1911 college football season

1911 college football season
1911 Carlisle Indians
Champion(s)Princeton
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The 1911 college football season was the last one before major reforms were made to the American game in 1912. In 1911, touchdowns were worth five points, the field was 110 yards in length, and a team had three downs within which to advance the ball ten yards. The United States Naval Academy (Navy) finished with a record of 6 wins and 3 ties (6–0–3). Two of the ties were 0–0 games with the other major unbeaten teams, Penn State (8–0–1) and Princeton (8–0–2). Other teams that finished the season unbeaten were Minnesota (6–0–1), Florida (5–0–1) and Oklahoma (8-0). The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, declared retroactively that Princeton had been the best team of 1911 [1]

Rules

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The rules for American football in 1911 included:[2]

  • Field 110 yards in length
  • Kickoff made from midfield
  • Three downs to gain ten yards
  • Touchdown worth 5 points
  • Field goal worth 3 points
  • Forward pass legal, but subject to penalties:

A pass could not be caught beyond the goal line, nor more than 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.[2]

Conference and program changes

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School 1910 Conference 1911 Conference
First District Agricultural Indians Program Established Independent
Iowa Hawkeyes MVIAA & Western Big Nine
Middle Tennessee State Normal football Program Established Independent
Mississippi College Choctaws Independent SIAA
Southern California Methodists Independent Dropped Program

September

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September 23

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  • Carlisle beat Lebanon Valley 53–0, and in a Wednesday (Sep. 27) game beat Muhlenberg 32–0
  • Lafayette beat Bloomsburg College 53–0
  • Brown beat New Hampshire 56–0

September 30

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  • Brown beat Rhode Island 12–0
  • Princeton beat Stevens 37–0, and three days later, beat Rutgers 37–0
  • Carlisle beat Dickinson 17–0
  • Lafayette beat Ursinus College 3–0
  • Penn State beat Geneva College 57–0
  • Arkansas beat visiting Southwest Missouri State College, 100–0
  • Georgia beat Alabama Presbyterian 51–0
  • Minnesota opened its season with a 5–0 win over Iowa State.
  • Vanderbilt opened with a 40–0 win over visiting Birmingham College
  • Harvard beat Bates 15–0

October

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October 7

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  • Navy beat Johns Hopkins 27–5, and on Wednesday the 11th, beat St. John's College of Maryland, 21–0
  • Princeton beat Villanova 31–0 and on October 11, played Lehigh to a 6–6 tie
  • Carlisle beat Mount St. Mary's 46–5
  • Penn State beat Gettysburg 31–0
  • Army beat Vermont 12–0
  • After a 39–0 win against the Seamen Gunners, Georgetown beat William & Mary 66–0
  • Harvard beat Holy Cross 8–0
  • Michigan beat Case 24–0
  • Minnesota beat South Dakota 5–0
  • Chicago beat Indiana 23–6
  • Texas A&M beat Southwestern 22–0.
  • Vanderbilt beat Maryville 46–0
  • Florida beat The Citadel 15–3
  • Georgia beat South Carolina 38–0
  • Oklahoma beat Kingfisher 104–0

October 14

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October 21

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  • At Annapolis, Navy and Princeton played to a 0–0 tie.
  • Carlisle won at Pittsburgh 17–0
  • Harvard defeated Amherst 11–0
  • Penn State beat Villanova 18–0
  • Army beat Yale 6–0
  • Florida and South Carolina played to a 6–6 tie, and three days later, the Gators won at Clemson, 6–5.
  • Vanderbilt beat visiting Centre College 45–0; in its first four games, Vandy had outscored its opposition 164–0.
  • Georgia beat visiting Sewanee 12–3.
  • Texas A&M beat Auburn 16–0
  • Michigan beat Ohio State 19–0
  • Georgetown won at Richmond 65–0
  • Minnesota stayed unbeaten with a 21–3 win over Nebraska
  • Chicago defeated Illinois 24–0

