1917 college football season
The 1917 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing Georgia Tech as national champions, the South's first. Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Williams, and Washington State were also undefeated, and one-loss Navy was strong.
Tech coach John Heisman challenged Pitt coach Pop Warner to a postseason contest to determine a national champion, but as such a match did not occur until the next season, Tech was named national champion. The Golden Tornado was invited to play a 4-3 Oregon team in the Rose Bowl, but by then many players had joined the war effort.
In the second week of play, Georgia Tech beat Penn 41–0. Bernie McCarty called it "Strupper's finest hour, coming through against powerful Penn in the contest that shocked the East." By comparison, Pitt defeated Penn 14–6.
Conference and program changes
Conference changes
- One conference changed its name for the 1917 season:
- *Michigan rejoined the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives after a nine-year absence. As such, the league was first unofficially coined the Big Ten, the name it possesses today.
Membership changes
September
September 29In a doubleheader, Georgia Tech beat Furman and then Wake Forest; 25-0 and 33-0 respectively. Navy beat Davidson 27-6. Pitt beat West Virginia 14-9.
October
October 6Georgia Tech beat Penn at home 41 to 0. Centre beat KMI 104-0. West Virginia beat Navy 6-0. Williams beat Cornell 14-10.
October 7
Georgia Tech beat Cumberland at home 222-0. http://www.espn.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/124864/100-years-ago-georgia-techs-222-0-victory
October 13
Georgia Tech beat Davidson 32-10, its closest game all season. DePauw beat Centre 6-0. Syracuse beat Rutgers 14-10. Wisconsin tied Notre Dame 0-0.
October 20
Georgia Tech beat Washington & Lee 63-0. Auburn beat Clemson 7-0. Pittsburgh beat Syracuse 28-0. Nebraska beat Notre Dame 7-0. Washington State beat Oregon 26-3.
October 27
Undefeated Pittsburgh beat Penn on the road 14 to 6. Auburn beat Mississippi A&M 13-6.
November
November 3Georgia Tech gave Vanderbilt its worst ever beating, 83-0. Auburn crushed Florida 68-0. Centre beat Kentucky 3-0. Texas A&M beat Tulane 35-0. Wisconsin beat Minnesota 10-7. Illinois tied Chicago 0-0. Rutgers tied West Virginia 3-3.
November 10
A freshman Buck Flowers at Davidson upset Auburn 21-7. All of Georgia Tech's backs rushed for 100 yards in a 48-0 defeat of Tulane. Texas A&M beat Baylor 7-0. Ohio State beat Wisconsin 16-3. Navy beat Georgetown 28-7.
November 17
Georgia Tech beat Carlisle 98-0. Penn beat Michigan 16-0. Ohio State beat Illinois 13-0.
November 24
Auburn fought undefeated Ohio State to a scoreless tie. Coach Heisman of Georgia Tech and his players were at the game, rooting for the Tigers. Minnesota beat Illinois 27-6.
November 29
Georgia Tech beat Auburn 68 to 7. Davidson beat Clemson 21-9. Mississippi A&M beat Haskell 7-6.
Rose Bowl
The Mare Island Marines defeated Camp Lewis, 19–7, in the 1918 Rose Bowl.Conference standings
Major conference standings
Independents
Minor conferences
Minor conference standings
Awards and honors
All-Americans
The consensus All-America team included:| Position | Name | Height | Weight | Class | Hometown | Team |
| QB | Benny Boynton | 5'9" | 163 | So. | Waco, Texas | Williams |
| HB | Elmer Oliphant | 5'7" | 180 | Sr. | Bloomfield, Indiana | Army |
| HB | Everett Strupper | 5'7" | 148 | Sr. | Columbus, Georgia | Georgia Tech |
| FB | Chic Harley | 5'11" | 171 | Jr. | Chicago, Illinois | Ohio State |
| E | Charles Bolen | Sr. | Marion, Indiana | Ohio State | ||
| E | Heinie Miller | 5'10" | 185 | Jr. | Williamsport, Pennsylvania | Penn |
| T | George Hauser | Sr. | Council Bluffs, Iowa | Minnesota | ||
| G | Dale Sies | 6'1" | 203 | Sr. | Ames, Iowa | Pittsburgh |
| G | Jock Sutherland | Sr. | Coupar Angus, Scotland | Pittsburgh | ||
| C | Frank Rydzewski | 6'1" | 220 | Sr. | Chicago, Illinois | Notre Dame |
| G | Eugene Neeley | Sr. | Dallas, Texas | Dartmouth | ||
| T | Alf Cobb | 5'11" | 210 | Sr. | Athol, Massachusetts | Syracuse |
| E | Paul Robeson | 6'3" | 219 | Jr. | Princeton, New Jersey | Rutgers |
Statistical leaders
- Team scoring most points: Georgia Tech, 491
- Player scoring most points: Bill Ingram, Navy, 162
- Player scoring most touchdowns: Albert Hill, Georgia Tech, 23
- Player scoring most goals after touchdown: Bill Fincher, Georgia Tech, 49
- Rushing yards leader: Everett Strupper, Georgia Tech, 1150
- Rushing avg. leader: Everett Strupper, 10.1