1920 Tulane Green Wave football team

1920 Tulane Green Wave football
SIAA co-champion
Conference	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Record	6–2–1 (5–0 SIAA)
Head coach	Clark Shaughnessy (6th season)
Offensive scheme	Single wing
Captain	John Wight
Home stadium	Second Tulane Stadium[1]
Seasons ← 1919 1921 →

1920 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Georgia +	7	–	0	–	0			8	–	0	–	1
Tulane +	5	–	0	–	0			6	–	2	–	1
Georgia Tech +	4	–	0	–	0			8	–	1	–	0
Alabama	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
Centre	4	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Furman	3	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
South Carolina	3	–	1	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Tennessee	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Auburn	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Mississippi A&M	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Sewanee	3	–	3	–	1			4	–	3	–	1
Vanderbilt	3	–	3	–	0			4	–	3	–	1
Transylvania	2	–	2	–	0			3	–	4	–	0
Howard (AL)	2	–	3	–	0			3	–	5	–	1
Mississippi College	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	5	–	0
Florida	1	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Clemson	2	–	6	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
LSU	1	–	3	–	0			5	–	3	–	1
Chattanooga	1	–	3	–	0			3	–	4	–	1
The Citadel	1	–	4	–	0			2	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	0	–	2	–	0			4	–	3	–	0
Kentucky	0	–	3	–	1			3	–	4	–	1
Georgetown (KY)	0	–	2	–	0			0	–	3	–	0
Millsaps	0	–	3	–	0			0	–	3	–	0
Mercer	0	–	4	–	0			2	–	6	–	0
Wofford	0	–	4	–	0			0	–	8	–	1
+ – Conference co-champions

The 1920 Tulane Green Wave football team represented the Tulane Green Wave of the Tulane University during the 1920 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. The 1920 team tied for the SIAA championship with Georgia and Georgia Tech, and was the first called the "Green Wave", after a song titled "The Rolling Green Wave".^[2]

In the prior year of 1919, coach Clark Shaughnessy guided Tulane to a then-school record of seven consecutive wins,^[3] and had transformed Tulane into a competitor among Southern collegiate teams.^[4]

Though he was famous for later using the T formation, at Tulane Shaughnessy employed the single wing. Shaughnessy also introduced to Tulane the Minnesota shift, an innovation created by his former coach Henry L. Williams.^[5]

Germany Schulz was hired to take over duties as athletic director.^[6]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 2	Southwestern Louisiana*	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA	W 79–0		[7]
October 9	Mississippi College	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA	W 29–0		[8]
October 16	Rice*	Heinemann Park New Orleans, LA	T 0–0		[9]
October 23	Ole Miss	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA (rivalry)	W 32–0		[10]
October 30	at Michigan*	Ferry Field Ann Arbor, MI	L 21–0	13,000	[11]
November 6	vs. Florida	Plant Field Tampa, FL	W 14–0		[12]
November 13	Mississippi A&M	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA	W 6–0		[13]
November 25	at LSU	State Field Baton Rouge, LA (Battle for the Rag)	W 21–0		[14]
December 4	Detroit*	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA	L 7–0		[15]
*Non-conference game

The season opened with a 79–0 victory over Southwestern Louisiana. One full quarter was played by the substitutes.^[16]

The Mississippi College Choctaws and Goat Hale fell to Tulane 29–0.^[16]

Rice at Tulane

1 2 3 4 Total Rice 0 0 0 0 0 Tulane 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 16 Location: Heinemann Park New Orleans, LA Sources:[16]

The Rice Owls fought Tulane to a scoreless tie in a game shifted to Heinemann Park.^[16]

On Oct. 20, 1920, Earl Sparling, the editor of the Tulane Hullabaloo, wrote a football song which was printed in the newspaper. The song was titled "The Rolling Green Wave." Although the name was not immediately adopted, it began to receive acceptance.^[17]

Tulane beat Ole Miss, 32–0. Coach Shaughnessy introduced a new shift in the first half, and the players had trouble implementing it.^[16] By the second period, Tulane played conventional football instead.^[16]

The season's first loss was 21–0 to the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor,^[18] succumbing to the northern foes by the second half.^[16][19]

Tulane at Florida

1 2 3 4 Total • Tulane 0 0 7 7 14 Florida 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 6 Location: Plant Field Tampa, FL Referee: Ham Dowling Sources:[20]

In Tampa, Tulane beat the Florida Gators 14–0.^[16] Florida's Tootie Perry played one of the best games seen in Tampa.^[20] Dwyer went over right tackle for the first touchdown. After B. Brown cut loose for a 30-yard run, Richcoon scored the last.^[20]

The starting lineup was Beaulau (left end), Unsworth (left tackle), Fitz (left guard), Reed (center), Killinger (right guard), Payne (right tackle), Wight (right end), Richeson (quarterback), Dwyer (left halfback), Brown (right halfback), McGraw (fullback).^[21]

Mississippi A&M at Tulane

1 2 3 4 Total Miss. A&M 0 0 0 0 0 • Tulane 0 6 0 0 6 Date: November 13 Location: Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA Referee: C. W. Streit Sources:[22]

In what the yearbook called "the critical game of the season,"^[16] Tulane won 6–0 over the Mississippi Aggies. Both teams were previously unbeaten. The feature of the contest twas Johnny Wight's punt returns, which set up the game's only score.^[22]

The starting lineup was Weigan (left end), Payne (left tackle), Fit (left guard), Reed (Center), Bellieu (left guard), Palermo (right tackle), Wight (right end), Richeson (quarterback), Dwyer (left halfback), Brown (right halfback), Smith (fullback).^[22]

Tulane triumphed 21–0 over rival LSU.^[16] The starting lineup was Wiegand (left end), Payne (left tackle), Fitz (left guard), Reed (center), Unsworth (right guard), Beallieu (right tackle), Wight (right end), Richeson (quarterback), Dwyer (left halfback), Brown (right halfback), Smith (fullback).^[23]

Detroit at Tulane

1 2 3 4 Total • Detroit 7 0 0 0 7 Tulane 0 0 0 0 0 Date: December 4 Location: New Orleans, LA Referee: Walter Eckersall Sources:[24]

On a muddy field, the Detroit Titans beat Tulane 7–0. Detroit opened up with passes early, leading to Lauer's off tackle touchdown.^[24] The starting lineup was Smith (left end), Payne (left tackle), Unsworth (left guard), Reed (center), Palermo (right guard), Fitz (right tackle), Wight (right end), Richeson (quarterback), Brown (left halfback), Dwyer (right halfback), Beaullieu (fullback).^[24]

Player	Position	Games started	Hometown	Prep school	Height	Weight	Age
Gaston Beaullieu	end
Fits Fitz	guard
Killinger	guard
Palermo	tackle
Virgil Payne	tackle
Eddie Reed	center		New Orleans, Louisiana	Spring Hill College
Bennie Smith	end and fullback
Johnny Unsworth	tackle
Bob Wiegand	end
Dicky Wight	end
Johnny Wight	right end

Player	Position	Games started	Hometown	Prep school	Height	Weight	Age
Bennie Brown	right halfback
Bill Dwyer	halfback
Paul Maloney	quarter and fullback
Forres McGraw	fullback
Pinkie Nagle	halfback
Harold Quinn	quarter and fullback
Lyle Richeson	quarterback

^[16]

• Woodruff, Fuzzy (1928). A History of Southern Football 1890–1928. Vol. 2.