This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/eastexaslion on 2024-03-30 19:30:12.
Click here to see the introductory post about this series.
Click here to see previous entries in this series.
National Champions
Princeton (2-0-1) Billingsley Report, Parke H. Davis
Yale (3-0-1) National Championship Foundation, *Billingsley Report, Parke H. Davis
Bold indicates main national championship selector recognized by NCAA Championship List
\The Billingsley Report initially awarded Yale the national championship for this year, however, they have changed their formula three times since. The Billingsley Report currently awards the championship to Princeton.)
- Crazy Horse fights his last battle against the U.S. Calvary, and later surrenders, and is later killed after resisting confinement
- Emile Berliner patents the microphone in the U.S.
- Thomas Edison shows off publicly the phonograph, a device that can record sound.
- Henry O. Flipper becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy.
- The first college lacrosse game is played between NYU and Manhattan College
- The Washington Post publishes its first paper.
- The “father of the forward pass” Eddie Cochems, and CFB Hall of Famers, “Big Bill” Edwards and Art Hildebrand are born
- Cornelius Vanderbilt and Brigham Young dies.
- The Ball: Egg-shaped, rubber covered Rugby ball.
- The field is 140 yds. by 70 yds., uprights 18 1/2’ apart, crossbar 10’ high uprights
- Goals are scored when a player kicks a ball through the uprights. They can be scored during play or after a touchdown is scored. A goal can also be scored if a team scores four touchdowns.
- *Each team consists of 15 players
- Holding and carrying the ball is finally permitted
- The game’s regulation is separated into two halves, both 45 minutes. If the game is tied at the end of regulation, the next scored point wins the game.
Italics denote rule change from previous season.
\Yale played by all of the IFA rules, except for the player rule. Yale wanted to play the game with 11 players on the field.)
Rule Changes
If you were a school that had a part in the founding an organization, why would you leave? If you are Yale, it is because you don’t agree with the players on the field rule. Yale would advocate the rules to have 11 players on the field as opposed to 15. If you ask me, I don’t think this rule will catch on.
The Teams
Of the 10 teams available in the matchup tool, only five qualified and are listed by their seeding in the bracket.
- Princeton (2-0-1) Coach - None
- Harvard (3-1) Coach - None
- Yale (3-0-1) Coach - None
- Amherst (1-0) Coach - None
- Columbia (2-2) Coach - None
Season Breakdown by Zach Bigalke
The game breakdown is fantastic but ignores two things. Amherst comes in with its first season as it wins against Tufts 8-4. Making their first season an undefeated season. But a more interesting development is happening. Parke H. Davis alleges that before downs, and before the concept of a scrimmage line, football formations started to form. With 15 people in near constant movement, men would still line up with nine rushers or forwards (which would later evolve to be linemen), a quarterback, two halfbacks, a three-quarters back, and two fullbacks. He alleges that these backs names were named for how far down the field from the line of rushers would stay back behind. For example: The fullbacks would stay and act as goaltenders, while the quarterback would be the first line of defense against a runner with the ball.
Player of Interest
I really wanted to figure out who some of these Amherst players were, but the one source on Wikipedia leads to an article 13 years after their one game occurred. However, I found a bit of info on Princeton and Yale players.
Princeton has Bland Ballard a forward, and Ted McNair a Halfback. McNair was a multi-sport athlete and would later become a Presbyterian missionary where he would travel as a missionary, and later die there while he was faculty of Meiji Gakuin University. Ballard is known as being a prominent player, though I’m not sure in what capacity.
There is one Princeton player I would have mentioned in the previous post if it weren’t for the fact that the first god in the football pantheon played his first game that year. William Earl Dodge III was a beloved member of the Princeton team, he would stay for one more year with Princeton before graduating. He would unexpectedly die in 1885, and a statue of him sculpted by Daniel Chester French resides in Princeton’s Jadwin Gymnasium.
Yale still has Eugene Baker for one more year as captain, with Walter Camp to be his successor next year. One who would’ve been included next year was O.D. Thompson. He was known as a halfback and fullback for Yale where he would score Yale’s first touchdown against Harvard. He would later play and manage the Allegheny Athletic Association, where he would be responsible for paying the first known professional football player. There’s also an anecdotal story of him and Walter Camp being the first men to complete the first two legal passes in football, but there’s no source I can find that backs that claim up.
Playoffs
Round 1
No. 5 Columbia At No. 4 Amherst. Amherst wins 5-0 to face No. 1 Princeton
Final Four
No. 3 Yale at No. 2 Harvard. Harvard did not play Yale this year, so the meeting should be interesting. Harvard has been able to score two field goals without scoring a touchdown, taking the lead 2-0 early in the game. Yale would score four touchdowns in this game, but did not convert a SINGLE kick after. They would only be awarded one goal due to their touchdowns, but Harvard would get one more kick to solidify a 3-1 win over Yale to advance to their third straight Championship game appearance.
No. 4 Amherst at No. 1 Princeton. Princeton takes a quick 2-0 lead with three touchdowns and two kicks made by the end of the half. At the beginning of the next half, Princeton gets a fourth touchdown and is awarded a point to make it 3-0. Amherst is essentially closed out and…wait they just scored three straight touchdowns and made every kick to tie it within 20 minutes. It is now a defensive battle, but Amherst finds an opening to score their fourth touchdown! The time runs out and Amherst completes a comeback and the biggest upset so far in this series. Amherst wins 4-3 and advances to the Championship game to face Harvard.
The Championship Game at the South End Grounds I
The organizers were in talks with the Union Grounds owners in Brooklyn to host the championship game when they received a telegram showing that Princeton somehow lost to this upstart Amherst team. When this wire broke the organizers rushed to the owners of the South End Grounds to host the two Massachusetts teams in this championship bout. Despite the rule of finding a neutral ground for the games, Harvard had used the South End Grounds for both home games this year, but the crowd of 4,000 is more split than initially thought.
It is absolutely insane the offense in the game. Whenever Harvard scores, Amherst answers back, by the last 10 minutes Amherst leads 4-3, with four touchdowns and three goals kicked. Harvard is down uses its forwards to create an opening for the quarterback to score a touchdown. With that they tie it up at four, the kick after can give Harvard the lead. AND IT’S GOOD! Amherst is trying hard to break the line Harvard has but each time, a quarterback or halfback in Harvard’s backfield is able to stop them. In the final minute, an Amherst player tries to move and finds enough room for a contested drop kick, but misses! Harvard hangs on to win their second national championship 5-4!
Championship
Harvard (3-1) Won against Amherst 5-4
Runner-Up:
Amherst (1-0) Lost vs Harvard 5-4
Final Four Finishes:
Princeton (2-0-1) *Lo…
Content cut off. Read original on old.reddit.com/…/simulating_a_playoff_for_every_s…