1932 VPI Gobblers football team

The 1932 VPI Gobblers football team represented Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute in the 1932 Southern Conference football season. The team was led by their head coach Henry Redd and finished with a record of eight wins and one loss (8–1).

1932 VPI Gobblers football
Conference	Southern Conference
1932 record	8–1 (6–1 SoCon)
Head coach	Henry Redd (1st season)
Captain	Bill Grinus
Home stadium	Miles Stadium

1932 Southern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Tennessee +	7	–	0	–	1			9	–	0	–	1
Auburn +	6	–	0	–	1			9	–	0	–	1
LSU +	4	–	0	–	0			6	–	3	–	1
VPI	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	1	–	0
Vanderbilt	4	–	1	–	2			6	–	1	–	2
NC State	3	–	1	–	1			6	–	1	–	2
Alabama	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Tulane	5	–	2	–	1			6	–	2	–	1
Duke	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Georgia Tech	4	–	4	–	1			4	–	5	–	1
Kentucky	4	–	5	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Virginia	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Ole Miss	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Georgia	2	–	4	–	2			2	–	5	–	2
Maryland	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
North Carolina	2	–	5	–	1			3	–	5	–	2
South Carolina	1	–	2	–	1			5	–	4	–	2
VMI	1	–	4	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
Washington and Lee	1	–	4	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
Florida	1	–	6	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Clemson	0	–	4	–	0			3	–	5	–	1
Mississippi State	0	–	4	–	0			3	–	5	–	0
Sewanee	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	7	–	1
+ – Conference co-champions

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 24	Roanoke*	Miles Stadium Blacksburg, VA	W 32–7
October 1	at Georgia	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	W 7–6
October 8	at Maryland	Old Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	W 23–0
October 15	vs. William & Mary*	City Stadium Richmond, VA	W 7–0	17,000[1]
October 22	Kentucky	Miles Stadium Blacksburg, VA	W 7–0
October 29	at Washington and Lee	Wilson Field Lexington, VA	W 32–6	4,000[2]
November 5	at Alabama	Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL	L 6–9	11,000[3]
November 12	Virginia	Miles Stadium Blacksburg, VA (rivalry)	W 13–0	3,000[4]
November 24	vs. VMI	Maher Field[5] Roanoke, VA (rivalry)	W 26–0	12,000[5]
*Non-conference game Homecoming

• Source: HokieSports.com: 1932 Virginia Tech football schedule[6]

Players

The following players were members of the 1932 football team according to the roster published in the 1933 edition of The Bugle, the Virginia Tech yearbook.[7]

VPI 1932 roster
	Bill Anderson George Vanderslice Beamon William Earle Betts Benjamin Botnick Alfred Layden Casey George Clark Dick Cofer James Henry Copenhaver Mart Cunningham Owens L. "Scrapper" Day Nick Dillon Edward Ralph "Red" English George Francis James Curtis Geddie Bill Grinus (Capt.) Charles Alexander "Heinie" Groth Earl Jenis Hall Eugene Goliday Hite		William Roy Hoblitzell Garland Woodrow Hoenstine William Duncan Holsclaw Frank Howard Harry Worden Howard Richard Huffman Tom Hutcheson Wiley Leroy Jennings Red Kasun John A. McIntre Sonny Miles Ray Mills Charles Emmett Ashburn Morgan John Marshall Murphy Richard Whitmore Neale Warren "Red" Negri John Norman Ochs Keith Oliver		James Edward Ottaway Alex Pais Benny Palmer William Breckenridge Porterfield Carl Francis Robison Alfred Elsworth Seaman Leon Dalmain Simmons Bill Smith George Maxie Smith Dave Smoak Howard Arnold "Hank" Spruill Daniel Reiser Thoma David Thomas Buck Tyler Hazell Eugene Waldrop Paul Kenneth Wolfe Jim Woodard John Lester Yorke

Season summary

Georgia

See also: 1932 Georgia Bulldogs football team

VPI Captain Bill Grinus blocked the tying extra point in the upset over Georgia.[8]

at Alabama

See also: 1932 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

VPI at Alabama

1 2 3 4 Total VPI 0 6 0 0 6 • Alabama 0 0 9 0 9 Date: November 5, 1932 Location: Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, Alabama Game attendance: 11,000 Referee: Ducote (Auburn) Source:[3]

Against the Crimson Tide of the University of Alabama, VPI lost 9-6 in front 11,000 spectators at Denny Stadium, which was the second largest crowd to ever visit the stadium at the time.[3] VPI came into the game undefeated (6-0), while Alabama was 5-1. After a scoreless first quarter, the Gobblers took a 6–0 lead in the second after Ray Mills threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Al Casey.[3] In the third, the score was cut to 6–2 after a bad snap to Casey from the center resulted in a safety.[3] Later in the quarter Alabama took a 9–6 lead that it held to the end of the game when halfback Dixie Howell scored a touchdown on a nine-yard run.[3]

Alabama's assistant coach was former VPI player Hank Crisp.

References

1. "Indians Defeated By Gobblers, 7–0" (PDF). The Flat Hat. College of William & Mary. October 18, 1932. p. 1. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
2. "Tough Gobblers Down Generals In Torrid Fray" (PDF). The Ring-tum Phi. Washington and Lee University. November 1, 1932. p. 1. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
3. "Crimson tide regains its crest to beat Gobblers, 9 to 6". The Tuscaloosa News. November 6, 1932. p. 10. Retrieved January 13, 2016 – via Google News Archives.
4. "Virginia Gives Gobblers Scrap". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. November 12, 1932. p. 18. Retrieved September 15, 2016 – via Google News Archives.
5. "Gobblers Prove Too Powerful For Keydets". The Cadet. Virginia Military Institute. November 28, 1932. p. 1. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
6. Virginia Tech Football Past Schedules "1932–1933". Virginia Tech Sports Information Department, Hokiesports.com. Accessed January 9, 2016.
7. "The Bugle 1933" (PDF). Virginia Tech Bugle. 1933. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
8. Schlabach, Mark; Wood, Norm; Glier, Ray (August 2011). Always a Hokie: Players, Coaches, and Fans Share Their Passion for Virginia Tech Football. ISBN 9781617495625.