Standing Ready

"The 1922 Dixie Classic, a post-season football matchup between the Aggies of the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College and the Praying Colonels of Kentucky's Centre College, was remarkable in several respects. For the Aggie faithful, it is well known as the game where the revered Twelfth Man tradition originated, as E. King Gill was summoned from the stands to don the uniform of an injured team member and to serve as the Aggies' sole substitute player, ensuring that the game could continue. What may be less well remembered, however, is that the game also featured a contest between two championship coaches with strong ties to Texas A&M: D. X. Bible, who mentored the Aggies from 1916 to 1928, and whose 1917 and 1919 teams were not only undefeated but did not surrender a single point to opponents -- a feat unduplicated to this day in college football -- and Centre College's 'Uncle Charlie' Moran, who coached at A&M from 1909 to 1914, compiling a 38-8-4 record. At Centre, Moran had built a team of national reputation, cemented by the Colonels' 6-0 upset of powerhouse Harvard in 1921 en route to the squad's second consecutive undefeated season. Historian John A. Adams Jr. '73 has mined the archives at both Texas A&M and Centre College and has also obtained interviews with key participants, including athletes, coaches, and game promoters. For the first time, he presents enthralling details of the runup to and progress of the historic game: the Texas recruiting connection that enabled Moran to obtain dominant athletes for his Centre College program, the pregame conversation between Bible and E. King Gill that helped place Gill in uniform on the sidelines, the wedding celebration involving the Centre College team at the historic Adolphus Hotel the night before the game, the diagram of the play the Aggies used to score the game-winning touchdown, and so much more. Sports fans and historians, especially those interested in the early days of American football, will savor the rich, previously unknown anecdotes surrounding this storied contest between two iconic coaches and their resolute squads"--