# 1927 VPI Gobblers football team

The 1927 VPI Gobblers football team represented Virginia Polytechnic Institute in the 1927 college football season. The team was led by their head coach Andy Gustafson and finished with a record of five wins and four losses (5–4).

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
| September 24 | | Roanoke* | Miles StadiumBlacksburg, VA | W 21–2 | |
| October 1 | | Hampden–Sydney* | Miles StadiumBlacksburg, VA | W 13–0 | |
| October 8 | | at Colgate* | Whitnall FieldHamilton, NY | W 6–0 | |
| October 15 | 2:30 p.m. | vs. Maryland | League ParkNorfolk, VA | L 7–13 | 6,000 |
| October 22 | | at Virginia | Lambeth FieldCharlottesville, VA (rivalry) | L 0–7 | |
| October 29 | | at Chattanooga* | Chamberlain FieldChattanooga, TN | L 13–14 | |
| November 5 | 2:30 p.m. | vs. South Carolina | Tate FieldRichmond, VA | W 35–0 | |
| November 12 | | Washington and Lee | Miles StadiumBlacksburg, VA | W 21–0 | 4,000 |
| November 24 | | vs. VMI | Maher FieldRoanoke, VA (rivalry) | L 9–12 | 17,000 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecoming |||||||

## Before the season

The 1926 VPI Gobblers football team compiled a 5–3–1 record and were led by Andy Gustafson in his first season as head coach.

## Game summaries
### Roanoke

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Roanoke | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| • VPI | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
VPI's first game of the season was a victory over Roanoke at Miles Stadium.
The starting lineup for VPI was: Nutter (left end), Gray (left tackle), Miles (left guard), Brown (center), Hotchkiss (right guard), Bailey (right tackle), Petty (right end), MacArthur (quarterback), Peake (left halfback), Mattox (right halfback), Looney (fullback). The substitutes were: Amole, Anderson, Hudgins, Jacobs, Mahaney, McEver, Price, Rule, Spear, Tomko and Von Erickson.
The starting lineup for Roanoke was: Ed I. Bell (left end), Charles Wilson (left tackle), Virgil Morton (left guard), Harold Nank (center), Bill Frey (right guard), Maurice Givens (right tackle), D. C. Lionberger (right end), J. H. "Deana" Gilbert (quarterback), B. M. "Turtle" Jones (left halfback), Pleas Ramsey (right halfback), John Dietrich (fullback). The substitutes were: William Altizer, W. T. "Ted" Fix, John Frye, Thomas Fryer, Lloyd "Buzzy" Goode, William Logan, Martin, F. Ritter, Stanley Rutherford, James Shannon, G. R. Starnes and Billy O. Williams.

### Hampden–Sydney

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| HS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • VPI | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
After their victory over Roanoke, VPI played Hampden–Sydney College at Miles Stadium.
The starting lineup for VPI was: Nutter (left end), Moss (left tackle), Hotchkiss (left guard), Brown (center), Miles (right guard), Gray (right tackle), Petty (right end), McEver (quarterback), Mattox (left halfback), Tomko (right halfback), Looney (fullback). The substitutes were: Anderson, Bailey, Jacobs, Mahaney, Rice, Spear and Von Erickson.
The starting lineup for Hampden–Sydney was: Scott (left end), Stuart Worden (left tackle), Woodruff (left guard), Hudson (center), Hugh Blanton (right guard), Harry Myles (right tackle), Charles Turley (right end), Thomas Peach (quarterback), Jones (left halfback), Ruffner (right halfback), Charles Gatewood (fullback). The substitutes were: Cox, Hughes, Robert Lawson and Robert Nance.

### Colgate

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • VPI | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Colgate | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Nutter (left end), Gray (left tackle), Miles (left guard), Brown (center), Jones (right guard), Bailey (right tackle), Petty (right end), McEver (quarterback), Mattox (left halfback), Peake (right halfback), Looney (fullback). The substitutes were: Hotchkiss, MacArthur and Spear.
The starting lineup for Colgate was: Mike Stramiello (left end), Carl Mankat (left tackle), John Flagg (left guard), John Cox (center), Bruce DuMont (right guard), Arthur Huntington (right tackle), William Timm (right end), Edward Newell (quarterback), George Brewer (left halfback), John Galloway (right halfback), Harold Shaughnessy (fullback). The substitutes were: Thomas Dowler, Hoot Haines, Walter Mason, James Simmonds, George Stollwerck and Izzy Yablok.

