1922 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football team

The 1922 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football team^{[note 1]} represented the Georgia Tech Golden Tornado of the Georgia Institute of Technology during the 1922 Southern Conference football season. The Tornado was coached by William Alexander in his third year as head coach, compiling a record of 7–2 (4–0 SoCon) and outscoring opponents 157 to 59.

1922 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football
SoCon co-champion
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	7–2 (4–0 SoCon)
Head coach	William Alexander (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Jump shift
Captain	Red Barron
Home stadium	Grant Field
Uniform
Seasons ← 1921 1923 →

1922 Southern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
North Carolina +	5	–	0	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
Georgia Tech +	4	–	0	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Vanderbilt * +	3	–	0	–	0			8	–	0	–	1
VPI	3	–	0	–	0			8	–	1	–	1
Florida	2	–	0	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Auburn	2	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Tennessee	3	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Alabama	3	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
Virginia	1	–	1	–	1			4	–	4	–	1
Mississippi A&M	2	–	3	–	0			3	–	4	–	2
Kentucky	1	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Clemson	1	–	2	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Washington and Lee	1	–	2	–	0			5	–	3	–	1
Maryland	1	–	2	–	0			4	–	5	–	1
LSU	1	–	2	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Georgia	1	–	3	–	1			5	–	4	–	1
Tulane	1	–	4	–	0			4	–	4	–	0
South Carolina	0	–	2	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Ole Miss	0	–	2	–	0			4	–	5	–	1
NC State	0	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions * – co-member of SIAA

Red Barron made Walter Camp's second-team All-America.

Before the season

1922 is the first season of the new Southern Conference, and freshmen were barred from play.^[3][4]

In the line, at either end one finds brothers John and Al Staton. At guard was Oscar Davis, who with Barron was later named to an All-Tech Alexander era team.^[5]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 30	Oglethorpe*	Grant Field Atlanta, GA	W 31–6		[6]
October 7	Davidson*	Grant Field Atlanta, GA	W 19–0		[7]
October 14	Alabama	Grant Field Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	W 33–7		[8]
October 21	at Navy*	Worden Field Annapolis, MD	L 13–0	20,000	[9]
October 28	Notre Dame*	Grant Field Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	L 13–3	18,000–20,000	[10]
November 4	Clemson	Grant Field Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	W 21–7		[11]
November 11	Georgetown*	Grant Field Atlanta, GA	W 19–7		[12]
November 18	NC State	Grant Field Atlanta, GA	W 17–0		[13]
November 30	Auburn	Grant Field Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	W 14–6	26,000	[14]
*Non-conference game

^[15]

Game summaries

Oglethorpe

Oglethorpe at Georgia Tech

1 2 3 4 Total Oglethorpe 0 0 0 6 6 • Ga. Tech 6 7 6 12 31 Date: September 30 Location: Grant Field Atlanta, GA Referee: Jogger Elcock Sources:[16]

The season opened with a 31–6 defeat over the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels.^[16] Red Barron scored two touchdowns, and Oglethorpe's Adrian Maurer had a 90-yard touchdown run.^[16]

The starting lineup was J. Staton (left end), Johnson (left tackle), McIntyre (left guard), Frye (center), Davis (right guard), Lyman (right tackle), A. Staton (right end), McDonough (quarterback), Barron (left halfback), Brewster (right halfback), Hunt (fullback).^[16][17]

Davidson

In the second week of play, Tech beat the Davidson Wildcats 19–0. Red Barron ran for 116 yards and two touchdowns despite playing for only part of the contest.^[18]

The starting lineup was J. Staton (left end), Johnson (left tackle), McIntyre (left guard), Frye (center), Davis (right guard), A. Staton (right tackle), Mitchel(right end), McDonough (quarterback), Barron (left halfback), Rather (right halfback), Hunt (fullback).^[18]

Alabama

Alabama at Georgia Tech

1 2 3 4 Total Alabama 0 0 7 0 7 • Ga. Tech 21 12 0 0 33 Date: October 14 Location: Grant Field Atlanta, GA Sources:

Tech defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 33–7. Alabama's score came when Country Oliver returned a kickoff 95 yards.^[19]

The starting lineup was J. Staton (left end), Cornell (left tackle), McIntyre (left guard), Frye (center), Davis (right guard), A. Staton (right tackle), Mitchell (right end), McDonough (quarterback), Barron (left halfback), McWhorter (right halfback), Hunt (fullback).^[20]

Navy

Red Barron played well in the 13–0 loss to the Navy Midshipmen.^[21]