October 28

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  • In an intersectional meeting of unbeaten teams, Michigan edged visiting Vanderbilt, 9–8
  • Navy and Western Reserve played to a 0–0 tie.
  • Carlisle beat Lafayette 19–0
  • At Philadelphia, Penn State beat Pennsylvania, 22–6.
  • Army beat Lehigh 20–0
  • Georgetown beat St. John's College of Maryland, 20–0.
  • Princeton beat Holy Cross 20–0
  • Minnesota won at Iowa 24–6.
  • Wisconsin, after shutouts against Lawrence (15–0), and Ripon (24–0) *Colorado College (26–0) won at Northwestern 28–3
  • Harvard was defeated by visiting Brown, 20–6
  • Georgia beat Mercer 8–5
  • In a Friday game, Texas A&M beat Ole Miss, 17–0

November

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November 4

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November 11

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  • Carlisle (8–0) handed Harvard (5–1) its second straight loss, winning 18–15
  • Navy beat West Virginia 32–0.
  • Army was scored upon for the first time in six games, as it beat Bucknell 20–2.
  • Michigan (4–0–1) lost at Cornell, 6–0
  • Chicago won at Northwestern 9–3
  • Penn State beat Colgate 17–9
  • Princeton beat Dartmouth 3–0
  • Florida won at Stetson 27–0
  • Vanderbilt beat Kentucky 18–0
  • On Monday the 13th, Texas A&M lost to Texas 6–0

November 18

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November 25

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November 29

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  • On Wednesday, November 29, in Savannah, Georgia and Auburn played to a 0–0 tie.

November 30 (Thanksgiving)

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  • Penn State won at Pittsburgh 3–0, to finish the season 8–0–1.
  • Carlisle closed its season with a 12–6 win at Brown.
  • Georgetown beat Lehigh 28–3.
  • Florida beat Charleston 21–0.
  • Vanderbilt defeated visiting Sewanee 31–0.

January 1912

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The last five-point American football touchdown was scored on January 1, 1912, in a game played in Havana, Cuba. Mississippi A&M College (now Mississippi State University) defeated the Club Atletico de Cuba, 12–0.[4]

Conference standings

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Major conference standings

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For this article, major conferences defined as those including multiple state flagship public universities.

1911 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Iowa State + 2 – 0 – 1 6 – 1 – 1
Nebraska + 2 – 0 – 1 5 – 1 – 2
Kansas 1 – 1 – 1 4 – 2 – 2
Washington University 0 – 0 – 2 4 – 2 – 2
Missouri 0 – 2 – 2 2 – 4 – 2
Drake 0 – 2 – 1 5 – 2 – 1
  • + – Conference co-champions
1911 Rocky Mountain Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Colorado $ 5 – 0 – 0 6 – 0 – 0
Utah 3 – 1 – 1 5 – 1 – 1
Denver 3 – 1 – 1 5 – 2 – 1
Colorado College 3 – 2 – 0 4 – 3 – 0
Wyoming 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 3 – 1
Colorado Mines 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 5 – 0
Colorado Agricultural 0 – 5 – 0 0 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
1911 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Vanderbilt $ 5 – 0 – 0 8 – 1 – 0
Auburn 4 – 0 – 1 4 – 2 – 1
Georgia 5 – 1 – 1 7 – 1 – 1
Georgia Tech 5 – 2 – 1 6 – 2 – 1
Kentucky State 2 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
LSU 2 – 1 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Mississippi A&M 4 – 2 – 1 7 – 2 – 1
Alabama 2 – 2 – 2 5 – 2 – 2
Ole Miss 2 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Tulane 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 3 – 1
Sewanee 2 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 1
Clemson 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 5 – 0
The Citadel 1 – 1 – 0 5 – 2 – 2
Mercer 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 1
Central University 0 – 2 – 1 3 – 2 – 1
Tennessee 0 – 2 – 1 3 – 4 – 2
Mississippi College 0 – 4 – 0 1 – 5 – 0
Howard (AL) 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 6 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion
1911 Western Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Minnesota $ 3 – 0 – 1 6 – 0 – 1
Chicago 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 1 – 0
Wisconsin 2 – 1 – 1 5 – 1 – 1
Illinois 2 – 2 – 1 4 – 2 – 1
Iowa 2 – 2 – 0 3 – 4 – 0
Purdue 1 – 3 – 0 3 – 4 – 0
Northwestern 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 4 – 0
Indiana 0 – 3 – 1 3 – 3 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion

