1906 college football season
Encyclopedia
The 1906 college football season was the first in which the forward pass
was permitted. Although there was no national championship, there were two teams that had won all nine of their games as the 1906 season drew to a close, the Princeton Tigers
and the Yale Bulldogs
, and on November 17, 1906, they played to a 0-0 tie. St. Louis University finished at 11-0-0. The Helms Athletic Foundation
, founded in 1936, declared retroactively that Princeton had been the best college football team of 1906 .
. Various persons are given credit for the suggestion. Georgia Tech coach John Heisman
had seen the play attempted in 1895 in a Georgia vs. North Carolina game, and lobbied for its legalization starting in 1903. John C. Bell, Sr., and Dr. J. William White
were later credited with designing rules that would permit a pass, yet still be acceptable to a majority on the rules committee. Among the other rule changes made for the '06 season included:
Even with the approval of a forward pass, the rules for American football in 1906 were still significantly different than the ones of a century later, as many of the present rules (100 yard field, four downs to gain ten yards, 6-point touchdown and 3-point field goal) were adopted in 1912. The rules in 1906 were:
Although a forward pass was made legal, that play in 1906 was still a risky business, because an incomplete attempt would result in stiff penalties — 15 yards back from the spot from which the pass was thrown on first or second down. If the defense committed a foul, the 15 yard penalty didn't apply to the offense, but the defending team was not penalized either. In addition, a pass could not be caught more than 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, nor beyond the goal line (the end zone had not yet been invented). The passing game in the west (typified by St. Louis University) was closer to today's version than that in the east; the quarterback would fire the ball directly to an open receiver. The style used by Yale and Harvard, recounted later by a referee of the day, Lt. H. B. Hackett, was "the ball is thrown high in the air and the runner who is to catch it is protected by several of his teammates forming an interference for him.".
Not everyone was impressed with the improved version of college football, particularly in California. "I do not believe the present experiment in American college football can survive," said the President of the University of California at Berkeley, Jack Wheeler. He added, "In my opinion, the whole country will within five years be playing the Rugby game."
The Yale Bulldogs
had enjoyed a 10-0-0 record in 1905, shutting out all of their opponents except for the Princeton Tigers
, whom they had allowed a touchdown. In the West, the Michigan Wolverines
, coached by Fielding "Hurry Up" Yost, had shut out their first 12 opponents, before playing the 9-0-0 University of Chicago Maroons. Chicago not only avoided a shutout, but handed Michigan a 2-0 loss. In the South, Georgia Tech
had gone 6-0-1
September 5 marked the first use of the forward pass
in a college football game. In its 22-0 win over Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin
on a Wednesday afternoon, St. Louis University unveiled a new offensive style. SLU's coach, Eddie Cochems
, had his team secretly practice the play. Though the first attempt was incomplete (resulting in a turnover), the next one was successful, as Bradbury Robinson
threw to Jack Schneider, who then ran the rest of the way for a touchdown http://www.slu.edu/x6921.xml. St. Louis would go on to an 11-0-0 record, outscoring its opponents 407-31, including Marquette (30-0), Kansas (34-2), Drake (32-9) and Iowa (39-0).
The season began in earnest on September 22, with some of the more powerful teams holding their lesser opposition scoreless, and on their home field. Harvard
beat Williams 7-0, Carlisle over Villanova 6-0, Dartmouth defeated Norwich 5-0. Penn State had a 24-0 win over Lebanon Valley. In the west, Kansas had an 18-0 victory over William Jewell College. In one of the few games where both teams scored, Holy Cross hosted Massachusetts in Philadelphia and won 6-4. Harvard played a midweek game on September 26, beating Bowdoin 10-0.
