PART TWO: A search for identity (1920-1929)
PART ONE: The pre-varsity years (1916-1921)

By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information

College football's landscape when it comes to conference membership is in constant flux in recent years with teams jumping from one league to another, even from one division to another under the NCAA's current structure.

However, the transition from one league to another is nothing new to the sport as the 1920s and 1930s saw their own shifts, one that even makes today's leapfrogging seem quaint.

While Tennessee Tech has been in the Ohio Valley Conference since 1949, it was actually the third stop for the Golden Eagles in program history.

Austin Wheeler Smith's book "The Story of Tennessee Tech" puts the Golden Eagles in their first conference in the winter/spring of 1930, citing membership in the Mississippi Valley Conference until 1932.

There aren't many sources still available with the membership of the Mississippi Valley Conference, but one website listed the member institutions as Bethel (1928-37), Caruthersville Junior College (1929-32), Delta State (1936-37), Freed-Hardeman (1931-35), Jonesboro Baptist (1928-33), Lambuth (1928-36), Memphis (1929-32), Mississippi Delta Community College (1936-38), Northwest Mississippi Community College (1934-38), UT Martin (1928-38) and Tupelo Military Institute (1934-36).

Interestingly enough, this site does not list Tech as being a member, but the Golden Eagles did play members Bethel, UT Martin and West Tennessee (Memphis), which a Wikipedia page cited as a two-time champion in 1929 and 1930.

The 1930 and 1931 seasons were the only ones Tech played a part in the MVC, going 6-2-1 in 1930 and 6-3 in 1931. The 1930 campaign started with a 14-0 loss to Sewanee, then the Golden Eagles won six of the next seven games – topping Carson-Newman (20-0), Hiwassee (65-0), a defeat to Bethel (6-0), then four straight victories against Lincoln Memorial (57-0), Murray State (26-6), Milligan (25-20) and East Tennessee (19-0) before a scoreless draw to close out the campaign against Middle Tennessee.

The 1931 squad started off on fire, winning four of its first five contests as Tech beat Murray State 19-7 in the opener, then fell to Sewanee 24-7. Tech won against Bethel (39-0), West Tennessee (13-0) and UT Martin (26-7) before seeing the string come to a close with a 20-7 loss to Carson-Newman.

Tech got back on track with a 27-0 victory over Lincoln Memorial, then traveled to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt. The Commodores' records do not cite this as a varsity game, while Tech's past records do have the contest listed. It is possible this was a game against the Vanderbilt freshmen or reserves, which was a practice at the time. Nevertheless, the record had the opponents victorious 6-0. The Golden Eagles closed out the season with a 13-7 victory against Middle Tennessee.

The Golden Eagles exited the MVC and immediately joined the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. One of the first conferences, stretching from 1894 to 1942, 72 different schools had membership in the organization at one time, including 27 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, every member of the current Southeastern Conference except Arkansas, Texas A&M and Missouri, six of the 15 Atlantic Coast Conference teams and the University of Texas.

Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Johns Hopkins, North Carolina, Sewanee, Vanderbilt and Virginia were the original 1894 members, but Virginia and North Carolina dropped out before competition began. Central (later Eastern Kentucky), Clemson, Cumberland, Kentucky, LSU, Mercer, Mississippi A&M (Mississippi State), Southern Presbyterian, Texas, Tulane and the University of Nashville (which later became Peabody College) joined as charter members.

In 1920, to protest proposals to ban freshman athletes and paid summer baseball, several schools planned their exits from the SIAA. On February 25, 1921, Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee left the SIAA to form the Southern Conference with Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Washington and Lee. Two years later, Florida, LSU, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane and Vanderbilt left the SIAA for greener pastures in the SoCon.

Between 1923 and the association's disbanding in 1942, it became more of a small college league, serving the likes of Mercer, Eastern Kentucky, Furman, The Citadel, Samford, Mississippi College, Centre, Chattanooga, Louisville, Georgetown (Ky.), Transylvania, Wofford, Oglethorpe, Millsaps, Birmingham-Southern, Newberry, Presbyterian, Louisiana College, Erskine, Centenary, Kentucky Wesleyan, Louisiana Tech, Loyola New Orleans, Rollins, Southern, Louisiana-Lafayette, Stetson, Union (Tenn.), Western Kentucky, Spring Hill, Northwestern State, Southern Miss, Miami (Fla.), Middle Tennessee, Murray State, Tennessee Tech, Union (Ky.), Morehead State, Memphis State, Delta State, Emory & Henry, Tampa, Troy State and Jacksonville State.

