# 1907 VPI football team

The 1907 VPI football team represented Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute in the 1907 college football season. The team was led by their head coach Bob Williams and finished with a record of seven wins and two losses (7–2).

## Rules

The rules for American football in 1907 were significantly different from those a century later, as many of the present rules (100 yard field, four downs to gain ten yards, 6-point touchdown, and 3-point field goal) were adopted in 1912. The rules in 1907 were:
* Field 110 yards in length
* Kickoff made from midfield
* Three downs to gain ten yards
* Touchdown worth 5 points
* Field goal worth 4 points
* Forward pass legal, but subject to penalties:
More passes were thrown than in 1906, when the new play was still experimental. However, because of problems with the rules at that time, which penalized the offense for an incomplete pass, there were predictions that the forward pass would be scrapped. Attempting a pass in 1907 was still a risky business, because an incomplete attempt would result in stiff penalties—15 yards back from the spot from which the pass was thrown on first or second down. If the defense committed a foul, the 15 yard penalty didn't apply to the offense, but the defending team was not penalized either. In addition, a pass could not be caught in the end zone, nor more than 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
| October 5 | | Roanoke | Gibboney FieldBlacksburg, VA | W 33–0 | |
| October 12 | | Hampden–Sydney | Gibboney FieldBlacksburg, VA | W 18–0 | |
| October 19 | | vs. Washington and Lee | Lynchburg, VA | W 5–0 | 1,400 |
| October 26 | 3:37 p.m. | vs. Davidson | Fair GroundsRoanoke, VA | L 5–12 | 1,500 |
| November 4 | 3:30 p.m. | vs. Georgetown | Broad Street ParkRichmond, VA | W 20–0 | 1,000 |
| November 9 | 3:00 p.m. | vs. VMI | Fair GroundsRoanoke, VA (rivalry) | W 22–0 | 2,500–3,000 |
| November 16 | | George Washington | Gibboney FieldBlacksburg, VA | W 34–0 | |
| November 23 | | at Navy | Worden FieldAnnapolis, MD | L 0–12 | |
| November 28 | 3:00 p.m. | vs. North Carolina | Broad Street ParkRichmond, VA | W 20–6 | 6,000–7,000 |
| All times are in Eastern time |||||||

## Before the season

The 1906 VPI football team compiled a 5–2–2 record and were led by Sally Miles in his second season as head coach.

## Game summaries
### Roanoke

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Roanoke | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • VPI | 5 | 28 | 33 |
VPI's first game of the season was a victory over Roanoke at Gibboney Field.
The starting lineup for VPI was: Huffard (left end), Diffendal (left tackle), H. Jones (left guard), Johnson (center), H. Hodgson (right guard), Breckenridge (right tackle), Varner (right end), Wilson (quarterback), Luttrell (left halfback), W. Jones (right halfback), B. Smith (fullback). The substitutes were: Alder, Billups, Brown, Cooper, Gibbs, Gravely, Hicks, V. Hodgson, James, J. Jones, Lane, Pritchard, Sheppard, Watkins and Wilkinson.
The starting lineup for Roanoke was: Gochenhouer (left end), Engleby (left tackle), Morton (left guard), Sayers (center), Carpenter (right guard), Price (right tackle), Fray (right end), Bowers (quarterback), Grewbill (left halfback), Taney (right halfback), Kelly (fullback). The substitutes were: Anderson and Schreckhiser.

### Hampden–Sydney

After their victory over Roanoke, VPI played Hampden–Sydney College at Gibboney Field.

### Washington and Lee

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| W&L | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • VPI | 5 | 0 | 5 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Huffard (left end), Diffendal (left tackle), Breckenridge (left guard), Johnson (center), H. Hodgson (right guard), Smith (right tackle), Varner (right end), Sheppard (quarterback), W. Jones (left halfback), Luttrell (right halfback), V. Hodgson (fullback).
The starting lineup for Washington and Lee was: Hiram Dow (left end), H. M. White (left tackle), William Pipes (left guard), James Larrick (center), Richard Morales (right guard), Cleon Osbourn (right tackle), Roland Waddill (right end), L. W. Wilson (quarterback), C. W. Streit (left halfback), Edward Brown (right halfback), Edwin Alderson (fullback). The substitutes were: Henry Smartt.

### Davidson

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| • Davidson | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| VPI | 5 | 0 | 5 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Huffard (left end), Diffendal (left tackle), Breckenridge (left guard), Johnson (center), H. Hodgson (right guard), Varner (right tackle), J. Jones (right end), Sheppard (quarterback), Luttrell (left halfback), V. Hodgson (right halfback), Smith (fullback). The substitutes were: Billups, Brown, Cooper, Evans, Gibbs, Gravely, Hicks and W. Jones.
The starting lineup for Davidson was: DeWitt Kluttz (left end), W. R. Moore (left tackle), John Axford (left guard), Norman B. Edgerton (center), Daniels (right guard), LeRoy Dunn (right tackle), Wilkinson (right end), Elliott (quarterback), Clarence Clark (left halfback), Robert Denny (right halfback), William Morton (fullback). The substitutes were: John James and Tom Warlick.

