1911 Florida Gators football team

1911 Florida Gators football
ConferenceIndependent
Record5–0–1
Head coach
CaptainNeal Storter
Home stadiumUniversity Athletic Field
1911 Southern college football independents records
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Oklahoma   –   8 – 0 – 0
  –   5 – 0 – 1
VMI   –   7 – 1 – 0
Texas A&M   –   6 – 1 – 0
Georgetown   –   7 – 1 – 1
Navy   –   6 – 0 – 3
North Carolina   –   6 – 1 – 1
VPI   –   6 – 1 – 2
Virginia   –   8 – 2 – 0
Louisiana Industrial   –   4 – 1 – 1
Marshall   –   4 – 1 – 1
Arkansas   –   6 – 2 – 1
Oklahoma A&M   –   5 – 2 – 0
Texas   –   5 – 2 – 0
Washington and Lee   –   4 – 2 – 2
West Virginia   –   6 – 3 – 0
Davidson   –   5 – 3 – 0
North Carolina A&M   –   5 – 3 – 0
Chattanooga   –   3 – 2 – 0
Catholic University   –   3 – 2 – 2
Maryland   –   4 – 4 – 2
Baylor   –   3 – 4 – 2
Wake Forest   –   3 – 5 – 0
Delaware   –   2 – 5 – 2
South Carolina   –   1 – 4 – 2
Southwestern Louisiana Industrial   –   1 – 4 – 1
Spring Hill   –   1 – 3 – 0
Southwest Texas State   –   1 – 3 – 0
Stetson   –   1 – 3 – 0
Birmingham   –   0 – 6 – 1
Middle Tennessee State Normal   –   0 – 1 – 0

The 1911 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1911 college football season. It was the sixth season of varsity football at the school and George Pyle's third as head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Pyle's squad finished 5–0–1 for the first undefeated season in program history. The six game schedule saw Florida play four opponents from South Carolina, including back to back road games against the Clemson Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks. The Gators earned a tie with the Tigers and a win over the Gamecocks, a victory that has been called the program's first road win against a quality opponent.[1][2]

Besides the historically successful record, the 1911 season saw two significant milestones for the program. For one, the school officially adopted "Gators" as its mascot, initially for the football team but soon applying to all sports. Earlier Florida squads had been referred to as "the Orange and Blue" or simply "Florida".

1911 also saw the football debut of the young school's first on-campus sports facility at University Athletic Field, which consisted of low bleachers on a cleared field along University Avenue, just west of the existing campus. Florida's baseball team first played at the new facility in the spring of 1911, and the football team scheduled two home games there in the fall. Previously, the football and baseball programs had played their home games either at a municipal park in downtown Gainesville or at larger facilities out of town.[3]

Origins of the nickname

The 1911 Florida football team was the first to officially use the "Gators" nickname, though the exact timing and rationale behind the choice is unclear. The squad was captained by Neal "BoGator" Storter, and according to university lore and former UF historian Carl Van Ness, the team simply adopted his nickname.[4][5] However, Storter himself denied the story and stated the mascot originated when a reporter for the Macon Telegraph wrote "Macon to be invaded by a bunch of alligators" before Florida arrived in town to play the Mercer Bears in 1910.[5][6]

Alternatively, the university's official athletics website says that the nickname had originated in 1908, when a local Gainesville merchant ordered school pennants to sell at his store and thought that the reptile made a suitable mascot since "no other school had adopted it and because the alligator was native to the state".[7] The choice proved popular enough that the school officially adopted the mascot a few years later, perhaps at least partially due to the football captain's similar nickname.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendance
October 7The Citadel
W 15–3
October 21at South Carolina
T 6–6
October 254:10 p.m.at Clemson
W 6–5
November 4Columbia College
  • University Athletic Field
  • Gainesville, FL
W 9–0
November 11at StetsonDeLand, FLW 27–01,500
November 30vs. College of CharlestonJacksonville, FLW 21–0

[8]

Game summaries

The Citadel

The season opened with a 15–3 victory over The Citadel Bulldogs[1] at the first football game played at University Athletic Field.[9]

South Carolina

Florida at South Carolina
Team 1 234Total
Florida 6 000 6
S. Carolina 0 600 6

In the second week of play, Florida fought the South Carolina Gamecocks to a 6–6 tie. Earle Taylor scored in the first quarter and the Gamecocks matched in the second.[1]

The starting lineup was Swanson (left end), Coarsey (left tackle), Lawler (left guard), Storter (center), Hancock (right guard), Bullock (right tackle), Buie (right end), Shackleford (quarterback), Davis (left halfback), Taylor (right halfback), Tenney (fullback).[11]

Clemson

Florida at Clemson
Team 1 234Total
• Florida 0 006 6
Clemson 5 000 5
  • Date: October 25
  • Location: Bowman Field
    Calhoun, SC
  • Game start: 4:10 p. m.
  • Referee: Captain Hill (Georgia Tech)

Florida upset the Clemson Tigers by a single point, 6–5, in the two school's first-ever meeting. "The game as a whole, was a poor exhibition of football."[12] Clemson scored in the first six minutes when Webb took it over.[12] Towards the end of the fourth quarter, the Gators' Dummy Taylor picked up a fumble and ran 45 yards for a touchdown, and then kicked the extra point to win.[12] Norm Carlson called it "Florida's first road win against a quality college opponent."[2]

