With football just
around the corner (20 days until college football, 22 days until Razorback football, and 26 days until NFL football...but who's counting?) and teams all over the country starting two-a-days, I
can’t help but get excited. If you aren’t excited, reading about the
following games, some you’ve probably never heard of and some you
probably have, should do the trick.
September 28, 1892- Wyoming Seminary (a high school in Pennsylvania) and Mansfield State Normal (a college in Pennsylvania) played the first ever football game at night and under lights. However, the lighting that was provided wasn’t good enough and at half time, both teams agreed to end the game because, as Wikipedia puts it, “several players had an unfortunate run-in with a light pole.” The game lasted just 20 minutes, included only 10 plays, and ended in a 0-0 tie.
Wish you were there? So do I. Luckily, the two schools reenact the game every year. Now instead of just picturing old-time football players running into a light pole, you can actually see it!
January 1, 1902- Michigan and Stanford played in the first ever Rose Bowl, although it wasn’t called that (it was known as the Tournament East-West football game). The game originated in order to bring more tourists to the annual Tournament of Roses. Michigan’s 49-0 beat down was so bad that Stanford captain Ralph Fisher asked to quit with eight minutes left, which Michigan allowed. In fact, it was such a blow out that the Tournament of Roses tossed the idea for 15 years. Instead of a football game, they held chariot races, ostrich races, and other events.
Admission for the game was between 50 cents and $1, with an additional $1 to allow your horse and buggy on the grounds. Hopefully they charged a similar price for the ostrich races!
October 7, 1916- Georgia Tech laid down a 222-0 shellacking on Cumberland College, the most lopsided victory in college football history. Led by John Heisman (yes, THAT John Heisman), Georgia Tech scored 32 touchdowns and gained 1,620 yards, all on the ground. Why didn’t they let up? It’s believed that Heisman was getting revenge for Cumberland beating Georgia Tech in baseball, which Heisman also coached, the previous year, 22-0, while (allegedly) using professional players. Cumberland’s football team had actually dissolved the year before, but Heisman forced them to honor a contract and field a team, so George E. Allen, who was the baseball team student manager, threw together a team of 14 players. It was obvious that they team was just put together, as they fumbled the ball nine times. Back then, teams had the option to either receive the kick-off after their opponent scored or kick-off back to their opponent, and it got so bad that several times they elected to give Georgia Tech the ball back, rather than go on offense.
What I want to know is: how did George E. Allen get these guys to play that game? Surely they knew they’d get killed. He must have tricked them and told them they were going on some type of fun field trip.
October 29, 1921- Coming off of back-to-back undefeated seasons, Harvard was looking to remain undefeated for the 1921 season when they played Centre College. However, they fell 6-0, for their first loss since 1918 and in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in college football history. MIT students, who famously tend to hate Harvard, attended the game in order to root for Centre. After the game, they carried Bo McMillin, Centre’s quarterback who scored the game-winning touchdown, off the field and tore down the goal posts.
In Danville, Kentucky, where Centre College is located, students went crazy and painted “C6H0” on everything, even cows. I like that. I think I’m going to start painting scores of Arkansas games on cows, sure hope no one gets mad.
November 28, 1942- #1 Boston College figured their game against Holy Cross would be a blow out, so they didn’t think twice about scheduling a post-game victory party at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub. Unfortunately, Holy Cross spoiled these plans, pulling off a 55-12 upset, a margin no one expected. Of course, BC was forced to cancel their party. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as that same night, just four hours after the conclusion of the game, a fire engulfed the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, killing 492 people in what is still the deadliest nightclub fire in the history of the U.S.
This game just shows how sports can affect life on and off the field. If Boston College would have won, like they should have, many, if not all, of their players would have died.
