The Ultimate Road Trip

The year is 1899 and you're Sewanee football manager Luke Lea. You've just blown a huge payday because you and your counterpart over at Vanderbilt couldn't agree on the proper split of gate receipts for the upcoming contest. So now there won't be a Sewanee-Vandy game in '99. There goes most of your operating budget out the window. So what do you do?

ROAD TRIP!

Being a firm believer in the concept of "go big or go home" you decide to start sending out telegrams to various schools, trying to get some paying gigs for your squad and the new coach, Billy Suter. Coach Suter is awfully young having just graduated from Princeton the previous spring. But he was quite the star athlete when he played for the Tigers. Anyway, you've got a game scheduled against Texas in Austin but that's not your concern. Afterall, Sewanee beat Texas 4-0 in Austin in 1898 enroute to an undefeated season (hey, a 4-0 record is undefeated!). No the real worry is how to bring in some much-needed revenue.

Since you're already scheduled to ride that train all the way out to Austin anyway, why not pick up a few games on the way back?

BRILLIANT!

And that's how Sewanee, the defending Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association champion and mythical "Champion of the South," came up with the ultimate road trip.

Described by some football analysts as one of the best teams ever, the Sewanee team of 1899 is accorded that lofty ranking not just for its 12-0 record but for its mid-season train ride into history.

A remarkable five wins in six days - all on the road and against Southern powers - placed the 1899 Sewanee team in a class by itself.

With stars like Ormond Simpkins, Hank "Diddy" Seibels, Warbler Wilson, J.W. "Deacon" Jones and "Wild Bill" Claiborne leading the way, the boys from Sewanee (they wouldn't officially be called "Tigers" until 1904) picked up where they had left off in 1898. They opened the season on October 21 with a 12-0 win over Georgia. Sewanee then disposed of Georgia Tech (32-0) in Atlanta, Tennessee (48-0) and Southwestern College (54-0) at home for a 4-0 slate in 14 days.

Having already matched last season's total of four wins and no losses the Sewanee juggernaut boarded a train for Austin and immortality.

On Thursday, November 9, 1899, Sewanee recorded it's fifth consecutive shutout, blanking the University of Texas, 12-0. The following day the team arrived in College Station and posted a 10-0 win over Texas A & M. On Saturday, November 11, a stopover in New Orleans resulted in a 23-0 romp over Tulane. The team took the Lord's Day off and by Monday were in Baton Rouge to face LSU. The locals were no match for the visitors and Sewanee thrashed LSU, 34-0. On Tuesday the train rolled into Memphis for a game with Ole Miss. This fifth and final game of the trip wound up as a 12-0 victory for Sewanee. Not only had they survived the trip they dominated every team along the way.

For their final home game of the season the Iron Men of Sewanee annihilated poor Cumberland College, 71-0. Then it was down to Montgomery, Alabama, for a game with John Heisman's Auburn squad. Heisman was already well-regarded in collegiate football circles but he wasn't quite a legend yet. He did manage to make an impression on the Sewanee players, however. Although Sewanee defeated Auburn that day (November 30) Heisman's squad was the only one to put points on the board against Sewanee's Iron Men. The final score: Sewanee-11 and Auburn-10. The season came to a glorious close just a few days later when the Iron Men eked out a 5-0 win over the University of North Carolina in Atlanta.

And Luke Lea? Well, as it turned out, people forgot all about his little spat with Vanderbilt. All's well that ends well...













The undefeated Iron Men of Sewanee's 1899 team