HATE WEEK: Top 10 Greatest COFH Games #10

Since Tech has a bye week before taking on the dwags in the cesspool, we wanted to do something special for a double hate week. So over the course of the next two weeks, we will be counting down the top 10 games in Clean, Old Fashioned Hate. And since this is being done by a Tech fan, I will go ahead and spoil this in saying that all games will be Tech victories (call it homerism if you want, I don't really care).

To do this, I'm gonna break things down in three ways: the background behind the game (ie the season leading up to the game), a breakdown of the game itself, and a couple standout players from the game (and anything else that might be special about it).

So, without further ado, let's get started on this countdown with number 10: the original game in 1893.

Background

Football was still in the early stages of its development. John Heisman had not developed the forward pass. Both teams had only just begun to have football teams the year prior. Touchdowns were only worth four points, with point-after-goals worth two.

It had been reported in the days and weeks leading up to the game that the team in Athens was looking for a warm-up game for then-powerhouse Vanderbilt, who at this point had been in the league for four years.

So, the game was set. It would take place on November 4 at Herty Field.

The Game

Tech came out ready to play, forcing uga to kick (the term punt had not yet been coined, but that's what I mean in this situation) on each of their first two drives. Tech's first two drives? Well, they turned out a little bit differently.

Tech easily maneuvered their way down to uga's 10-yard line, and then Lt. Leonard Wood, an army doctor stationed at Ft. McPherson at the time, capped the drive off running in for the touchdown.

On Tech's second drive, they again drove down the field. This time Mr. Nourse (according to all the research I found, his first name is unknown), capped the drive off, and combined with Park Howell's two point-after-scores gave Tech a 12-0 lead with just 12 minutes to play in the first half.

Tech wasn't done in the first half though. As the clock was running down, Lt. Wood ran in another touchdown, allowing Tech to enter halftime with a lead of 18-0.

To begin the second half, Tech kept rolling. The uga defense simply could not stop Tech's rushing attack. This time Howell ran in the touchdown, but missed the point-after-score, giving Tech a 22-0 lead.

With only 11 minutes left in the game, uga finally scored. George Shackleford managed to cross the goal line on a very disappointing day for his team. uga did convert, and that left the score at 22-6.

Tech wasn't done, though. Six minutes after uga's lone score, Lt. Wood rushed in for his third rushing touchdown of the game, giving the game its final score: 28-6.

The Aftermath

I just want to start off this section with a couple of quotes from two local newspapers at the time.

From the Atlanta Journal: "At one time early in the last half of the game, a stone was hurled at one of the Tech players, striking him a cruel blow in the head. At another time, one of the Athenians drew a knife and threatened one of the Techs' better players. The Techs were also poked and gouged with canes on plays toward the boundary lines."

From the Atlanta Constitution: "After three or four decisions by the Atlanta umpire, which they deemed unfair, about 140 University students bunched and gave the following cry whenever his decision struck them as unfair:
WELL, WELL, WELL,
WHO CAN TELL,
THE TECH'S UMPIRE HAS CHEATED LIKE HELL."

Tech would have a good season the rest of the way, fighting undefeated Auburn to a 0-0 tie before dropping the final game of the season to St. Albans, Va., 6-0.

uga didn't do any better. After using Tech as preparation, they went up to Nashville and got blown out by Vandy 35-0. They did manage to win the final game of the season, a 22-5 victory over Furman.

There's #10 on our list. Join us again tomorrow around the same time to find out about #9. What are your predictions for the rest of the countdown?