1899 VPI football team

1899 VPI football
Conference	Independent
Record	4–1
Head coach	James Morrison (1st season)
Captain	W. F. Cox
Home stadium	Sheib Field

1899 Southern college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
VMI			–					1	–	0	–	0
VPI			–					4	–	1	–	0
Delaware			–					6	–	2	–	0
Arkansas			–					3	–	1	–	1
Georgetown			–					5	–	2	–	1
Texas A&M			–					4	–	2	–	0
Oklahoma			–					2	–	1	–	0
Baylor			–					2	–	1	–	1
Guilford			–					2	–	1	–	1
Navy			–					5	–	3	–	0
Virginia			–					4	–	3	–	2
Add-Ran			–					0	–	0	–	1
Richmond			–					2	–	2	–	0
South Carolina			–					2	–	3	–	0
West Virginia			–					2	–	3	–	0
William & Mary			–					2	–	3	–	0
North Carolina A&M			–					1	–	2	–	2
Davidson			–					1	–	3	–	1
Maryland			–					1	–	4	–	0
Marshall			–					0	–	0	–	1

The 1899 VPI football team represented Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute in the 1899 college football season. The team was led by their head coach James Morrison and finished with a record of four wins and one loss (4–1).

Scoring

The scoring in 1899 was:

• Touchdown worth 5 points
• Field goal worth 5 points
• Conversion (kick) worth 1 point
• Safety worth 2 points

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 7	St. Albans Lutheran Boys School	Sheib Field Blacksburg, VA	W 21–0		[1]
October 21	at Tennessee	Baldwin Park Knoxville, TN	W 5–0	200	[2][3]
November 11	at Virginia	Madison Hall Field Charlottesville, VA (rivalry)	L 0–28		[4][5]
November 18	vs. Roanoke	Athletic Park Roanoke, VA	W 45–0		[6]
November 30	vs. Washington and Lee	Roanoke, VA	W 35–0	2,500	[7][8][9]

Game summaries

St. Albans

VPI's first game of the season was a victory over St. Albans Lutheran Boys School at Sheib Field.

Tennessee

See also: 1899 Tennessee Volunteers football team

Cancelled Second game against St. Albans

A second game against St. Albans Lutheran Boys School was scheduled to be played on November 4, 1899 in Radford, Virginia, but it was cancelled due to "an injury to a St. Albans man."^[10]

Virginia

VPI at Virginia

1 2 Total VPI 0 0 0 • UVA 12 16 28 Date: November 11, 1899 Location: Madison Hall Field Charlottesville, VA Referee: Eskridge

See also: 1899 Virginia Orange and Blue football team

The starting lineup for VPI was: Jewell (left end), McCormick (left tackle), Carper (left guard), Montgomery (center), Choice (right guard), Cox (right tackle), Lewis (right end), Bell (quarterback), Huffard (left halfback), Hardaway (right halfback), Carpenter (fullback). The substitutes were: Bean.

The starting lineup for Virginia was: Robert Taylor (left end), John Loyd (left tackle), Malcolm Griffin (left guard), Paul Norfleet (center), Charles Haskel (right guard), George Henderson (right tackle), H. T. Summersgill (right end), David Lyman (quarterback), Harry Gerstle (left halfback), Albert Mallory (right halfback), Robert Coleman (fullback). The substitutes were: Julian Byrd, Burnley Lankford, Charles McGill, Brodie Nalle and Stuart.

Roanoke

Roanoke vs. VPI

1 2 Total Roanoke 0 0 0 • VPI 27 18 45 Date: November 18, 1899 Location: Athletic Park Roanoke, VA Referee: Montgomery

The starting lineup for VPI was: Jewell (left end), McCormick (left tackle), Carper (left guard), Montgomery (center), Choice (right guard), Cox (right tackle), Lewis (right end), DeCamps (quarterback), Bell (left halfback), Hardaway (right halfback), Carpenter (fullback).

The starting lineup for Roanoke was: Heckel (left end), McClintie (left tackle), Patterson (left guard), Buck (center), Moss (right guard), Lemon (right tackle), C. Bear (right end), Spencer (quarterback), Hall (left halfback), Wilson (right halfback), J. Bear (fullback).

Washington and Lee

Washington & Lee vs. VPI

1 2 Total W&L 0 0 0 • VPI 28 7 35 Date: November 30, 1899 Location: Roanoke, VA Game start: 3:30 p.m. Game attendance: 2,500 Referee: Morrow

The starting lineup for VPI was: Jewell (left end), McCormick (left tackle), Carper (left guard), Montgomery (center), Choice (right guard), Cox (right tackle), Lewis (right end), DeCamps (quarterback), Bell (left halfback), Hardaway (right halfback), Carpenter (fullback).

The starting lineup for Washington and Lee was: T. Bledsoe (left end), McNeill (left tackle), Holmes (left guard), Allen (center), Harrison (right guard), Moore (right tackle), McPheters (right end), E. Bledsoe (quarterback), Jenkins (left halfback), Guion (right halfback), Booker (fullback). The substitutes were: Sloan.

Players

The following players were members of the 1899 football team according to the roster published in the 1903 edition of The Bugle, the Virginia Tech yearbook.^[11]

VPI 1899 roster
	Quarterback Kit DeCamps Guards Robert William Carper William Choice Tackles W. F. Cox (Capt.) Hub McCormick Center R. W. Montgomery		Ends Lindsay Louin Jewell Harold Benjamin Lewis Halfbacks William Frazier Bell Edward Wood Hardaway John Brabson Huffard Fullback Hunter Carpenter		Substitutes John Newton Ashton Wyndham Randolph Bean William Leonard Blair Samuel Guy Bralley McCulloch William Stuart Moffett Joseph Clyde Steele Albert Y. Wootten

Coaching and training staff

• Head coach: James Morrison
• Manager: G. W. Hutchinson

References

1. "St. Albans School". The Times. Library of Virginia. October 7, 1899. p. 2. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
2. "Blacksburg 5, Tennessee 0". The Times. Library of Virginia. October 22, 1899. p. 2. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
3. "U of T eleven lost to the Blacksburg team". The Journal and Tribune. October 22, 1899. Retrieved July 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Varsity Defeats the Polytechnics". The Times. Library of Virginia. November 12, 1899. p. 2. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
5. "Virginia 28, Blacksburg 0". College Topics. Library of Virginia. November 18, 1899. p. 1. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
6. "Football Yesterday". The Roanoke Times. Library of Virginia. November 19, 1899. p. 4. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
7. "W.L.U. 0, V.P.I. 35" (PDF). The Ring-tum Phi. Washington and Lee University. December 2, 1899. p. 1. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
8. "The Roanoke Game". Richmond Dispatch. Library of Virginia. December 1, 1899. p. 5. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
9. "Football Yesterday". The Roanoke Times. Library of Virginia. December 1, 1899. p. 4. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
10. "No V.P.I.-St. Albans Game". The Times. Library of Virginia. November 5, 1899. p. 2. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
11. "The Bugle 1903" (PDF). Virginia Tech Bugle. 1903. p. 131. Retrieved November 6, 2015.