1911 Florida Gators football team

The 1911 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1911 college football season. The season was George Pyle's third as the head coach of the University of Florida football team. The University of Florida adopted the "Florida Gators" nickname for its sports teams in 1911; the earlier Florida football teams were known simply as "Florida" or the "Orange and Blue." Pyle's newly christened Florida Gators finished their sixth varsity football season 5–0–1[1]—the first, and to date, the only undefeated season in the history of the Florida Gators football program.

1911 Florida Gators football
ConferenceIndependent
1911 record5–0–1
Head coach
CaptainNeal Storter
Home stadiumUniversity Athletic Field
1911 Southern college football independents records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Oklahoma   –    8 –0 –0
Florida   –    5 –0 –1
VMI   –    7 –1 –0
Texas A&M   –    6 –1 –0
Georgetown   –    7 –1 –1
Navy   –    6 –0 –3
North Carolina   –    6 –1 –1
VPI   –    6 –1 –2
Virginia   –    8 –2 –0
Arkansas   –    6 –2 –1
Oklahoma A&M   –    5 –2 –0
Texas   –    5 –2 –0
Kentucky State   –    7 –3 –0
West Virginia   –    6 –3 –0
Davidson   –    5 –3 –0
North Carolina A&M   –    5 –3 –0
Chattanooga   –    3 –2 –0
Catholic University   –    3 –2 –2
Maryland   –    4 –4 –2
Baylor   –    3 –4 –2
Wake Forest   –    3 –5 –0
Delaware   –    2 –5 –2
South Carolina   –    1 –4 –2
Southwestern Louisiana Industrial   –    1 –4 –1
Spring Hill   –    1 –3 –0
Southwest Texas   –    1 –3 –0
William & Mary   –    1 –7 –1
Richmond   –    0 –6 –2
Middle Tennessee   –    0 –1 –0

It was a pivotal year in the growth of the young Florida football program. Florida played four different college football teams from the state of South Carolina, including The Citadel Bulldogs, the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Clemson Tigers and the College of Charleston Cougars, and finished 3–0–1 against the four South Carolina college teams and returned home to Gainesville to celebrate with their new nickname: the "Florida Gators."[2]

Before the season
BoGator Storter

The team was captained by Neal "Bo Gator" Storter. The team was also the first to use the nickname "Gators." He is as such one reason given for the nickname. A former player Roy Corbett sent a letter to The Gainesville Sun congratulating the 1928 team and mentioned the nickname coming from Storter.[3] Carl Van Ness's research also posits Storter as the name's origin.[4] Storter himself denied the above and stated the nickname 'Gators' came when a Macon Telegraph reporter declared "Macon to be invaded by a bunch of alligators from Florida" before the game with Mercer in 1910.[3][5]

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendance
October 7The Citadel
W 15–3
October 21at South Carolina
T 6–6
October 254:10 p.m.at Clemson
W 6–5
November 4Columbia College
  • University Athletic Field
  • Gainesville, FL
W 9–0
November 11at StetsonDeLand, FLW 27–01,500
November 30vs. College of CharlestonJacksonville, FLW 21–0

Primary source: 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide.[1]

Season summary

The Citadel

The season opened with a 15–3 victory over The Citadel Bulldogs[2] at the first game on University Field.[6]

South Carolina
Florida at South Carolina
1 234Total
Florida 6 000 6
S. Carolina 0 600 6

In the second week of play, Florida fought the South Carolina Gamecocks to a 6–6 tie. Earle Taylor scored in the first quarter and the Gamecocks matched in the second.[2]

The starting lineup was Swanson (left end), Coarsey (left tackle), Lawler (left guard), Storter (center), Hancock (right guard), Bullock (right tackle), Buie (right end), Shackleford (quarterback), Davis (left halfback), Taylor (right halfback), Tenney (fullback).[8]

Clemson
Florida at Clemson
1 234Total
• Florida 0 006 6
Clemson 5 000 5
  • Date: October 25
  • Location: Bowman Field
    Calhoun, SC
  • Game start: 4:10 p. m.
  • Referee: Captain Hill (Georgia Tech)

Florida upset the Clemson Tigers by a single point, 6–5, in the two school's first-ever meeting. "The game as a whole, was a poor exhibition of football."[9] Clemson scored in the first six minutes when Webb took it over.[9] Towards the end of the fourth quarter, the Gators' Dummy Taylor picked up a fumble and ran 45 yards for a touchdown, and then kicked the extra point to win.[9] Norm Carlson called it "Florida's first road win against a quality college opponent."[10]

On the winning extra point, the holder Sam Buie recalled "Doc Walker of Jacksonville bet Captain Hill of Georgia Tech, the referee, that Dummy would make it. They bet, and Dummy kicked it."[11] "It was on the South Carolina trip that the Florida team was dubbed the ‘Alligators,’ and the battle that took place . . .between the Clemson Tigers and the Florida Alligators is one long to be remembered!" declared the Florida Pennant.[2]

