This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/eastexaslion on 2024-04-02 19:03:00.
Click here to see the introductory post about this series.
Click here to see previous entries in this series.
Claimed National Champions
Princeton (4-0-1) National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis
Yale (4-0-1) National Championship Foundation, Billingsley Report, Parke H. Davis
Bold indicates main national championship selector recognized by NCAA Championship List
- Thomas Edison is granted U.S. patent for the incandescent light bulb
- James Garfield is elected as president
- The cash register is patented
- Ball State (est. as Marion Normal College) and USC are established
- Douglas MacArthur, Hellen Keller, Pro Football Hall of Famer and NFL President Joseph Carr, and CFB Hall of Famers Charlie Daly, Bobby Marshall, Bill Roper, and Louis “Red” Salmon are born
- 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 11 players on the field
- 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.
Rule Changes
Another rules convention took place once again at the Massosoit House in Massachusetts on October 12, 1880, four years after the rules convention that officially made the switch to the rugby rules. In these rules, the convention finally adopts the rule to reduce the number of players on the field from 15 to 11. With this rule change, the Yale Bulldogs finally joined the Intercollegiate Football Association.
What’s not mentioned is that the most important rule coming from these talks was the rule of possession. See before, the game started with a rugby scrum, to determine who could move with the ball. However, the ball is now set on the ground and has to be hiked to a quarterback. As of now, things like the quarterback sneak are illegal plays, and it’s not clear yet in my research when that rule would be abolished. However, the possession rule is the one rule that starts separating the game we know from rugby.
The Teams
Of the 14 teams available in the matchup tool, only seven qualified and are listed by their seeding in the bracket.
- Yale (4-0-1) Coach - None
- Princeton (4-0-1) Coach - None
- Harvard (3-2-1) Coach - None
- Penn (2-2) Coach - None
- Montreal (0-0-1) Coach - Unknown
- Rutgers (2-2) Coach - None
- Brooklyn Tech (1-0) (Now NYU Tandon School of Engineering) Coach - Unknown
Season Breakdown by Zach Bigalke
It’s our second appearance from a Canadian team with Montreal taking the 5th seed with an 0-0-1 record. And our first appearance with Brooklyn Tech. These two schools are interesting because anything about their early sports program is nonexistent online (at least with the time I’ve had to research this). Montreal does have a Canadian football team that was established in 1966, but there’s no mention other than early football history of this team. The same thing with Brooklyn Tech, however, this game is in contention, as Massey’s Ratings is the only place I can find this team existing. As they played a game against City College of New York (CCNY), but the Wikipedia article of this season only states that CCNY played against Stevens Tech and lost.
Speaking of which, Harvard has a disputed game this year. Harvard recognizes their season as a 2-2-2 season, while Massey counts it as a 3-2-1 season. So what’s going on here? Well, I’m not sure where the confusion happens, but it will be a recurring theme of disputed games and records until roughly 1910. The official Harvard football website has the record for this year as 2-2-2 with a tie to Britannia from Montreal. Meanwhile, we have an article from the Boston Globe the day after the game vs Britannia stating that Harvard did win 2-0. Thankfully, this will not be a common theme, but it does happen more frequently than I like. This (and many other reasons) is why in the rules I set for myself for determining qualifications, Massey’s reported records are what I’m using as the reported record for these tournaments. All mostly to not give myself a headache when researching disputed games such as this.
We also need to talk about the Princeton-Yale game this year. Not only are they playing for being the best team in college football once again, but they can’t score against each other. This leads to another point I want to make, safety’s aren’t counted as anything other than a foul. All that happens is that the team has to give the ball away through a punt in the case of a safety. This happens frequently in this game as Princeton and Yale much rather take a safety than give a chance for the other team to have possession of the ball. In this game there were 17 safeties in total, 11 of which were Princeton’s, and six of them from Yale. If safeties were scored as they are today, this game would have been Yale 22, Princeton 12, and we wouldn’t know about these safety-offs judging by the score. As we’ll see next season, lots of important rules in the future that make today’s game possible are solely due to the gameplay of these two schools, and their uncanny ability to keep finding ways to make the game as unwatchable as possible.
Playoffs
Quarterfinals
No. 5 Montreal @ No. 4 Penn - Montreal wins 3-1 to advance to the Final Four to play Yale.
No. 6 Rutgers @ No. 3 Harvard - Harvard wins 8-0 to play the winner of No. 7 Brooklyn Tech @ No. 2 Princeton.
No. 7 Brooklyn Tech @ No. 2 Princeton - Princeton wins 6-0 to advance to the final four to host Harvard.
Final Four
No. 5 Montreal @ No. 1 Yale. Montreal tries so very hard to start the game like they did against Penn, however, Walter Camp’s defensive strategy holds them to a standstill. Even with more gaps due to playing with 11 players as opposed to the 15 Montreal is used to, they’re having trouble trying to get used to the new “possession” rules Americans have implemented. Camp’s Bulldogs, however, are easily able to score goals. They end up scoring five touchdowns, and making three dropkicks after. Yale wins 4-0 and advances to the Championship game to compete for their second consecutive championship, and their fourth overall.
No. 3 Harvard @ No. 2 Princeton Harvard and Princeton don’t have the same issues Montreal had whenever they played Yale, as both are able to keep it a tie 1-1 score at the end of the first half. However, Princeton would go on a roll at the beginning of the second half, with scoring two drop kicks from the field without a touchdown. Princeton’s defense stifles Harvard’s offense with great positioning. Harvard scores three touchdowns with one kick made, and Princeton scores one touchdown with three kicks made. Princeton wins 3-1 to advance to the Championship round to compete for their sixth championship.
The Championship Game at the Jefferson Street Grounds, Philadelphia, PA
The organizers end up having to bring extra wooden bleachers to this game, as upwards of 10,000 spectators buy tickets with many more being shooed away for this game. A little over half are alumni who have traveled to this stadium to see their schools play, with the other have being Philadelphia locals. Yale has won two championships with Walter Camp intends to win a third one. He does just that by taking a kick-off and running it down to Princeton’s side of the field. Yale has learned from the tie game they played, as they’re able to use set plays with the possession rule to fool the Princeton 11. Yale uses its four-man backfield well enough to score two touchdowns and make two kicks after, before the half. With Yale leading 2-0, Princeton attempts to score a kick after scoring a touchdown but is unable to score. This is a common scene as Princeton …
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