1.
Clemson Tigers football
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The Clemson Tigers, known traditionally as the Clemson University Fighting Tigers, represents Clemson University in the sport of American football. The Tigers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the team is known for its storied history, military academy origins, distinctive helmet, fight song and colors, as well as the many traditions associated with the school. The Tigers most recent ACC championships came back-to-back in 2015 and 2016, the latter with a 12-1 regular season, the Tigers have 41 bowl appearances,18 of which are among the New Years Six Bowls, including 2 during the BCS big four era. Clemson has finished in the Final Top 25 rankings 31 times in the modern era, the Tigers play their home games in Memorial Stadium on the universitys Clemson, South Carolina campus. The stadium is known as Death Valley after a Presbyterian College head coach gave it the moniker in 1948 due to the many defeats his teams suffered there. Currently, it is the 16th largest stadium in college football, Clemsons streak of six consecutive 10 win seasons ranks 2nd in active streaks behind the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Tigers have had 13 total seasons with 10 wins or more, Walter Merritt Riggs can be characterized as the Father of Clemson Football, as he brought the game with him from Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama. The fact that Auburn and Clemson share the same mascot is no accident, Riggs allowed his players to pick the team mascot and, although he may have influenced their decision, the players chose Tigers because Princeton University had just won the national championship. Riggs helped organize and coach the infant Tiger team in 1896, with little money to spend on uniforms, Riggs brought some of Auburns old practice uniforms with him, which happened to have orange and navy jerseys. Because the jerseys had gone through a few washboard scrubbings, they were quite faded, so Riggs made the schools predominant color orange and the faded condition of the navy became the purplish color, officially known today as Regalia. The team played as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, when the Tigers traveled to Greenville on Halloween to play Furman in their very first match, only Coach Riggs and backfield player Frank Thompkins had ever seen a football game played. Today in Clemson, the field is named Historic Riggs field after Walter Riggs. Riggs took the team to a 2–1 record in the inaugural year and he then stepped aside at the urging of the military cadets/students, who felt that he should concentrate on his scholastic duties rather than coach the team for free. William M. Williams coached the Tigers in 1897, guiding them to a 2–2 record, the team beat South Carolina for the first time and was state champion. In 1898, John Penton led the Tigers to a 3–1 record, Riggs overall record of 6–3 gives him a.667 winning percentage. He served until his death on January 22,1924 while on a trip to Washington. Riggs hired John Heisman to coach Clemson, Heisman stayed only four years at Clemson, where he compiled a record of 19–3–2, an.833 percentage, the best in Clemson football history. In four seasons, he had three SIAA titles, the season had various other firsts, including the schools first defeat of the Georgia Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide
2.
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
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The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS football programs were members of this conference at some point, the SIAA was founded on December 21,1894, by Dr. William Dudley, a chemistry professor at Vanderbilt, at the Kimball House in Atlanta. Dudley was a member of the Vanderbilt Athletic Association, formed in 1886 with Dr. W. M. Baskerville as president, most students at Vanderbilt were members. The early sports played on the Vanderbilt campus were baseball, bicycling, Dudley was primarily responsible for the formation of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Sewanees opposition stopped it from occurring, the original members were Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Johns Hopkins, North Carolina, Sewanee, Vanderbilt, and Virginia. Virginia and North Carolina soon dropped before the inaugural 1895 season, the conference was originally formed for the development and purification of college athletics throughout the South. In 1903, a single-game football playoff occurred, but it seems to have been coordinated more so by the two competing schools than the conference itself, several other efforts over the years by individual schools to hold a conference title game fell through. Most SIAA titles claimed by schools in sports were actually more mythical in nature than officially sanctioned by the league. In 1915, a disagreement arose within the conference regarding the eligibility of freshman athletes, generally, the larger universities opposed the eligibility of freshman players, while the smaller schools favored it. As a result, some of the universities formed the Southern Intercollegiate Conference. At the conferences annual meeting on December 10,1920, the SIAA rejected proposals to ban freshman athletes, in protest, some schools that had voted in favor of the propositions immediately announced they would seek to form a new conference. In 1922, the Southern Conference underwent an expansion and added six more members, all at the expense of the SIAA, Florida, Louisiana State, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane, and Vanderbilt. With the departure of most of the colleges, the SIAA became a de facto small college conference in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s, the SIAA increased its membership with the addition of additional small universities. The conference eventually disbanded in 1942 with the onset of American involvement in World War II, original charter members are denoted in boldface. Invited charter members are denoted with an asterisk, in the era in which the SIAA operated, teams tended to join in December, therefore, the first year of conference play in a given sport was often the following calendar year. Conference affiliations reflect those for the 2016–17 school year
3.
