1916 VPI Gobblers football team

The 1916 VPI Gobblers football team represented the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute in the 1916 college football season. Led by Jack E. Ingersoll in his only year as head coach, the team went 7–2 and claims a South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SAIAA) championship.^[1]

1916 VPI Gobblers football
SAIAA champion
Conference	South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record	7–2 (4–0 SAIAA)
Head coach	Jack E. Ingersoll (1st season)
Captain	John Staub Caffee
Home stadium	Miles Field
Seasons ← 1915 1917 →

1916 South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
VPI $	4	–	0	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Georgetown	2	–	0	–	0			8	–	1	–	0
Washington and Lee	1	–	0	–	0			5	–	2	–	2
George Washington	2	–	1	–	0			3	–	3	–	1
North Carolina	2	–	1	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Catholic University	2	–	1	–	0			4	–	4	–	0
Virginia	2	–	1	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Davidson	1	–	2	–	0			5	–	3	–	1
Richmond	1	–	3	–	1			5	–	4	–	2
VMI	1	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
St. John's (MD)	0	–	1	–	0			0	–	1	–	0
William & Mary	0	–	2	–	1			2	–	5	–	2
Johns Hopkins	0	–	2	–	0			0	–	2	–	0
North Carolina A&M	0	–	4	–	0			2	–	5	–	0
$ – Conference champion

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 30		Richmond	Miles Field Blacksburg, VA	W 13–0		^[2] ^[3]
October 7		Hampden–Sydney*	Miles Field Blacksburg, VA	W 10–0		^[4]
October 14		vs. West Virginia*	Charleston, WV (rivalry)	L 0–20		^[5]^[6]
October 20	2:30 p.m.	at Yale*	Yale Field New Haven, CT	L 0–19	5,000	^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]
October 28		vs. North Carolina A&M	Norfolk, VA	W 40–0	3,000	^[11]^[12] ^[13]
November 4	3:00 p.m.	vs. North Carolina	Fair Grounds Roanoke, VA	W 14–7		^[14]^[15]^[16] ^[17]
November 11		Wake Forest*	Miles Field Blacksburg, VA	W 52–0		^[18]
November 18		Roanoke*	Miles Field Blacksburg, VA	W 41–0		^[19]^[20]
November 30	2:30 p.m.	vs. VMI	Fair Grounds Roanoke, VA (rivalry)	W 23–14	5,000	^[21]^[22]^[23] ^[24]
*Non-conference game All times are in Eastern time

^[25]

Game summaries

Richmond

See also: 1916 Richmond Spiders football team

The starting lineup for VPI was: Nelson (left end), Parrish (left tackle), Howell (left guard), A. B. Moore (center), A. P. Moore (right guard), Caffee (right tackle), Younger (right end), Lancaster (quarterback), Gaines (left halfback), Mack (right halfback), Redd (fullback). The substitutes were: Engleby, Funkhouser, Gregory, Hall, McNeil, D. Roden, E. Roden, Somerville, Stringer and Treakle.

Hampden–Sydney

The starting lineup for VPI was: Gregory (left end), Hall (left tackle), Howell (left guard), A. B. Moore (center), A. P. Moore (right guard), Caffee (right tackle), Nelson (right end), Lancaster (quarterback), Stringer (left halfback), Mack (right halfback), Redd (fullback). The substitutes were: E. Roden, Somerville and Younger.

West Virginia

See also: 1916 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

The starting lineup for VPI was: Younger (left end), Hall (left tackle), Howell (left guard), A. P. Moore (center), A. B. Moore (right guard), Caffee (right tackle), Nelson (right end), Funkhouser (quarterback), Gaines (left halfback), Stringer (right halfback), Redd (fullback). The substitutes were: Gregory, McNeil, Parrish, E. Roden and Treakle.

Yale

See also: 1916 Yale Bulldogs football team

Former President and future Chief Justice William Howard Taft attended the Yale-VPI game to watch his son Charles play in the game.^[26]

The starting lineup for VPI was: Gregory (left end), Hall (left tackle), Parrish (left guard), A. P. Moore (center), A. B. Moore (right guard), Caffee (right tackle), Younger (right end), E. Roden (quarterback), Mack (left halfback), Nelson (right halfback), Gardner (fullback). The substitutes were: Funkhouser, McNeil, Redd and D. Roden.

North Carolina A&M

See also: 1916 North Carolina A&M Aggies football team

The starting lineup for VPI was: Gregory (left end), Parrish (left tackle), Treakle (left guard), A. B. Moore (center), A. P. Moore (right guard), Caffee (right tackle), Younger (right end), E. Roden (quarterback), Funkhouser (left halfback), Nelson (right halfback), Redd (fullback). The substitutes were: Gaines, Gardner, Howell, Lancaster, McNeil, Palmer, G. Parrish, Pritchard, D. Roden, Somerville, Stringer and Turber.

North Carolina

See also: 1916 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

The starting lineup for VPI was: Gregory (left end), Hall (left tackle), Parrish (left guard), A. B. Moore (center), A. P. Moore (right guard), Caffee (right tackle), Younger (right end), Lancaster (quarterback), Nelson (left halfback), Gardner (right halfback), Redd (fullback). The substitutes were: Funkhouser, Gaines, Howell and E. Roden.

Wake Forest

See also: 1916 Wake Forest Baptists football team

The starting lineup for VPI was: Gregory (left end), Hall (left tackle), Howell (left guard), A. B. Moore (center), Parrish (right guard), Caffee (right tackle), Younger (right end), E. Roden (quarterback), Gardner (left halfback), Nelson (right halfback), Redd (fullback). The substitutes were: D. Roden and Stringer.

