page_title: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football
section_title: Early history (1892–1903)
hierarchical_section_title: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football / History / Early history (1892–1903)
caption_attribution_description: English: The first Georgia Tech football team (1893). Source: http://www.library.gatech.edu/archives/years/images/1893.jpg on http://www.library.gatech.edu/archives/years/1893.htm
context_page_description: The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in the sport of American football. The Yellow Jackets team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Georgia Tech has fielded a football team since 1892 and, as of 2017, has an all-time record of 735–502-43. The Yellow Jackets play in Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field in Atlanta, which has a capacity of 55,000.
  One of the most successful college football programs over a long history, the Yellow Jackets have won four national championships across four different decades as well as sixteen conference titles. Among the team's former coaches are John Heisman, for whom the Heisman Trophy is named, and Bobby Dodd, for whom the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award and the school's stadium are named. Heisman led the team to the most lopsided game in football history, 222–0, and both Heisman and Dodd led Tech's football team to national championships.
context_section_description: Tech began its football program with several students forming a loose-knit troop of footballers called the Blacksmiths. On November 5, 1892, Tech played its first football game against Mercer University. The team lost to Mercer 12–6 in Macon, Georgia. Tech played two other games during their first season and lost both of them for a season record of 0–3. Discouraged by these results, the Blacksmiths sought a coach to improve their record. Leonard Wood, an Army officer and Atlantan, heard of Tech's football struggles and volunteered to player-coach the team.
  Over the span of 1892–1903, Tech only won 8 games, tied in 5, and lost 32. In 1893, Tech played against the University of Georgia for the first time. Tech defeated Georgia 28–6 for the school's first-ever victory. The angry Georgia fans threw stones and other debris at the Tech players during and after the game. The poor treatment of the Blacksmiths by the Georgia faithful gave birth to the rivalry now known as Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate.
  In 1902, Jesse Thrash was the team's first All-Southern selection. He began the season as a sub and closed it as the undisputed star of the Tech team. Oliver Jones Huie was selected by Ga Tech's athletic association to coach the football team for the 1903 season when the team won 3 and lost 5 games. A professional coach was desperately needed if Tech wished to build a truly competitive football program. The first game of the 1903 season was a 73–0 destruction at the hands of John Heisman's Clemson; shortly after the season, Tech offered Heisman a coaching position.
caption: The 1893 Georgia Tech football team
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