1923 Southern Conference football season

The 1923 Southern Conference football season was the college football games played by the member schools of the Southern Conference as part of the 1923 college football season. The season began on September 29. Conference play began with Auburn hosting Clemson. The game was fought to a scoreless tie.

1923 Southern Conference football season
League	NCAA
Sport	College football
Duration	September 29, 1923 through December 1, 1923
Number of teams	20
Regular Season
Season champions	Vanderbilt Washington & Lee

1923 Southern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Washington & Lee +	4	–	0	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
Vanderbilt * +	3	–	0	–	1			5	–	2	–	1
VPI	4	–	1	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Alabama	4	–	1	–	1			7	–	2	–	1
Maryland	2	–	1	–	0			7	–	2	–	1
Florida	1	–	0	–	2			6	–	1	–	2
North Carolina	2	–	1	–	1			5	–	3	–	1
Georgia	3	–	2	–	0			5	–	3	–	1
Mississippi A&M	2	–	1	–	2			5	–	2	–	2
Tennessee	4	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	1
Tulane	2	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
Clemson	1	–	1	–	1			5	–	2	–	1
Georgia Tech	0	–	0	–	4			3	–	2	–	4
NC State	1	–	4	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Auburn	0	–	1	–	3			3	–	3	–	3
Kentucky	0	–	2	–	2			4	–	3	–	2
Virginia	0	–	3	–	1			3	–	5	–	1
LSU	0	–	3	–	0			3	–	5	–	1
Ole Miss	0	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
South Carolina	0	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions * co-member of SIAA

1923 Clemson Tigers football team

Vanderbilt and Washington & Lee finished the season as conference co-champions. A poll of sportswriters elected Vanderbilt as best team in the south, awarding it the Champ Pickens Trophy.^[1][2][3][4]

Vanderbilt end Lynn Bomar was the last of the few southern players selected a first-team All-American by Walter Camp.

Florida's upset of Alabama under new head coach Wallace Wade in the rain opened the door for Vanderbilt's claim to the SoCon title.^[5]

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. Rank	Team	Head coach	Overall record	Conf. record	PPG	PAG
1 (tie)	Washington and Lee	James DeHart	6–3–1	4–0–1	11.7	12.7
1 (tie)	Vanderbilt	Dan McGugin	5–2–1	3–0–1	17.1	4.1
3	Florida	James Van Fleet	6–1–2	1–0–2	19.9	6.7
4	VPI	Ben Cubbage	6–3	4–1	12.9	6.1
5	Alabama	Wallace Wade	7–2–1	5–1–1	22.2	5.0
6	Tennessee	M. B. Banks	5–4–1	4–3	8.2	16.7
7	Maryland	Curley Byrd	7–2–1	2–1	21.4	5.6
8	Mississippi A&M	Earl Abell	5–2–2	2–1–2	9.2	7.3
9	North Carolina	Bob Fetzer/Bill Fetzer	5–3–1	2–1–1	8.6	9.4
10	Georgia	Kid Woodruff	5–3–1	3–2	8.2	13.3
11	Tulane	Clark Shaughnessy	6–3–1	2–2–1	11.7	8.9
12	Clemson	Bud Saunders	5–2–1	1–1–1	11.4	8.1
13	Georgia Tech	William Alexander	3–2–4	0–0–4	8.3	9.1
14	NC State	Harry Hartsell	3–7	1–4	5.6	13.4
15	Auburn	Boozer Pitts	3–3–3	0–1–3	10.7	6.4
16	Kentucky	J. J. Winn	4–3–2	0–2–2	15.0	5.9
17	Virginia	Greasy Neale	3–5–1	0–3–1	9.7	9.0
18	LSU	Mike Donahue	3–5–1	0–3	11.4	13.4
19 (tie)	Ole Miss	Roland Cowell	4–6	0–4	8.1	14.5
19 (tie)	South Carolina	Sol Metzger	4–6	0–4	10.4	7.7

Key

PPG = Average of points scored per game^[6]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game^[6]

Regular season

Index to colors and formatting
Non-conference matchup; SoCon member won
Non-conference matchup; SoCon member lost
Non-conference matchup; tie
Conference matchup

SoCon teams in bold.