The starting lineup was J. Staton (left end), Connell (left tackle), McIntyre (left guard), Frye (center), Davis (right guard), A. Staton (right tackle), Mitchell (right end), McDonough (quarterback), Barron (left halfback), McWhorter (right halfback), Hunt (fullback).^[21]

Notre Dame

Tech played Knute Rockne's Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the first time. The Four Horsemen were sophomores playing their first year on the varsity, and beat Tech 13–3.^[22][23] The Irish stopped Red Barron.^[24]

McDonough running interference for Brewster

The starting lineup was J. Staton (left end), Usry (left tackle), McConnel (left guard), Frye (center), Davis (right guard), Lyman (right tackle), A. Staton (right end), McDonough (quarterback), Barron (left halfback), Brewster (right halfback), Hunt (fullback)^[25]

Clemson

The Clemson Tigers were defeated 21–7. Coach Alexander used a different platoon each quarter.^[26]

The starting lineup was J. Staton (left end), Usery (left tackle), McConell (left guard), Frye (center), Davis (right guard), Lyman (right tackle), A. Staton (right end), McDonough (quarterback), Barron (left halfback), Brewster (right halfback), Hunt (fullback).^[26]

Georgetown

Georgetown at Georgia Tech

1 2 3 4 Total Georgetown 0 0 6 0 6 • Ga. Tech 6 6 7 0 19 Date: November 11 Location: Grant Field Atlanta, GA Referee: Echols (W and J) Sources:[27]

Tech's backfield starred in a 19–7 defeat of the Georgetown Blue and Gray. Jack McDonough scored two touchdowns and Brewster another.^[28] Flavin scored for Georgetown.^[28]

The starting lineup was J. Staton (left end), Usry (left tackle), McIntyre (left guard), Frye (center), Davis (right guard), A. Staton (right tackle), Mitchell (right end), McDonough (quarterback), Barron (left halfback), Brewster (right halfback), Hunt (fullback).^[28]

NC State

NC State at Georgia Tech

1 2 3 4 Total NCST 0 0 0 0 0 • Ga. Tech 7 7 0 3 17 Date: November 18 Location: Grant Field Atlanta, GA Sources:

The Tornado shutout the NC State Wolfpack 17–0. Henry Reeves made a 40-yard drop kick.^[29]

The starting lineup was Gardner (left end), Johnson (left tackle), McConnell (left guard), Fleetwood (center), Borum (right guard), Lyman (right tackle), Mitchell (right end), McDonough (quarterback), Barron (left halfback), Brewster (right halfback), Hunt (fullback)^[29]

Auburn

Auburn at Georgia Tech

1 2 3 4 Total Auburn 0 0 0 6 6 • Ga. Tech 0 7 7 0 14 Date: November 30 Location: Grant Field Atlanta, GA Referee: Ed Finlay Sources:[27]

Tech beat coach Mike Donahue's rival Auburn Tigers to secure a share of the SoCon championship. The 1922 team is considered one of Auburn's greatest football teams,^[30] and they had lost only to undefeated Army. Still Tech held the Tigers without a first down in the second and third periods.^[27] Ed Sherling scored Auburn's touchdown on a 16-yard rush.^[27]

The starting lineup was J. Staton (left end), Usry (left tackle), McIntyre (left guard), Frye (center), Davis (right guard), Lyman (right tackle), A. Staton (right end), McDonough (quarterback), Barron (left halfback), Brewster (right halfback), Hunt (fullback).^[27][31]

Postseason

Red Barron and Vanderbilt's Lynn Bomar were the only unanimous All-Southern selections.^[32]

Personnel

Depth chart

The following chart provides a visual depiction of Tech's lineup during the 1922 season with games started at the position reflected in parentheses. The chart mimics the offense after the jump shift has taken place.

LE John Staton (8) Gardner (1)   LT LG C RG RT Usry (4) John McIntyre (6) Claire Frye (8) Oscar Davis (8) W. P. Lyman (6) Johnson (3) McConnell (3) Fleetwood (1) Borum (1) Albert Staton (3) Connell (2) RE Albert Staton (7) Mitchell (2)   QB Jack McDonough (9) RHB Jimmy Brewster (6) McWhorter (2) Rather (1) FB Pinkey Hunt (9) LHB Red Barron (9)

Notes

1. Although Georgia Tech's teams are officially known as the "Yellow Jackets", northern writers called the team the "Golden Tornado" in 1917; the name was commonly used until 1928 and for many years afterwards as an alternate nickname.^[1] It may have been coined by Morgan Blake.^[2]