# 1931 VPI Gobblers football team

The 1931 VPI Gobblers football team represented Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute in the 1931 Southern Conference football season. The team was led by their head coach Orville Neale and finished with a record of three wins, four losses and two ties (3–4–2).

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
| September 26 | | King* | Miles StadiumBlacksburg, VA | W 33–0 | |
| October 3 | 3:00 p.m. | at Georgia | Sanford StadiumAthens, GA | L 0–40 | 15,000 |
| October 10 | | Davidson* | Miles StadiumBlacksburg, VA | W 18–6 | |
| October 17 | 2:30 p.m. | vs. William & Mary* | City StadiumRichmond, VA | T 6–6 | |
| October 24 | 2:30 p.m. | at Kentucky | McLean StadiumLexington, KY | L 6–20 | 6,000 |
| October 31 | | Maryland | Miles StadiumBlacksburg, VA | L 0–20 | 5,000 |
| November 7 | | vs. Washington and Lee | Maher FieldRoanoke, VA | L 0–6 | 5,000 |
| November 14 | | at Virginia | Scott StadiumCharlottesville, VA (rivalry) | T 0–0 | 7,000 |
| November 26 | | vs. VMI | Maher FieldRoanoke, VA (rivalry) | W 13–6 | 18,000 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingAll times are in Eastern time |||||||

## Before the season

The 1930 VPI Gobblers football team compiled a 5–3–1 record and were led by Orville Neale in his first season as head coach.

## Game summaries
### King

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| King | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • VPI | 14 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 33 |
VPI's first game of the season was a victory over King at Miles Stadium.
The starting lineup for VPI was: Chandler (left end), Stark (left tackle), Swart (left guard), Brown (center), Hite (right guard), Grinus (right tackle), Seaman (right end), Groth (quarterback), Casey (left halfback), Robison (right halfback), Porterfield (fullback). The substitutes were: Dyke, Hall, Hardwick, Hoenstine, Jennings, Kasun, Kelsey, Miles, Morgan, Oliver, Ottley, Palmer, Sifford, Simmons and York.
The starting lineup for King was: Klein (left end), Cox (left tackle), Bell (left guard), Owens (center), Cook (right guard), Robinson (right tackle), Bricker (right end), Arnold (quarterback), Isaac (left halfback), Harris (right halfback), Barnett (fullback). The substitutes were: Emert, Flenore and Gannaway.

### Georgia

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| VPI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Georgia | 13 | 13 | 14 | 0 | 40 |
After their victory over King, VPI played the University of Georgia at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.
The starting lineup for VPI was: Seaman (left end), Stark (left tackle), Hite (left guard), Brown (center), Swart (right guard), Grinus (right tackle), Chandler (right end), Groth (quarterback), Casey (left halfback), Robison (right halfback), Porterfield (fullback).
The starting lineup for Georgia was: Vernon Smith (left end), Robert Rose (left tackle), Ralph Maddox (left guard), Graham Batchelor (center), Milton Leathers (right guard), James Hamrick (right tackle), Weddington Kelley (right end), Austin Downes (quarterback), Spud Chandler (left halfback), Marion Dickens (right halfback), Jack Roberts (fullback). The substitutes were: Homer Key, Wendell Sullivan and Jodie Whire.

### Davidson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Davidson | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| • VPI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 18 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Palmer (left end), Stark (left tackle), Hite (left guard), Brown (center), Swart (right guard), Grinus (right tackle), Chandler (right end), Porterfield (quarterback), Casey (left halfback), Hardwick (right halfback), Robison (fullback). The substitutes were: Murphy and Ottley.
The starting lineup for Davidson was: Lelon Raker (left end), John Wagner (left tackle), Graham Mathis (left guard), Ulrich Gardner (center), Powhatan Conway (right guard), Whitfield (right tackle), Robert Johnston (right end), Donald King (quarterback), Charles Pearce (left halfback), Edward Peabody (right halfback), Donald McQueen (fullback). The substitutes were: Barrier, Eugene Cannon, Jerome Clark, William Flinn, Calvin Kuykendall, John McConnell, McElrath, Allen Mills, Frederick Ogden and West.

### William & Mary

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| W&M | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| VPI | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Seaman (left end), Stark (left tackle), Murphy (left guard), Brown (center), Swart (right guard), Grinus (right tackle), Palmer (right end), Hardwick (quarterback), Casey (left halfback), Groth (right halfback), Robison (fullback). The substitutes were: Hite, Ottley and Porterfield.
The starting lineup for William & Mary was: Henderson (left end), Otis Douglas (left tackle), George Fisher (left guard), Thomas Ayers (center), Edwin Meade (right guard), Gerry Quirk (right tackle), Thomas Halligan (right end), Bergin (quarterback), Barrett Roberts (left halfback), William Palese (right halfback), Butch Constantino (fullback). The substitutes were: E. A. DeBordenave and Aime LaCroix.

