The first thought when I heard Chattanooga had added Cumberland College to its football schedule for 2008 was, “Isn’t that the school that lost 222-0 to Georgia Tech back in 1916?"Sure enough, same Cumberland College, that has improved the Bulldogs football program 1,000 percent since that day in 1916.
Last year the Mocs lost to D-II power Carson-Newman.
Personally, I would have loved to see a rematch with the Eagles at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga.
Nevertheless, on Sept. 6 the Cumberland Bulldogs from the NAIA roll into Chattanooga for game with the Mocs.
The small Lebanon, Tenn. school is getting $30,000 for the game.
Chattanooga’s schedule will now be Oklahoma (Aug 30), Cumberland (Sept. 6) and Florida State (Sept. 13).
Have you heard the story on Cumberland’s 222-0 loss to John Heisman’s Georgia Tech squad in Atlanta?
The Bulldogs had done away with the football program prior to the season. However, Cumberland had an agreement with Georgia Tech that would force them to pay $3,000 if the team didn’t play.
The story goes that Heisman was upset that Cumberland had beaten his baseball team 22-0 earlier that year. In fact, Cumberland had been accused of playing professionals against Georgia Tech in baseball.
A student manager for the baseball team named George Allen assembled a scrub football team of 14 players, including fraternity brothers, to go play Tech.
I like the odds for this Cumberland team against Chattanooga better than the 1916 squad that lost 222-0 and trailed 63-0 at the end of the first quarter.
However, the game does come between Oklahoma and Florida State.
Ouch!
Cumberland plays in the Mid-South Conference with University of the Cumberlands, Georgetown, Campbellsville, Union, Pikeville, University of Virginia College at Wise, West Virginia University, Bellhaven, Bethel, Lambuth and Shorter.
Cumberland has some quality players. Greg "Greenmile" Smith, who played at Auburn after winning many accolades at Tyner, is scheduled to play this season.
Dewayne Alexander’s Bulldogs were 4-6 for the 2007 campaign.
2 comments:
I am looking forward to this game. It will be good to see some of our local guys return home to play at Finley. Players like: Kevin Smithson (Temple), Greg Smith (Tyner), Curt Bureau (Sequatchie Co.), Josh Smith (Temple), Chase Whited (Sequatchie Co.), and Jake Ledbetter (Red Bank).
It is hard to say at this point if Cumberland will have enough to get the win but it will still be good to see some of these guys in action at Finley.
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