Happy 125th Birthday, UGA Football

On this day 125 years ago, the University of Georgia "foot-ball" squad competed in its initial contest against Mercer University on what the college in Athens would eventually recognize as "Herty Field."

The birth of one of college football’s more prominent programs had begun earlier when the field's namesake, Dr. Charles Herty, only 24 years old at the time, decided to bring the sport to his alma mater after first witnessing it in Baltimore while earning his Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins.

At the initial practice, Herty, considered more so a “trainer” than a coach, walked onto the field carrying a Walter Camp rule book. To start practice, he simply tossed a football in the air and then watched as a group of college boys fought for it. More than 50 years later, George Shackelford, one of the boys, recalled, “[Herty] selected the strongest looking specimens for the first team. Luckily, I was the one who recovered the ball, and thus I was assigned a position.” The “strong specimens” in Georgia’s first starting lineup averaged 156 pounds and 5-foot-10 inches in height, or nearly 100 pounds lighter and a half-foot shorter than a lineup the Bulldogs would trot out today.

Approximately 1,500 spectators gathered at what was initially known as Alumni Athletic Field to witness the first intercollegiate football game in the Deep South. Still today, school records indicate Georgia’s mascot, a goat, made its first appearance at the Red and Black’s second game—a meeting with Auburn in Atlanta three weeks later. But, on the contrary, reportedly on January 30, 1892, “the university goat was driven across the field by the boys and raised quite a ripple of laughter,” just prior to the 3 p.m. kickoff with Mercer.

Soon after the introduction of Georgia’s mascot, the Red and Black student section hollered, “rah, rah, rah, ta Georgia!” This was answered by the Mercer fans with a “rah, rah, rah, U-ni-v-sis-boom ah Var-sity Mercer!”

At the time, the sport resembled more of a rugby scrum with rules considerably different than today's: no passing, five yards were needed for a first down, a kicked field goal was actually worth more points than a touchdown and, because of a loophole in the game’s rules, the team kicking off routinely gained possession by nudging the ball forward, recovering it, and promptly going on the offensive.

To begin the game, Mercer executed the effortless onside kick, gaining possession of the football around midfield. On the first play in UGA football history, a Mercer ball-carrier was thrown for a three-yard loss. This was followed by a play for no gain, whereupon a fumble was recovered by Georgia's Shackelford. On the Red and Black’s first offensive play, halfback Frank “Si” Herty, cousin of Dr. Herty, got the ball and made an “extraordinary” run scoring a touchdown, and giving the hosts an early 4-0 advantage.

Later in the contest, Georgia increased its lead to 16-0 when Shackelford made what surely would have been acknowledged as the play of the game: a two-point safety in the most unusual fashion. “I picked up the ball-carrier,” Shackelford claimed, “and slung him over one shoulder, carrying him [along with the ball] twenty yards across his own goal-line.”

The game ended with Georgia prevailing 50-0 over the visitors. Si Herty led the Red and Black by scoring what is considered five-and-a-half touchdowns. His one-half touchdown, part of Georgia’s final tally, resulted when he and fullback Henry Brown reportedly fell on a loose ball in the Mercer end zone—together.

Actually, it was said that the final score should have been 60-0, but the official scorer made two trips during the game to the Broad Street Dispensary for some “refreshments,” and thus neglected—what counted as 10 points at the time—two touchdowns and a successful kick-after by the Red and Black.

After the game in celebration, spectators’ hats were tossed into the air and Georgia players were hoisted onto the shoulders of patrons as “the red and crimson of the University of Georgia waves triumphantly, and a score of fifty to nothing shows the university boys know how to play football.”