Bob Williams (coach)
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Charles Robert Bob Williams was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. Williams coached at South Carolina, Davidson, Clemson, and Virginia Tech, a 1902 graduate of the University of Virginia, Williams served as the Gamecocks mentor for two seasons,1902 and 1903, achieving 6–1 and 8–2 records. In 1902, he oversaw an upset of the rival Clemson Tigers and this was the only game lost by the Tigers that year. From 1904 to 1905 he coached at Davidson, where he compiled a 9–4–1 record, Williams came to Clemson in 1906. The Tigers went undefeated with a 4–0–3 record, with wins over Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, clemsons first forward pass took place on November 29,1906, during the game with Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Left End Powell Lykes, dropped back to kick, but lobbed a 30-yard pass to George Warren instead, Williams left for Virginia Tech for the 1907 season, leading them to a 7–2 record. Williams then returned to Clemson in 1909, the 1909 season was notable for the resumption of the Clemson-Carolina rivalry after a five-year gap, caused by a near riot in October 1903. The Tigers enjoyed a 6–3 season under Williams guidance and defeated the Gamecocks, 6–0, Williams was replaced by Frank Dobson in 1910 who had a three-year run at the school, the first coach to actually have a signed contract. With Dobsons departure after the 1912 season, Williams returned for the time to the Clemson head coaching position. He, too, would serve for three years, 1913–1915, the Tigers produced records of 4–4 in 1913, 5–3–1 in 1914, and 2–4–2 in 1915. In the 41 games that Williams coached in five seasons, he went 21–14–6, between the years of 1915 and 1926, Williams practiced law in Roanoke, Virginia, and was the citys mayor. He returned to coach Clemson for the final 5 games of 1926 and he died after a stroke in DeLand, Florida in 1957. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011, gaillard, Luther, Clemson Handbook, The Wichita Eagle and Beacon Publishing Co. Wichita, Kansas,1996, pages 9–10, ISBN 1-880652-84-6, sahadi, Lou, The Clemson Tigers - From 1896 to Glory, William Morrow and Company, Inc. New York,1983, page 17, ISBN 0-688-02164-6, Bob Williams at the College Football Data Warehouse
4.