On September 29, Princeton
opened its season with a 24-0 win over Villanova, and Penn beat Lehigh 32-6. At West Point, the United States Military Academy ("Army") won 12-0 over Tufts. The universities of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts were all shut out by, respectively, Harvard
(17-0), Dartmouth (8-0), Brown (12-0) and Williams (5-0). Penn State, Swarthmore and Dickinson all registered 26-0 wins over, Allegheny, Johns Hopkins and Lebanon Valley, respectively. Pitt defeated Westminster 17-0. Colgate and Cornell played to a 0-0 tie at Ithaca, while out west, another Cornell (of Iowa) lost to Iowa State, 81-0. Carlisle went one better, beating Albright 82-0. In the South, Georgia Tech and Maryville tied 6-6 in Atlanta, and Davidson and North Carolina were scoreless.
won its fourth game, but its 27-6 win over Bates took the Crimson out of the ranks of the unscored upon. Meanwhile, other teams recorded their third consecutive shutouts. Swarthmore beat visiting Villanova 4-0, and Penn State won at Carlisle by the same 4-0 score. Dartmouth bested Holy Cross, 16-0 and Princeton
beat Stevens 22-0. Army over Trinity (24-0), Yale had opened its season midweek (October 3, 21-0 over Wesleyan) and then beat Syracuse (51-0) (Wesleyan itself lost 17-0 to Brown). In the west, Iowa State's team beat Coe College 36-0 on Friday, then Des Moines 45-0 the next day. Maryville, at that time a regular southern opponent
powerhouse, lost at Alabama, 6-0; two days earlier, it had lost to Ole Miss 16-6. Michigan opened its season with a 28-0 win over visiting Case.
October 13 Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth, and Brown remained unscored upon, as did Lafayette, Pittsburgh and Swarthmore. Playing on 3 Saturdays and 2 Wednesdays, the Princeton Tigers
played five games in fifteen days (Sep 29 to Oct 13), beating Villanova, Stevens, Washington & Jefferson, Lehigh (52-0), and in Annapolis on this date, a 5-0 win over Navy. Brown had beaten Massachusetts 17-0 on a Wednesday afternoon. Yale defeated Holy Cross 17-0 and Maine 4-0. Swarthmore eked out a win at Penn, 4-0. Harvard
, 5-0-0 but not scorefree, defeated Massachusetts 21-0. Army and Colgate played to a 0-0 tie.
In the West, Kansas defeated Arkansas 37-5 and Nebraska beat Drake 5-0. In the South, Vanderbilt defeated Ole Miss at home, 29-0 and Texas beat TCU 22-0. Georgia Tech beat Tennessee-Chattanooga 18-0 to reach 2-0-1. Clemson opened its season with a 0-0 tie with visiting Virginia Tech. Other colleges stayed unscored upon, but against smaller opponents (Iowa State 32-0 over Morningside, Mississippi State 62-0 over Marion).
October 20 Yale stayed unscored-on with a 10-0 win over Penn State, and Dartmouth beat Massachusetts 26-0. Princeton
, however, gave up points in a 32-4 win over Bucknell. Swarthmore beat GWU 17-0. Harvard
had a 44-0 win over Springfield. Lafayette won at North Carolina, 28-6. Brown was handed its first defeat, a 14-0 loss at Pennsylvania, while Pitt lost to Carlisle, 22-0.
After warming up with small colleges, Iowa State won at Nebraska, 14-2, while Kansas beat visiting Oklahoma 20-4. Michigan won at Ohio State, 6-0.
In the South, Vanderbilt handed Alabama a 78-0 loss. After tuneup wins against Mooney and Rhodes, Sewanee won at Georgia Tech, 16-0. Clemson beat Georgia 6-0, and played a Thursday afternoon 0-0 tie against NC State.
October 27 Yale stayed unscored on, with a 12-0 win over Amherst. Harvard
won at Army, 5-0. Swarthmore yielded a score in a 19-4 win over Gettysburg. Lafayette beat Colgate 17-6. Dartmouth and Williams College played to a 0-0 tie.
Kansas beat Colorado, 16-0 but Iowa State lost at Minnesota, 22-4, and Missouri lost its first outing against a large school, falling 26-4 at Iowa. Michigan beat visiting Illinois, 28-9. Vanderbilt beat Texas, 45-0. Mississippi State and LSU played to a 0-0 tie. Sewanee had beaten Auburn 10-5 in a Friday afternoon game at Birmingham. Georgia Tech beat Davidson 4-0.
