THERE WAS A TEAM TO REMEMBER
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of a planned series on great Tech teams of the past. If you have a favorite Tech team, jot down the story and send it to us.
THE TORNADO OF 20 by Walter Coxe, '22 When Alumnus Editor Bob Wallace first approached me about writing an article on my favorite Tech team, I was tempted to do a piece on the '52 aggregation. Here was a team that seemed to have everything. They won them all, never folding under pressure when things were going the wrong way. The team was loaded with natural talent, and it was an exceptionally well - coached, well - disciplined outfit. But somehow, the Tech "Tornado" of 1920 had made a better impression on me. Maybe it was because the '20 team had to play both offense and defense, or more likely it was a case of that inborn sentiment that no sports fan ever seems to get out of his system — the desire to cry out publicly for the teams of the "good old days." Anyway, the '20 team is my "team to remember," and I'm not alone in this selection. The '20 team was Coach Alex's first as head mentor, and it started his career off with a bang, winning all but one game — a defeat by Pittsburgh, 10-3. The score of this game was so inconclusive that, at the end of the season, the Pitt players and coaches led the clamor to elect Tech national champions for that year. Many of the Eastern papers, including the Pittsburgh Press and the New York Herald, named Tech national champions despite the loss at the hands of the Panthers. It was one of those games where the best team didn't win, and it brought the "Golden Tornado" more fame than any of their many victories. The only
SPORT SHORTS Two prominent Tech alumni were among the 21 guests invited by President Eisenhower to a dinner at the White House on October 26. Robert T. (Bobby) Jones, Jr., '22, and Charlie Yates, '35, Tech's greats of the golfing world, were the alumni honored with this invitation. Cross Country
Tech's cross-country team is having its best season in many years, losing only one out of the first four dual meets. Florida's Harriers clipped the 'Jackets wings, 26-29, after Tech had 22
other game on the schedule that bore the slightest resemblance to a contest was the Clemson tussle, which Tech won, 7-0, when Coach Alex decided to go all the way with his reserves in order to teach the gamblers and point-makers a lesson. There were many stars on that team — Harlan, Barron, McDonough, Ferst, Xavier, Scarborough and Brewster in the backfield; and Lebey, Amis, Oscar Davis, Al and John Staton, George Ratterman and All-American Bill Fincher in the line. But the leading light of the squad was a diminutive halfback named A. R. (Buck) Flowers. Buck was all things to this team. Despite his size, he was the offensive star of the year — carrying the ball 80 times from scrimmage for a total of 819 yards, a 10.2 yards per carry average. He lugged 27 punts back for 429 yards, a 16 yards per return average. He passed for one touchdown and scored eight times on runs which along with his 13 points amassed by drop-kicking, brought his season's total to 67. His punting average for the season was an unbelievable 50 yards per kick, included in this figure were the two best kicks in college football for that year — an 85-yard effort against Davidson and an 82-yarder against Georgetown. He drop-kicked one against Vandy for 44 yards, ran a 79-yard off-tackle smash against Georgetown and returned a punt for a touchdown on two occasions against Auburn. The distance on these punt returns was 82 yards and 75 yards. He was a great signal caller, so good tied Alabama and defeated Tennessee and Maryville. Coach George Griffin calls this squad "the finest bunch of self-made runners I have ever coached." All-Americans
Georgia Tech's average attendance for eight home games during the 1952 football season was 32,450. Tech's best bet for All-American honors in 1953 is Larry Morris, Junior center, of Decatur, Ga. Larry has been the Tech defensive star at the linebacking slot in almost every game this season. He has improved tremendously at the unfamiliar offensive center position (up until this season, Larry had
in fact, that he beat out Centre College's immortal Bo McMillan for the quarterback slot on the 1919 All-South team selected by the Southern coaches and sports writers. But Flowers' greatest worth to the team was in his defensive genius, a facet of football worth that unfortunately was not catalogued in those days. He was an artist at the block-tackle, and in five years of college football no one scored over or around the 152pound safety man for the "Tornado." After the Pitt game, the Pittsburgh sports writers waxed eloquent over the little giant who saved Tech time and time again with his bone-rattlirm tackles of the 200-pound Panther backs Buck made many All-American teams that year, but he was not an unanimous choice among the sports writers who made the selections. I never have figured out why. As far as this corner is concerned, he was the greatest allaround player who ever stepped on a football field. Coach Alex called him the greatest kicker in the history of College football. The Tornado of the first year of the "Golden Era" of sports was approached about the Rose Bowl game after their rout of Bo McMillan and his Centre College mates, but Coach Alex passed it up with a "the boys have studying to do." They beat the best in the South in those days and look at the scores: Tech 44, Wake Forest 0; Tech 55, Oglethorpe 0; Tech 66, Davidson 0; Tech 44, Vandy 0; Tech 24, Centre 0; Tech 35. Georgetown 6, and Tech 34, Auburn 0. It was a great group, we may never see their like again. never played offensively in the line, he was a fullback in high school) and looks like a sure bet for most of the AllAmerican teams. Leon Hardeman's injuries and his unfamiliarity with defensive play plus the fact that the country is loaded with good backs, will probably cost the little 'Jacket's sparkplug an All-American rating this year. Billy Teas has come on fast in the past few games, both offensively and defensively but may be a year away in the minds of the AA pickers. Franklin Brooks was sensational until he was injured in the Notre Dame game and sidelined for most of the last part of the season. THE GEORGIA TECH ALUMNUS