1920 Tulane Green Wave football team

The 1920 Tulane Green Wave football team represented the Tulane Green Wave of the Tulane University during the 1920 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. The 1920 team tied for the SIAA championship with Georgia and Georgia Tech, and was the first called the "Green Wave", after a song titled "The Rolling Green Wave".[2]

1920 Tulane Green Wave football
SIAA co-champion
Conference	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
1920 record	6–2–1 (5–0 SIAA)
Head coach	Clark Shaughnessy (6th season)
Offensive scheme	Single wing
Captain	John Wight
Home stadium	Second Tulane Stadium (Capacity: 11,000)[1]

1920 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Georgia +	7	–	0	–	0			8	–	0	–	1
Tulane +	5	–	0	–	0			6	–	2	–	1
Georgia Tech +	4	–	0	–	0			8	–	1	–	0
Alabama	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
Centre	4	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Furman	3	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
South Carolina	3	–	1	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Tennessee	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Auburn	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Mississippi A&M	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Sewanee	3	–	3	–	1			4	–	3	–	1
Vanderbilt	3	–	3	–	0			4	–	3	–	1
Transylvania	2	–	2	–	0			3	–	4	–	0
Howard (AL)	2	–	3	–	0			3	–	5	–	1
Mississippi College	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	5	–	0
Florida	1	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Clemson	2	–	6	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
LSU	1	–	3	–	0			5	–	3	–	1
Chattanooga	1	–	3	–	0			3	–	4	–	1
The Citadel	1	–	4	–	0			2	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	0	–	2	–	0			4	–	3	–	0
Kentucky	0	–	3	–	1			3	–	4	–	1
Georgetown (KY)	0	–	2	–	0			0	–	3	–	0
Millsaps	0	–	3	–	0			0	–	3	–	0
Mercer	0	–	4	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Wofford	0	–	4	–	0			0	–	8	–	1
+ – Conference co-champions

Before the season

In the prior year of 1919, coach Clark Shaughnessy guided Tulane to a then-school record of seven consecutive wins,[3] and had transformed Tulane into a competitor among Southern collegiate teams.[4]

Though he was famous for later using the T formation, at Tulane Shaughnessy employed the single wing. Shaughnessy also introduced to Tulane the Minnesota shift, an innovation created by his former coach Henry L. Williams.[5]

Germany Schulz was hired to take over duties as athletic director.[6]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
October 2	Southwestern Louisiana*	New Orleans, LA	W 79–0
October 9	Mississippi College	New Orleans, LA	W 29–0
October 16	Rice*	Heinemann Park New Orleans, LA	T 0–0
October 23	at Ole Miss	Oxford, MS (rivalry)	W 32–0
October 30	at Michigan*	Ferry Field Ann Arbor, MI	L 21–0
November 6	at Florida	Plant Field Tampa, FL	W 14–0
November 13	Mississippi A&M	New Orleans, LA	W 6–0
November 25	at LSU	Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	W 21–0
December 4	Detroit*	New Orleans, LA	L 7–0
*Non-conference game

[7]

Season summary

Southwestern Louisiana

The season opened with a 79–0 victory over Southwestern Louisiana. One full quarter was played by the substitutes.[8]

Mississippi College

The Mississippi College Choctaws and Goat Hale fell to Tulane 29–0.[8]

Rice

Rice at Tulane

1 2 3 4 Total Rice 0 0 0 0 0 Tulane 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 16 Location: Heinemann Park New Orleans, LA Sources:[8]

The Rice Owls fought Tulane to a scoreless tie in a game shifted to Heinemann Park.[8]

On Oct. 20, 1920, Earl Sparling, the editor of the Tulane Hullabaloo, wrote a football song which was printed in the newspaper. The song was titled "The Rolling Green Wave." Although the name was not immediately adopted, it began to receive acceptance.[9]

Mississippi

Tulane beat Mississippi 32–0. Coach Shaughnessy introduced a new shift in the first half, and the players had trouble implementing it.[8] By the second period, Tulane played conventional football instead.[8]