Week One

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 29	Union (TN)	Alabama	Denny Field • Tuscaloosa, Alabama	W 12–0
September 29	Auburn	Clemson	Riggs Field • Calhoun, South Carolina	T 0–0
September 29	Mercer	Georgia	Sanford Field • Athens, Georgia	W 7–0
September 29	Oglethorpe	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	W 28–13
September 29	Marshall	Kentucky	Stoll Field • Lexington, Kentucky	W 41–0
September 29	Northwestern State	LSU	State Field • Baton Rouge, Louisiana	W 40–0
September 29	Randolph-Macon	Maryland	College Park, Maryland	W 53–0
September 29	Wake Forest	North Carolina	Emerson Field • Chapel Hill, North Carolina	W 22–0
September 29	Roanoke	North Carolina State	Riddick Stadium • Raleigh, North Carolina	W 6–0
September 29	Bethel	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, Mississippi	W 14–6
September 29	Erskine	South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	W 35–0
September 29	Army	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, Tennessee	L 41–0
September 29	Louisiana-Lafayette	Tulane	New Orleans, Louisiana	W 20–2
September 29	Furman	Virginia	Lambeth Field • Charlottesville, Virginia	L 13–0
September 29	Hampden-Sydney	VPI	Blacksburg, Virginia	W 29–0
September 29	McDaniel	Washington & Lee	Wilson Field • Lexington, Virginia	W 19–7

Week Two

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 6	Ole Miss	Alabama	Denny Field • Tuscaloosa, Alabama	ALA 56–0
October 6	Birmingham–Southern	Auburn	Montgomery, Alabama	W 20–0
October 6	Newberry	Clemson	Riggs Field • Calhoun, South Carolina	W 32–0
October 6	Florida	Army	West Point, New York	L 20–0
October 6	Oglethorpe	Georgia	Sanford Field • Athens, Georgia	W 20–6
October 6	VMI	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	W 10–7
October 6	Kentucky	Cincinnati	Cincinnati	W 14–0
October 6	Louisiana-Lafayette	LSU	State Field • Baton Rouge, Louisiana	L 7–3
October 6	Maryland	Penn	Franklin Field • Philadelphia	W 3–0
October 6	Millsaps	Mississippi A&M	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, Mississippi	W 28–6
October 6	North Carolina State	Penn State	New Beaver Field • University Park, Pennsylvania	L 16–0
October 6	Presbyterian	South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	L 7–3
October 6	Maryvile	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, Tennessee	T 14–14
October 6	Mississippi College	Tulane	Second Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, Louisiana	W 18–3
October 6	Howard	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, Tennessee	W 27–0
October 6	Richmond	Virginia	Lambeth Field • Charlottesville, Virginia	W 9–0
October 6	Davidson	VPI	Blacksburg, Virginia	W 7–0

Week Three

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 12	North Carolina	Duke	Durham, North Carolina	W 14–6
October 13	Alabama	Syracuse	Archbold Stadium • Syracuse, New York	L 23–0
October 13	Howard	Auburn	Drake Field • Auburn, Alabama	W 30–0
October 13	Clemson	Centre	Danville, Kentucky	L 28–7
October 13	Florida	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	T 7–7
October 13	Georgia	Yale	Yale Bowl • New Haven, Connecticut	L 40–0
October 13	Spring Hill	LSU	State Field • Baton Rouge, Louisiana	W 33–0
October 13	Richmond	Maryland	Washington, D. C.	W 23–0
October 13	Rhodes	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, Mississippi	W 33–0
October 13	Ouachita	Mississippi A&M	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, Mississippi	W 6–0
October 13	South Carolina	North Carolina State	Riddick Stadium • Raleigh, North Carolina	NCST 7–0
October 13	Georgetown (KY)	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, Tennessee	W 13–6
October 13	Tulane	Texas	Beaumont, Texas	L 33–0
October 13	Vanderbilt	Michigan	Ferry Field • Ann Arbor, Michigan	L 3–0	30,000
October 13	St. John's	Virginia	Lambeth Field • Charlottesville, Virginia	W 32–7
October 13	Washington & Lee	Kentucky	Stoll Field • Lexington, Kentucky	T 6–6

Week Four

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 18	North Carolina	North Carolina State	Riddick Stadium • Raleigh, North Carolina	UNC 14–0
October 19	Newberry	South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	W 24–0
October 20	Sewanee	Alabama	Rickwood Field • Birmingham, Alabama	W 7–0
October 20	Auburn	Army	Parade Ground • West Point, New York	L 28–6
October 20	Rollins	Florida	Fleming Field • Gainesville, Florida	W 28–0
October 20	Georgia	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, Tennessee	UGA 17–0
October 20	Georgetown	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	W 20–10
October 20	Maryville	Kentucky	Stoll Field • Lexington, Kentucky	W 28–0
October 20	VPI	Maryland	Washington, D. C.	VPI 16–7
October 20	Ole Miss	Mississippi A&M	Jackson, Mississippi	MSA&M 13–6
October 20	Louisiana Tech	Tulane	Second Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, Louisiana	W 13–7
October 20	Vanderbilt	Texas	Fair Park Stadium • Dallas	L 16–0
October 20	VMI	Virginia	Lambeth Field • Charlottesville, Virginia	L 35–0
October 20	St. John's	Washington & Lee	Wilson Field • Lexington, Virginia	W 28–0