Unbeaten Princeton
(7-0-0) and Dartmouth (5-0-1) met in New Jersey, and it was no contest. The Princeton Tigers shut down the Big Green, 42-0 with seven touchdowns. Harvard
beat Brown 9-5 (on a field goal with three minutes left) to reach 8-0-0 as well . Swarthmore defeated Amherst, 21-0, and Lafayette beat Washington & Jefferson 14-6, to stay unbeaten. Carlisle defeated Syracuse, 9-4 in a game in Buffalo.
Out West, previously unbeaten Kansas traveled to meet St. Louis to match their rushing game against Eddie Cochem's pass attack. St. Louis made all the points, including the safety, for a 34-2 win. Vanderbilt (4-0) traveled to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan (3-0), and lost, 10-4. Sewanee visited Tennessee at won, 17-0, while Georgia Tech pasted Auburn 11-0. Clemson had its 3rd 0-0 tie, this one with Davidson, for a 1-0-3 record.
November 10 In the East, the number of unbeaten and untied teams went from five to just three: Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Lafayette and Penn played to a 0-0 tie in Philadelphia; the Quakers drove 59 yards to the one, but were held by Lafayette's goal line defense . At Annapolis, Swarthmore lost at Navy, 5-4, the result of a touchdown against a field goal. Before a crowd of 25,000 Harvard
beat visiting Carlisle, 5-0, and Yale beat Brown by the same score Princeton
won at West Point, 8-0.
In the South, Sewanee stayed unbeaten with a 35-0 win in New Orleans over Tulane (followed two days later by a 24-0 in over Ole Miss in Memphis). Vanderbilt beat Rose-Hulman College, 33-0 to reach 5-1-0 and Georgia Tech won at Georgia, 17-0. Clemson beat Tennessee 16-0. Texas A&M played TCU a second time; the first time around, TCU lost 42-0, and the second contest was a 22-0 loss.
November 17
The big game of the season (making the front pages the next day) was at Princeton, New Jersey, where 26,000 watched Yale and Princeton (both 8-0-0) faced off at Osborns Field. Both teams tried out the forward pass, described in the New York Times as "these spectacular new-fangled plays" . Yale crashed the Princeton line in the final minutes, gaining at least 4 yards on each carry, but time ran out just as the Bulldogs reached the ten yard line, and the game ended in a 0-0 tie.
Harvard
became the last unbeaten and untied team, as its 22-9 win over Dartmouth gave it a record of 10-0-0. Princeton's season was over, but the annual Harvard-Yale game was still to be played. Cornell (7-1-1) hosted Swarthmore (7-1-0) and came away with a 28-0 victory. Previously unbeaten Lafayette (6-0-1) hosted 4-3-0 Syracuse and was upset, 12-4. Penn State beat Dickinson in Williamsport, PA, 6-0. In Philadelphia, 15,000 watched the visiting Michigan Wolverines lose 17-0 to the Pennsylvania Quakers.
In the West, Kansas played at Nebraska, winning 8-6 to extend its record to 7-1-1. Iowa State beat Grinnell 25-6 to reach 7-1-0. Carlisle visited Minnesota and won 17-0
In the South, Sewanee beat Maryville to reach an 8-0-0 record, and Vanderbilt beat Georgia Tech 37-6 to reach 6-1-0. Their annual game was set for Thanksgiving Day, which in 1907 fell on November 29. Texas A&M won at Tulane, 18-0, and two days later won at LSU, 22-12, to reach 5-0-0. The Alabama-Auburn game ended with Bama winning 10-0.
November 24 The big game of the season was Harvard
(10-0-0) at Yale (8-0-1). A crowd of 32,000 in New Haven saw the Crimson-Blue meeting, described as "a game as has seldom been seen on any field," with both sides relying heavily on the forward pass.
.
Paul Veeder
threw a pass and Clarence Alcott jumped high to catch it at the 3 yard line for a first down. Two plays later, Tom Roome forced his way through the line for Yale's touchdown. A Harvard fumble in the closing minutes was recovered by the Bulldogs, who were 12 yards from goal when the whistle blue. Final score: Yale 6, Harvard 0.
With that final game, both Yale and Princeton closed their seasons with identical 9-0-1 records, nine wins each and their own 0-0 tie. Other games played that day were Lafayette's 33-0 win over Lehigh, and Penn State 10-0 over West Virginia.
