1881 Yale Bulldogs football team

The 1881 Yale Bulldogs football team represented Yale University in the 1881 college football season. The team compiled a 5–0–1 record, did not allow opposing teams to score a single point, outscored all opponents, 10-0, and was retroactively named co-national champions by the National Championship Foundation and Parke H. Davis.[1][2]

1881 Yale Bulldogs football
National champion (NCF) Co-national champion (Davis)
Conference	Independent
1881 record	5–0–1
Head coach	None
Home stadium	Hamilton Park

1881 college football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Richmond			–					2	–	0	–	0
Georgetown			–					1	–	0	–	0
Yale			–					5	–	0	–	1
Princeton			–					7	–	0	–	2
Penn State			–					1	–	0	–	0
Dartmouth			–					1	–	0	–	1
Harvard			–					6	–	1	–	1
Massachusetts			–					2	–	1	–	1
Kentucky University			–					2	–	1	–	0
Columbia			–					3	–	3	–	1
Rutgers			–					2	–	4	–	1
Stevens			–					1	–	2	–	1
Kentucky State College			–					1	–	2	–	0
CCNY			–					1	–	1	–	1
Amherst			–					0	–	3	–	2
Lewisburg			–					0	–	1	–	0
MIT			–					0	–	1	–	0
Wesleyan			–					0	–	1	–	0
Randolph–Macon			–					0	–	2	–	0
Michigan			–					0	–	3	–	0
Penn			–					0	–	5	–	0

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 29	at Amherst	Amherst, MA	W 2–0		[3]
November 2	Michigan	Hamilton Park New Haven, CT	W 2–0	600	[4]
November 5	Amherst	Hamilton Park New Haven, CT	W 4–0		[5]
November 12	Harvard	Hamilton Park New Haven, CT (rivalry)	W 1–0	1,500	[6]
November 17	at Columbia	Polo Grounds New York, NY	W 1–0		[7]
November 24	vs. Princeton	Polo Grounds New York, NY (rivalry)	T 0–0	10,000	[8]

[2]

Roster

• Rushers: Howard H. Knapp, Arthur L. Farwell, Ray Tompkins, Louis K. Hull, Charles Bigelow Storrs, Franklin M. Eaton, Charles S. Beck
• Quarterback: Walter Irving Badger
• Halfbacks: Eugene Lamb Richards, Walter Camp
• Back: Benjamin Wisner Bacon

Source:[9]

References

1. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2015). "National Poll Rankings" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA. p. 107. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
2. "1881 Yale Bulldogs Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
3. "Yale and Amherst at Foot-Ball". The New York Times. October 31, 1881. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "College Foot-Ball". The New York Times. November 3, 1881. p. 8.
5. "Yale Against Amherst". The New York Times. November 6, 1881. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Yale Overcomes Harvard". The New York Times. November 13, 1881. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Pretty Lively Football: Yale Defeats Columbia After a Long and Hot Battle". The Sun. November 17, 1881. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Princeton Faces Yale: Playing Foot-Ball in a Freezing Wind". The New York Times. November 25, 1881. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Richard Melancthon Hurd (1888). A History of Yale Athletics, 1840-1888. Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor. p. 82.