1923 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
Player Touchdowns Extra points Field goals Points
Gil Reese 10 0 0 60
Hek Wakefield 0 14 2 20
Red Rountree 2 0 0 12
Doc Kuhn 1 0 0 6
Thomas Ryan 1 0 0 6
Alf Sharp 1 0 0 6
TOTAL 15 14 2 137
Personnel -- Scoring leaders
The 1923 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 1923 Southern Conference football season. The team's head coach was Dan McGugin, who served his 19th year in that capacity. Members of the Southern Conference (as well as co-members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association), the Commodores played six home games at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee, and finished the season with a record of 5-2-1 overall and 3-0-1 in Southern Conference (SoCon) play, outscoring opponents 137-33. Vanderbilt won its conference for the third straight year, tying with Washington & Lee for the Southern Conference championship. Most sportswriters listed the Commodores as the outright winner of the mythical Southern crown, resulting in their receiving the Champ Pickens Trophy as champions of the South. It is to date the last conference title for Vanderbilt football. The team suffered losses to the national champion Michigan Wolverines and the undefeated Texas Longhorns. The offense was led by captain and quarterback Doc Kuhn and All-Southern halfback Gil Reese. The defense which averaged 2.33 points per game at home, was anchored by All-Southern ends Lynn Bomar and Hek Wakefield. Bomar was also a consensus All-American, even selected such by Walter Camp, a rarity for a player from the South. Of Wakefield's performance during the game with the Wolverines, Michigan head coach Fielding Yost said I never saw a greater exhibition of end play. As was common in 1923 and the days of one platoon football, both Bomar and Wakefield also featured heavily on offense and the kicking game.