Thanksgiving Day, November 29, 1907, was the next best thing to post-season play, as rivals met on the holiday. Cornell and Penn played to a 0-0 tie and Lafayette beat Dickinson 26-6 and Penn State won at Pittsburgh, 6-0, giving both teams an 8-1-1 finish.
In the West, Iowa State won at Drake, 7-0, and Texas beat Texas A&M 24-0. Both teams finished at 9-1-0. Further West, college football wasn't yet played on the Pacific Coast; the big game there had been Stanford's 6-3 win at Berkeley over California—in a rugby game attended by 10,000 fans
In Nashville, Sewanee (8-0-0) and Vanderbilt (7-1-0) met on Thanksgiving for the South's biggest game. Vandy, whose only loss was its visit to Michigan, handed the Sewanee Tigers a 20-0 defeat. Alabama crushed Tennessee, 51-0, to finish 5-1-0, while the Vols' record was 1-6-2; the win, and one of the ties, was against American College. Clemson won at Georgia Tech, 10-0, closing its season unbeaten, though not untied (4-0-3).
Western Conference
South
Forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
was permitted. Although there was no national championship, there were two teams that had won all nine of their games as the 1906 season drew to a close, the Princeton Tigers
Princeton Tigers football
The Princeton Tigers football program represents Princeton University college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision...
and the Yale Bulldogs
Yale Bulldogs football
The Yale Bulldogs football program represents Yale University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision . Yale's football program is one of the oldest in the world, having begun competing in the sport in 1872...
, and on November 17, 1906, they played to a 0-0 tie. St. Louis University finished at 11-0-0. The Helms Athletic Foundation
Helms Athletic Foundation
The Helms Athletic Foundation was an athletic foundation based in Los Angeles, founded in 1936 by Bill Schroeder and Paul Helms. It put together a panel of experts to select National Champion teams and make All-America team selections in a number of college sports including football and basketball...
, founded in 1936, declared retroactively that Princeton had been the best college football team of 1906 .
Rules
The American Intercollegiate Football Rules Committee met at the Murray Hill Hotel in New York City beginning January 12, 1906, to create measures “for squelching brutality and all forms of unnecessary roughness.” Numerous changes were made, the primary one being the legalization of the forward passForward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
. Various persons are given credit for the suggestion. Georgia Tech coach John Heisman
John Heisman
John William Heisman was an American player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College , Buchtel College, now known as the University of Akron , Auburn University , Clemson University , Georgia Tech , the...
had seen the play attempted in 1895 in a Georgia vs. North Carolina game, and lobbied for its legalization starting in 1903. John C. Bell, Sr., and Dr. J. William White
J. William White
, Rittenhouse Square]]J. William White was an US surgeon, born in Philadelphia. He was John Rhea Barton Professor of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital from 1900 to 1912....
were later credited with designing rules that would permit a pass, yet still be acceptable to a majority on the rules committee. Among the other rule changes made for the '06 season included:
- Length of game reduced from 70 minutes to two halves of 30 minutes each.
- The two teams would be separated by a neutral zone (the length of the ball) at the line of scrimmage.
- Team had to gain 10 yards in 3 plays rather than 5 yards for a first down (see 1905 Fairmount vs. Washburn football game1905 Fairmount vs. Washburn football gameThe 1905 Washburn vs. Fairmount football game was a college football game between Fairmount College and the Washburn Ichabods played on December 25, 1905. The game was played in Wichita, Kansas...
). - Hurdling was penalized.
- Offensive linemen had to drop back five yards behind scrimmage if not moving forward.
- Field marked with lines every five yards.
- A fourth official added to enforce the rules.
Even with the approval of a forward pass, the rules for American football in 1906 were still significantly different than the ones of a century later, as many of the present rules (100 yard field, four downs to gain ten yards, 6-point touchdown and 3-point field goal) were adopted in 1912. The rules in 1906 were:
- Field 110 yards in length
- Kickoff made from midfield
- Three downs to gain ten yards
- Touchdown worth 5 points
- Field goal worth 4 points
- Forward pass legal, but subject to penalties:
Although a forward pass was made legal, that play in 1906 was still a risky business, because an incomplete attempt would result in stiff penalties — 15 yards back from the spot from which the pass was thrown on first or second down. If the defense committed a foul, the 15 yard penalty didn't apply to the offense, but the defending team was not penalized either. In addition, a pass could not be caught more than 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, nor beyond the goal line (the end zone had not yet been invented). The passing game in the west (typified by St. Louis University) was closer to today's version than that in the east; the quarterback would fire the ball directly to an open receiver. The style used by Yale and Harvard, recounted later by a referee of the day, Lt. H. B. Hackett, was "the ball is thrown high in the air and the runner who is to catch it is protected by several of his teammates forming an interference for him.".