### Georgetown

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Georgetown | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • VPI | 5 | 15 | 20 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Huffard (left end), B. Smith (left tackle), Brown (left guard), Johnson (center), H. Hodgson (right guard), R. W. Smith (right tackle), J. Jones (right end), Sheppard (quarterback), Luttrell (left halfback), V. Hodgson (right halfback), Diffendal (fullback). The substitutes were: Billups, Cooper, Gravely and Hicks.
The starting lineup for Georgetown was: Gerhard Simon (left end), Murray (left tackle), W. G. Todd (left guard), Larry Cullen (center), Eddie Scott (right guard), Herb Munhall (right tackle), Eddie Miller (right end), Jim Cohen (quarterback), E. T. Thompson (left halfback), Edmund Fitzgerald (right halfback), George Dutcher (fullback). The substitutes were: Tom Stewart.

### VMI

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| VMI | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • VPI | 4 | 18 | 22 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Huffard (left end), McMillan (left tackle), Brown (left guard), Johnson (center), H. Hodgson (right guard), R. W. Smith (right tackle), J. Jones (right end), Sheppard (quarterback), Luttrell (left halfback), Billups (right halfback), Gravely (fullback). The substitutes were: Breckenridge, Cooper, Diffendal, V. Hodgson and B. Smith.
The starting lineup for VMI was: William Poague (left end), John Fray (left tackle), Henry Poague (left guard), Edward Hancock (center), George Wickham (right guard), William Biedler (right tackle), George Ward (right end), John Doyle (quarterback), Robert Massie (left halfback), Porter (right halfback), George MacLean (fullback). The substitutes were: George Alexander, Richard Clemmer, R. Davant, Donald McMillen, John Minton and H. Pattison.

### George Washington

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| GW | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • VPI | 24 | 10 | 34 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Huffard (left end), Diffendal (left tackle), Breckenridge (left guard), Johnson (center), H. Hodgson (right guard), R. W. Smith (right tackle), J. Jones (right end), Cooper (quarterback), Luttrell (left halfback), Billups (right halfback), V. Hodgson (fullback).
The starting lineup for George Washington was: James Gunning (left end), John Whitehead (left tackle), Royal Alston (left guard), John Baker (center), Patrick Holmes (right guard), Walter Sommers (right tackle), John Brooks (right end), Harry Pearce (quarterback), Edgar Hough (left halfback), Tullas (right halfback), Aubrey Witten (fullback). The substitutes were: Coudon, Phillip Hooten, William Kemeys and Herbert White.

### Navy

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| VPI | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Navy | 6 | 6 | 12 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Huffard (left end), Diffendal (left tackle), Breckenridge (left guard), Johnson (center), H. Hodgson (right guard), R. W. Smith (right tackle), J. Jones (right end), Cooper (quarterback), Luttrell (left halfback), Billups (right halfback), V. Hodgson (fullback). The substitutes were: Alder, Gravely, Sheppard and B. Smith.
The starting lineup for Navy was: Max Demott (left end), Percy Northcroft (left tackle), Frederick Reinicke (left guard), Charles Brand (center), Percy Wright (right guard), Frank Leighton (right tackle), Bill Dague (right end), Ed Lange (quarterback), A. H. Douglas (left halfback), Lawrence Fairfax Reifsnider (right halfback), Raymond Jones (fullback). The substitutes were: Brown, Burd, Gates, Cary Magruder, Nason, W. A. Richardson, Robertson, Karl Smith, Stoer, Straus and David Stuart.

### North Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| UNC | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| • VPI | 8 | 12 | 20 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Huffard (left end), Diffendal (left tackle), Breckenridge (left guard), Johnson (center), H. Hodgson (right guard), R. W. Smith (right tackle), B. Smith (right end), Sheppard (quarterback), Luttrell (left halfback), Billups (right halfback), V. Hodgson (fullback). The substitutes were: Brown, Cooper, Gibbs, Gravely, Hicks, H. G. Jones, J. Jones and Varner.
The starting lineup for North Carolina was: James Wiggins (left end), Cecil Garrett (left tackle), Earle Thompson (left guard), Raymond Parker (center), Robert Howell (right guard), Archie Deans (right tackle), William Thomas (right end), Joseph Mann (quarterback), Lucius Dunlap (left halfback), Thomas McNeill (right halfback), James Crosswell (fullback). The substitutes were: Harris and John Manning.

## Players

The following players were members of the 1907 football team according to the roster published in the 1908 edition of The Bugle, the Virginia Tech yearbook.

## Coaching and training staff

* Head coach: Bob Williams
* Manager: P. H. Noland
* Assistant manager: J. L. Baum