Independents

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1911 Eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Penn State   –   8 – 0 – 1
Carlisle   –   11 – 1 – 0
Princeton   –   8 – 0 – 2
Trinity (CT)   –   6 – 0 – 2
Temple   –   6 – 1 – 0
Army   –   6 – 1 – 1
Swarthmore   –   6 – 1 – 1
Dartmouth   –   8 – 2 – 0
Lafayette   –   8 – 2 – 0
Yale   –   7 – 2 – 1
Harvard   –   6 – 2 – 1
Cornell   –   7 – 3 – 0
Rhode Island State   –   5 – 2 – 1
Brown   –   7 – 3 – 1
Bucknell   –   6 – 3 – 1
Penn   –   7 – 4 – 0
Pittsburgh   –   4 – 3 – 1
Washington & Jefferson   –   6 – 4 – 0
Syracuse   –   5 – 3 – 2
Dickinson   –   4 – 4 – 0
Lehigh   –   5 – 5 – 1
Rutgers   –   4 – 4 – 1
Dickinson   –   4 – 4 – 0
St. Bonaventure   –   2 – 2 – 0
Carnegie Tech   –   4 – 5 – 0
Holy Cross   –   4 – 5 – 0
Tufts   –   3 – 4 – 0
Vermont   –   3 – 5 – 0
NYU   –   1 – 3 – 3
Colgate   –   3 – 6 – 0
Franklin & Marshall   –   3 – 6 – 0
Geneva   –   1 – 6 – 1
Villanova   –   0 – 5 – 1
Boston College   –   0 – 7 – 0
1911 Midwestern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Marquette   –   7 – 0 – 2
Notre Dame   –   6 – 0 – 2
Fairmount   –   7 – 1 – 0
South Dakota   –   7 – 1 – 0
Michigan Agricultural   –   5 – 1 – 0
Northern Illinois State   –   8 – 2 – 1
Saint Louis   –   6 – 1 – 1
Lake Forest   –   5 – 1 – 1
Mount Union   –   7 – 2 – 0
Michigan   –   5 – 1 – 2
North Dakota Agricultural   –   3 – 1 – 0
St. Viator   –   4 – 2 – 0
Haskell   –   4 – 2 – 3
Iowa State Teachers   –   3 – 2 – 1
Ohio Northern   –   5 – 4 – 0
Detroit   –   4 – 4 – 0
Central Michigan   –   3 – 3 – 0
South Dakota State   –   4 – 4 – 0
St. Mary's (OH)   –   3 – 3 – 1
Wabash   –   3 – 3 – 1
Buchtel   –   3 – 4 – 1
Butler   –   3 – 4 – 1
Carthage   –   3 – 4 – 1
Doane   –   3 – 4 – 0
Michigan State Normal   –   3 – 4 – 0
Heidelberg   –   2 – 3 – 1
Western State Normal   –   2 – 3 – 0
Loyola (IL)   –   2 – 5 – 0
1911 Southern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Oklahoma   –   8 – 0 – 0
Florida   –   5 – 0 – 1
VMI   –   7 – 1 – 0
Texas A&M   –   6 – 1 – 0
Georgetown   –   7 – 1 – 1
Navy   –   6 – 0 – 3
North Carolina   –   6 – 1 – 1
VPI   –   6 – 1 – 2
Virginia   –   8 – 2 – 0
Louisiana Industrial   –   4 – 1 – 1
Marshall   –   4 – 1 – 1
Arkansas   –   6 – 2 – 1
Oklahoma A&M   –   5 – 2 – 0
Texas   –   5 – 2 – 0
Washington and Lee   –   4 – 2 – 2
West Virginia   –   6 – 3 – 0
Davidson   –   5 – 3 – 0
North Carolina A&M   –   5 – 3 – 0
Chattanooga   –   3 – 2 – 0
Catholic University   –   3 – 2 – 2
Maryland   –   4 – 4 – 2
Baylor   –   3 – 4 – 2
Wake Forest   –   3 – 5 – 0
Delaware   –   2 – 5 – 2
South Carolina   –   1 – 4 – 2
Southwestern Louisiana Industrial   –   1 – 4 – 1
Spring Hill   –   1 – 3 – 0
Southwest Texas State   –   1 – 3 – 0
Middle Tennessee State Normal   –   0 – 1 – 0
1911 Western college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
New Mexico A&M   –   7 – 0 – 0
Washington   –   7 – 0 – 0
Utah Agricultural   –   4 – 0 – 1
Arizona   –   3 – 1 – 1
Oregon Agricultural   –   5 – 2 – 0
Idaho   –   4 – 3 – 0
Oregon   –   3 – 2 – 0
Montana   –   2 – 1 – 0
Hawaii   –   2 – 2 – 0
Washington State   –   3 – 3 – 0
New Mexico   –   1 – 3 – 1