Week Five

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 25	Clemson	South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	CLEM 7–6
October 27	Alabama	Spring Hill	Murphy High School Stadium • Mobile, Alabama	W 59–0
October 27	Fort Benning	Auburn	Drake Field • Auburn, Alabama	W 34–0
October 27	Wake Forest	Florida	Tampa, Florida	W 16–7
October 27	Georgia Tech	Notre Dame	South Bend, Indiana	L 35–7
October 27	Georgetown (KY)	Kentucky	Stoll Field • Lexington, Kentucky	W 35–0
October 27	Arkansas	LSU	Fair Grounds Field • Shreveport, Louisiana	L 26–13
October 27	Maryland	North Carolina	Emerson Field • Chapel Hill, North Carolina	MD 14–0
October 27	Saint Louis	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, Mississippi	L 28–3
October 27	Mississippi A&M	Tennessee	Memphis, Tennessee	TENN 7–3
October 27	Tulane	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, Tennessee	VAN 17–0	10,000
October 27	Duke	Virginia	Lambeth Field • Charlottesville, Virginia	W 33–0
October 27	North Carolina State	VMI		L 22–7
October 27	VPI	Washington & Lee	Lynchburg, Virginia	W&L 12–0

Week Six

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 2	LSU	Mississippi College	Vicksburg, Mississippi	T 0–0
November 3	Alabama	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	T 0–0
November 3	Auburn	Georgia	Memorial Stadium • Columbus, Georgia	UGA 7–0
November 3	Mercer	Florida	Fleming Field • Gainesville, Florida	W 19–7
November 3	Kentucky	Centre	Danville, Kentucky	L 10–0
November 3	St. John's	Maryland	College Park, Maryland	W 28–0
November 3	Birmingham–Southern	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, Mississippi	W 6–0
November 3	North Carolina	South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	UNC 13–0
November 3	Tulane	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, Tennessee	TENN 13–2
November 3	Mississippi A&M	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, Tennessee	T 0–0
November 3	Clemson	VPI	Blacksburg, Virginia	VPI 25–0
November 3	Virginia	Washington & Lee	Wilson Field • Lexington, Virginia	W&L 7–0

Week Seven

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 9	Davidson	Clemson	Riggs Field • Calhoun, South Carolina	W 12–0
November 10	Kentucky	Alabama	Denny Field • Tuscaloosa, Alabama	ALA 16–8
November 10	Tulane	Auburn	Montgomery, Alabama	T 6–6
November 10	Florida	Stetson		W 27–0
November 10	Virginia	Georgia	Sanford Field • Athens, Georgia	UGA 13–0
November 10	Georgia Tech	Penn State	New Beaver Field • University Park, Pennsylvania	L 7–0
November 10	Maryland	Yale	New Haven, Connecticut	L 16–14
November 10	Ole Miss	Mississippi College	Meridian, Mississippi	L 6–0
November 10	Union (TN)	Mississippi A&M	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, Mississippi	W 6–0
November 10	North Carolina	VMI	Richmond, Virginia	L 9–0
November 10	North Carolina State	VPI	Norfolk, Virginia	VPI 16–0
November 10	South Carolina	Furman	Manly Field • Greenville, South Carolina	L 23–3
November 10	Tennessee	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, Tennessee	VAN 51–7
November 10	Washington & Lee	West Virginia	Charleston, West Virginia	L 63–0

Week Eight

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 15	The Citadel	South Carolina	County Fairgrounds • Orangeburg, South Carolina	W 12–0
November 16	LSU	Alabama	Montgomery, Alabama	ALA 30–3
November 17	Centre	Auburn	Rickwood Field • Birmingham, Alabama	L 17–0
November 17	Presbyterian	Clemson	Riggs Field • Calhoun, South Carolina	W 20–0
November 17	Florida	Florida-Southern	Lakeland, Florida	W 53–0
November 17	Georgia Tech	Kentucky	Stoll Field • Lexington, Kentucky	T 3–3
November 17	Maryland	North Carolina State	Riddick Stadium • Raleigh, North Carolina	MD 26–12
November 17	Davidson	North Carolina	Charlotte, North Carolina	W 14–3
November 17	Ole Miss	Tulane	Second Tulane Stadium • New Orleans	TUL 19–0
November 17	VMI	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, Tennessee	L 33–0
November 17	Georgia	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, Tennessee	VAN 35–7	15,000
November 17	VPI	Virginia	Lambeth Field • Charlottesville, Virginia	VPI 6–3
November 17	Washington & Lee	South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	W&L 13–7

