The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football program represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in American football. The team competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level of the NCAA. Georgia Tech has fielded a team since 1892 and holds an all-time record of 773–550–43. The Yellow Jackets play at the historic Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field in Atlanta, Georgia. The Yellow Jackets claim four national championships across four decades. The program has also won 16 conference titles.
Among the team's former coaches are John Heisman, for whom the Heisman Trophy is named, and Bobby Dodd, for whom the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award and the school's stadium are named. Heisman coached the team that won the most lopsided game in football history (222–0), guided Georgia Tech to an undefeated 12–0–1 record in the Georgia Tech–Clemson football rivalry, and led the Jackets to a national championship. Dodd also led the Jackets to a national championship and oversaw their longest winning streak against the Georgia Bulldogs—8 straight games—in Tech's longest-running rivalry, called Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate (COFH).
In the 21st century, Georgia Tech has played in the ACC Championship Game four times: 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2014.
A number of successful collegiate and professional football players have played for Tech. The program has produced 48 first-team All-Americans and over 150 alumni who have played in the NFL. Some of the most notable players the school has produced are Calvin Johnson, Maxie Baughan, Demaryius Thomas, Keith Brooking, Joe Hamilton, Joe Guyon, Pat Swilling and Billy Shaw.
History
Early history (1892–1944)
Tech began its football program with several students forming a loose-knit troop of footballers called the Blacksmiths. On November 5, 1892, Tech played its first football game against Mercer University. The team lost to Mercer 12–6 in Macon, Georgia. Tech played two other games during their first season and lost both of them for a season record of 0–3. Discouraged by these results, the Blacksmiths sought a coach to improve their record. Leonard Wood, an Army officer and Atlantan, heard of Tech's football struggles and volunteered to player-coach the team. Over the span of 1892–1903, Tech only won 8 games, tied in 5, and lost 32. In 1893, Tech played against the University of Georgia for the first time. Tech defeated Georgia 28–6 for the school's first-ever victory. The angry Georgia fans threw stones and other debris at the Tech players during and after the game. The poor treatment of the Blacksmiths by the Georgia faithful gave birth to the rivalry now known as Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. In 1902, Jesse Thrash was the team's first All-Southern selection. He began the season as a sub and closed it as the undisputed star of the Tech team.
Oliver Jones Huie was selected by Ga Tech's athletic association to coach the football team for the 1903 season when the team won 3 and lost 5 games. A professional coach was desperately needed if Tech wished to build a truly competitive football program. The first game of the 1903 season was a 73–0 destruction at the hands of John Heisman's Clemson; shortly after the season, Tech offered Heisman a coaching position.
John Heisman put together 16 consecutive non-losing seasons, amassed 104 wins, including three undefeated campaigns and a 32-game undefeated streak. From 1915 to 1918 Georgia Tech went 30–1–2 and outscored opponents 1611–93 utilizing his jump shift offense. He would also muster a 5-game winning streak against the hated Georgia Bulldogs from 1904 to 1908 before incidents led up to the cutting of athletic ties with Georgia in 1919. Heisman was hired by Tech for $2,250 a year and 30% of the home ticket sales. Heisman would not disappoint the Tech faithful as his first season was an 8–1–1 performance, the first winning season since 1893. One source relates: "The real feature of the season was the marvelus advance made by the Georgia School of Technology which burst from fetters that kept it in the lowest class for ten years."
His team posted victories over Georgia, Tennessee, University of Florida at Lake City, and Cumberland, and a tie with his last employer, Clemson. He suffered just one loss, to another first year coach, Mike Donahue of Auburn. The 1905 team went 6–0–1. The 1906 team beat Auburn for the first time. Stars of this early period for Tech include Lob Brown and Billy Wilson. The 1907 and 1908 teams were led by "Twenty Percent" Davis. Pat Patterson was All-Southern in 1910. Patterson was captain in 1911, a season in which future coach William Alexander was a reserve quarterback. Heisman helped students construct Grant Field in 1913, when Alf McDonald was quarterback. The 1915 team went undefeated.
Arguably the most notable game of Heisman's career was the most lopsided victory in college football history. In 1916, Cumberland College ended its football program and attempted to cancel a scheduled game with Heisman's Jackets. Heisman, however, was seeking vengeance for a 22–0 baseball loss to Cumberland in the spring of 1916, a game in which Heisman suspected Cumberland of hiring professional players to pose as Cumberland students. Heisman refused the game's cancellation and Cumberland mustered up a group of commonfolk to play Tech. Tech won 222–0. Neither team achieved a first down other than a touchdown, as Cumberland either punted or turned the ball over before a first down and Tech scored on almost every play from scrimmage. Jim Preas, Tech's kicker, kicked 16 point after tries, which is still a record for a single game.
