1896 VPI football team

1896 VPI football
Conference	Independent
Record	5–2–1
Head coach	Arlie C. Jones (2nd season)
Captain	J. Lewis Ingles
Home stadium	Sheib Field

1896 Southern college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Centre			–					6	–	0	–	1
Texas A&M			–					2	–	0	–	1
Oklahoma			–					2	–	0	–	0
North Carolina A&M			–					1	–	0	–	0
Virginia			–					7	–	2	–	2
VPI			–					5	–	2	–	1
Navy			–					5	–	3	–	0
Arkansas			–					2	–	1	–	0
Clemson			–					2	–	1	–	0
Columbian			–					2	–	1	–	0
Georgia Tech			–					2	–	2	–	1
Add-Ran			–					1	–	1	–	1
Centenary			–					1	–	1	–	0
VMI			–					3	–	4	–	0
North Carolina			–					3	–	4	–	1
Furman			–					2	–	3	–	0
Ole Miss			–					1	–	2	–	0
West Virginia			–					3	–	7	–	2
South Carolina			–					1	–	3	–	0
Erskine			–					0	–	1	–	0
William & Mary			–					0	–	2	–	0
Davidson			–					0	–	1	–	0
Delaware			–					0	–	6	–	0

The 1896 VPI football team represented Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute in the 1896 college football season. The team was led by their head coach Arlie C. Jones and finished with a record of five wins, two losses, and one tie (5–2–1).

Scoring

The scoring in 1896 was:

• Touchdown worth 4 points
• Field goal worth 5 points
• Conversion (kick) worth 2 points
• Safety worth 2 points

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 10		Alleghany Institute	Sheib Field Blacksburg, VA	W 20-0		[1][2][3]
October 20		Roanoke	Sheib Field Blacksburg, VA	W 12–0		[4]
October 24		vs. North Carolina	Athletic Park (Danville) Danville, VA	T 0–0	600–700	[5][6][7][8]
October 31	4:00 p.m.	at Virginia	Madison Hall Field Charlottesville, VA (rivalry)	L 0–44	600	[9][10]
November 2		vs. Hampden–Sydney	Lynchburg, VA	W 42–0		[11][12]
November 14		at Tennessee	Waite Field Knoxville, TN	L 4–6		[13][14]
November 16		vs. Maryville (TN)	Knoxville, TN	W 52–0		[15]
November 26	2:30 p.m.	vs. VMI	Roanoke, VA (rivalry)	W 24–0	2,000	[16][17][18]
All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Alleghany Institute

VPI's first game of the season was a victory over the Alleghany Institute at Sheib Field.

Cancelled St. Albans Game

A game against St. Albans Lutheran Boys School was scheduled to be played on October 17, 1896 in Radford, Virginia. However, the game was not played after a dispute between both teams regarding the amateur eligibility of players on both sides.^[19]

Roanoke

The starting lineup for VPI was: Johnson (left end), Starke (left tackle), Mayer (left guard), Thomas (center), Pelter (right guard), R. Herbert (right tackle), Treadwell (right end), Martin (quarterback), Ingles (left halfback), Eskridge (right halfback), E. Herbert (fullback).

The starting lineup for Roanoke was: M. G. Jones (left end), Bales (left tackle), Terry (left guard), Keister (center), McClintic (right guard), Claiborne (right tackle), Robertson (right end), Hatcher (quarterback), Akard (left halfback), Miller (right halfback), Jones (fullback). The substitutes were: Boyd and Downing.

North Carolina

North Carolina vs. VPI

1 2 Total UNC 0 0 0 VPI 0 0 0 Date: October 24, 1896 Location: Athletic Park (Danville) Danville, VA Game attendance: 600–700 Referee: Mahoun

See also: 1896 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

The starting lineup for VPI was: Johnson (left end), Starke (left tackle), Pelter (left guard), R. Herbert (center), Mayer (right guard), Wood (right tackle), Treadwell (right end), Martin (quarterback), Ingles (left halfback), Eskridge (right halfback), E. Herbert (fullback). The substitutes were: Poindexter.

The starting lineup for North Carolina was: Joel Whitaker (left end), Robert Wright (left tackle), E. L. Neville (left guard), C. C. Joyner (center), James Carson (right guard), Harry Lake (right tackle), Charles Best (right end), Thomas Green (quarterback), Patterson (left halfback), F. J. Haywood (right halfback), Arthur Belden (fullback).

Virginia

VPI at Virginia

1 2 Total VPI 0 0 0 • UVA 28 16 44 Date: October 31, 1896 Location: Madison Hall Field Charlottesville, VA Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game attendance: 600 Referee: Fred Harper

See also: 1896 Virginia Orange and Blue football team

The starting lineup for VPI was: Johnson (left end), Starke (left tackle), Mayer (left guard), R. Herbert (center), Pelter (right guard), Wood (right tackle), Treadwell (right end), Martin (quarterback), Ingles (left halfback), Eskridge (right halfback), E. Herbert (fullback). The substitutes were: Smith.

