HISTORY
13 Consecutive Bowl Appearances 2009 ACC Champions
GEORGIA TECH 222, CUMBERLAND 0 Most Lopsided Game In Yellow Jacket History Came In Atlanta In 1916
The most lopsided game of all time happened in Atlanta on Oct. 7, 1916. The previous spring, Cumberland’s baseball team had trounced Tech. Cumberland University was located in Lebanon, Tenn., and the Cumberland squad was actually comprised of professional players from nearby Nashville. Georgia Tech head coach John Heisman was not amused, and the Tech students and alumni howled for revenge, so Heisman offered the Bulldogs a $500 guarantee to come to Atlanta for a football game. In the game, Tech scored 32 touchdowns, averaged 3.8 points per minute, carried the ball for 978 yards, and never threw a pass. Cumberland, since it was losing yardage faster than it was gaining real estate, began to kick the football back to the Jackets immediately after Tech kicked off to them. Amazingly, neither team made a first down in the game because Tech scored within four downs on every possession. All-America Everett Strupper led Tech with six touchdowns.
WRONG WAY RIEGELS The Most Stunning Play In Rose Bowl History Helped Yellow Jackets Beat Cal, Win National Title The most stunning single play in the history of the Rose Bowl propelled Georgia Tech to its first bowl victory when Roy Riegels’ infamous Wrong Way Run turned out right as the Rambling Wreck beat California, 8-7, in the 1929 Rose Bowl. Early in the second quarter, with the score tied 0-0, Tech halfback Stumpy Thomason was hit by the Golden Bears’ Benny Lom. He fumbled around the Tech 35-yard line, and Riegels scooped up the bouncing ball. For Riegels, a center and captain of his Golden Bear team, fate had sent him running free and clear. He got a good block from a teammate, slipped off a tackler and spun around. But something was wrong. “Stop, Roy! You’re running the wrong way,” yelled Lom. Riegels thought the speedier Lom was asking for a lateral. At the 10-yard line, Lom grabbed Riegels, but Riegels shook him loose. Finally, at the oneyard line, Lom pulled Riegels down, but not before a 64-yard run into immortality. California still had the ball. On the first play, the Golden Bears attempted to punt the ball out of the end zone with Riegels snapping to Lom. However, the left side of the California line collapsed and Tech’s Vance Maree blocked the punt, which rolled out of bounds for a safety. Those two points turned out to be the winning points as both teams traded touchdowns in the second half, and the Rambling Wreck eventually prevailed, 8-7, in one of the strangest games ever played. Tech’s Rose Bowl win capped a perfect 10-0 season, the first undefeated season for head coach William Alexander, and the Rambling Wreck captured its second national title.
ROY RIGELS’ INFAMOUS WRONG-WAY RUN LED TO GEORGIA TECH’S ROSE BOWL VICTORY IN 1929. GEORGIA TECH RUSHED FOR 978 YARDS IN A 222-0 THRASHING OF CUMBERLAND IN 1916.
2010 Georgia Tech Football RamblinWreck.com
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