In 1917 Tech won its first national championship behind the backfield of Everett Strupper, Joe Guyon, Al Hill, and Judy Harlan. It was the first national title for a Southern team, and for many years the "Golden Tornado" was considered the finest team the region ever produced. Strupper and captain Walker Carpenter were the first two players from the Deep South ever selected first-team All-American. Heisman challenged Pop Warner's undefeated Pittsburgh team to a decisive national championship game, but he declined. In the next season of 1918, Tech lost a lopsided game to Pitt 32–0. Center Bum Day became the first player from the south selected for Walter Camp's first team. In 1919, Auburn upset Tech for the SIAA crown. By 1919, Heisman had divorced his wife and felt that he would embarrass his wife socially if he remained in Atlanta. Heisman moved to Pennsylvania, leaving Tech in the hands of William Alexander.
William Alexander had attended Georgia Tech and after graduating as valedictorian of his class in 1912, taught mathematics at Tech and served as Heisman's assistant coach. In 1920, he was given the job of head coaching Tech's football team. Alexander retained Heisman's 'jump shift' offense, and in his first season he saw Tech win an SIAA title behind captain Buck Flowers, the first Georgia Tech player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Tech suffered its only loss again to Warner's Pitt, and finished the season with a win over rival Auburn. Tackle Bill Fincher made Camp's first team All-America.
The 1921 and 1922 teams also claimed SIAA titles. The 1921 team suffered its only loss to undefeated, eastern power Penn State. Tech was captained by fullback Judy Harlan. Future Tech fullback Sam Murray was asked about a certain strong runner in the 1930s, "He's good. But if I were playing again, I would have one wish – never to see bearing down upon me a more fearsome picture of power than Judy Harlan blocking for Red Barron." Barron ran for 1,459 yards on the season.
From 1923 to 1925, though Tech failed to claim a conference title, it had one of its best-ever players: fullback Doug Wycoff, "the outstanding back of the South for the past two years." Coach Alexander recalled "The work of Douglas Wycoff against Notre Dame two years in succession was brilliant in the extreme, as was his plunging against Penn. State when we defeated them twice." Tech and UGA renewed their annual rivalry game in 1925 after an eight-year hiatus. Quarterback Ike Armstrong thought the game clock read five seconds remaining in the game when in actuality it was five minutes. Williams set up his offense for a field goal and kicked it to put Tech up 3–0 on first down. Luckily for Williams, Tech won 3–0.
In 1927, Alexander instituted "the Plan." Georgia was highly rated to start the 1927 season, known as the "dream and wonder team", and justified their rating throughout the season going 9–0 in their first 9 games. Alexander's plan was to minimize injuries by benching his starters early no matter the score of every game before the UGA finale. On December 3, 1927, UGA rolled into Atlanta on the cusp of a national and conference title. Tech's well rested starters were helped by the rain and shut out the Bulldogs 12–0, ending any chance of UGA's first national title, while netting the SIAA title.
Alexander's 1928 team amassed a perfect record and won the school's second national title. The team was led at center by captain Peter Pund and upset Notre Dame. "I sat at Grant Field and saw a magnificent Notre Dame team suddenly recoil before the furious pounding of one man–Pund, center", said legendary coach Knute Rockne. "Nobody could stop him. I counted 20 scoring plays that this man ruined." The 1928 team was also the very first Tech team to attend a bowl game. The team was invited to the Rose Bowl to play California. The game was a defensive struggle, with the first points scored after a Georgia Tech fumble. The loose ball was scooped up by California center Roy Riegels and then accidentally returned in the wrong direction. Riegels returned the ball all the way to California's 3-yard line. After Riegels was finally stopped by his own teammate at the 1-yard line, he was swarmed by a group of Tech players. The Bears opted to punt from the end zone. The punt was blocked and converted by Tech into a safety giving Tech a 2–0 lead. Cal scored a touchdown and a point after but Tech would score another touchdown to win the game 8–7. This victory made Tech the 10–0 undefeated national champion of 1928. Coach Alexander found campus spirit to be particularly low during the Great Depression. His football program (and the other athletic teams) had very few student fans attending the games. He helped to establish a spirit organization known as the Yellow Jacket Club in 1930 to bolster student spirit. The group would later become the Ramblin' Reck Club. Georgia Tech football declined following the 1928 championship, and did not post another winning record until 1937. The 1939 team was SEC co-champion. The only retired jersey in Georgia Tech football history is No. 19. The number belonged to Tech halfback Clint Castleberry. Castleberry played on the No. 5 ranked 1942 Tech team as a true freshman and was third place in the 1942 Heisman Trophy voting. After ending his freshman year at Tech, Castleberry elected to join the war effort and signed up for the Army Air Corps. While co-piloting a Martin B-26 Marauder over Africa, Castleberry, his crew, and another B-26 disappeared and were never heard from again. Castleberry has been memorialized on Grant Field ever since, with a prominent No. 19 on display in the stadium. The 1943 and 1944 teams won SEC titles. Coach Alexander finally retired in 1944 after winning 134 games as head coach and taking Tech to the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl Classic, and Sugar Bowl. To this day, Alexander has the second most victories of any Tech football coach. The record for most coaching victories in Tech history is still held by Alexander's then coordinator and eventual successor Bobby Dodd.
Bobby Dodd era (1945–1966)