1966 Tennessee A&I Tigers football team
American college football season
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The 1966 Tennessee A&I Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College as a member of the Midwestern Conference during the 1966 NCAA College Division football season. In their fourth season under head coach John Merritt, the Tigers compiled a perfect 10–0 record, won the Midwestern Conference championship, shut out five of ten opponents, defeated Muskingum in the 1966 Grantland Rice Bowl, and outscored all opponents by a total of 410 to 51.[2] The Tigers compiled a 24-game unbeaten streak that encompassed the 1965 and 1966 seasons.
- John Merritt (4th season)
| 1966 Tennessee A&I Tigers football | |
|---|---|
Black college national champion Midwestern Conference champion | |
Grantland Rice Bowl, W 34–7 vs. Muskingum | |
| Conference | Midwestern Conference |
| Record | 10–0 (2–0 Midwestern) |
| Head coach |
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| Home stadium | Hale Stadium |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 1 Tennessee A&I $ | 2 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lincoln (MO) | 1 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kentucky State | 0 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The team was also recognized as the 1966 black college national champion and was ranked No. 2 in the final small college rankings issued by the Associated Press and No. 3 in the final poll issued by the United Press International. The team's No. 2 ranking was the highest achieved by a black college team to that point in time. The Pittsburgh Courier called the 1966 Tennessee A&I team as "the finest force yet produced by Negro college football."[3]
On October 22, the Tigers became the first team to defeat the Florida A&M Rattlers in Bragg Memorial Stadium and the first team to shut out the Rattlers in 16 years.[4]
Three Tennessee A&I players were selected as first team players on the Pittsburgh Courier's 1966 All-America team: quarterback Eldridge Dickey, fullback Bill Tucker, and defensive tackle Claude Humphrey.[5] Other key players included halfback Noland Smith and split end Johnnie Robinson.
Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 24 | at North Carolina A&T* | W 55–0 | [6] | |||||
| October 1 | Texas Southern* | W 52–0 | 7,720 | [7] | ||||
| October 8 | at Grambling* | No. 10 | W 31–23 | [8] | ||||
| October 22 | at Florida A&M* | No. 10 | W 29–0 | [4] | ||||
| October 29 | Southern* | No. 6 |
| W 31–9 | [9] | |||
| November 5 | Morris Brown* | No. 4 |
| W 28–0 | 2,260 | [10] | ||
| November 12 | vs. Lincoln (MO) | No. 4 |
| W 28–6 | 3,000 | [11] | ||
| November 19 | at Allen* | No. 2 | Columbia, SC | W 39–6 | [12] | |||
| November 24 | Kentucky State | No. 2 |
| W 83–0 | 11,000 | [13][14] | ||
| December 10 | vs. No. 7 Muskingum* | No. 2 | W 34–7 | < 7,000 | [15] | |||
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