Week Nine

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 24	Georgia	Alabama	Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, Alabama	ALA 36–0
November 24	Catholic	Maryland	Byrd Stadium • College Park, Maryland	W 40–6
November 24	Mississippi A&M	Florida	Barrs Field • Jacksonville, Florida	T 13–13
November 24	Ole Miss	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, Tennessee	TENN 10–0
November 24	North Carolina State	Wake Forest	Wake Forest, North Carolina	L 14–0
November 24	LSU	Tulane	Second Tulane Stadium • New Orleans	TUL 20–0
November 24	Sewanee	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, Tennessee	W 7–0	15,000
November 24	Washington & Lee	Centre	Louisville, Kentucky	L 19–0

Week Ten

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 29	Florida	Alabama	Rickwood Field • Birmingham, Alabama	FLA 16–6		[5]
November 29	Auburn	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta	T 0–0
November 29	Clemson	Furman	Manly Field • Greenville, South Carolina	W 7–6
November 29	Maryland	Johns Hopkins	Baltimore, Maryland	T 6–6
November 29	North Carolina	Virginia	Lambeth Field • Charlottesville, Virginia	T 0–0
November 29	Tennessee	Kentucky	Stoll Field • Lexington, Kentucky	TENN 18–0
November 29	Wake Forest	South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	W 14–7
November 29	Washington (MO)	Tulane	Second Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, Louisiana	W 19–8
November 29	VMI	VPI	Roanoke, Virginia	L 6–0	14,000	[7]
November 29	North Carolina State	Washington & Lee	Norfolk, Virginia	W&L 20–12
December 1	Centre	Georgia	Sanford Field • Athens, Georgia	T 3–3
December 1	Ole Miss	Fort Benning	Columbus, Georgia	W 19–7
December 1	LSU	Mississippi A&M	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, Mississippi	MSA&M 14–7

Awards and honors

All-Americans

Main article: 1923 College Football All-America Team

• E – Lynn Bomar, Vanderbilt (AW-2; WC-1; FW)
• E – Hek Wakefield, Vanderbilt (NB-2; DW-1, BE)
• T – Joe Bennett, Georgia (BE)
• T – Robbie Robinson, Florida (BE)
• G – Goldy Goldstein, Florida (BE)
• G – Tuck Kelly, Vanderbilt (BE)
• C – Clyde Propst, Alabama (BE)
• C – Claire Frye, Georgia Tech (BE)
• HB – Gil Reese, Vanderbilt (DW-3, BE)
• FB – Doug Wycoff, Georgia Tech (BE)

All-Southern team

Main article: 1923 College Football All-Southern Team

The following were the selections for the composite All-Southern team put out by the Atlanta Journal, all of whom received gold medals.^[8]

Position	Name	First-team selectors	Team
QB	Grant Gillis	AJ	Alabama
HB	Gil Reese	AJ	Vanderbilt
HB	Ark Newton	AJ	Florida
FB	Doug Wycoff	AJ	Georgia Tech
E	Lynn Bomar	AJ	Vanderbilt
T	Joe Bennett	AJ	Georgia
G	Goldy Goldstein	AJ	Florida
C	Clyde Propst	AJ	Alabama
G	Tuck Kelly	AJ	Vanderbilt
T	Robbie Robinson	AJ	Florida
E	Hek Wakefield	AJ	Vanderbilt

References

1. "Wolf Pack, U.C. Grid-Game Held Season Feature". Nevada State Journal. December 3, 1923.
2. Walter Eckersall (December 30, 1923). "6 Grid Teams Undefeated In 1923 Season". Chicago Daily Tribune. ProQuest 180509468.
3. cf. "Champions of 1923". Boston Daily Globe. December 30, 1923. ProQuest 497606727.
4. "Champions of the South regardless of conference affiliation". Retrieved July 23, 2015.
5. "Surprises of South Upset Title Dope". The Monroe News-Star. November 30, 1923. p. 7. Retrieved August 21, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "1923 Southern Conference Year Summary".
7. "Flying Squadron Wins Great Game In Roanoke Thanksgiving Day From Tech By Score Of 6–0". The Cadet. Virginia Military Institute. December 3, 1923. p. 1. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
8. "All Star Eleven To Be Awarded By Atlanta Paper". Times-Picayune. December 9, 1923. (password-protected)