Riggs Field
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Riggs Field is a 6, 500-capacity soccer-specific stadium located in Clemson, South Carolina. The stadium is home to the Clemson Tigers mens and womens soccer teams and it has also hosted the NCAA Mens Soccer Championship in 1987. The stadium opened for soccer in 1980, and was renovated in 1987, previous to this, it hosted a variety of the schools athletic teams, including the football team from 1915 until 1941 and the baseball team from 1916 until 1969. It is named after Walter Riggs, the coach of the football team. Riggs Field is the fifth oldest collegiate athletic facility in the nation, a new baseball field was later laid out on an area of campus separate from the previous sports complex, and expanded tennis facilities replaced the former diamond. Riggs Field now generally refers to the eastern portion where the football team played until 1941. The cinder track was eliminated during the remodeling as a soccer venue and it is now referred to as Historic Riggs Field. On October 2,1915, The Gala Day was declared for the dedication of the new athletic grounds, Riggs Field was dedicated prior to the football game with Davidson College. A parade to the formed in front of the main building at 3 p. m. led, in this order, by the Cadet Band, speakers, Athletic Council, Alumni, faculty. Upon entering Riggs Field, the took a C formation and poured forth a thrilling volume of patriotic Tiger yells. Presentation of the field to the Corps of Cadets by Dr. Walter Merritt Riggs followed. Prof. J. W. Gantt, President of the Athletic Association, introduced Dr. Riggs as the man who has more for the athletics at Clemson. It is to be a place for the teaching of the principles of team work, on the crest of the hill stands the main Building which represents the intellectual side of life. In the immediate fore-ground we see the Textile Building, here the brain and hand are trained to work together. Just to our left is the magnificent new Y. M. C. A. Building, standing for the development of spirit, mind, in the immediate vicinity back of us are the churches, which are agents in the influencing of our spiritual natures. Prof. Gantt introduces Mr. H. C, Tillman, Class of 1903 and President of the Clemson Alumni Association, who then christens the new playing field. Stated Tillman, Students who have been and are to be, no matter how much we love other things, therefore, this field should be named for him who has done most for our athletics. Dr. Riggs is not only the father of athletics at Clemson but has coached our teams and it is not alone for gratitude, but for a sense of love and esteem that we name this field
5.
1915 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
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The 1915 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 1915 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. Dan McGugin served his 12th season as the Commodores head coach, Vanderbilt was a member of the SIAA. Several notable players featured on the team, McGugin built his 1915 squad around a 130-pound junior quarterback Irby Rabbit Curry. In the line was sophomore tackle Josh Cody, a tackler and dominating blocker. Cody was selected third-team All-America by Walter Camp, the teams captain was end Russ Cohen. The outlook for the upcoming 1915 Vanderbilt football season was not promising, the Commodores were coming off a losing record of 2–8, the first under head coach Dan McGugin, and the second in the schools 25 years of playing football. Additionally, only 10 experienced players from the year were returning to the team. Despite the one-platoon system with players featuring on offense, defense, and special teams used in 1915, coach McGugin was assisted by doctor and former Vanderbilt athlete Owsley Manier. Using conventional football, Vanderbilt opened the season with a win over Middle Tennessee Normal 51–0. Coach McGugin sent in his substitutes at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the starting lineup was Richardson, Cody, Reyer, Williams, Putnam, Lipscomb, Cohen, Curry, Zerfoss, Wiggs, and King. In the second week of play, Vanderbilt defeated Southwestern 47–0 on a slippery field, all points were scored in the first half. Vanderbilt beat the Georgetown Tigers 75–0, the Commodores racked up 11 touchdowns and 8 field goals, its largest score in three years. Dough Ray scored four times and Hubert Wiggs three times, the starting lineup was Williams, Cody, Hamilton, Reyer, Lipscomb, Putnam, Hayes, Curry, Friel, Zerfoss, and Wiggs. With four players out due to injury, the Commodores still managed to defeat the Cumberland Bulldogs 60–0 in a drizzling rain, Alf Adams stood out on defense. The starting lineup was Chester, Cody, Williams, Reyer, Hamilton, Lipscomb, Richardson, Roach, Floyd, Ray, the Rabbit Curry ran for a 40-yard touchdown with the game barely a minute old, and later had a 40-yard punt return for a touchdown. Sarah Turner had an 80-yard run, and a 60-yard end run for a score in the third quarter, tommy Ridley ran 60 yards on a fake punt. Catching Henderson-Brown exhausted, John Jarrett returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, Chester, Cody, Hamilton, Reyer, Williams, Lipscomb, Cohen, Curry, Floyd, Ray, and Wiggs. Against Mississippi, the team traveled by train from Nashville to Memphis, Tennessee, the train was halted near Dickson by a wreck ahead of it, and the players complained about the lack of food on the train
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