Not everyone was impressed with the improved version of college football, particularly in California. "I do not believe the present experiment in American college football can survive," said the President of the University of California at Berkeley, Jack Wheeler. He added, "In my opinion, the whole country will within five years be playing the Rugby game."
September
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
had enjoyed a 10-0-0 record in 1905, shutting out all of their opponents except for the Princeton Tigers
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, whom they had allowed a touchdown. In the West, the Michigan Wolverines
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
, coached by Fielding "Hurry Up" Yost, had shut out their first 12 opponents, before playing the 9-0-0 University of Chicago Maroons. Chicago not only avoided a shutout, but handed Michigan a 2-0 loss. In the South, Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in collegiate level football. While the team is officially designated as the Yellow Jackets, it is also referred to as the Ramblin' Wreck. The Yellow Jackets are a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
had gone 6-0-1
September 5 marked the first use of the forward pass
Forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
in a college football game. In its 22-0 win over Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Waukesha is a city in and the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. The population was 70,718 at the 2010 census, making it the largest community in the county and 7th largest in the state. The city is located adjacent to the Town of Waukesha...
on a Wednesday afternoon, St. Louis University unveiled a new offensive style. SLU's coach, Eddie Cochems
Eddie Cochems
Edward Bulwer "Eddie" Cochems was an American football player and coach. He played football for the University of Wisconsin from 1898 to 1901 and was the head football coach at North Dakota State , Clemson , Saint Louis University , and Maine . During his three years at St...
, had his team secretly practice the play. Though the first attempt was incomplete (resulting in a turnover), the next one was successful, as Bradbury Robinson
Bradbury Robinson
Bradbury Norton Robinson, Jr. was a pioneering American football player, physician, and local politician. He played college football at the University of Wisconsin in 1903 and at Saint Louis University from 1904 to 1907. In 1904, though personal connections to Wisconsin governor Robert M. La...
threw to Jack Schneider, who then ran the rest of the way for a touchdown http://www.slu.edu/x6921.xml. St. Louis would go on to an 11-0-0 record, outscoring its opponents 407-31, including Marquette (30-0), Kansas (34-2), Drake (32-9) and Iowa (39-0).
The season began in earnest on September 22, with some of the more powerful teams holding their lesser opposition scoreless, and on their home field. Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
beat Williams 7-0, Carlisle over Villanova 6-0, Dartmouth defeated Norwich 5-0. Penn State had a 24-0 win over Lebanon Valley. In the west, Kansas had an 18-0 victory over William Jewell College. In one of the few games where both teams scored, Holy Cross hosted Massachusetts in Philadelphia and won 6-4. Harvard played a midweek game on September 26, beating Bowdoin 10-0.
On September 29, Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
opened its season with a 24-0 win over Villanova, and Penn beat Lehigh 32-6. At West Point, the United States Military Academy ("Army") won 12-0 over Tufts. The universities of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts were all shut out by, respectively, Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(17-0), Dartmouth (8-0), Brown (12-0) and Williams (5-0). Penn State, Swarthmore and Dickinson all registered 26-0 wins over, Allegheny, Johns Hopkins and Lebanon Valley, respectively. Pitt defeated Westminster 17-0. Colgate and Cornell played to a 0-0 tie at Ithaca, while out west, another Cornell (of Iowa) lost to Iowa State, 81-0. Carlisle went one better, beating Albright 82-0. In the South, Georgia Tech and Maryville tied 6-6 in Atlanta, and Davidson and North Carolina were scoreless.