Minor conferences

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Conference Champion(s) Record
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Fairmount College 6–1
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Olivet
Adrian 		4–0
3–0
Ohio Athletic Conference Oberlin 4–0–1

Minor conference standings

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1911 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Southern Illinois   –   –   3 – 4 – 0
1911 Ohio Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Oberlin $ 4 – 0 – 1 6 – 1 – 1
Case 5 – 1 – 1 5 – 2 – 1
Ohio Wesleyan 6 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Ohio State 4 – 1 – 2 5 – 3 – 2
Cincinnati 2 – 1 – 1 6 – 2 – 1
Denison 3 – 2 – 2 6 – 2 – 2
Western Reserve 1 – 3 – 2 4 – 3 – 4
Ohio 1 – 2 – 0 3 – 3 – 2
Miami (OH) 1 – 3 – 1 2 – 4 – 2
Wittenberg 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Kenyon 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 7 – 1
Wooster 0 – 4 – 0 0 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion

Awards and honors

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All-Americans

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Main article: 1911 College Football All-America Team

The consensus All-America team included:

Position Name Height Weight (lbs.) Class Hometown Team
QB Art Howe 5'10" 153 Sr. South Orange, New Jersey Yale
QB Earl Sprackling 5'9" 150 Sr. Cleveland, Ohio Brown
HB Percy Wendell Jr. Roxbury, Massachusetts Harvard
HB Jim Thorpe 6'1" 180 Jr. Shawnee, Oklahoma Carlisle
FB John Dalton 5'11" 174 Sr. St. Louis, Missouri Penn
E Sanford White Sr. Fall River, Massachusetts Princeton
T Ed Hart 5'11" 208 Sr. Exeter, New Hampshire Princeton
G Bob Fisher Sr. Boston, Massachusetts Harvard
C Hank Ketcham 6'0" 175 So. Englewood, New Jersey Yale
G Joseph Duff Sr. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Princeton
T Leland Devore 6'4" 225 Jr. Wheeling, West Virginia Army
E Doug Bomeisler 5'11" 190 Jr. Brooklyn, New York Yale

Statistical leaders

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  • Rushing yards leader: Jim Thorpe, Carlisle, 899
  • Rushing avg. leader: Jim Thorpe, 8.0

References

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  1. ^ 2001 ESPN Information Please Sports Almanac, p152
  2. ^ a b Danzig, Allison (1956). The History of American Football: Its Great Teams, Players, and Coaches. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. pp. 70–71.
  3. ^ "100 years ago: Football fans enjoy mechanized reproduction of KU-MU game". Lawrence Journal-World. November 27, 2011. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  4. ^ "Bacardi Bowl". Archived from the original on January 16, 2008. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
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