1921 Centre vs. Harvard football game
Encyclopedia
The 1921 Centre vs. Harvard football game, played October 29, 1921, was a college football
game between Centre College
and Harvard University
. Centre beat Harvard 6–0 in the game, in what is widely considered one of the greatest upsets in college football history.
in the Boston neighborhood of Allston
, with Harvard coming off a Rose Bowl
victory and an undefeated national championship season
in 1919 (the school's fourth national championship in the prior ten years). Coming into the Centre game, Harvard was also undefeated and unscored upon in the 1920 season. Meanwhile, Centre College, a tiny school of 300 students in Kentucky, had little history of success in football before their current coach, Charley Moran
, and star quarterback
, Bo McMillin
, arrived on campus in 1917.
The Centre Praying Colonels shocked Harvard in the 1920 game simply by taking a 14–7 halftime lead. But, in the second half, Centre withered before the superior Harvard squad, and Harvard won the game 31–14. Following the game, Harvard's captain offered the game ball to Centre's quarterback Bo McMillin, but McMillin declined the ball and promised "We'll be back next year to take it home with us."
The teams met for the second straight season in Harvard Stadium
, on October 29, 1921, with 45,000 fans packing the stands. Harvard again entered the game undefeated, and had not lost a game since the 1918 season.
The game was a scoreless tie at halftime. Early in the third quarter, Bo McMillin rushed for the lone touchdown of the game, and the Praying Colonels' defense held off the Crimson's powerful offense from there for a 6–0 victory. Following the game, students from MIT who came to cheer against Harvard carried McMillin off the field and tore down the goalposts. The Colonels had shocked mighty Harvard, becoming the first school ever from outside the East to beat one of the Ivy League's "Big Three" of Harvard, Yale
, and Princeton
.
Back in Danville, Kentucky
, overjoyed students painted the "impossible formula" C6H0 (Centre 6, Harvard 0) on everything in sight (including a few cows). At least one marking still remains, on the side of the Centre post office. The paint was protected from the weather for decades by the roof of a nearby building. That building was torn down in the 1990s, revealing a well preserved C6H0 from 1921.
in Dallas on January 2, 1922, the Colonels outscored their opponents by a margin of 314 to 6.
named C6H0 the greatest sports upset of the first half of the 20th century. In 2005, The New York Times
called it "arguably the upset of the century in college football." In 2006, ESPN
named it the third-biggest upset in the 138-year history of college football.
On the 75th anniversary of C6H0, Centre challenged Harvard to a rematch. Harvard declined.
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
game between Centre College
Centre College
Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, USA, a community of approximately 16,000 in Boyle County south of Lexington, KY. Centre is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution. Centre was founded by Presbyterian leaders, with whom it maintains a loose...
and Harvard University
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...
. Centre beat Harvard 6–0 in the game, in what is widely considered one of the greatest upsets in college football history.
The prequel
The teams first met in 1920, at Harvard StadiumHarvard Stadium
Harvard Stadium is a horseshoe-shaped football stadium in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Built in 1903, the stadium seats 30,323. The stadium seated up to 57,166 in the past, as permanent steel stands were installed in the north end of the stadium in 1929...
in the Boston neighborhood of Allston
Allston, Boston, Massachusetts
Allston is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located in the western part of the city. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most part, Allston is administered collectively with the adjacent...
, with Harvard coming off a Rose Bowl
1920 Rose Bowl
The 1920 Rose Bowl, known at the time as the Tournament East-West Football Game was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1920. It was the 6th Rose Bowl Game. The Harvard Crimson defeated the Oregon Ducks by a score of 7-6. Crimson halfback Edward Casey was named the Rose Bowl Player of...
victory and an undefeated national championship season
NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship
A college football national championship in the highest level of collegiate play in the United States, currently the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , is a designation awarded annually by various third-party organizations to their selection of the best...
in 1919 (the school's fourth national championship in the prior ten years). Coming into the Centre game, Harvard was also undefeated and unscored upon in the 1920 season. Meanwhile, Centre College, a tiny school of 300 students in Kentucky, had little history of success in football before their current coach, Charley Moran
Charley Moran
Charles Barthell Moran , nicknamed "Uncle Charley," was an American sportsman who gained renown as both a catcher and umpire in Major League Baseball and as a collegiate and professional football coach.-Early life:...
, and star quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
, Bo McMillin
Bo McMillin
Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin was an American football player and coach, who served at both the collegiate and professional levels. He played college football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where was a three-time All-American at quarterback, and led the Centre Praying Colonels to a...
, arrived on campus in 1917.
The Centre Praying Colonels shocked Harvard in the 1920 game simply by taking a 14–7 halftime lead. But, in the second half, Centre withered before the superior Harvard squad, and Harvard won the game 31–14. Following the game, Harvard's captain offered the game ball to Centre's quarterback Bo McMillin, but McMillin declined the ball and promised "We'll be back next year to take it home with us."
The 1921 game
Harvard Stadium
Harvard Stadium is a horseshoe-shaped football stadium in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Built in 1903, the stadium seats 30,323. The stadium seated up to 57,166 in the past, as permanent steel stands were installed in the north end of the stadium in 1929...
, on October 29, 1921, with 45,000 fans packing the stands. Harvard again entered the game undefeated, and had not lost a game since the 1918 season.
The game was a scoreless tie at halftime. Early in the third quarter, Bo McMillin rushed for the lone touchdown of the game, and the Praying Colonels' defense held off the Crimson's powerful offense from there for a 6–0 victory. Following the game, students from MIT who came to cheer against Harvard carried McMillin off the field and tore down the goalposts. The Colonels had shocked mighty Harvard, becoming the first school ever from outside the East to beat one of the Ivy League's "Big Three" of Harvard, Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
, 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....
.
Back in Danville, Kentucky
Danville, Kentucky
Danville is a city in and the county seat of Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 16,218 at the 2010 census.Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Boyle and Lincoln counties....
, overjoyed students painted the "impossible formula" C6H0 (Centre 6, Harvard 0) on everything in sight (including a few cows). At least one marking still remains, on the side of the Centre post office. The paint was protected from the weather for decades by the roof of a nearby building. That building was torn down in the 1990s, revealing a well preserved C6H0 from 1921.
Immediate impact
The Centre victory was a shock, but perhaps not a fluke; the team would finish the 1921 season 10–1, defeating several of the nation's powerhouses including Virginia Tech, Auburn, Arizona, and Clemson. Up until their final game of the season, a 22–14 loss to powerful Texas A&MTexas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
in Dallas on January 2, 1922, the Colonels outscored their opponents by a margin of 314 to 6.
"Greatest Upset"
In 1950, the Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
named C6H0 the greatest sports upset of the first half of the 20th century. In 2005, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called it "arguably the upset of the century in college football." In 2006, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
named it the third-biggest upset in the 138-year history of college football.
On the 75th anniversary of C6H0, Centre challenged Harvard to a rematch. Harvard declined.