A moment to remember

A colorful character who often appeared in the ‘50s at one of our

favorite watering places along Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa was an

aging local chap who once gave this corner an astonishing insight on one

college football catastrophe.

His name was Mark McCallan, who had Huntington Beach oil interests and

was loved because of his good humor and flow of generosity.

His major football yarn came to be seen as great humor from one angle

in the end, but it was totally glum for him and his Cumberland College

teammates during their grid clash against powerful Georgia Tech on Oct.

7, 1916.

Tech had no trouble winning, 222-0, on its home field.

Any person familiar with the game would suspect that there must have

been many flaws. And that was correct. The little school from Lebanon,

Tenn. never should have shown up in Georgia.

Looking back, he laughed once at the astronomical score and said the

turning point probably came for Cumberland “just before they played the

National Anthem.”

He figured it was the worst football thrashing in history, and he was

right. And it still is, by far.

He recalled that the football club was a hastily organized pickup team

tutored by law student Butch McQueen. It included 16 students who were

mostly scholars, not athletes.

In sharp contrast, McCallan recalled that Georgia Tech was unbeaten in

1915 (7-0-1) and was loaded with a heavy-duty roster.

After rubbing his chin slightly, he recalled another remarkable

feature. He said Tech was coached by John Heisman, who, in time, had a

trophy named after him.

No doubt McCallan had probably asked himself more than once, “If Mr.

Heisman was deemed such a true sportsman, why did he show little mercy

and run up the score to such an extent?”

A veteran sportswriter once had an answer.

He said Heisman lamented the practice of sportswriters ranking teams

primarily on points scored in those days, so he chose the season tuneup

with Cumberland to make a point. That’s one side of the story.

There was also the theory that Georgia Tech was miffed on a previous

encounter with Cumberland in baseball in a summer session that left the

Yellowjackets a bit red-faced.

Cumberland administrators were aware that it could develop into a

ludicrous debacle, which prompted another question. Why didn’t they just

cancel the contest? McCallan indicated that they almost did.

Unfortunately, he said, Cumberland was bound by an earlier contract.

It had to field a team or cough up three grand in good faith money. That

was a huge bundle of cash in those days so a new slogan was in order.

“PLAY IT COOL, DO IT FOR SCHOOL.”

McCallan said Tech had no need to pass. It scored 32 touchdowns and

gained 968 yards with 528 yards off the scrimmage line. Another 220 yards

came from punt returns and an additional 220 yards from kickoff and

fumble returns. Records show that 13 touchdowns were the result of

interceptions, fumbles, kickoffs and punts.

Cumberland completed two of 11 aerials, rushed for a minus 45 yards,

was unable to make a first down, threw four interceptions and fumbled

nine times. McCallan recalled one point in the game where the Cumberland

quarterback shouted to a halfback on the run to pick up the fumble. The

halfback yelled back, “You pick it up, you dropped it.”

McCallan said the quarterback once called numerous different plays and

found no takers. One back snapped, “Not me. Last time we tried that they

almost tore my head off.”

He laughed, recalling one guard in the huddle, who exclaimed, “Why

don’t we just throw a long incomplete pass.”

He recalled a story that Heisman eventually found a Cumberland player

on his bench while sporting a Tech blanket. The coach told the player,

“You’re on the wrong bench.” The player snapped back, “Oh no I’m not.”

At one point, it was recalled that the Tech running backs had become

so tired that Heisman was allowing tackles to carry the ball.

McCallan remembered his mates once chose to punt every time they got

the ball. He sighed, then remarked, “That didn’t work either.”

This corner suggested it could have been a real close score by

forfeiting the game at the end of the first quarter, 1-0.

McCallan liked that that idea.

Georgia Tech went on to an 8-0-1 record in 1916, it’s only mar on the

record was a 7-7 tie with Washington and Lee.

Oh, and there never was a rematch.