The starting lineup was Bonus (left end), Bullock (left tackle), Wilson (left guard), Storter (center), Baker (right guard), Hancock (right tackle), Buie (right end), Shackleford (quarterback), Davis (left halfback), Taylor (right halfback), Tenney (fullback).[9]

Columbia College

Florida beat Columbia College 9–0. Taylor kicked three field goals.[12][13] The starting lineup was Buie (left end), Hancock (left tackle), Wilson (left guard), Storter (center), Aker (right guard), Coarsey (right tackle), Swanson (right end), Shackleford (quarterback), Gavis (left halfback), Taylor (right halfback), Tenney (fullback).[14]

Stetson
Florida at Stetson
1 234Total
• Florida 0 998 26
Stetson 0 000 0
  • Date: November 11
  • Location: DeLand, FL
  • Game attendance: 1,500

Florida beat Stetson 26–0. The Stetson Weekly Collegiate called it "the greatest football game ever played in the state of Florida."[7] Taylor drop kicked a 45-yard field goal and ran for two touchdowns.[15]

The starting lineup was Swanson (left end), Coarsey (left tackle), Baker (left guard), Storter (center), Wilson (right guard), Bullock (right tackle), Buie (right end), Shackleford (quarterback), Tenney (left halfback), Taylor (right halfback), Pound (fullback).[7]

Charleston

Florida closed the season with a 21–0 defeat of Charleston. "Florida should have made at least three more touchdowns."[16]

Postseason
A cartoon showing the Gators eating all of their opponents

The Gators proclaimed themselves "champions of South Carolina" as well as the state of Florida.[17]

Earle "Dummy" Taylor, the only five-letter winner in team history,[18] scored 49 of the season's 84 points (including a school-record eight field goals).[19] He scored 25 points on the ground and points-after, and 24 on field goals. He also threw two touchdown passes.[20]

Personnel

Linemen
Player Position Games
started		 High school Height Weight Age
A. A. BakerGuard3175
J. R. BullockTackle3160
Sam BuieEnd4124
Jim CoarseyGuard3170
Neal StorterCenter45'11"17021
Joe SwansonEnd3
R. B. WilsonGuard3

Backfield
Player Position Games
started		 High school Height Weight Age
F. G. DavisFullback3
Bob ShacklefordQuarterback4
Dummy TaylorHalfback416520
Louis E. TenneyHalfback4155

Subs
Player Position Games
started		 High school Height Weight Age
HancockTackle3
Harvey HesterBack
S. W. LawlerBack and Line
J. A. MillerEnd
Hoyle PoundsBack and End1
Hubby PriceLine
A. G. ShandsQuarterback and End
John SuttonLine

[21]

Scoring leaders
Player Touchdowns Extra points Field goals Safeties Points
Dummy Taylor458049
Sam Buie10005
?600030
TOTAL1158084

Coaching staff

References
  1. 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  2. "1911".
  3. Pat Dooley (2013-09-01). "33. How the Gators Got Their Name". 100 Things Florida Fans Should Know & do Before They die: 33. ISBN 9781623682934.
  4. Carl Van Ness (2006). "The Cannon Incident of 1909". Florida: News for Alumni and Friends of the University of Florida: 7.
  5. Olivia Ormos (February 1, 2006). "Good Ol' Boys".
  6. Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker: Alachua
  7. "Stetson Weekly Collegiate, Vol. 24, No. 05, November 16, 1911 :: Central Florida Memory".
  8. "Florida Meets South Carolina". The Evening Chronicle. October 21, 1911. p. 9. Retrieved July 12, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Florida-Clemson game". The Tiger. 7 (3): 2. October 28, 1911.
  10. Carlson 2007, p. 17
  11. Carlson 2007, p. 14
  12. "Times Daily - Google News Archive Search".
  13. McEwen 1974, p. 46
  14. "Columbia College Meets Florida U." The Charlotte News. November 3, 1911. p. 13. Retrieved July 12, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. Carlson 2007, p. 12
  16. "Florida 21, Charleston 0". The Atlanta Constitution. December 1, 1911. p. 8. Retrieved July 12, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. The Seminole, 1912 approx p. 86
  18. "Sports: 100 things about 100 years of Gator football". Archived from the original on 2016-09-04.
  19. The Times-Union (September 1, 2006). "10 top 10 lists". Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  20. "Florida Gators History". Archived from the original on 2006-01-02.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  21. The Seminole, 1912 approx p. 84

Bibliography
  • Carlson, Norm (2007). University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators. Atlanta, Georgia: Whitman Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-0-7948-2298-9.
  • McEwen, Tom (1974). The Gators: A Story of Florida Football. Huntsville, Alabama: The Strode Publishers. ISBN 0-87397-025-X.
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