Michigan

The season's first loss was 21–0 to the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor,[10] succumbing to the northern foes by the second half.[8]

Florida

Tulane at Florida

1 2 3 4 Total • Tulane 0 0 7 7 14 Florida 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 11 Location: Plant Field Tampa, FL Referee: Ham Dowling Sources:[11]

In Tampa, Tulane beat the Florida Gators 14–0.[8] Florida's Tootie Perry played one of the best games seen in Tampa.[11] Dwyer went over right tackle for the first touchdown. After B. Brown cut loose for a 30-yard run, Richcoon scored the last.[11]

The starting lineup was Beaulau (left end), Unsworth (left tackle), Fitz (left guard), Reed (center), Killinger (right guard), Payne (right tackle), Wight (right end), Richeson (quarterback), Dwyer (left halfback), Brown (right halfback), McGraw (fullback).[12]

Mississippi A&M

In what the yearbook called "the critical game of the season,"[8] Tulane won 6–0 over the Mississippi Aggies.

LSU

Tulane triumphed 21–0 over rival LSU.[8] The starting lineup was Wiegand (left end), Payne (left tackle), Fitz (left guard), Reed (center), Unsworth (right guard), Beallieu (right tackle), Wight (right end), Richeson (quarterback), Dwyer (left halfback), Brown (right halfback), Smith (fullback).[13]

Detroit

Detroit at Tulane

1 2 3 4 Total • Detroit 7 0 0 0 7 Tulane 0 0 0 0 0 Date: December 4 Location: New Orleans, LA Referee: Walter Eckersall Sources:[14]

On a muddy field, the Detroit Titans beat Tulane 7–0. Detroit opened up with passes early, leading to Lauer's off tackle touchdown.[14] The starting lineup was Smith (left end), Payne (left tackle), Unsworth (left guard), Reed (center), Palermo (right guard), Fitz (right tackle), Wight (right end), Richeson (quarterback), Brown (left halfback), Dwyer (right halfback), Beaullieu (fullback).[14]

Players

Line

Player	Position	Games started	Hometown	Prep school	Height	Weight	Age
Gaston Beaullieu	end
Fits Fitz	guard
Killinger	guard
Palermo	tackle
Virgil Payne	tackle
Eddie Reed	center		New Orleans, Louisiana	Spring Hill College
Bennie Smith	end and fullback
Johnny Unsworth	tackle
Bob Wiegand	end
Dicky Wight	end
Johnny Wight	right end

Backfield

Player	Position	Games started	Hometown	Prep school	Height	Weight	Age
Bennie Brown	right halfback
Bill Dwyer	halfback
Mal Maloney	quarter and fullback
Forres McGraw	fullback
Pinkie Nagle	halfback
Harold Quinn	quarter and fullback
Lyle Richeson	quarterback

[8]

References

1. Ryan Whirty (2012-06-26). "The History of Tulane Stadium(s)". Gambit Magazine. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-06-19. Retrieved 2016-05-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. Tulane Football History Archived 2016-03-31 at the Wayback Machine, Tulane University, retrieved August 15, 2010.
4. Leonard Victor Huber, New Orleans: A Pictorial History, p. 258, Pelican Publishing, 1991, ISBN 0-88289-868-X.
5. Dawson's Tulane System Designed For Super-Power, The Palm Beach Post, December 17, 1939.
6. "GERMAN" SCHULZ NAMED DIRECTOR TULANE SPORTS, The Atlanta Constitution, July 25, 1920.
7. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/tulane/1920-schedule.html
8. Jambalaya, 1921
9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2016-05-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-12-29. Retrieved 2016-05-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
11. "'Gators Put Up Strong Fight Against Tulane". The Florida Alligator. 19 (17). November 12, 1920.
12. "'Gators Trimmed By Tulane". The Atlanta Constitution. November 7, 1920. p. 2. Retrieved July 23, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
13. Woodruff 1928, p. 139
14. "Detroit Defeats Tulane". The Atlanta Constitution. December 5, 1920. p. 3. Retrieved May 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.

• Woodruff, Fuzzy (1928). A History of Southern Football 1890–1928. 2.