October
October 6 HarvardHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
won its fourth game, but its 27-6 win over Bates took the Crimson out of the ranks of the unscored upon. Meanwhile, other teams recorded their third consecutive shutouts. Swarthmore beat visiting Villanova 4-0, and Penn State won at Carlisle by the same 4-0 score. Dartmouth bested Holy Cross, 16-0 and Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
beat Stevens 22-0. Army over Trinity (24-0), Yale had opened its season midweek (October 3, 21-0 over Wesleyan) and then beat Syracuse (51-0) (Wesleyan itself lost 17-0 to Brown). In the west, Iowa State's team beat Coe College 36-0 on Friday, then Des Moines 45-0 the next day. Maryville, at that time a regular southern opponent
powerhouse, lost at Alabama, 6-0; two days earlier, it had lost to Ole Miss 16-6. Michigan opened its season with a 28-0 win over visiting Case.
October 13 Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth, and Brown remained unscored upon, as did Lafayette, Pittsburgh and Swarthmore. Playing on 3 Saturdays and 2 Wednesdays, the Princeton Tigers
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
played five games in fifteen days (Sep 29 to Oct 13), beating Villanova, Stevens, Washington & Jefferson, Lehigh (52-0), and in Annapolis on this date, a 5-0 win over Navy. Brown had beaten Massachusetts 17-0 on a Wednesday afternoon. Yale defeated Holy Cross 17-0 and Maine 4-0. Swarthmore eked out a win at Penn, 4-0. Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, 5-0-0 but not scorefree, defeated Massachusetts 21-0. Army and Colgate played to a 0-0 tie.
In the West, Kansas defeated Arkansas 37-5 and Nebraska beat Drake 5-0. In the South, Vanderbilt defeated Ole Miss at home, 29-0 and Texas beat TCU 22-0. Georgia Tech beat Tennessee-Chattanooga 18-0 to reach 2-0-1. Clemson opened its season with a 0-0 tie with visiting Virginia Tech. Other colleges stayed unscored upon, but against smaller opponents (Iowa State 32-0 over Morningside, Mississippi State 62-0 over Marion).
October 20 Yale stayed unscored-on with a 10-0 win over Penn State, and Dartmouth beat Massachusetts 26-0. Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, however, gave up points in a 32-4 win over Bucknell. Swarthmore beat GWU 17-0. Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
had a 44-0 win over Springfield. Lafayette won at North Carolina, 28-6. Brown was handed its first defeat, a 14-0 loss at Pennsylvania, while Pitt lost to Carlisle, 22-0.
After warming up with small colleges, Iowa State won at Nebraska, 14-2, while Kansas beat visiting Oklahoma 20-4. Michigan won at Ohio State, 6-0.
In the South, Vanderbilt handed Alabama a 78-0 loss. After tuneup wins against Mooney and Rhodes, Sewanee won at Georgia Tech, 16-0. Clemson beat Georgia 6-0, and played a Thursday afternoon 0-0 tie against NC State.
October 27 Yale stayed unscored on, with a 12-0 win over Amherst. Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
won at Army, 5-0. Swarthmore yielded a score in a 19-4 win over Gettysburg. Lafayette beat Colgate 17-6. Dartmouth and Williams College played to a 0-0 tie.
Kansas beat Colorado, 16-0 but Iowa State lost at Minnesota, 22-4, and Missouri lost its first outing against a large school, falling 26-4 at Iowa. Michigan beat visiting Illinois, 28-9. Vanderbilt beat Texas, 45-0. Mississippi State and LSU played to a 0-0 tie. Sewanee had beaten Auburn 10-5 in a Friday afternoon game at Birmingham. Georgia Tech beat Davidson 4-0.
November
November 3 The Yale Bulldogs traveled to West Point, and finally yielded some points, with the Army Cadets taking a 6-0 lead at halftime. Yale made no first downs, but won the game anyway. Clarence Alcott blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown to tie the game 6-6 on the point after. With two minutes left, Bigelow of Yale kicked a 35 yard field goal (for 4 points) from a steep angle, and a 10-6 win .Unbeaten Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(7-0-0) and Dartmouth (5-0-1) met in New Jersey, and it was no contest. The Princeton Tigers shut down the Big Green, 42-0 with seven touchdowns. Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
beat Brown 9-5 (on a field goal with three minutes left) to reach 8-0-0 as well . Swarthmore defeated Amherst, 21-0, and Lafayette beat Washington & Jefferson 14-6, to stay unbeaten. Carlisle defeated Syracuse, 9-4 in a game in Buffalo.