The Golden Eagles joined in 1932 and remained in the league until 1942 when it disbanded.

In Tech's first season in the organization, the Golden Eagles went 4-0-3 for its second of two undefeated seasons in program history. Sandwiched in-between victories against Lambuth (13-9), West Tennessee (24-7), Union (27-0) and Middle Tennessee (32-6), Tech fought to scoreless ties against UT Martin, Sewanee and Murray State.

Between 1933 and 1937 were lean years for the Golden Eagles. P.V. "Putty" Overall's squads went 4-4 in 1933, then 3-5-1, 1-5-1, 2-5-1 and 3-5-1 in the following four years. 1938 saw a 6-3 mark as Tech toppled Jacksonville State (21-0), Middle Tennessee twice (7-0, 12-0), Western Kentucky (7-6). Sewanee (7-6) and Austin Peay (28-0), but fell to Chattanooga (27-6), West Tennessee (26-13) and Cumberland (6-0).

A bio on Coach Overall in a game program listed a co-championship in the SIAA in the 1939 campaign. It is possible as a regional championship as Tech defeated Western Kentucky (10-0), West Tennessee (15-0), Union (33-12) and Middle Tennessee (20-3) – the only SIAA opponents on their schedule -- but most SIAA championships are mythical in nature as the organization did not award titles.

That 1939 season started off on a strong note as Tech battled Vanderbilt to a 13-13 tie in the season opener, but the Golden Eagles fell to 1-3-1 at the midpoint as Chattanooga, Xavier and Sewanee claimed wins. Tech ran the table in the final five matchups of the season, including a 25-0 win over Austin Peay and a 7-6 victory edging Youngstown State.

It was in this season that Tech football earned its first two All-American nods as tackle Holmes Neal and guard Creed McClure were both selected by the Associated Press to its Little All-America squad, started by the AP's Edward J. Neil to honor "the little fellows, players in hundreds of colleges who labored just as earnestly, often with just as much ability, but barely edging into the spotlight."

Both McClure and Neal were in the inaugural class of the Tennessee Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1975, along with Tom Fann, Jimmy Miller and Coach Overall.

McClure's Hall of Fame nomination listed: "Called 'outstanding' on defense in frequent Oracle game stories. One article said of him, as a junior, 'a man who has opened hole after hole for the backfield … very seldom do you see him without a black eye, which shows that he has the fighting sprit of the Eagles."

McClure went on to join the Navy, then coached high school football for 11 years, including six at Tullahoma High School, where he later became principal. He served many years on the TSSAA's Board of Control. He passed away in 1991.

Neal's Hall of Fame nomination said: "Frequently cited in the Oracle for his fine defensive play at tackle. Seemed to specialize in recovering fumbles, notably one of Vanderbilt's, the play that set up Tech's first score in the game."

Like McClure, Neal joined the Navy, but also spent time with the Tennessee Valley Authority from 1946 to 1949, as well as with NASA from 1951 to 1974 where he worked on the design and construction of research facilities from wind tunnels to launch sites. He passed away in 1996.

They were the first of many to be recognized for their efforts on the gridiron and greater days were still ahead for the Golden Eagles.

Next: Wartime leads into an era of transition and change for the Tech football program.

Sources:

Smith, A.M. (1957). The Story of Tennessee Tech. Nashville: McQuiddy Printing Company

Neufeldt, H.G. and Dickinson, W.C. (1991). The Search for Identity: A History of Tennessee Technological University 1915-1985. Memphis: Memphis State University Press

Johnson, Mancil and Dickinson, W.C. (2002). The College History Series: Tennessee Technological University. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing

Bell, R.R.; Dickinson, W.C.; Elkins, S.A. and Clemons, L. E. (2009). Practical Work: 100 Years of Dixie College and Tennessee Tech University