# 1906 VPI football team

The 1906 VPI football team represented Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute in the 1906 college football season. The team was led by their head coach Sally Miles and finished with a record of five wins, two losses, and two ties (5–2–2).

## Rules

An intercollegiate conference, which would become the forerunner of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), approved radical rule changes for the 1906 season. They legalized the forward pass, abolished the dangerous flying wedge, created a neutral zone between offense and defense, and doubled the first-down distance to 10 yards, to be gained in three downs.
Even with the approval of a forward pass, the rules for American football in 1906 were still significantly different than the ones of 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 1906 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
Although a forward pass was made legal, that play in 1906 was still risky, 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 did not apply to the offense, but the defending team was not penalized either. In addition, a pass could not be caught more than 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, nor beyond the goal line (the end zone had not yet been invented).

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
| October 6 | | vs. William & Mary | Fair GroundsRoanoke, VA | W 12–0 | 450 |
| October 8 | | William & Mary | Gibboney FieldBlacksburg, VA | W 28–0 | |
| October 13 | | at Clemson | Bowman FieldCalhoun, SC | T 0–0 | |
| October 27 | | vs. North Carolina | Broad Street ParkRichmond, VA | T 0–0 | 4,000 |
| November 3 | | Roanoke | Gibboney FieldBlacksburg, VA | W 18–0 | |
| November 10 | 3:00 p.m. | vs. Bucknell | Lafayette FieldNorfolk, VA | L 0–10 | |
| November 17 | 2:30 p.m. | Davidson | Gibboney FieldBlacksburg, VA | W 10–0 | |
| November 24 | | at Navy | Worden FieldAnnapolis, MD | L 0–5 | |
| November 29 | | vs. North Carolina A&M | Broad Street ParkRichmond, VA | W 6–0 | 10,000 |

## Before the season

The 1905 VPI football team compiled a 9–1 record and were led by Sally Miles in his first season as head coach.

## Game summaries
### William & Mary (First Game)

VPI's first game of the season was a victory over William & Mary at the Fair Grounds in Roanoke, Virginia.
The starting lineup for VPI was: Grant (left end), Diffendal (left tackle), Cunningham (left guard), Johnson (center), Bonner (right guard), Garnett (right tackle), Worthington (right end), Montague (quarterback), Nutter (left halfback), Hodgson (right halfback), Smith (fullback).
The starting lineup for William & Mary was: Dade (left end), George Hankins (left tackle), James Kirkmyer (left guard), C. Hall (center), G. A. B. Dovell (right guard), Robert Strong (right tackle), Grant (right end), G. A. Dovell (quarterback), Somers (left halfback), George Ferguson (right halfback), Henry Carter (fullback).

### North Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| UNC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VPI | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Grant (left end), Diffendal (left tackle), Cunningham (left guard), Johnson (center), Garnett (right guard), Branch (right tackle), Worthington (right end), Treadwell (quarterback), Nutter (left halfback), Bouman (right halfback), Smith (fullback). The substitutes were: Hodgson.
The starting lineup for North Carolina was: James Davis (left end), Snowden Singletary (left tackle), Earle Thompson (left guard), George Rogers (center), James Morrow (right guard), John Thompson (right tackle), Wiley Pittman (right end), Joseph Mann (quarterback), Thomas McNeill (left halfback), Lucius Dunlap (right halfback), Romy Story (fullback).

### Roanoke

The starting lineup for VPI was: Noland (left end), Kirk (left tackle), Cunningham (left guard), Johnson (center), Goodwin (right guard), Branch (right tackle), Varner (right end), E. M. Wilson (quarterback), Diffendal (left halfback), Nutter (right halfback), Smith (fullback). The substitutes were: Bahen and Lawson.
The starting lineup for Roanoke was: Frey (left end), Stair (left tackle), Engleby (left guard), Sayers (center), Morton (right guard), Conther (right tackle), Tainy (right end), Link (quarterback), F. H. Hansbarger (left halfback), Bowers (right halfback), Kelly (fullback).

### Bucknell

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| • Bucknell | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| VPI | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Noland (left end), Diffendal (left tackle), Cunningham (left guard), Johnson (center), Goodwin (right guard), Branch (right tackle), Varner (right end), Wilson (quarterback), Luttrell (left halfback), Nutter (right halfback), Smith (fullback). The substitutes were: Hodgson.
The starting lineup for Bucknell was: Ralph Winegardner (left end), Marion Sayre (left tackle), William Hawk (left guard), Charles O'Brien (center), Percy Shade (right guard), Girton Lenhart (right tackle), James Hayes (right end), Chester Niple (quarterback), Arthur McNinch (left halfback), Charles Baldwin (right halfback), Clark (fullback).

### Davidson

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Davidson | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • VPI | 10 | 0 | 10 |
The VPI-Davidson game was originally scheduled to be played in Roanoke, Virginia, but was moved to Lynchburg, Virginia at the request of VPI. However, the game was eventually played in Blacksburg.
The starting lineup for VPI was: Worthington (left end), Diffendal (left tackle), Cunningham (left guard), Johnson (center), Goodwin (right guard), Branch (right tackle), Varner (right end), Wilson (quarterback), Luttrell (left halfback), Nutter (right halfback), Smith (fullback).
The starting lineup for Davidson was: Sadler (left end), John Walker (left tackle), Lentz (left guard), Norman B. Edgerton (center), Whitaker (right guard), Spicer (right tackle), J. Benedict Huntington (right end), Elliott (quarterback), Robert Denny (left halfback), George Miller (right halfback), McCoy (fullback).

### Navy

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| VPI | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Navy | 5 | 0 | 5 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Worthington (left end), Diffendal (left tackle), Cunningham (left guard), Johnson (center), Goodwin (right guard), Branch (right tackle), Varner (right end), Wilson (quarterback), Hodgson (left halfback), Nutter (right halfback), Smith (fullback). The substitutes were: Stiles.
The starting lineup for Navy was: Richard Bernard (left end), Percy Northcroft (left tackle), George Meyer (left guard), Frank Slingluff Jr. (center), Percy Wright (right guard), William Piersol (right tackle), Bill Dague (right end), Homer Norton (quarterback), A. H. Douglas (left halfback), Herbert Spencer (right halfback), Jonas H. Ingram (fullback). The substitutes were: Harold Boynton, Harris, Frank Leighton and Cary Magruder.

### North Carolina A&M

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| NC A&M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • VPI | 0 | 6 | 6 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Worthington (left end), Diffendal (left tackle), Cunningham (left guard), Johnson (center), Goodwin (right guard), Branch (right tackle), Varner (right end), Wilson (quarterback), Hodgson (left halfback), Nutter (right halfback), Smith (fullback). The substitutes were: Treadwell.
The starting lineup for North Carolina A&M was: Edwards (left end), Strayer (left tackle), Perkins (left guard), W. T. Temple (center), Vance Sykes (right guard), H. Beebe (right tackle), Samuel Stephens (right end), Eskridge (quarterback), Frank Thompson (left halfback), Arthur Wilson (right halfback), John Shuford (fullback). The substitutes were: A. E. Abernethy and L. C. Drake.

## Players

The following players were members of the 1906 football team according to the roster published in the 1907 edition of The Bugle, the Virginia Tech yearbook.

## Coaching and training staff

* Head coach: Sally Miles
* Manager: C. B. Powell
* Assistant manager: R. P. A. Johnson