On the winning extra point, the holder Sam Buie recalled "Doc Walker of Jacksonville bet Captain Hill of Georgia Tech, the referee, that Dummy would make it. They bet, and Dummy kicked it."[13] "It was on the South Carolina trip that the Florida team was dubbed the ‘Alligators,’ and the battle that took place . . .between the Clemson Tigers and the Florida Alligators is one long to be remembered!" declared the Florida Pennant.[1]

The starting lineup was Bonus (left end), Bullock (left tackle), Wilson (left guard), Storter (center), Baker (right guard), Hancock (right tackle), Buie (right end), Shackleford (quarterback), Davis (left halfback), Taylor (right halfback), Tenney (fullback).[12]

Columbia College

Florida beat Columbia College 9–0. Taylor kicked three field goals.[14][15] The starting lineup was Buie (left end), Hancock (left tackle), Wilson (left guard), Storter (center), Aker (right guard), Coarsey (right tackle), Swanson (right end), Shackleford (quarterback), Gavis (left halfback), Taylor (right halfback), Tenney (fullback).[16]

Stetson

Florida at Stetson
Team 1 234Total
• Florida 0 998 26
Stetson 0 000 0
  • Date: November 11
  • Location: DeLand, FL
  • Game attendance: 1,500

Florida beat Stetson 26–0. The Stetson Weekly Collegiate called it "the greatest football game ever played in the state of Florida."[10] Taylor drop kicked a 45-yard field goal and ran for two touchdowns.[17]

The starting lineup was Swanson (left end), Coarsey (left tackle), Baker (left guard), Storter (center), Wilson (right guard), Bullock (right tackle), Buie (right end), Shackleford (quarterback), Tenney (left halfback), Taylor (right halfback), Pound (fullback).[10]

Charleston

Florida closed the season with a 21–0 defeat of Charleston. "Florida should have made at least three more touchdowns."[18]

Postseason

Due to their 3–0–1 record against opponents from the state, the Gators proclaimed themselves to be "champions of South Carolina" as well as Florida.[19]

Earle "Dummy" Taylor, the only five-letter winner in team history,[20] scored 49 of the season's 84 points (including a school-record eight field goals).[21] He scored 25 points on the ground and points-after, and 24 on field goals. He also threw two touchdown passes.[22]

Personnel

Linemen

Player Position Games
started 		High school Height Weight Age
A. A. Baker Guard 3 175
J. R. Bullock Tackle 3 160
Sam Buie End 4 124
Jim Coarsey Guard 3 170
Neal Storter Center 4 5'11" 170 21
Joe Swanson End 3
R. B. Wilson Guard 3

Backfield

Player Position Games
started 		High school Height Weight Age
F. G. Davis Fullback 3
Bob Shackleford Quarterback 4
Dummy Taylor Halfback 4 165 20
Louis E. Tenney Halfback 4 155

Subs

Player Position Games
started 		High school Height Weight Age
Hancock Tackle 3
Harvey Hester Back
S. W. Lawler Back and Line
J. A. Miller End
Hoyle Pounds Back and End 1
Hubby Price Line
A. G. Shands Quarterback and End
John Sutton Line

[23]

Scoring leaders

Player Touchdowns Extra points Field goals Safeties Points
Dummy Taylor 4 5 8 0 49
Sam Buie 1 0 0 0 5
? 6 0 0 0 30
TOTAL 11 5 8 0 84

Coaching staff

References

  1. ^ a b c d "1911".
  2. ^ a b Carlson 2007, p. 17
  3. ^ Awbrey, Fred (September 8, 2017). "Fleming Field: Gainesville's forgotten sports venue". Gainesville Sun. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  4. ^ Carl Van Ness (2006). "The Cannon Incident of 1909". Florida: News for Alumni and Friends of the University of Florida: 7.
  5. ^ a b Pat Dooley (September 1, 2013). "33. How the Gators Got Their Name". 100 Things Florida Fans Should Know & do Before They die: 33. ISBN 9781623682934.
  6. ^ Olivia Ormos (February 1, 2006). "Good Ol' Boys".
  7. ^ "The Birth of a Nickname". Florida Gators. University of Florida Athletic Association.
  8. ^ 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  9. ^ Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker: Alachua
  10. ^ a b c d "Stetson Weekly Collegiate, Vol. 24, No. 05, November 16, 1911 :: Central Florida Memory".
  11. ^ "Florida Meets South Carolina". The Evening Chronicle. October 21, 1911. p. 9. Retrieved July 12, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Florida-Clemson game". The Tiger. 7 (3): 2. October 28, 1911.
  13. ^ Carlson 2007, p. 14
  14. ^ "Times Daily - Google News Archive Search".
  15. ^ McEwen 1974, p. 46
  16. ^ "Columbia College Meets Florida U." The Charlotte News. November 3, 1911. p. 13. Retrieved July 12, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Carlson 2007, p. 12
  18. ^ "Florida 21, Charleston 0". The Atlanta Constitution. December 1, 1911. p. 8. Retrieved July 12, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ The Seminole, 1912 approx p. 86
  20. ^ "Sports: 100 things about 100 years of Gator football". Archived from the original on September 4, 2016.
  21. ^ The Times-Union (September 1, 2006). "10 top 10 lists". Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  22. ^ "Florida Gators History". Archived from the original on January 2, 2006.
  23. ^ The Seminole, 1912 approx p. 84

Bibliography

  • Carlson, Norm (2007). University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators. Atlanta, Georgia: Whitman Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-0-7948-2298-9.
  • McEwen, Tom (1974). The Gators: A Story of Florida Football. Huntsville, Alabama: The Strode Publishers. ISBN 0-87397-025-X.
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