game. 

The Hawks then dismantled five straight Big Ten aopponents before facing a tough Illinois team of whm they also defeated 14-2. Duke Slater, Les Belding and the Devine brothers closed their careers a week later against Northwestern at Evanston. The resulting 14-0 victory.  

The Iowa Board in Control of Athletics met in “special session’ with Dr. William Duffield of Los Angeles, representing the Tournament of roses Committee. However after much discussion the Board declined the offer  giving the reasons of Iowa's School Board not beleiving in post season play as well as having to ask the Big Ten for permission to play in the Rose Bowl. I guess it was too much of a hastle and Washington and Jefferson was invited in their place.