1918 VPI Gobblers football team
Only team in Virginia Tech history with a perfect record: 7-0
The 1918 VPI Gobblers football team represented Virginia Polytechnic Institute, now known as Virginia Tech, in the 1918 college football season. The 1918 team went 7–0 and claims a South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SAIAA) championship.
It is the only team in school history that finished the season with a perfect record.
Led by second-year head coach Charles Bernier, the team allowed only two touchdowns during its seven games. VPI's star player was Henry Crisp, a man without a right hand, who was ineligible for military service in World War I. He was voted MVP of the South Atlantic conference.
Schedule
Before the season
World War I and the Spanish flu
In the summer of 1918, the United States was not only in the midst of World War I, a worldwide flu pandemic (referred to as Spanish flu) began to impact the colleges of the United States. These two factors had a significant impact on the 1918 college football season.
A huge military offensive was planned by the Allied countries in the spring of 1919, so all non-disabled men of ages 18 to 20 were scheduled to be enlisted in the fall of 1918. As an alternative, the men were offered the option of enlisting in the Student Army Training Corps, known as SATC, which would give them a chance to pursue (or continue pursuing) their educations at the same time as they participated in a 12-week war-training session. This was essentially an alternative to boot camp.
“1918 VPI Gobblers football team” enters the record as only team in Virginia Tech history with a perfect record: 7-0. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Gobblers, football and team can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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