If you no longer care for printed words on paper, there’s good news. “Auburn’s Unclaimed National Championships” is now available for immediate download as a Kindle e-book through Amazon.com, for Kindle readers or other tablet computers with a Kindle app. Just follow this link. Leave a review if you can. There is updated content on several topics, especially the Donahue years.

The Auburn sports blog, Warblogle.com has picked up the torch to help get Auburn University to formally recognize AU’s 1913 team as a National Champion. In its post this week, Warblogle argues that Auburn should both recognize the 1913 team as a national champion (as does the the NCAA) and honor that team by wearing throwback uniforms based off the 19193 uniform. The proposed uniforms are a sight to see.

1. Kirk Newell  Team captain and left halfback, Newell accounted for 1707 all-purpose yards in just 8 games, including 121 yards in a 21-7 win over Georgia in Atlanta that clinched the SIAA championship and 8-0 season.  Newell was the QB as a freshman on Auburn’s 6-1 national championship team in 1910. Coach Donahue later called Newell, who had All-American ability as a runner, “the best player I ever coached.” As a soldier in WWI, Newell selflessly threw himself on a hand grenade, suffering disabling injuries, but saving the lives of his comrades in arms.

1913 Auburn Tigers football team (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

3. “Bull” Kearley  He played halfback some as well, but Kearley starred as a tough intimidating defensive end. Coach Donahue’s defensive strategy in the “7 Box” (7-2-2) was to have his ends crash down and disrupt the play from the start. Kearley’s speed and great toughness helped key a defense that gave up only two touchdowns in 8 games as Auburn outscored its opponents 224 -13.

4/5. Frank Lockwood/Jim Thigpen  These two All-Southern lineman led the way for the rushing offense and composed a formidable tandem on the defensive line. Cuts, bruises, broken noses or even a knocked out tooth didn’t slow these guys down.

6. “Boozer” Pitts The son of a preacher, this teetotaler played well at center, a position even tougher in that era than today. His blocking was key for the fullback dive, Donahue’s staple play.  Pitts would go on to be voted to the All-Southern team in 1914, and then a decade later as a math professor be named Auburn’s head coach when Donahue left the program after 18 years.

7/8. Bill Christopher/Frank Hart  These two played backup fullback and halfback and were often put in the game as fresh runners near the end zone. They had a nose for scoring touchdowns, including Hart’s 85 yard scamper for a TD against Georgia Tech in a 20-0 victory at Grant Field in Atlanta. Christopher and Hart were also mainstays on the defense, where their hard-nosed play won acclaim.

9. Ted Arnold  When Arnold showed he could handle QB duties, Coach Donahue was able to move Kirk Newell from QB to halfback, his more natural position. While teams did not pass much in this era, Arnold had an accurate arm and that allowed Coach Donahue to use a few pass plays to loosen the defense against the run. Arnold was also the placekicker for extra points and seldom missed.

10. F.H. Pendergrast  He had the speed of a halfback (where he’d play in 1914), but also had the physical nature needed to play several positions on defense and starred in whatever position he was asked to play.

You can read about these great Auburn players, and other more modern ones, in the Auburn’s Unclaimed National Championship book.

The May 30th issue of the Auburn Villager newspaper included a great article on Auburn’s 1913 team and mentions that team can be claimed by Auburn to be a national champion. The article, found here, makes favorable mention of the Auburn’s Unclaimed National Championship book.

The “Auburn’s Unclaimed National Championships” book has created a discussion among Auburn people whether the Athletic Department should claim more than two college football national championships (1957, 2010), given that an additional seven could possibly be claimed and the NCAA recognizes Auburn as a national champion for an additional three seasons (1913, 1983, 1993). The Never to Yield Foundation offered their opinion in this article on its web site. Read the article here.

Last week, Michael Skotnicki was a guest on Kevin Scarbinsky and Scott Griffin’s show, Smashmouth Radio, on 97.3 FM in Birmingham to discuss his book, Auburn’s Unclaimed National Championships and the possibility of Auburn claiming additional national championships. Here’s the link to the podcast of the interview.

Last week, Michael Skotnicki was interviewed by the hosts of Sportz Blitz Live, a weekly sports show out of Sylacauga that airs on Charter cable statewide. Although he was not in studio, you can watch the telephone interview. You might be surprised, but the host who is an Alabama graduate was a supporter of Auburn claiming at least a few of these National Championships.

Van Allen Plexico and John Ringer of The War Eagle Reader’s “Wishbone” podcast recently interviewed Michael Skotnicki about his book, Auburn’s Unclaimed National Championships, and why Auburn should claim additional championships. A link to the podcast is here.

Andrew Salser, a writer for the Auburn sports blog, College and Magnolia recently interviewed Michael Skotnicki about  the “Auburn’s Unclaimed National Championships” book and the idea of Auburn claiming additional national championships. The article is in an article titled:“Reviewing ‘Auburn’s Unclaimed National Championships.” It’s worth a read.

The all things Auburn blog, The War Eagle Reader, interviewed Michael Skotnicki about  the “Auburn’s Unclaimed National Championships” book and the idea of Auburn claiming as many as seven additional national championships in an article titled: “Rational Championships: Birmingham lawyer’s new book argues Auburn should claim 7 more national titles.”