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Bullseye
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Cool article about Pitt’s 1918 flu-shortened season, with a few notable mentions of our Golden Tornados. Pitt’s claim to the national title that year was based in large part on their victory over Georgia Tech.
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports...-Sutherland-George-Halas/stories/202003260087
By the end of October, the number of patients from influenza decreased nationwide and quarantines were lifted. The flu returned in 1919 in another virulent wave. But for the time being, life was back to relative normalcy, and athletic departments were looking to pack the football schedules.
In October, Princeton head coach Bill Roper approached Karl Eugene Davis, Pitt’s athletic director, about hosting a game at Forbes Field to benefit the United War Work Fund — a campaign to raise money and provide entertainment for American troops abroad in World War I. Davis agreed to play “any team in the country.” But he apparently made it clear Pitt wanted Georgia Tech, known then as the “Golden Tornadoes.”
“The local authorities are very willing — even eager — to try conclusions with the Georgians,” the Press wrote. “Nothing would be more to their liking than a test of strength between the two famous machines.”
The Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets were Pitt’s second choice, but that wasn’t necessary. Georgia Tech agreed to play.
It should be noted that when Heisman’s Georgia Tech accepted Pitt’s invitation, the Golden Tornadoes were already three games into their campaign. The defending national champions weren’t forced inside via quarantine, defeating Clemson 28-0 in their season opener on Oct. 5 and routing Furman and the “11th Cavalry” by a combined score of 241-0 — yes, that’s 241 — in subsequent weeks.
In addition, the Golden Tornadoes were supposed to host Camp Greenleaf, a medical officer training camp in Georgia, prior to playing Pitt. But Georgia Tech called off the game, inoculating the team as a preventative measure against influenza, the Pittsburgh Gazette Times wrote on Nov. 1. Why does that matter? Jock Sutherland and a few more former Pitt stars were stationed at Camp Greenleaf and played on the team. Warner expected a scouting report after the game. Not quite an All-22, but it would’ve helped.
Regardless, Pitt prepared for the Golden Tornadoes by blowing out Washington & Jefferson, 34-0, and Penn, 37-0, on Nov. 9 and 16, respectively. Heisman attended the latter game at Forbes Field, watching as Davies — Pitt’s standout halfback from the Kiski School — ran “in a manner which simply mystified the blue-jersied warriors from the East,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times sports editor Richard Guy wrote.
It served as a sign of things to come.
“The game tomorrow will be decided in the first quarter of play,” declared Coach Heisman of the Georgia Tech eleven in making a forecast of the championship contest yesterday afternoon at Forbes Field. “If the Pitt team does not whip my men in the first 15 minutes I doubt if it will do it at all. I am fearful only of one thing, and that is stage fright on the part of my men, that is all.”
Heisman made that statement after arriving in Pittsburgh with his 25 players and 145 fans the Friday night before Saturday’s clash. The Georgia Tech travel party’s trip via train took almost two days, going from Atlanta to Cincinnati over to Pittsburgh. The Golden Tornadoes and their supporters stayed at the William Penn Hotel downtown, then only two years old.
Inside the hotel the day before kick, Guy’s piece paints a picture of a “typical football throng,” with people gambling on the game. The Panthers were expected to win. Guy wrote that even Georgia Tech’s fans admitted probable defeat, “for all they could think of seemingly was the team of last year, if they only had last year’s team here to play Pitt.” The line fluctuated depending on who you went to, but the away fans demanded at least Georgia Tech plus-14 to consider betting.
“When the Pitt students came to meet the Southern coin they balked at the odds,” Guy wrote. “But the professional bettors did not.”
And with reason.
Pitt won, 32-0. The victory, highlighted by Davies’ three touchdowns, ended Georgia Tech’s lengthy winning streak and pushed the Panthers’ unbeaten run to 32 games.
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports...-Sutherland-George-Halas/stories/202003260087
By the end of October, the number of patients from influenza decreased nationwide and quarantines were lifted. The flu returned in 1919 in another virulent wave. But for the time being, life was back to relative normalcy, and athletic departments were looking to pack the football schedules.
In October, Princeton head coach Bill Roper approached Karl Eugene Davis, Pitt’s athletic director, about hosting a game at Forbes Field to benefit the United War Work Fund — a campaign to raise money and provide entertainment for American troops abroad in World War I. Davis agreed to play “any team in the country.” But he apparently made it clear Pitt wanted Georgia Tech, known then as the “Golden Tornadoes.”
“The local authorities are very willing — even eager — to try conclusions with the Georgians,” the Press wrote. “Nothing would be more to their liking than a test of strength between the two famous machines.”
The Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets were Pitt’s second choice, but that wasn’t necessary. Georgia Tech agreed to play.
It should be noted that when Heisman’s Georgia Tech accepted Pitt’s invitation, the Golden Tornadoes were already three games into their campaign. The defending national champions weren’t forced inside via quarantine, defeating Clemson 28-0 in their season opener on Oct. 5 and routing Furman and the “11th Cavalry” by a combined score of 241-0 — yes, that’s 241 — in subsequent weeks.
In addition, the Golden Tornadoes were supposed to host Camp Greenleaf, a medical officer training camp in Georgia, prior to playing Pitt. But Georgia Tech called off the game, inoculating the team as a preventative measure against influenza, the Pittsburgh Gazette Times wrote on Nov. 1. Why does that matter? Jock Sutherland and a few more former Pitt stars were stationed at Camp Greenleaf and played on the team. Warner expected a scouting report after the game. Not quite an All-22, but it would’ve helped.
Regardless, Pitt prepared for the Golden Tornadoes by blowing out Washington & Jefferson, 34-0, and Penn, 37-0, on Nov. 9 and 16, respectively. Heisman attended the latter game at Forbes Field, watching as Davies — Pitt’s standout halfback from the Kiski School — ran “in a manner which simply mystified the blue-jersied warriors from the East,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times sports editor Richard Guy wrote.
It served as a sign of things to come.
“The game tomorrow will be decided in the first quarter of play,” declared Coach Heisman of the Georgia Tech eleven in making a forecast of the championship contest yesterday afternoon at Forbes Field. “If the Pitt team does not whip my men in the first 15 minutes I doubt if it will do it at all. I am fearful only of one thing, and that is stage fright on the part of my men, that is all.”
Heisman made that statement after arriving in Pittsburgh with his 25 players and 145 fans the Friday night before Saturday’s clash. The Georgia Tech travel party’s trip via train took almost two days, going from Atlanta to Cincinnati over to Pittsburgh. The Golden Tornadoes and their supporters stayed at the William Penn Hotel downtown, then only two years old.
Inside the hotel the day before kick, Guy’s piece paints a picture of a “typical football throng,” with people gambling on the game. The Panthers were expected to win. Guy wrote that even Georgia Tech’s fans admitted probable defeat, “for all they could think of seemingly was the team of last year, if they only had last year’s team here to play Pitt.” The line fluctuated depending on who you went to, but the away fans demanded at least Georgia Tech plus-14 to consider betting.
“When the Pitt students came to meet the Southern coin they balked at the odds,” Guy wrote. “But the professional bettors did not.”
And with reason.
Pitt won, 32-0. The victory, highlighted by Davies’ three touchdowns, ended Georgia Tech’s lengthy winning streak and pushed the Panthers’ unbeaten run to 32 games.