Roanoke

The starting lineup for VPI was: Gregory (left end), Hall (left tackle), Parrish (left guard), A. B. Moore (center), Howell (right guard), Caffee (right tackle), Younger (right end), E. Roden (quarterback), Gardner (left halfback), Nelson (right halfback), Redd (fullback). The substitutes were: Funkhouser, Lancaster, McNeil and Stringer.

VMI

See also: 1916 VMI Keydets football team

The starting lineup for VPI was: Gregory (left end), Hall (left tackle), Parrish (left guard), A. B. Moore (center), A. P. Moore (right guard), Caffee (right tackle), Younger (right end), E. Roden (quarterback), Gaines (left halfback), Nelson (right halfback), Redd (fullback). The substitutes were: Funkhouser, Howell, Lancaster, McNeil, Reimer, Somerville and Stringer.

Players

The following players were members of the 1916 football team according to the roster published in the 1917 edition of The Bugle, the Virginia Tech yearbook.^[27]

VPI 1916 roster
	Quarterbacks George Douglas Lancaster Edwin Lee Roden Guards Russell Minor Howell Harry Temple Parrish Arthur Penick Moore Tackles John Staub Caffee (Capt.) Lyle George Hall		Center Arthur Blakie Moore Ends James Atkins Gregory William Lee Younger Halfbacks Frank Allison Engleby Edward Kramer Funkhouser Leonard Myrton Gaines Robert Rodes Nelson Fullback Henry Redd		Substitutes Clinton T. Barnes Jay Frank Clemmer Frank Edward Daly James W. Farmer Gardner Turner Ashby Graves Francis Alexander Gray William Murry Lybrook Guy Eugene McNeil Donald Mack George Frizzell Parrish Daniel Harris Pritchard Harry Douglas Roden George Selben Somerville Llewellyn Winn "Lew" Stringer George Ellsworth Treakle

Coaching and training staff

• Head coach: Jack E. Ingersoll
• Assistant coach: Harlan Sanborn
• Manager: Walton Ellingsworth
• Assistant managers
  • W. Reed Williams
  • George Caffee

References

1. Conference Champions of the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association 2015-02-22 at the Wayback Machine,College Football Data Warehouse
2. "Spiders Hold Techs To Two Touchdowns". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Library of Congress. October 1, 1916. p. 25. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
3. "Richmond College defeated by V.P.I." The Roanoke Times. October 1, 1916. p. 16. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
4. "Hampden-Sidney Loses". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Library of Congress. October 8, 1916. p. 29. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
5. "Mountaineers Trim Virginia Eleven 20". The Sunday Telegram. Library of Congress. October 15, 1916. p. 11. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
6. "Techs Are Defeated". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Library of Congress. October 15, 1916. p. 27. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
7. "Yale Wins From V.P.I., Score 19-0". The Daily Telegram. Library of Congress. October 21, 1916. p. 7. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
8. "Eli Backs Quickly Grind Out Victory". New Britain Daily Herald. Library of Congress. October 21, 1916. p. 8. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
9. "Techs Surprise Yale". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Library of Congress. October 21, 1916. p. 4. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
10. "Yale Subs Triumph Over Virginia Eleven". New-York Tribune. Library of Congress. October 21, 1916. p. 16. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
11. "Virginia Techs Win Handily From Aggies". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Library of Congress. October 29, 1916. p. 27. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
12. "V.P.I. Humiliates A. and M. Eleven In Annual Battle". Red & White. North Carolina State University. November 9, 1916. p. 73. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
13. "Techs score easy victory over Aggies; V. P. I. overwhelms A. & M. by 40 to 0 score --". The Virginian-Pilot. October 29, 1916. p. 12. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
14. "Kings of Gridiron Battle for South Atlantic Honors". The World News. Library of Virginia. November 4, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
15. "Carolina Outplayed And Techs Victorious". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Library of Congress. November 5, 1916. p. 29. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
16. "Tar Heels Lose Game To Strong V.P.I. Team". The Tar Heel. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. November 11, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
17. "Tarheels lose to Blacksburg squad; Bob Nelson stars for Tech in game here with U. of N.C." The Roanoke Times. November 5, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
18. "Techs Cut Wake Forest Asunder With Line Rushes". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Library of Congress. November 12, 1916. p. 30. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
19. "Roanoke College Beaten by V.P.I." The World-News. Library of Virginia. November 20, 1916. p. 9. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
20. "Techs Are Victorious". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Library of Congress. November 19, 1916. p. 30. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
21. "Football Enthusiasm Runs High in Roanoke". The World News. Library of Virginia. November 30, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
22. "Cadets Are Defeated After Freakish Game". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Library of Congress. December 1, 1916. p. 9. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
23. "V.M.I. Loses Thrilling Game To Techs". The Cadet. Virginia Military Institute. December 4, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
24. "Sommerville and Redd saved Tech; Cadets had good chance to win at one state of yesterday's game". The Roanoke Times. December 1, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
25. Virginia Tech Football Past Schedules "1916–1917". Virginia Tech Sports Information Department, Hokiesports.com. Accessed December 8, 2015.
26. "Taft At First Game Since '78". The Sun. Library of Congress. October 21, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
27. "The Bugle 1917" (PDF). Virginia Tech Bugle. 1917. p. 183. Retrieved December 10, 2015.