Out West, previously unbeaten Kansas traveled to meet St. Louis to match their rushing game against Eddie Cochem's pass attack. St. Louis made all the points, including the safety, for a 34-2 win. Vanderbilt (4-0) traveled to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan (3-0), and lost, 10-4. Sewanee visited Tennessee at won, 17-0, while Georgia Tech pasted Auburn 11-0. Clemson had its 3rd 0-0 tie, this one with Davidson, for a 1-0-3 record.
November 10 In the East, the number of unbeaten and untied teams went from five to just three: Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Lafayette and Penn played to a 0-0 tie in Philadelphia; the Quakers drove 59 yards to the one, but were held by Lafayette's goal line defense . At Annapolis, Swarthmore lost at Navy, 5-4, the result of a touchdown against a field goal. Before a crowd of 25,000 Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
beat visiting Carlisle, 5-0, and Yale beat Brown by the same score Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
won at West Point, 8-0.
In the South, Sewanee stayed unbeaten with a 35-0 win in New Orleans over Tulane (followed two days later by a 24-0 in over Ole Miss in Memphis). Vanderbilt beat Rose-Hulman College, 33-0 to reach 5-1-0 and Georgia Tech won at Georgia, 17-0. Clemson beat Tennessee 16-0. Texas A&M played TCU a second time; the first time around, TCU lost 42-0, and the second contest was a 22-0 loss.
November 17
The big game of the season (making the front pages the next day) was at Princeton, New Jersey, where 26,000 watched Yale and Princeton (both 8-0-0) faced off at Osborns Field. Both teams tried out the forward pass, described in the New York Times as "these spectacular new-fangled plays" . Yale crashed the Princeton line in the final minutes, gaining at least 4 yards on each carry, but time ran out just as the Bulldogs reached the ten yard line, and the game ended in a 0-0 tie.
Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
became the last unbeaten and untied team, as its 22-9 win over Dartmouth gave it a record of 10-0-0. Princeton's season was over, but the annual Harvard-Yale game was still to be played. Cornell (7-1-1) hosted Swarthmore (7-1-0) and came away with a 28-0 victory. Previously unbeaten Lafayette (6-0-1) hosted 4-3-0 Syracuse and was upset, 12-4. Penn State beat Dickinson in Williamsport, PA, 6-0. In Philadelphia, 15,000 watched the visiting Michigan Wolverines lose 17-0 to the Pennsylvania Quakers.
In the West, Kansas played at Nebraska, winning 8-6 to extend its record to 7-1-1. Iowa State beat Grinnell 25-6 to reach 7-1-0. Carlisle visited Minnesota and won 17-0
In the South, Sewanee beat Maryville to reach an 8-0-0 record, and Vanderbilt beat Georgia Tech 37-6 to reach 6-1-0. Their annual game was set for Thanksgiving Day, which in 1907 fell on November 29. Texas A&M won at Tulane, 18-0, and two days later won at LSU, 22-12, to reach 5-0-0. The Alabama-Auburn game ended with Bama winning 10-0.
November 24 The big game of the season was Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(10-0-0) at Yale (8-0-1). A crowd of 32,000 in New Haven saw the Crimson-Blue meeting, described as "a game as has seldom been seen on any field," with both sides relying heavily on the forward pass.
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Paul Veeder
Paul Veeder
Paul L. Veeder was an All-American football player for Yale University. Veeder played halfback, fullback, quarterback and punter for the Yale Bulldogs from 1904–1906 and was selected as an All-American in 1906.-Biography:...
threw a pass and Clarence Alcott jumped high to catch it at the 3 yard line for a first down. Two plays later, Tom Roome forced his way through the line for Yale's touchdown. A Harvard fumble in the closing minutes was recovered by the Bulldogs, who were 12 yards from goal when the whistle blue. Final score: Yale 6, Harvard 0.
With that final game, both Yale and Princeton closed their seasons with identical 9-0-1 records, nine wins each and their own 0-0 tie. Other games played that day were Lafayette's 33-0 win over Lehigh, and Penn State 10-0 over West Virginia.
