m . n
A&M defense excels in third decade
Photo courtesy of Texas A&M University Archives
A&M’s running back in ’17, ’19 and ’20 Roswell G. “Lil’ Hig” Higginbotham (carrying the ball) gains some ground.
Aggies win four
SWC titles from
1914-1923
By Nick Georgandis
The Battalion
The Texas A&M football program
became a national force in the 1914-
1923 decade, twice putting together
perfect seasons and winning four of
the first seven Southwest Conference
championships.
In 1915, the Aggies became a part of
a major conference for the first time
along with the University of Texas, Ok
lahoma, Bay
lor, Arkansas,
Rice and Okla
homa A&M.
The 1915
season also
gave birth to
the infamous
name of UT’s
mascot. In
route to a 6-2
season, the Ag
gies knocked
off the Long
horns 13-0,
and after the
game, a group
of cadets
branded the
score on the
UT’s mascot.
To save face,
the Longhorns
added parts of
letters to the
By Nick Georgandis
The Battalion
The ten-year period of Texas A&M
football between 1924 and 1933 saw the
tail end of the Aggies’ mini-dynasty un
der great coach D.X. Bible.
The Aggies won the Southwest Con
ference championship in both 1925 and
1927, then dropped off into a up-and-
down pattern that lasted until their na
tional championship season in 1939.
Bible departed A&M after the 1928
season, but returned to haunt the Ag
gies many times when he coached the
University of Texas from 1937-46.
When he left, Bible had put together a
72-19-8 record (.768 winning percent
age), winning five SWC championships
in 11 seasons.
In their 1925 championship season,
the Aggies continued to do what they
did best under Bible, play almost per
fect defense. Only one team (Trinity)
scored in double digits against the Ag
gies, as A&M rolled to a 7-1-1 record,
the only loss coming at the hands of
Texas Christian, 3-0.
The following year, A&M dropped to
5-3-1, but in a 63-0 route of New Mexi
co, running back Jelly Woodman turned
in one of the greatest individual perfor
brand, and “Bevo” was bom.
In 1917, the Aggies won their first
ever SWC championship, and it was not
even close.
The Aggie defense never allowed a
point in any of their eight victories,
while the offense rolled up an average of
34 points per game. Of the 11 players
on the All-Conference team (selected by
the coaches of the conference), five were
Aggies, including end Tim Griesenbeck,
tackle Ox Ford, guard E.S. Wilson, and
backs Rip Collins and Jack Mahan.
Amazingly, just two years later, the
Aggies were even better. Again, the Ag
gie defense held their opposition score
less, this time going 10-0, and running
up 275 points of their own.
The stunning teams of 1917 and
1919 were both the work of head coach
mances in the history of college foot
ball. Woodman scored seven touch
downs, one short of the Division I
record, and accounted for 44 of the Ag
gies’ 63 points. Both of Woodman’s
records still stand today.
The 1927
campaign was
the Aggies’
last hurrah
under Bible,
as they
cruised to an
8-0-1 record,
the lone blem
ish coming in
a 0-0 tie with
TCU. That
Aggie team
was led by
outstanding
quarterback
Joel Hunt,
who set an
A&M record
with 128
points scored
and 19 touch
downs. Hunt
was an All-
SWC per-
D.X. Bible, who also coached A&M
from 1920-1928. He did not coach the
team in 1918, but during Bible’s first
25 games as head coach, the Aggies
compiled a 24-0-1 record while outscor-
ing their opponents by the nearly im
possible total of 761-0.
The unbelievable streak was broken
by the University of Texas in the final
game of the 1920 season, as the Long
horns upset the Aggies 7-3. During
their 1920 season, the Aggies set two
still-standing records when they de
stroyed Daniel Baker 110-0, achieving
school marks for most points scored in a
game and largest margin of victory.
The following season, 1921, gave way
to two A&M firsts and the birth of one of
the most storied traditions in all of col
lege sports.
into 20s
former that year, and led the nation in
points scored per game with 14.2.
Hunt’s touchdown mark was tied by
running back Darren Lewis in 1990.
Hunt was especially outstanding in
the Aggies’ 39-13 defeat of Southern
Methodist. He accounted for four
touchdowns and picked off four Mus
tang passes, still an A&M single game
record.
In the same season against
Arkansas, Hunt returned a kick-off 97
yard for a touchdown, the fifth longest
return in Aggie history, as part of
A&M’s 40-6 rout of the Razorbacks.
The rest of the decade was very aver
age for A&M, but a particular incident
in the 1931 season spawned a great Ag
gie tradition. Following a 26-6 win at
Rice, a group of cadets hit a small stray
dog with their car and brought it back
with them to their dorm.
When the dog began barking at the
sound of ‘Reveille’ the next morning,
the cadets quickly christened it as
such. A week later, Reveille was at the
head of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie band
at the beginning of its halftime perfor
mance, as the Aggies concluded a 7-3
season by squeaking past Texas, 7-6 at
Kyle Field.
On November 24, as A&M and UT
battled on Thanksgiving Day, a group of
A&M students produced the first live ra
dio broadcast of a college football game,
using only a transmitting key, a pair of
headphones and about half a mile of
transmission wire.
After winning the SWC championship
again that season, the Aggies participat
ed in their first-ever bowl game, defeat
ing Centre College 22-14 in the Dixie
Classic at Dallas.
During the game, Bible made a call
to the press box where he requested
one of the team’s spotters to suit up in
case the injury-depleted Aggies should
need him. Although he never got into
a game, E. King Gill stood on the side
line for the entire game and became
the first 12th Man.
National Champs
Continued from Page 2
the entire coaching staff proved to be a
big plus for the team.
“Bill James, who coached the line,
taught me things that no one else would
have been able to teach at that time,”
Boyd said. “To play for Texas A&M and
my coaches was my life. If they had told
me to run into a brick wall, I would
have.”
Although sportswriters across the
country agreed the Aggies were the top
team in the nation, some other teams
didn’t agree.
“There were a lot of teams hollering
that they were better than us, so we
would send them letters inviting them
down here to play,” Thomason said. “We
told them we would meet them on the
practice field with no fans in the stands,
and they could have their shot. We never
heard back from any of them, though.”
The dedication of the Aggies, combined
with their love for the sport and the skills
of some talented players, led A&M to the
top of the national rankings, a place
where other A&M teams have aspired to
reach since that time.
“We had a lot of good athletes,” C.
Walemon ‘Cotton’ Price, A&M’s quarter
back, said. “We had a good group of boys,
kind of like they have down at A&M right
now.”
The Decade
in Review
Decade record: 64-16-5
(.782)
Best record: 10-0 (1919)
Worst record: 5-4 (1922)
SWC Championships:
1917,1919, 1920
Highlights: No points
allowed in 1917 and
1919.
Aggies, Hunt roar
The Decade
in Review
Decade record: 56-31-8
(.632)
Best record: 8-0-1 (1927)
Worst record: 4-4-2
(1932)
SWC Championships:
1925, 1927
Highlights: A&M gets
Reveille