### Maryland

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Maryland | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| VPI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Nutter (left end), Gray (left tackle), Miles (left guard), Brown (center), Jones (right guard), Bailey (right tackle), Petty (right end), McEver (quarterback), Mattox (left halfback), Peake (right halfback), Looney (fullback). The substitutes were: Hotchkiss, MacArthur, Mahaney, Price, Rice, Spear and Tomko.
The starting lineup for Maryland was: Charles Dodson (left end), Earl Zulick (left tackle), John McDonald (left guard), Harold Bafford (center), Jack Keenan (right guard), Donald Adams (right tackle), Melvin Young (right end), Gordon Kessler (quarterback), Lewis "Knocky" Thomas (left halfback), Gerald Snyder (right halfback), Fred Linkous (fullback). The substitutes were: Al Heagy, Augie Roberts, Ed Tenney and Arthur Wondrack.

### Virginia

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| VPI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • UVA | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Nutter (left end), Gray (left tackle), Miles (left guard), Brown (center), Jones (right guard), Bailey (right tackle), Petty (right end), McEver (quarterback), Mattox (left halfback), Peake (right halfback), Looney (fullback). The substitutes were: Hotchkiss, Hubbard, MacArthur, Rice, Rule and Spear.
The starting lineup for Virginia was: Howard Turner (left end), William Luke (left tackle), Garland Daniel (left guard), George Taylor (center), Wallace Symington (right guard), Bickerton Cardwell (right tackle), Albert Hofheimer (right end), John Hushion (quarterback), Gus Kaminer (left halfback), John Sloan (right halfback), Quintus Hutter (fullback). The substitutes were: Oscar Close, Meade, Samuel Pendleton and Bledsoe Pinkerton.

### Chattanooga

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| VPI | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 13 |
| • Chattanooga | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |

### Washington and Lee

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| W&L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • VPI | 0 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 21 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Nutter (left end), Gray (left tackle), Miles (left guard), Brown (center), Hotchkiss (right guard), Bailey (right tackle), Petty (right end), McEver (quarterback), Tomko (left halfback), Peake (right halfback), Hudgins (fullback).
The starting lineup for Washington and Lee was: Wilmer Dorsey (left end), Earl Fitzpatrick (left tackle), Myer Seligman (left guard), Rhydon Latham (center), Henry Groop (right guard), Virgil Fisher (right tackle), Hollis Spotts (right end), Robert Howe (quarterback), David Eberhart (left halfback), T. P. Stearns (right halfback), Eugene White (fullback).

### VMI

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • VMI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| VPI | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
The starting lineup for VPI was: Nutter (left end), Gray (left tackle), Miles (left guard), Brown (center), Hotchkiss (right guard), Bailey (right tackle), Petty (right end), MacArthur (quarterback), Peake (left halfback), Tomko (right halfback), McEver (fullback). The substitutes were: Hubbard, Hudgins, Jones, Mattox, Moss and Spear.
The starting lineup for VMI was: William Moss (left end), Kenneth Rugh (left tackle), Karlyle O'Berry (left guard), Joseph Mondy (center), William Haase (right guard), Luther Hewlett (right tackle), Luther Thornhill (right end), Albert Hawkins (quarterback), Frank Harner (left halfback), Charles Holtzclaw (right halfback), Bernard McCray (fullback). The substitutes were: Adams, Al Barnes, John Biggs, Edward Carney, Louis Chadwick, Joel Moody and Tommy Scott.

## Players
### Monogram Club members

Fourteen players received monograms for their participation on the 1927 VPI team.
| Player | Hometown | Notes |
| Albert Ewell Bailey (Capt.) | Roanoke, Virginia | |
| Joseph Murray Brown | Staunton, Virginia | |
| John Edward Gray | | |
| Philip Smith Hotchkiss | | |
| William Coles Hudgins | | |
| John Ote Looney | Roanoke, Virginia | |
| J. B. "Scotty" MacArthur | Newport News, Virginia | |
| Arthur Randolph Mahaney | | |
| Cloy Mattox | Leesville, Virginia | Major League Baseball catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics during the 1929 season. |
| Vernon Edward Miles (Capt.) | Norfolk, Virginia | |
| Lloyd Broderick Nutter | Blacksburg, Virginia | |
| Frank Peake | Hampton, Virginia | |
| Douglas Cooper Petty | Hilton Village, Virginia | |
| Cyril Method "Tommy" Tomko | | |

## Coaching and training staff

* Head coach: Andy Gustafson
* Assistant coach: N. Lee Frank
* Manager: W. M. Johnson
* Trainer: Bud Moore
* Freshman head coach: Henry Redd
* Freshman Manager: W. S. Gay