1919 Harvard Crimson football team

1919 Harvard Crimson football
National champion (Helms, Houlgate) Co-national champion (CFRA, NCF, Davis) Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 7–6 vs. Oregon
Conference	Independent
Record	9–0–1
Head coach	Bob Fisher (1st season)
Captain	Billy Murray
Home stadium	Harvard Stadium

1919 Eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Harvard			–					9	–	0	–	1
Penn State			–					7	–	1	–	0
Swarthmore			–					7	–	1	–	0
Dartmouth			–					6	–	1	–	1
Colgate			–					5	–	1	–	1
New Hampshire			–					7	–	2	–	0
Lafayette			–					6	–	2	–	0
Washington & Jefferson			–					6	–	2	–	0
Williams			–					6	–	2	–	0
Syracuse			–					8	–	3	–	0
Penn			–					6	–	2	–	1
Pittsburgh			–					6	–	2	–	1
Lehigh			–					6	–	3	–	0
Princeton			–					4	–	2	–	1
Geneva			–					4	–	2	–	2
Army			–					6	–	3	–	0
Boston College			–					5	–	3	–	0
Holy Cross			–					5	–	3	–	0
Rutgers			–					5	–	3	–	0
Yale			–					5	–	3	–	0
Villanova			–					5	–	3	–	1
Brown			–					5	–	4	–	1
Bucknell			–					5	–	4	–	1
NYU			–					4	–	4	–	0
Carnegie Tech			–					3	–	4	–	0
Columbia			–					2	–	4	–	3
Cornell			–					3	–	5	–	0
Vermont			–					3	–	6	–	0
Franklin & Marshall			–					2	–	4	–	2
Tufts			–					2	–	5	–	0
Buffalo			–					0	–	5	–	1
Rhode Island State			–					0	–	8	–	1
Drexel			–					0	–	4	–	0

The 1919 Harvard Crimson football team was an American football team that represented Harvard University as an independent during the 1919 college football season. In their first season under head coach Bob Fisher, the Crimson compiled a 9–0–1 record, shut out seven of ten opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 229 to 19. The team was invited to play in the 1920 Rose Bowl and defeated Oregon, 7–6.^[1][2][3]

Claim to national championship

There was no contemporaneous system in 1919 for determining a national champion. However, Harvard was retroactively named as the national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Houlgate System, and as a co-national champion by the College Football Researchers Association, National Championship Foundation, and Parke H. Davis. Illinois (6–1 record), Notre Dame (9–0 record), and Texas A&M (10–0 record) were chosen as the 1919 national champion or co-champion by some selectors.^[4]

Key players

Harvard halfback Eddie Casey was selected as consensus first-team player on the 1919 All-America team.^[5] Casey was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.^[6]

Other notable players on the 1919 team included backs Arnold Horween and Frederic Cameron Church Jr. and linemen Tom Woods, Charles Arthur "Tubby" Clark and Robert "Duke" Sedgwick. Quarterback Billy Murray was the team captain.^[7]

"High-water mark" in Harvard football history

The 1919 season was a transition year for Harvard football. Percy Haughton was the head coach from 1908 to 1916, leading the program to a record of 97–17–6. Varsity football was discontinued during the war years of 1917 and 1918, though the school did field an "informal" team. The 1919 season marked the return of varsity football under a new head coach.^[8] Coach Fisher compiled a 43–14–5 record in seven seasons as head coach and was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.^[9] Harvard's victory in the 1920 Rose Bowl has been called "the high-water mark" in program history, as athletics were deemphasized in the 1920s and thereafter.^[10]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 27	3:00 p.m.	Bates	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 53–0	7,000	[11][12][13]
October 4	3:00 p.m.	Boston College	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 17–0	16,000	[14][15]
October 11	3:00 p.m.	Colby	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 35–0	10,000	[16][17]
October 18	3:00 p.m.	Brown	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 7–0	23,000	[18][19][20]
October 25	3:00 p.m.	Virginia	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 47–0		[21][22]
November 1		Springfield YMCA	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 20–0		[23]
November 8	2:00 p.m.	at Princeton	Palmer Stadium Princeton, NJ (rivalry)	T 10–10	15,000	[24][25][26][27]
November 15		Tufts	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 23–0		[28]
November 22		Yale	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA (rivalry)	W 10–3	> 50,000	[29]
January 1, 1920	2:30 p.m.	vs. Oregon	Tournament Park Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	W 7–6	32,000–35,000	[2][30][31][32][33][34]
All times are in Eastern time

^[1]