### Kentucky

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| VPI | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| • Kentucky | 7 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 20 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Palmer (left end), Stark (left tackle), Murphy (left guard), Brown (center), Hite (right guard), Grinus (right tackle), Seaman (right end), Groth (quarterback), Casey (left halfback), Robison (right halfback), Howard (fullback). The substitutes were: Betts, Chandler, English, Hardwick, Hoenstine, Miles, Morgan, Ottley, Porterfield, Simmons and Swart.
The starting lineup for Kentucky was: U. T. Duff (left end), Ralph Wright (left tackle), O. L. "Bud" Davidson (left guard), Frank Seale (center), Darrell Darby (right guard), Kenneth Andrews (right tackle), George Skinner (right end), Dick Richards (quarterback), Shipwreck Kelly (left halfback), Cecil Urbaniak (right halfback), Ralph Kercheval (fullback). The substitutes were: Stanley Bach, Thomas Cassady, M. J. "Bud" Cavana, Engel, Foster, Janes, Ellis T. Johnson, Robert Kipping, Howard Kreuter, William Luther, Robert Montgomery, Parrish, Pribble, Newell Wilder, Worthington and George Yates.

### Maryland

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Maryland | 0 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 20 |
| VPI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
VPI's 1931 homecoming game was a loss to Maryland.
The starting lineup for VPI was: Seaman (left end), Stark (left tackle), Hite (left guard), Brown (center), Swart (right guard), Hoenstine (right tackle), Palmer (right end), Groth (quarterback), Hardwick (left halfback), Porterfield (right halfback), Robison (fullback). The substitutes were: Casey, Howard and Murphy.
The starting lineup for Maryland was: Alfred Pease (left end), Ernie Carliss (left tackle), Courtney Hayden (left guard), Parker Faber (center), Jesse Krajcovic (right guard), George Cole (right tackle), Jack Norris (right end), Charles May (quarterback), Boze Berger (left halfback), George V. Chalmers (right halfback), Ray Poppelman (fullback). The substitutes were: Charles Keenan, Paul Kiernan and John Mitchell.

### Washington and Lee

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • W&L | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| VPI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Palmer (left end), Stark (left tackle), Hite (left guard), Brown (center), Dyke (right guard), Grinus (right tackle), Chandler (right end), Ottley (quarterback), Hardwick (left halfback), Robison (right halfback), Howard (fullback). The substitutes were: Casey, Groth, Morgan, Porterfield, Seaman and Swart.
The starting lineup for Washington and Lee was: S. S. Mosovich (left end), Thomasson Boland (left tackle), Amos Bolen (left guard), Patrick Mitchell (center), Charles Tilson (right guard), Robert Morris (right tackle), John Hanley (right end), L. H. Wilson (quarterback), W. W. Mattox (left halfback), Eugene Martin (right halfback), F. R. Bailey (fullback). The substitutes were: William Grove and Joseph Sawyers.

### Virginia

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| VPI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Chandler (left end), Stark (left tackle), Hite (left guard), Brown (center), Dyke (right guard), Grinus (right tackle), Palmer (right end), Howard (quarterback), Casey (left halfback), Hardwick (right halfback), Robison (fullback). The substitutes were: Groth, Ottley and Porterfield.
The starting lineup for Virginia was: William Condon (left end), Charles Poss (left tackle), Herbert Bryant (left guard), Lewis Reiss (center), Bill DeButts (right guard), Ray Burger (right tackle), Gene Wager (right end), William Edgar (quarterback), William Thomas (left halfback), Douglas Myers (right halfback), Ward Brewer (fullback).

### VMI

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| VMI | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| • VPI | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Seaman (left end), Stark (left tackle), Hite (left guard), Brown (center), Betts (right guard), Grinus (right tackle), Swart (right end), Groth (quarterback), Hardwick (left halfback), Porterfield (right halfback), Robison (fullback). The substitutes were: Casey and Howard.
The starting lineup for VMI was: John Gill (left end), Pus Hilliard (left tackle), Al Rochelle (left guard), James Rea (center), Arthur Marklis (right guard), Charles Straub (right tackle), Randolph Gregory (right end), William Smith (quarterback), Paul Travers (left halfback), Tucker Watkins (right halfback), Ralph Waite (fullback). The substitutes were: Charles Bailey, William Kaylor, Ed Kostainsek, Jack Lavinder, Louis Seigel, Irvin Smith, Eugene Spaulding and Fred Urick.

## Coaching and training staff

* Head coach: Orville Neale
* Assistant coaches
** P. Hotchkiss
** Herbert McEver
** Line coach: Lyal Clark
* Manager: H. D. Shank
* Freshman head coach: Henry Redd
* Freshman Manager: W. H. Walthall