1909 LSU Tigers football team

The 1909 LSU Tigers football team represented the LSU Tigers of Louisiana State University during the 1909 college football season. The LSU team posted a 6–2 record, losing to Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) champion Sewanee and to an undefeated Arkansas. Notable victories include those over Mississippi and Alabama.

1909 LSU Tigers football
Conference	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
1909 record	6–2 (3–1 SIAA)
Head coach	Joe Pritchard (first 5 games) (1st year) John W. Mayhew (last 3 games) (1st year)
Captain	Robert L. Stovall
Home stadium	State Field

1909 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Sewanee $	4	–	0	–	0			6	–	1	–	0
Vanderbilt	4	–	1	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Alabama	4	–	1	–	1			5	–	1	–	2
LSU	3	–	1	–	0			6	–	2	–	0
Georgia Tech	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Auburn	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	2	–	0
Howard (AL)	2	–	2	–	0			5	–	2	–	1
Clemson	2	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Ole Miss	1	–	2	–	1			4	–	3	–	2
Georgia	1	–	4	–	1			1	–	4	–	2
The Citadel	0	–	1	–	1			4	–	3	–	2
Mississippi A&M	0	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Mercer	0	–	4	–	0			3	–	5	–	0
Tennessee	0	–	5	–	0			1	–	6	–	2
$ – Conference champion

John W. Mayhew, a former halfback at Brown, took over as coach for former Vanderbilt lineman Joe Pritchard midway through the season. College Football Hall of Fame inductee Doc Fenton started at quarterback.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
October 2	Jackson Barracks-New Orleans*	State Field Baton Rouge, LA	W 70–0
October 9	Ole Miss	State Field Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	W 10–0
October 16	Mississippi A&M	State Field Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	W 15–0
October 30	vs. Sewanee	Pelican Park New Orleans, LA	L 15–6	7,000
November 4	vs. Louisiana Tech*	Alexandria, LA	W 23–0
November 13	vs. Arkansas*	Red Elm Field Memphis, TN (rivalry)	L 16–0
November 18	Transylvania*	State Field Baton Rouge, LA	W 52–0
November 25	vs. Alabama	Birmingham Fairgrounds Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	W 12–6
*Non-conference game

Season summary

Jackson Barracks-New Orleans

The season opened with a 70–0 win over Jackson Barracks-New Orleans.

Mississippi

In a hard-fought game, the Tigers beat the Mississippi team 10–0.[1]

The starting lineup was Hall (left end), Hillman (left tackle), Ryan (left guard), Stovall (center), Thomas (right guard), Pollock (right tackle), Seip (right end), Allbright (quarterback), R. F. Stovall (left halfback), McCullam (right halfback), Gill (fullback).[1]

Mississippi A&M

In the third week of play, LSU swamped Mississippi A&M 15–0.[2]

The starting lineup was Hall (left end), Hillman (left tackle), Falcon (left guard), Stovall (center), Thomas (right guard), Pollock (right tackle), Seip (right end), Fenton (quarterback), R. F. Stovall (left halfback), McCullam (right halfback), Gill (fullback).[2]

Sewanee

1 2 Total • Sewanee 9 6 15 LSU 0 6 6 Location: Pelican Park New Orleans, LA Game attendance: 7,000 Referee: James Halligan Sources:[3]

LSU lost to SIAA champion Sewanee in New Orleans 15–6. According to Vanderbilt coach Dan McGugin, Sewanee won due to better punting.[3]

President Taft (pictured) showed up for the Sewanee-LSU game.

Sewanee scored with an Aubrey Lanier touchdown and Moise drop kick in the first half.[3] LSU scored when, after blocking a punt, Robert L. Stovall recovered the ball for a touchdown.[4] Soon after, President William Howard Taft showed up to the game for about ten minutes.[4] Sewanee added another touchdown.[3]

The starting lineup was Williams (left end), Faulkenberry (left tackle), Cheape (left guard), Juhan (center), Cox (right guard), Moise (right tackle), Gillem (right end), Brown (quarterback), Myers (left halfback), Lanier (right halfback), Hawkins (fullback).[4]

Louisiana Tech

On a Thursday, LSU beat L.I.I. 23–0, giving the team its only loss on the season.