December 22, 1956- Montana State and St. Joseph’s squared off in the first ever college football championship game. It ended in a 0-0 tie and they were declared co-champions of the NAIA. Interestingly, the game was held in Little Rock, Arkansas. It wasn’t until 1973 that the NCAA created a championship game for Division II and III and 1978 for Division I-AA (now FCS). Finally, in 1999, the NCAA created the BCS, which set up a Division I-A (now FBS) national championship.
The NAIA championship game was determined by a playoff. Hmmm…the NAIA was on to something. Sure hope you’re taking notes, NCAA.
September 19, 1998- Prairie View A&M lost their 80th and final consecutive game to Southern University, 37-7, although no one remembers what happened during the game. During half time, a massive brawl erupted. Not between fans; not between players; not even between cheerleaders. The two schools’ marching bands laid down their instruments and threw down. As a punishment, the Southwestern Athletic Conference suspended the bands for two games, but Prairie View A&M did not honor that suspension, while Southern did.
This is a classic case of Bandies Gone Wild. Just think, if Prairie View A&M recruited some of their band members to play football, they might not have lost 80 straight!
January 1, 2007- Everyone knows this game, but it never gets old. The 2007 Fiesta Bowl featured traditional football power Oklahoma and up-and-coming Boise State. Oklahoma was expected to put the non-BCS Boise St. in their place, but they wouldn’t go down quietly. In a back and forth game, Boise St. forced overtime by converting on 4th and 18 with 18 seconds left in the game with a “hook-and-ladder” trick play. In overtime, after Oklahoma scored on their first play, Boise St. answered with a touchdown of their own, with a 4th and two touchdown pass thrown by a receiver in a wildcat-type package. Instead of kicking the PAT and forcing a second overtime, they went for the two-point conversion. Again, they pulled out their bag of tricks; this time using the now famous “Statue of Liberty” play, where running back Ian Johnson took the handoff from quarterback Jared Zabransky as Zabransky faked a pass. Johnson easily scored, winning the game and completing the improbable upset.
The game became legendary when Johnson proposed to his girlfriend, the head cheerleader for Boise St., after the game in a postgame interview, immediately fulfilling every guy’s childhood dream: scoring the game winning points in a huge upset and getting the head cheerleader.
If that doesn’t get you pumped for football, I don’t know what will.
September 28, 1892- Wyoming Seminary (a high school in Pennsylvania) and Mansfield State Normal (a college in Pennsylvania) played the first ever football game at night and under lights. However, the lighting that was provided wasn’t good enough and at half time, both teams agreed to end the game because, as Wikipedia puts it, “several players had an unfortunate run-in with a light pole.” The game lasted just 20 minutes, included only 10 plays, and ended in a 0-0 tie.
Wish you were there? So do I. Luckily, the two schools reenact the game every year. Now instead of just picturing old-time football players running into a light pole, you can actually see it!
January 1, 1902- Michigan and Stanford played in the first ever Rose Bowl, although it wasn’t called that (it was known as the Tournament East-West football game). The game originated in order to bring more tourists to the annual Tournament of Roses. Michigan’s 49-0 beat down was so bad that Stanford captain Ralph Fisher asked to quit with eight minutes left, which Michigan allowed. In fact, it was such a blow out that the Tournament of Roses tossed the idea for 15 years. Instead of a football game, they held chariot races, ostrich races, and other events.
Admission for the game was between 50 cents and $1, with an additional $1 to allow your horse and buggy on the grounds. Hopefully they charged a similar price for the ostrich races!
October 7, 1916- Georgia Tech laid down a 222-0 shellacking on Cumberland College, the most lopsided victory in college football history. Led by John Heisman (yes, THAT John Heisman), Georgia Tech scored 32 touchdowns and gained 1,620 yards, all on the ground. Why didn’t they let up? It’s believed that Heisman was getting revenge for Cumberland beating Georgia Tech in baseball, which Heisman also coached, the previous year, 22-0, while (allegedly) using professional players. Cumberland’s football team had actually dissolved the year before, but Heisman forced them to honor a contract and field a team, so George E. Allen, who was the baseball team student manager, threw together a team of 14 players. It was obvious that they team was just put together, as they fumbled the ball nine times. Back then, teams had the option to either receive the kick-off after their opponent scored or kick-off back to their opponent, and it got so bad that several times they elected to give Georgia Tech the ball back, rather than go on offense.
