1916 College Football All-Southern Team
The 1916 College Football All-Southern Team consists of American football players selected to the College Football All-Southern Teams selected by various organizations in 1916.
![](../I/m/Graham_Vowell.png)
Georgia Tech posted the best SIAA record, and tied for the championship with Tennessee. Graham Vowell, Pup Phillips, and Irby Curry were selected for Walter Camp's third-team All-American. Both Curry and Tommy Spence would die in France serving the United States in the First World War.
Composite team
![](../I/m/PupPhillips.jpg)
The composite All-Southern team formed by the selection of 4 newspapers included:
- Walker Carpenter, tackle for Georgia Tech, starter for the 1916 team which, as one writer wrote, "seemed to personify Heisman."[1] The season included the 222 to 0 defeat of Cumberland.
- Josh Cody, tackle for Vanderbilt, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1970, only three-time All-American in Vanderbilt football history. He was selected for the Associated Press Southeast Area All-Time football team 1869-1919 era.[2] Third-team Camp All-American. Later a prominent football coach at many institutions.
- Rabbit Curry, quarterback for Vanderbilt, was selected third-team All-American by Walter Camp. During the First World War, he was killed in aerial combat over France. He was a beloved player of Coach McGugin, described by one writer as "the player who has most appealed to the imagination, admiration, and affection of the entire university community through the years."[3]
- Bob Lang, guard for Georgia Tech, starter in the 222 to 0 win. He was the first guard selected for the Heisman era All-Era Tech football team.
- Chink Lowe, guard and captain-elect for Tennessee. He served in the First World War as a marine and earned the Distinguished Service Cross.[4]
- Pup Phillips, center for Georgia Tech, was selected third-team All-American by Walter Camp. The first Tech center to be selected All-Southern.[5]
- Doc Rodes, halfback for Kentucky, a team which defeated Centre 68–0 and finished the season with an upset – a scoreless tie with SIAA co-champion Tennessee. Kentucky's only loss came against Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt coach Dan McGugin stated "If you would give me Doc Rodes, I would say he was a greater player than Curry."[6]
- Tommy Spence, fullback for Georgia Tech, scored second most behind Strupper in the 222 to 0 win. Spence, like Curry, was also a casualty of the First World War over French skies. He is the namesake of Spence Air Base.[7]
- Everett Strupper, halfback for Georgia Tech, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972. He was deaf and scored the most in the 222 to 0 win.
- Graham Vowell, end and captain for Tennessee, the lone unanimous selection. He was also selected third-team All-American by Walter Camp. After football, he worked in the lumber business.[8]
Composite overview
Name | Position | School | First-team selections |
---|---|---|---|
Graham Vowell | End | Tennessee | 4 |
Josh Cody | Tackle | Vanderbilt | 3 |
Pup Phillips | Center | Georgia Tech | 3 |
Irby Curry | Quarterback | Vanderbilt | 3 |
Everett Strupper | Halfback | Georgia Tech | 3 |
Tommy Spence | Fullback | Georgia Tech | 3 |
Walker Carpenter | Tackle | Georgia Tech | 2 |
Bob Lang | Guard | Georgia Tech | 2 |
Chink Lowe | Guard | Tennessee | 2 |
Doc Rodes | Halfback | Kentucky | 2 |
Lloyd Wolfe | End | Tennessee | 1 |
Red Jones | End | Auburn | 1 |
Si Bell | End | Georgia Tech | 1 |
Tom Thrash | Tackle | Georgia | 1 |
Ike Rogers | Tackle | Alabama | 1 |
Phillip Cooper | Tackle | LSU | 1 |
Moon Ducote | Guard | Auburn | 1 |
Pryor Williams | Guard | Vanderbilt | 1 |
Charlie Carman | Guard | Vanderbilt | 1 |
Carey Robinson | Center | Auburn | 1 |
Froggie Morrison | Quarterback | Georgia Tech | 1 |
Bill Folger | Halfback | North Carolina | 1 |
Cecil Creen | Halfback | Alabama | 1 |
Red Floyd | Halfback | Vanderbilt | 1 |
Homer Prendergast | Fullback | Auburn | 1 |
All-Southerns of 1916
Ends
- Graham Vowell†, Tennessee (C, NTC, DJ, H, MB, BH-1, HS, FB, EC, KS, WGF-1, BP)