Arkansas

1 2 Total LSU 0 0 0 • Arkansas 5 11 16 Location: Red Elm Field Memphis, TN Referee: Brown Sources:[5]

The Tigers were powerless to stop the favored[6] Arkansas Razorbacks in a 16–0 loss. The game was characterized by several offsides penalties on both sides.[5]

The starting lineup was Hall (left end), Hillman (left tackle), Drew (left guard), R. F. Stovall (center), Thomas (right guard), Seip (right tackle), R. L. Stovall (right end), Fenton (quarterback), Gill (left halfback), McCullum (right halfback), Tilley (fullback).[5]

Transylvania

LSU defeated Transylvania 32–0, scoring at will in the second half.[7]

Alabama

John Seip starred in the 12–6 victory over Alabama.[8] "The consensus of opinion was that Alabama would have won but for Pratt's absence."[8]

The starting lineup was Hall (left end), Seip (left tackle), Thomas (left guard), Stovall (center), Drew (right guard), Hillman (tackle), R. Stovall (right end), Gill (quarterback), Howell (left halfback), McCollum (right halfback), Ryan (fullback).[8]

Postseason

Fenton was selected All-Southern by John Heisman.[9] End John Seip was selected such by Grantland Rice.

Roster

No.	Player	Position	Height	Weight	Hometown	High School
-	John Albright	quarterback	-	135	-	-
-	S. W. Brannon	halfback	-	160	-	-
-	Harmon Drew	guard	-	175	Minden, Louisiana	-
-	Doc Fenton	quarterback	5'9"	165	Scranton, Pennsylvania	Scranton
-	Reuben Gill	fullback	-	165	-	-
-	J. O. Hall	end	-	165	-	-
-	Willie Hillman	center	-	175	Minden, Louisiana	Minden
-	Levi Himes	-	-	-	-	-
-	Roland Howell	halfback	-	160	-	-
-	Andrew McCollam	halfback	-	160	-	-
-	Phillips	end	-	155	-	-
-	William Pollack	guard	-	180	-	-
-	Warren Ryan	halfback	-	180	-	-
-	John Seip	end	6'1"	185	Allentown, Pennsylvania	-
-	Robert L. Stovall	center	-	135	Dodson, Louisiana	-
-	Rowson Stovall	end	-	140	-	-
-	Arthur Thomas	tackle	-	175	-	-
-	L. R. Tilly	fullback	-	165	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Roster from LSU: The Louisiana Tigers[10][11]

References

1. "Tigers Win Victory After A Hard Fight". The Times. October 10, 1909. p. 10. Retrieved September 30, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Louisiana Won Gridiron Games". Jackson Daily News. October 17, 1909. p. 1. Retrieved September 30, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Dan McGugin. "Sewanee Beats L. S. U." The Tennessean. p. 4. Retrieved May 8, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Sewanee Wins Splendid Game". The Courier-Journal. October 31, 1909. p. 36. Retrieved May 8, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Arkansas Had Walkover". Houston Post. November 14, 1909. p. 18. Retrieved September 30, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Arkansas Picked Over Louisiana". Arkansas Democrat. November 13, 1909. p. 2. Retrieved September 30, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
7. https://web.archive.org/web/20160701165813/http://homepages.transy.edu/~library/Catalog/HistoryFootballTransylvania.pdf
8. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2016-04-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. "The All-Southern Eleven Picked By Coach Heisman". Atlanta Constitution. November 28, 1909. p. 3. Retrieved March 4, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Hardesty, Dan. "LSU: The Louisiana Tigers". The Strode Publishers. Huntsville, Alabama. 1975. P. 334-345.
11. "How Arkansas and Louisiana Elevens Stack Up In Today's Game at Red Elm". Arkansas Democrat. November 13, 1909. p. 2. Retrieved September 30, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.