What I want to know is: how did George E. Allen get these guys to play that game? Surely they knew they’d get killed. He must have tricked them and told them they were going on some type of fun field trip.
October 29, 1921- Coming off of back-to-back undefeated seasons, Harvard was looking to remain undefeated for the 1921 season when they played Centre College. However, they fell 6-0, for their first loss since 1918 and in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in college football history. MIT students, who famously tend to hate Harvard, attended the game in order to root for Centre. After the game, they carried Bo McMillin, Centre’s quarterback who scored the game-winning touchdown, off the field and tore down the goal posts.
In Danville, Kentucky, where Centre College is located, students went crazy and painted “C6H0” on everything, even cows. I like that. I think I’m going to start painting scores of Arkansas games on cows, sure hope no one gets mad.
November 28, 1942- #1 Boston College figured their game against Holy Cross would be a blow out, so they didn’t think twice about scheduling a post-game victory party at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub. Unfortunately, Holy Cross spoiled these plans, pulling off a 55-12 upset, a margin no one expected. Of course, BC was forced to cancel their party. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as that same night, just four hours after the conclusion of the game, a fire engulfed the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, killing 492 people in what is still the deadliest nightclub fire in the history of the U.S.
This game just shows how sports can affect life on and off the field. If Boston College would have won, like they should have, many, if not all, of their players would have died.
December 22, 1956- Montana State and St. Joseph’s squared off in the first ever college football championship game. It ended in a 0-0 tie and they were declared co-champions of the NAIA. Interestingly, the game was held in Little Rock, Arkansas. It wasn’t until 1973 that the NCAA created a championship game for Division II and III and 1978 for Division I-AA (now FCS). Finally, in 1999, the NCAA created the BCS, which set up a Division I-A (now FBS) national championship.
The NAIA championship game was determined by a playoff. Hmmm…the NAIA was on to something. Sure hope you’re taking notes, NCAA.
September 19, 1998- Prairie View A&M lost their 80th and final consecutive game to Southern University, 37-7, although no one remembers what happened during the game. During half time, a massive brawl erupted. Not between fans; not between players; not even between cheerleaders. The two schools’ marching bands laid down their instruments and threw down. As a punishment, the Southwestern Athletic Conference suspended the bands for two games, but Prairie View A&M did not honor that suspension, while Southern did.
This is a classic case of Bandies Gone Wild. Just think, if Prairie View A&M recruited some of their band members to play football, they might not have lost 80 straight!
January 1, 2007- Everyone knows this game, but it never gets old. The 2007 Fiesta Bowl featured traditional football power Oklahoma and up-and-coming Boise State. Oklahoma was expected to put the non-BCS Boise St. in their place, but they wouldn’t go down quietly. In a back and forth game, Boise St. forced overtime by converting on 4th and 18 with 18 seconds left in the game with a “hook-and-ladder” trick play. In overtime, after Oklahoma scored on their first play, Boise St. answered with a touchdown of their own, with a 4th and two touchdown pass thrown by a receiver in a wildcat-type package. Instead of kicking the PAT and forcing a second overtime, they went for the two-point conversion. Again, they pulled out their bag of tricks; this time using the now famous “Statue of Liberty” play, where running back Ian Johnson took the handoff from quarterback Jared Zabransky as Zabransky faked a pass. Johnson easily scored, winning the game and completing the improbable upset.
The game became legendary when Johnson proposed to his girlfriend, the head cheerleader for Boise St., after the game in a postgame interview, immediately fulfilling every guy’s childhood dream: scoring the game winning points in a huge upset and getting the head cheerleader.
If that doesn’t get you pumped for football, I don’t know what will.