The starting lineup for Virginia was: W. A. Martin (left end), Alexander Moore (left tackle), Johnson (left guard), Gustavus Wallace (center), Eugene Davis (right guard), V. H. Samoskeoy (right tackle), Paul Cocke (right end), Archie Hoxton (quarterback), Virginius Dabney (left halfback), Robert Groner (right halfback), James Morrison (fullback). The substitutes were: Malcolm Griffin.

Hampden–Sydney

Tennessee

See also: 1896 Tennessee Volunteers football team

Maryville

VMI

VMI vs. VPI

1 2 Total VMI 0 0 0 • VPI 18 6 24 Date: November 26, 1896 Location: Roanoke, VA Game start: 2:30 p.m. Game attendance: 2,000 Referee: R. C. Waldon

See also: 1896 VMI Keydets football team

The starting lineup for VPI was: Johnson (left end), Starke (left tackle), Mayer (left guard), R. Herbert (center), Pelter (right guard), Wood (right tackle), Treadwell (right end), Martin (quarterback), Ingles (left halfback), Eskridge (right halfback), E. Herbert (fullback). The substitutes were: Whitehurst.

The starting lineup for VMI was: Harman (left end), Morrell Mills (left tackle), Rice (left guard), George Marrow (center), Percy Montgomery (right guard), James Harding (right tackle), Elisha McGill (right end), William Montgomery (quarterback), Richard Lawson (left halfback), John Steger (right halfback), Sidney Moore (fullback).

Players

The following players were members of the 1896 football team according to the roster published in the 1897 and 1903 editions of The Bugle, the Virginia Tech yearbook.^[20][21]

VPI 1896 roster
	Quarterback Tarpley Douglas Martin Guards William Lawrence Mayer Nerbon Robert Patrick Joseph Glenwood Pelter Tackles William Edwin Starke Charles Morton Wood Centers Richard Ainsworth Herbert Sidney Johnson Thomas		Ends Howard Archer Johnson William B. Treadwell Halfbacks Alexander Parker Eskridge J. Lewis Ingles (Capt.) K. Harrison Fullbacks Edward Henry Herbert Obediah Francis Whitehurst		Substitutes Charles Weedon Cochran William Franklin Cox George H. King David Gray Langhorne Dabney Thomas Poindexter G. H. Townes Benjamin Lanier Traynham

Coaching and training staff

• Head coach: Arlie C. Jones
• Manager: Carl E. Hardy
• Assistant manager: George S. Merrick
• Medical adviser: W. F. Henderson, MD

References

1. "Football News". The Roanoke Times. Library of Virginia. October 13, 1896. p. 5. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
2. "Alleghany Won". The Roanoke Times. Library of Virginia. October 11, 1896. p. 5. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
3. "The Magic City". The Richmond Dispatch. Library of Virginia. October 11, 1896. p. 1. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
4. "A Football Game". The Roanoke Daily Times. Library of Congress. October 22, 1896. p. 8. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
5. "Neither Side Scored". The Roanoke Times. Library of Virginia. October 25, 1896. p. 4. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
6. "Neither Side Scored". The Times. Library of Virginia. October 25, 1896. p. 13. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
7. "A Tie Game". The Richmond Dispatch. Library of Virginia. October 25, 1896. p. 12. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
8. "A Drawn Battle". The Tar Heel. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. October 31, 1896. p. 1. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
9. "Blacksburg Downed". The Richmond Dispatch. Library of Virginia. November 1, 1896. p. 15. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
10. "Foot-Ball in Virginia". The Times. Library of Virginia. November 1, 1896. p. 6. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
11. "Blacksburg, 42; Hampden–Sidney, 0". The Times. Library of Virginia. November 3, 1896. p. 7. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
12. "Blacksburg Won". The Richmond Dispatch. Library of Virginia. November 3, 1896. p. 3. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
13. "Tennessee and Blacksburg". The Times. Library of Virginia. November 15, 1896. p. 16. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
14. "Blacksburg Defeated". The Richmond Dispatch. Library of Virginia. November 15, 1896. p. 13. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
15. "Blacksburgs Triumphant". The Times. Library of Virginia. November 17, 1896. p. 7. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
16. "Blacksburg Beats V.M.I." The Times. Library of Virginia. November 27, 1896. p. 3. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
17. "Big Crowds Saw It". The Roanoke Times. Library of Virginia. November 27, 1896. p. 1. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
18. "Other State Games". The Richmond Dispatch. Library of Virginia. November 27, 1896. p. 2. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
19. "The Other Side". The Roanoke Times. Library of Virginia. October 21, 1896. p. 4. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
20. "The Bugle 1897". Virginia Tech Bugle. 1897. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
21. "The Bugle 1903" (PDF). Virginia Tech Bugle. 1903. p. 129. Retrieved November 4, 2015.