Auburn Tichenor enrolled at Auburn University in 1893, and was a member of
Kappa Alpha Order. He was captain of the
1896 Auburn Tigers football team, and returned to assist his alma mater in the 1910s. When coach
Mike Donahue's health failed in
1911, Tichenor was largely responsible for Auburn's strong showing in holding
Georgia to a scoreless tie, for which he was awarded a gold watch by the team. He also assisted the
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) champion
1913,
1914, and
1919 Auburn teams.
1895 . Tichenor once executed a "
hidden ball trick" in the 1895 game against
Vanderbilt as Auburn seemed to run a revolving wedge. Vanderbilt still won however, 9 to 6; the first time in the history of southern football that a
field goal decided a game. "Billy" Williams recalled: I was playing left
half for Auburn and Tichenor was quarterback. We were on Vandy's 15-yard line and had the ball in our possession. Tich passed the ball to me; I raised his jersey and hid the ball under it, at the same time dashing toward our right
end, protected by several members of the Auburn team...Vandy thought I had the ball. Tich journeyed around his own left and went over the Vanderbilt's
goal line. The first time the Vandy players knew Tich had the ball and had made a
touchdown was when they saw him pulling the ball from under his jersey. Tichenor described the nature of the play as follows:The play was simply this. When the ball was
snapped it went to a halfback. The play was closely massed and well screened. The halfback then thrust the ball under the back of my jersey. Then he would
crash into the line. After the play I simply trotted away to a touchdown.
1896 The
Georgia–Auburn game of 1896 was a 12 to 6 victory by Georgia to finish its first undefeated season under
Pop Warner. The game featured Tichenor's brilliant
punt returns. Tichenor once said of the game that he had been sprawled on the ground, when a big Georgia
lineman jumped at him, knees first, with Tichenor rolling out of the way just in time. "The fellow was very polite," Tichenor said. "We both got up and he apologized very profusely for having missed me." and was quarterback of the
football team when
Richard Von Albade Gammon met his death. "Von" had been quarterback the year before, and moved to
fullback upon Tichenor's arrival. The
Atlanta Journal on Tichenor remarked: "He is a small man, pale-faced and slight. He doesn't weigh over 120 pounds with all his hair and padding. His voice is penetrating. He is never silent.... He guys, jeers, and encourages his team... or rushes in and makes a brilliant dash himself. It is worth a trip to Athens to hear him talk and see him play." He played
second base on the
baseball team.
Writer Fuzzy Woodruff on
All-Southern selections relates: "The first selections that had any pretense of being backed by a judicial consideration were made by W. Reynolds Tichenor, old-time Auburn quarterback, who had kept in intimate contact with football through being a sought after official."
Official For ten years Tichenor was a member of the Southern Football Officials Association. ==Attorney==