American college football season
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The 1917 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football team represented the Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly known as Georgia Tech) in American football during the 1917 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. The Golden Tornado, coached by John Heisman in his 14th year as head coach, compiled a 9–0 record (4–0 SIAA) and outscored opponents 491 to 17 on the way to its first national championship. Heisman considered the 1917 team his best, and for many years it was considered "the greatest football team the South had ever produced". The team was later named national champion by the Billingsley Report, Helms Athletic Foundation, Houlgate System, and National Championship Foundation.
The backfield of Albert Hill, Everett Strupper, Joe Guyon, and Judy Harlan led the Golden Tornado, and all four rushed for more than 100 yards in a 48–0 victory over Tulane. During the regular season Georgia Tech defeated strong opponents by large margins, and its 41–0 victory over eastern power Penn shocked many. Davidson, with Buck Flowers (a future Tech star), was defeated 32–10. Tech's 83–0 victory over Vanderbilt is the worst loss in Vanderbilt history, and its 63–0 defeat of Washington and Lee was the worst loss in W&amp;L history at the time. Tech finished the season by defeating Auburn 68–7, clinching the conference title. Davidson and Auburn were the only teams to score points against Georgia Tech.
Before the season.
Because of the American entry into World War I in April, several SIAA schools did not field football teams. However, Georgia Tech had an increasing enrollment and bright prospects for its football team after its undefeated 1916 season. Losses from the previous season's team included guard Bob Lang and fullback Tommy Spence.
In 1917 football used a one-platoon system, in which players played both offense and defense. Fifteen of the 21 players on the 1917 roster were from the state of Georgia, and 10 of its 11 starters came from Georgia high schools. The team's captain was tackle Walker "Big Six" Carpenter. Its renowned backfield consisted of quarterback Al Hill, halfback Everett Strupper, halfback Joe Guyon, and freshman fullback Judy Harlan.
Coach John Heisman's swift backfield used the pre-snap movement of his "jump shift" offense, and Al Hill led the team in carries. Ev Strupper, arguably the best of the four, was partially deaf; because of his deafness, he called the signals instead of the team's quarterback. When "Strupe" tried out for the team, he noticed that the quarterback shouted the signals every time he was to carry the ball. Realizing that the loud signals would be a tip-off to the opposition, Strupper told Heisman: "Coach, those loud signals are absolutely unnecessary. You see when sickness in my kid days brought on this deafness my folks gave me the best instructors obtainable to teach me lip-reading." Heisman recalled how Strupper overcame his deafness: "He couldn't hear anything but a regular shout. But he could read your lips like a flash. No lad that ever stepped on a football field had keener eyes than Everett had. The enemy found this out the minute he began looking for openings through which to run the ball."
Joe Guyon, the team's best passer, was a Chippewa Indian who was born on the White Earth Indian Reservation; his brother, Charles "Wahoo" Guyon, was the assistant coach. Guyon had played for Pop Warner at Carlisle, and had to sit out the 1916 season in accordance with conference transfer rules. He ran through (and over) opponents, in contrast to Strupper's dodging style. Judy Harlan said about Guyon, "Once in a while the Indian would come out in Joe, such as the nights Heisman gave us a white football and had us working out under the lights. That's when Guyon would give out the blood curdling war whoops."
Notes.
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Endnotes.
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