References

1. "1919 Harvard Crimson Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
2. "The History of Harvard Sports IV: Harvard in the Rose Bowl". The Harvard Crimson. March 16, 1968.
3. John Powers (July 26, 2019). "Remembering the 1920 Rose Bowl Game Victory". The Harvard Crimson.
4. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2015). "National Poll Rankings" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA. p. 108. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
5. "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 6. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
6. "Eddie Casey". National Football Foundation. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
7. "Casey May Be 1920 Harvard Captain". The Boston Globe. November 24, 1919. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Media Center: Crimson Football - National Championships". GoCrimson.com. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
9. "Bob Fisher". National Football Foundation. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
10. "'Boston Game' to Ivy Agreement: The Cycle of Harvard Football: 'Bloody Monday,' Haughton Era, Rose Bowl--and De-Emphasis". The Harvard Crimson. September 18, 1958.
11. Melville E. Webb Jr (September 28, 1919). "Harvard Rolls Up 53 Points on Bates: Crushing Defeat for Maine Eleven in the Stadium". The Boston Globe. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Six Vets To Work for Harvard Today". The Boston Globe. September 27, 1919. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Eleven Crushes Bates in One-Sided Contest: Final Score 53-0". The Harvard Crimson. September 25, 1919.
14. "Harvard Takes On Boston College". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. October 4, 1919. p. 7. Retrieved May 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
15. Melville E. Webb Jr (October 5, 1919). "Harvard Quick To Make Most of Slip: Muster Attack After Error by Boston College; Stirring Football, 16,000 Looking On, With Crimson Winner, 17 to 0". The Boston Globe. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
16. Melville E. Webb Jr (October 12, 1919). "Harvard Has Easy Victory Over Colby: Piles Up 35 Points While Blanking Visitors". The Boston Globe. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
17. Melville E. Webb Jr. (October 11, 1919). "Data Worth While in Football Today". The Boston Globe. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
18. Webb, Melville E. Jr. (October 18, 1919). "Harvard Expects Toughest Job Yet". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 5. Retrieved March 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
19. Webb, Melville E. Jr. (October 19, 1919). "Harvard Wins, 7-0". The Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 1. Retrieved March 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
20. Webb, Melville E. Jr. (October 19, 1919). "Harvard Has Many Chances, But Fails". The Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 19. Retrieved March 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
21. Melville E. Webb Jr (October 26, 1919). "Harvard Buries Virginia Under 47-0 Count". The Boston Globe. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
22. Melville E. Webb Jr (October 25, 1919). "Harvard Week-End Task Looks Easier: Virginia in Stadium Today, Following Brown". The Boston Globe. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
23. Melville E. Webb Jr (November 2, 1919). "Harvard Wins Easily 20-0: Casey Shines in Victory Over Springfield". The Boston Globe. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
24. Melville E. Webb Jr (November 8, 1919). "Harvard Favorite in Its Game with Tigers Today". The Boston Globe. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
25. Grantland Rice (November 9, 1919). "Harvard Eleven Rallies in Closing and Earns 10 to 10 Draw With Princeton". New York Tribune. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
26. William D. Sullivan (November 9, 1919). "Harvard Fights Tigers to a Tie: Great Fourth Period Rally Staves Off Defeat". The Boston Globe. pp. 1, 17.
27. "Archival film of Princeton-Harvard game". Princeton University Archives. August 24, 2010. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
28. "Harvard Smothers Tufts 23-0". The Boston Globe. November 16, 1919. pp. 1, 18 – via Newspapers.com.
29. "Harvard Triumphant Over Yale, 10 to 3: Eddie Casey Dashes for Winning Score". The Boston Globe. pp. 1, 18, 19 – via Newspapers.com.
30. "Harvard's Crimson Triumphs Over Oregon By 7 To 6". The Chicago Daily Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. January 2, 1920. p. 15. Retrieved March 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
31. Harry M. Grayson (January 2, 1920). "Way Paved for Victory Via Same Play Which Tied Tiger, Beat Yale". Los Angeles Evening Express. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
32. Harry A. Williams (January 2, 1920). "Harvard Wins by a Point: Oregon's Showing a Triumph for Coach Shy Huntington and His Helpers". The Los Angeles Times. p. Sports 1, 3 – via Newspapers.com.
33. Paul Lowry (January 2, 1920). "Church's Dash Brings Victory: Harvard's Crack Half Back Makes a Great Run". The Los Angeles Times. p. Sports 1, 3 – via Newspapers.com.
34. Charles F. Hayden (January 2, 1920). "Game's Colorful Setting: Huge Crowd Turns Out for East vs. West Football Match -- Military Touch". The Los Angeles Times. p. Sports 1, 3 – via Newspapers.com.