Sewanee, TN – Brevard at Sewanee, you ask? Who? What? Why? I reach back into my Division-3 roots as a graduate of Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA to start this weekend. Like these two schools, Juniata possesses credible marks in the history of American and college football. Brevard and Sewanee celebrate their particular points of history or interest as well. At Juniata for instance, we take pride having played in the 1956 Tangerine Bowl, later Citrus Bowl (tied Missouri Valley, 6-6). In 1973, the Juniata Indians played in the first Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl for the D-3 championship. Lost to Wittenberg of Ohio badly, 41-0. However, JC won the first playoff game ever when the Indians defeated the University of Bridgeport (CT) in the first D-3 final four playoff ever, 35-14. My father took me to see the game my junior year in high school. As far as alumni, we featured one of the best NFL coaches of all time. Chuck Knox graduated in 1954. He coached the Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks and Los Angelas Rams for a career record of 186-147. Juniata’s football stadium bears his name.
Cash flow strategy
Like the previous week, made a decision to keep costs down early for more enticing trips to big games later in the season. No game tickets on sale, but a $20 parking fee provides a tailgate spot and a seat at Hardee-McGee Field. For Collegefootballfan.com, this looks like a good opportunity to consolidate two local games into one weekend. In addition, my Guest Game Analyst (GGA) that week actually played for Sewanee in the late 60’s. My friend from the local gym, the “Commissioner” of our Gym Plus Friends Fantasy Football League, David Oakley, convinced me to join. Because of my inability to focus much on pro games, I invited him to revisit his struggling alma mater. His first time back on campus in a while, hopefully the atmosphere that day will conjure up some of his football memories. Maybe his mind will clear. Playing halfback, he supposedly doesn’t remember wearing a face mask.
David played for the late Sewanee Hall of Fame HC Shirley Majors. At Sewanee, he achieved a record of 93–74–5. Among Major’s five football-playing sons, he was the father of the late Johnny Majors (185-137-10) who coached the University of Tennessee to three SEC titles and the Pitt Panthers to the National Championship in 1976. I got to see him coach Pitt in 1974 when I attended the US Naval Academy. Pitt defeated the Midshipman that day with Tony Dorsett, the eventual 1976 Heisman Trophy winner, at running back, 13-11. The entire Majors Football Family enshrined into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame together in 1966.
Sewanee: 1899 University of the South “Iron Men”
The Sewanee Tigers of 1899 were one of the greatest college football teams ever. In their 12-0 season, they won five of those games in six days. They outscored their opponents that season, 322-10. The teams they defeated dwell in this year’s Top 25: Geogia, Texas, Texas A&M, Auburn, Tennessee LSU, and Ole Miss. Get this: they won all five games in six days on the road. They hosted only three games at home on Hardee Field. Who schedules like this today? In their final win of the season, Auburn, under HC John Heisman, scored the only points of the season against Sewanee in their 11-10 struggle.
From 1934-1939, Sewanee played as a charter member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). During those seasons, they won only 16 games. None came against any SEC programs of today. The University of the South bounced around among several conferences after. And even at the D-3 level, they still clamor for success. The Tigers enjoyed their last winning season in 2000 with a record of 6-4.
Sewanee: committed to turn football around
Fed up with losing, to get back on track, in 2022, The University of the South hired Andy McCollum as its new HC. McCollum coached Middle Tennesse in nearby Murfreesboro from 1999-2005 leading the Blue Raiders in their step up into Division 1A football (now the FBS). We happened to add MTSU as our 64th major football program in 2000 when they visited the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT. McCollum’s team blasted the Huskies, our 65th team added that day, 66-10. After that 6-5 season, MTSU joined the Sun Belt and won the title with an 8-3 record overall in 2001. The momentum died after that season though. McCollum left behind a record of 34-45. Subsequently, he became a defensive assistant including nine seasons at Georgia Tech under successful HC Paul Johnson who we saw many times coaching Navy into a much-improved program running the triple option.
McCollum took over a Sewanee Tiger team that won two games during the previous four seasons before he arrived. He now holds a record of 5-15 after his first two. So, progress has been made. Last season, the offense averaged 20.7 ppg while the defense allowed 30 ppg. They finished 2-8 overall and 1-6 in the Southern Athletic Association. The good news indicates that his passing and rushing leader, QB Alcorin Thomas returns for his junior season. Second leading rusher, Dawson White, returns as a sophomore. Also, his leading wide receiver, Dyer Barnes and his leading TE Cooper Alford both return as juniors. McCollum looks like he started rebuilding his offense last season. Most of his leading tacklers on defense have graduated. Maybe this will be his season that he starts filling in positions with newcomers he’s recruited. We look forward to seeing if that unit steps up somewhat in this game.
Meet the Brevard College Tornados
HC Bill Khayat took over the Brevard program in 2017 that had only one winning season ever prior to his hire. Since then, the Tornados have mounted a record of 42-32. In his third season, his team finished 8-2 including a Bowl win over Carnegie-Mellon. Since then, his teams have challenged for first place in the USA South Atlantic Conference annually. Amazingly for a school of 713 students in Brevard about 35 miles south of Ashville, at least 113 players make up the football roster (15% of all students). Reportedly, more make up a JV roster. Last season, the Tornados finished 6-3 and 5-2 in conference play.
On offense, QB Ethan Beamish returns with 2,093 passing yards and 25 TDs for an offense that averaged 36 ppg. Leading rushers and receivers have moved on. USA Southern Division recognized Beamish as their second team QB last season. At LB, Baylee Ramey returns after earning Honorable Mention and leading the Tornados in tackles. Again, seniors and graduate students led many stats on both sides of the football for Brevard last season. Looks like many starters from last year will need to be replaced. Certainly, there will be a lot of competition for open spots in this year’s starting lineup in Brevard.
Family Day at Sewanee’s Hardee-McGee Field
Both teams will come in with games under their belts. Sewanee’s Tigers open at Bethany (WV) who finished 0-10 last season. The Tornados host Kentucky Christian (NAIA) who they defeated in their last game in 2024, 41-25. Both teams should come into this contest with adjustments made in their openers. This could be an interesting game as the Tigers return skill positions on offense, and neither team has a wealth of experienced starters on defense. Throw out last year’s records. Seems like this could be a fun and competitive football game to watch between these D-3 programs in a non-conference battle for both. Development of new players and strategies by both coaching staffs will weigh heavily in this game. McCollum and Khayat both look to get their teams on a winning track early in 2025.
Collegefootballfan.com looks forward to attending this game with no TV time-outs and instant replay delays – just flat-out football. Players play to win, and they don’t even get scholarship money at this level. Sure, not the best, the biggest nor the fastest. NIL offers for any? Probably not. We look forward to a game fought between actual college students. We figure this game gets over in time to put us on the road to our second game in Chattanooga when the UTC Moccasins host the Stetson Hatters in an FCS game an hour away. Hopefully, our GGA will entertain us with some stories about his “glory days” at Sewanee as well.
And once again, don’t forget…
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Edited by and photos taken by Steve Koreivo – Member of Football Writers Association of America and Author of Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly.