1881 Harvard Crimson football team
| 1881 Harvard Crimson football | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Independent |
| Record | 6–1–1 |
| Head coach |
|
| Captain | William H. Manning |
| Home stadium | Boston Baseball Grounds, Holmes Field |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Columbian University | – | 1 | – | 0 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1881 Harvard Crimson football team represented Harvard University in the 1881 college football season. They Crimson compiled a record of 6–1–1. The team was managed by first-year head coach, Lucius Littauer, and captained for the second year by William H. Manning.[1][2]
Schedule[edit]
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 20 | 3:00 p.m. | Montreal Football Club | W 2–0 | 400–600 | [3][4] | |
| October 22 | 3:20 p.m. | Ottawa Football Club | W 9–1 | 1,000 | [5] | |
| October 29 | at Brittania Football Club | Montreal, QC | W 2–0 | |||
| October 31 | 3:15 p.m. | Michigan |
| W 4–0 | 100 | [6] |
| November 2 | 3:36 p.m. | vs. Penn | W 2–0 | 200 | [7] | |
| November 5 | 2:30 p.m. | Columbia |
| W 1–0 | 2,000 | [8] |
| November 12 | 2:40 p.m. | at Yale | New Haven, CT (rivalry) | L 0–1 | 1,500 | [9] |
| November 19 | 2:30 p.m. | vs. Princeton |
| T 0–0 | 2,500 | [10] |
| ||||||
Game summaries[edit]
October 31: Harvard 4, Michigan 0[edit]
Harvard played Michigan on October 31 in the first matchup of teams from the west and east.[11] The Boston Journal carried a lengthy article about the game, saying that Harvard scored one touchdown and Michigan none.
"Yesterday afternoon, in a drenching rain, for the first time an Eastern foot-ball eleven played with a Western eleven. The Western college boys have long wished a chance to try their powers with Eastern opponents, and, to effect this, the University of Michigan this fall have sent on a representative eleven to play the largest of the Eastern colleges. Their first opponent were the Harvard team. They were beaten but with fair weather the result would have been very uncertain. As it was, Harvard won more by luck than by superiority in strength or skill, for with the exception of the first ten minutes they were forced to play a defensive game. ... During the second half hour the ball was near the Harvard line constantly. Once it came within three feet of the chalk, but the most desperate fighting on the Harvard forced it back foot by foot until the immediate danger was over. ... The Michigan team excelled in running, and their tackling was very fair. As to passing, they did very little. It was by all odds the best game seen in Boston this fall."[12]
In 1901, one of the Michigan players, Fred Townsend, wrote an account of the 1881 trip. He said Harvard scored a touchdown at the very beginning of the game, but missed the try for goal. Michigan recovered and came within three yards of scoring a touchdown in the second half, but they were held for downs by the bigger Harvard players.[13]
References[edit]
- ^ "1881 Harvard Crimson Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
- ^ "Harvard Football Yearly Records". GoCrimson.com. Harvard University. Archived from the original on August 14, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
- ^ "Football.—Harvards, Two Goals; Montreals, Nothing—An Exciting Game Won in the First Fifteen Minutes". The Boston Daily Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. October 21, 1881. p. 5. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com
.
- ^ "A Game Of Football". Fall River Daily Herald. Fall River, Massachusetts. October 22, 1881. p. 1. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Fall Pastime.—The Harvard Foot-Ball Team Defeat The Canadians". The Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. October 23, 1881. p. 8. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "The Sporting World.—Harvard Wins 1 Touch-down to 0 in a Foot-Ball Match With the Michigan University Team". The Boston Daily Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. November 1, 1881. p. 1. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Harvard Once More Defeats University Of Pennsylvania". The New York Times. New York, New York. November 3, 1881. p. 8. Retrieved March 30, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "The Harvard Foot Ball Eleven Defeat Columbia". The Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. November 6, 1881. p. 8. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Yale Overcomes Harvard". The New York Times. November 13, 1881. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Fine Foot-ball Playing". The New York Times. New York, New York. November 20, 1881. p. 16. Retrieved September 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Media Center: Football - A Timeline of Tradition". Harvard University. Archived from the original on January 8, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
- ^ "Foot Ball: The Harvard Eleven Beat the University of Michigan – Score, One Touchdown to Nothing". Boston Journal. November 1, 1881.
- ^ Townsend, Fred (1901). "The First Eastern Trip" (PDF). Inlander. University of Michigan.
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