- Lloyd Wolfe, Tennessee (C, NTC, BH-2, EC, KS, WGF-2)
- Red Jones, Auburn (C, BH-1)
- Si Bell, Georgia Tech (C, FB)
- Neil Edmond, Sewanee (BH-2, BP)
- Harry E. Clark, Sewanee (WGF-2)
Tackles
![](../I/m/VandyCody.jpg)
- Josh Cody, Vanderbilt (College Football Hall of Fame) (C, NTC, DJ [as e], H, MB, BH-1, HS, EC, WGF-1, BP)
- Walker Carpenter, Georgia Tech (C, NTC, DJ, H, MB, BH-1, EC, WGF-1)
- Ike Rogers, Alabama (C, HS [as e], FB)
- Phillip Cooper, LSU (C, DJ, BH-2)
- Tom Thrash, Georgia (C, WGF-2)
- Morris Vowell, Tennessee (EC)
- Tom Lipscomb, Vanderbilt (WGF-2)
Guards
- Bob Lang, Georgia Tech (C, NTC DJ, H, BH-1, HS, WGF-1)
- William "Chink" Lowe, Tennessee (C, BH-2, HS, FB, EC, KS, WGF-2)
- Pryor Williams, Vanderbilt (C, NTC, H, MB, BH-1, BP)
- Moon Ducote, Auburn (C, H [as e], BH-2 [as t], HS [as t], FB, WGF-2, BP [as t])
- Charlie Carman, Vanderbilt (C, BH-2, EC, BP)
- Garmany, Georgia (MB, KS)
- P. C. Hambaugh, Tennessee (WGF-1)
![](../I/m/Irbycurry.jpg)
Center
- Pup Phillips, Georgia Tech (C, NTC, DJ, H, MB, BH-1, HS, EC, KS)
- Carey Robinson, Auburn (C, DJ [as g], MB [as e], BH-2, FB, WGF-1 [as e], BP)
- Kirby Lee Spurlock, Mississippi A&M (WGF-2)
Quarterbacks
- Rabbit Curry, Vanderbilt (C, NTC, H, MB [as hb], BH-1, HS, FB, EC, KS [as hb], WGF-1, BP)
- Froggie Morrison, Georgia Tech (C, DJ, MB, BH-2)
Halfbacks
![](../I/m/Doc_rodes.jpg)
- Everett Strupper, Georgia Tech (College Football Hall of Fame) (C, NTC, DJ, H, MB, BH-1, HS, FB, KS, WGF-1)
- Doc Rodes, Kentucky (C, NTC, H, BH-2, EC, KS [qb], WGF-1)
- Red Floyd, Vanderbilt (C, BH-2, HS, FB)
- Bill Folger, North Carolina (C, DJ)
- Cecil Creen, Alabama (C, EC)
- Eben Wortham, Sewanee (BH-1, WGF-2 [as qb])
- Owen Reynolds, Georgia (BP)
- Homer Prendergast, Auburn (BP)
- Talley Johnston, Georgia Tech (WGF-2)
- H. F. Flannagan, LSU (WGF-2)
Fullbacks
- Tommy Spence, Georgia Tech (C, NTC, DJ, H, MB, BH-1, HS, FB, WGF-1, BP)
- Homer Prendergast, Auburn, (C)
- Otto Schwill, Mississippi A&M (BH-2, KS, WGF-2)
Key
Bold = Composite selection
* = Consensus All-American
† = Unanimous selection
C = received at least one selection from a composite of 4 newspapers: The Atlanta Constitution, The Birmingham Age-Herald, The Knoxville Journal and Tribune, and The Nashville Tennessean.[9]
NTC = Composite selection of the Nashville Tennessean.[10]
DJ = Dick Jemison of the Atlanta Constitution.[10][11][12] He had an "All-Southern" and an "All-SIAA" selection. The only difference was switching Eben Wortham at halfback for Folger.
H = John Heisman, coach at Georgia Institute of Technology.[12]
MB = Morgan Blake of the Atlanta Journal.[12]
BH = Blinkey Horn of the Nashville Tennessean.[13]
HS = Hugh Sparrow, sporting editor for the Birmingham Ledger.[11]
FB = Fred Boedeker in Birmingham Age-Herald[10]
EC = Earl Crew in Knoxville Journal and Tribune[10]
KS = Knoxville Sentinel[10]
WGF = W. G. Foster in the Chattanooga Times[10]
BP = Bob Pigue in Nashville Banner[10]
References
- Heisman, John M. Heisman: The Man Behind the Trophy. p. 144.
- "All-Time Football Team Lists Greats Of Past, Present". Gadsden Times. July 27, 1969.
- Edwin Mims (1946). History of Vanderbilt University. p. 285.
- "Volunteer Warrior". University of Tennessee Alumni Magazine.
- Matt Winkeljohn (November 7, 2009). "Page Ear-marked For Hall of Fame".
- "Doc Rodes".
- "Spence Air Base". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
- "Vowell & Sons, Inc. History".
-
"All-Southern Football Team As Picked By Sport Writers". Augusta Chronicle. December 3, 1916. - "Curry, Cody and Williams Land On Compose All-Southern". December 4, 1916. p. 12. Retrieved January 13, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- Intercollegiate Athletic Calendar. 1. p. 167.
- "3 Experts Pick S.I.A.A. Elevens". December 3, 1916. p. 20. Retrieved April 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- Blinkey Horn (December 3, 1916). "Three Commodores Given Places on Mythical Eleven". The Tennessean. p. 25. Retrieved September 21, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.