Thanksgiving Day, November 29, 1907, was the next best thing to post-season play, as rivals met on the holiday. Cornell and Penn played to a 0-0 tie and Lafayette beat Dickinson 26-6 and Penn State won at Pittsburgh, 6-0, giving both teams an 8-1-1 finish.
In the West, Iowa State won at Drake, 7-0, and Texas beat Texas A&M 24-0. Both teams finished at 9-1-0. Further West, college football wasn't yet played on the Pacific Coast; the big game there had been Stanford's 6-3 win at Berkeley over California—in a rugby game attended by 10,000 fans
In Nashville, Sewanee (8-0-0) and Vanderbilt (7-1-0) met on Thanksgiving for the South's biggest game. Vandy, whose only loss was its visit to Michigan, handed the Sewanee Tigers a 20-0 defeat. Alabama crushed Tennessee, 51-0, to finish 5-1-0, while the Vols' record was 1-6-2; the win, and one of the ties, was against American College. Clemson won at Georgia Tech, 10-0, closing its season unbeaten, though not untied (4-0-3).
Final standings
East| TEAM | W | L | T | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princeton Tigers Princeton Tigers football The Princeton Tigers football program represents Princeton University college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision... |
9 | 0 | 1 | 205 | ..9 |
| Yale Bulldogs Yale Bulldogs football The Yale Bulldogs football program represents Yale University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision . Yale's football program is one of the oldest in the world, having begun competing in the sport in 1872... |
9 | 0 | 1 | 144 | ..6 |
| Harvard Crimson Harvard Crimson football The Harvard Crimson football program represents Harvard University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision . Harvard's football program is one of the oldest in the world, having begun competing in the sport in 1873... |
10 | 1 | 0 | 167 | .26 |
| Lafayette Leopards Lafayette Leopards football The Lafayette Leopards football program represents Lafayette College in college football. One of the oldest college football programs in the United States, Lafayette currently plays in the Patriot League at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level... |
8 | 1 | 1 | 223 | .36 |
| Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State Nittany Lions football The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the... |
8 | 1 | 1 | .93 | .10 |
| Cornell Big Red Cornell Big Red football The Cornell Big Red football team represents Cornell University in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Championship Subdivision college football competition as a member of the Ivy League. It is one of the oldest and most storied football programs in the nation... |
8 | 1 | 2 | 237 | .37 |
Western Conference
| TEAM | W | L | T | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin Badgers football The Wisconsin Badgers are a college football program that represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth-oldest stadium in college football... |
5 | 0 | 0 | .78 | .15 |
| Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa Hawkeyes football The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is the interscholastic football team at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have competed in the Big Ten Conference since 1900, and are currently a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association... |
9 | 1 | 0 | 268 | .30 |
| Chicago Maroons Chicago Maroons football The Chicago Maroons are the college football team representing the University of Chicago. The Maroons play in NCAA Division III as a member of the University Athletic Association. From 1892 to 1939, the Maroons were a major college football power... |
4 | 1 | 0 | 175 | .17 |
| Michigan Wolverines Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history... |
8 | 1 | 1 | 223 | .36 |
| Minnesota Gophers | 4 | 1 | 0 | .47 | .29 |
South
| TEAM | W | L | T | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clemson Tigers Clemson Tigers football The Clemson Tigers football team is an American football team from Clemson University in South Carolina. It competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference... |
4 | 0 | 3 | .38 | ..4 |
| Texas Longhorns Texas Longhorns football The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate football team representing The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. The team currently competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big 12 Conference which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National... |
9 | 1 | 0 | 201 | .60 |
| Sewanee Tigers | 8 | 1 | 0 | 221 | .25 |
| Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama Crimson Tide football |TeamName = Alabama football |Image = Alabama Crimson Tide Logo.svg |ImageSize = 110 |Helmet = Alabama Football.png |ImageSize2 = 150 |CurrentSeason = 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide football team... |
5 | 1 | 0 | .97 | .82 |
| Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M Aggies football The Texas A&M Aggies football team represents Texas A&M University in college football. The Aggies have competed in the Big 12 Conference since the conference's inception in 1996. They will join the Southeastern Conference in July 2012. Texas A&M football has earned one national title and 18... |
6 | 1 | 0 | 170 | .42 |