Troy’s Thanksgiving Games
Before the Cowboys and the Lions made professional football a holiday tradition, Troy State Normal School’s football team played an almost-annual game on Thanksgiving Day.
Over 42 years, Troy State went 8-5-2 on Thanksgiving Day. The team traveled five times, and played some memorable games and opponents.
The Third Game – 1909 Union Springs
The Troy football team’s first game was a match with Union Springs High School team. The game ended in a tie, with no score. Two weeks later, Troy State got its first win, and began a five-day turnaround for its season finale in Union Springs.
The third game ended the exact same way as the first. No score. Troy went 1-0-2 in its first season, and Virgil McKinley gave up the reins to the team.
The Birth of a Rivalry – 1924 Jacksonville State
Fifteen years later, Troy State drove nearly 200 miles north to play another Normal School in Jacksonville. The home team won 14-9. Seven years later Troy got its first win over the University that would become Jacksonville State, kicking off a 63-game nearly-annual series.
Troy won 21-3 in 2001—its first year in FBS, kept the Ol’ School Bell and never looked back.
Utter Devastation – 1925 Marion Military Institute
In 1925, Troy State ventured out yet again for its Thanksgiving battle, taking on the Military Academy in Marion, Alabama. It’s the closest Troy has ever been to playing in Tuscaloosa (despite hosting the Tide’s B team in 1948).
The result? Troy’s second worst loss in program history. The Tigers dropped an absolute bomb on Troy, winning 86-0. The Teachers didn’t learn their lesson apparently—the worst loss in program history was a 97-0 loss, again to Marion Institute.
Troy State hosted Marion for Thanksgiving 1931, and though the score wasn’t as bad the outcome was the same. Troy State didn’t beat Marion until 1933.
The FSU Win – 1947
Almost every college in America shut down its football program during World War II, and Troy State was no different. The Red Wave picked up football again in 1946.
140 miles to the southeast, the entire Florida college system was seeing changes. A 1904 state law made Florida State College a women’s college and the FSC football team moved to Gainesville. That’s right, the FSU football team became the first Florida football team.
The end of WWII forced the state to reverse the 1904 decision, reintegrating FSC in 1947. That year, the football team returned and set up a five-game schedule with Stetson, Cumberland, Tennessee Tech, Jacksonville State and Troy.
All five of these teams (four of which still exist) can claim a win over the Seminoles, from their inaugural year.
On Thanksgiving 1947, FSC hosted Troy State at Centennial Field, what is now Cascades Park. It was FSC’s worst loss that year, and its worst loss until 1952.
The End of an Era – 1951 Miami Air Base
Troy State helped form the Alabama Intercollegiate/Collegiate Conference in 1938 with Jacksonville State, West Alabama, St. Bernard and Marion Military Institute. The conference survived the war and moved into the NAIA.
It was Troy’s home for the national title in 1968, and it stayed with that group until the Red Wave joined the Gulf South in 1970.
The 1950s was a major transitional period for the Red Wave in another way. For the first time, Troy State was playing other colleges instead of high schools and military base teams.
That tradition ended on Thanksgiving 1951. Miami Air Force Reserve Base, now the site of Miami International Airport, sent its team to Troy for the Red Wave’s season finale. Troy State won 33-13, and never played a non-collegiate team again.
It was also Troy’s last Thanksgiving game, though that may have more to do with its move to NAIA. The league added football in 1956, and the AIC was already onboard with other sports.
Regardless, the Red Wave’s Thanksgiving games feature a collection of slugfests, blowouts and milestones.